First game of the season kicked off against Houghton, with Sunderland struggling with both the size of the pitch and the speed of the game. Dan scored his first try after a typically mazy run, with some good support play, with Houghton scoring more by the end.

The second game against Westoe, saw the team pull together for an altogether better performance. Patrick in his second ever game of rugby, scored a brilliant team try after the ball moved through a number of sets of hands from one side of the pitch to the other, in what was the moment of the day for me. Concerted tagging and significantly improved marking and good communication lead to some brilliant breaks by Erin and Owen which were finished off by Dan with 2 more tries.

Durham were the third team and Sunderland struggled against a team which attacked and flooded the channel after the tag, causing us all sot of problems. Despite a number of cracking breaks and runs by Thomas and Dan, supported by outstanding tagging and good work in defence we remained tryless at the end to a strong Durham side.

The final game was extremely close and the whole team worked hard for each other, with both Dan and Owen crossing for scores. The score swung one way and then another until Will thought he had equalised, only to be brought back for a tag and the end of the game.

The two new players Patrick and Isaac didn’t look out of place at any stage and looked naturals from the start. Player of the day, although a close run thing with tries, must go to Patrick for scoring a try at his first ever tournament.

Overall, really good first run out, encouraging signs and it was really pleasing to see what the team can do.