The U7’s started their first competitive year strong with a well-attended festival at Grove RFC. There was a positive message that Newbury RFC were a force to be reckoned with. All players left the pitch smiling and hungry for their next taste of a festival.

The team grew at a rapid pace in the first half of the season, taking the player roster to 35 players.

A cold, hard winter did not deter the players and their resilience was strong.

In total, the U7’s attended 6 festivals and travelled to 4 away training fixtures. We always had on average 20 players at any given away fixture.

A fantastic season with a positive set of results from each festival.

Awards given to:

Most improved - Sophie Millen
Players player - Teddy Renshaw

Coaches player - Elliot Ashworth.

Newbury RFC Under 8s Celebrate a Season of Growth, Grit and Great Tries

As the final whistle blows on the 2024–25 season, the Newbury RFC Under 8s can look back with pride on a year filled with progress, team cohesion, and lots of muddy rugby jerseys.

This season has been all about development — both on and off the pitch. With a mix of returning players and eager new faces has seen the squad to swell to over 30 players. The squad gelled quickly and embraced the spirit of rugby: respect, teamwork enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. Under the patient guidance of their four coaches, the team honed their tackling (touch and tags only, of course!), passing, and positioning, showing tremendous improvement each week.

From chilly Sunday mornings at Monks Lane to exciting festival days across the region, the Under 8s showed resilience and enthusiasm in every match. Whether it was a darting solo try, a last-ditch touch to stop a breakaway, or a slick series of passes leading to the line, the young Blues gave their passionate supporters and parents plenty to cheer on.

All the coaches praised their young warriors’ willingness to learn and support one another, often highlighting how encouraging the group has been — not just in victory, but when things didn’t go their way too. The player’s growing understanding of the game and their sportsmanship stood out at every fixture with many coaches remarking on their discipline and comradery.

Another element that our players can be proud of is the development of their leadership, communication, and confidence. These are attributes that extend far beyond the rugby pitch — skills that will serve them well as they mature into young adults. It’s been inspiring to see players taking initiative, supporting one another, and growing in self-belief throughout the season.

As the players now look forward to moving up an age group, they take with them not only sharper skills but stronger friendships and a deepened love for the game. A special thank you goes to the dedicated coaching team and supportive families who’ve braved all weather conditions to make this season such a success.

Here’s to more passes, more tries, even more smiles and of course……contact..!!

U10 Going from Strength to Strength

At the start of this season, we introduced rucking and mauling, which has been fully embraced by the players and has become a point of difference for us! Being so effective at the breakdown has meant that we have won a lot of turnover ball which has resulted in lots of attacking opportunities.

We have continued to work hard on our tackling and with ball in hand, breaking quickly, finding space, and attacking a disorganised defence.

We haven’t had it all our own way this season, coming up against some strong opposition at various festivals, but the team always pulls together when required, ensuring that most of our matches we have played have resulted in a win!

Highlights from this season have been a clean sweep of results at the Saracens, Grove, Maidenhead and Newbury Festivals.

The new players who have joined us this season have been great, worked hard and really integrated well into the team and we already have some further new players who are due to join us in September. But we always welcome new players, so please get in touch and join the mighty U11’s for the 25/26 season.

We are really looking forward to introducing further new skills to the team in September, I just need to reaffirm to the players that ‘tactical kicking’ should be left to Finn Smith and Jonny Wilkinson?

A huge thank you as always to the players for being willing to learn and for working so hard during every training session and to the coaching team, who are so fully committed to helping the players develop and getting the very best out of them