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Memorable weekend had by all in Dublin
It was a busy weekend in Dublin for the England teams in the 2017 Junior Touch Championships. We asked the coaches to round up their respective campaigns by answering the following questions:
1) Finishing position
2) Coaches’ MVP
3) Players’ MVP
4) Brief summary of your team’s JTC journey
Mixed 18s1) Third
2) Jackson Chan
3) Salesi Tuiono
4) The Mixed 18s arrived at the tournament with hopes of bettering last year’s finishing position and delivered on this promise. Having got over first game jitters and a slow start, the X18s went undefeated on day one. Day two brought about new challenges and some valuable lessons. After beating Jersey and Guernsey, we came up short against well organised and experienced Scottish and Welsh sides, leaving us in a bronze medal match on day three in which we came out 5-4 victors against a spirited French side. Undoubtedly there are some very talented youngsters in this X18s side who have gained valuable experience over the tournament and will be pushing for selection to open sides in the coming year.
Boys’ 18s1) Third
2) Matthew Bate
3) Sam Missin
4) The boys had a tough first day, narrowly losing to Scotland and Wales. Then after losing to Scotland first on day two we worked on our defence and comfortably beat Wales. Unfortunately results didn't go our way, and we couldn't make the final. The boys came together better than any team I have coached, and 12 out of the 15 will be around next year. This was a great building block for their development and they will move on to bigger and better things in their Touch careers.
Girls’ 18s1) First
2) Abbey Gould, with Catherine Walker winning the tournament’s MVP and Lydia Tichurst the most improved player
3) Freya Aucken
4) Our England Girls’ 18s have had a long journey to the 2017 JTC. They each represented their region and or participated in our regional discovery days, with 16 of the 30 girls initially selected in the wider England junior training squad then continuing their commitment during the winter and spring months, through important exam periods and all-important holiday time before heading to Dublin. We could not be prouder of them, wearing their well-deserved England jerseys great pride and showing fantastic sportsmanship to win this year’s competition
Mixed 15s1) Third
2) Megan Green, with Olivia Walker our most improved player
3) Isaac Wilding
4) The X15s started working well together in the build-up to the tournament as they got to know each other and even more so during it. There was a lot of potential on show! They also learned how to handle the pressure of close matches and how to take a win from being behind. Most importantly the players had a great time together. We all look forward to seeing how they progress through the age groups.
There are loads of pictures from England's 2017 Junior Touch Championships campaigns on our Facebook page - just CLICK HERE to see them!
