Dorking U11s visited the Isle of Wight on Bank Holiday weekend to take part in the Vectis Rugby festival. We set sail on Friday afternoon arriving at our accommodation (PGL Little Canada) in good time for the squad announcement and tour kit presentation, always a hugely anticipated moment. As per last year, we took two squads, the Roosters and the Cockerels.
On Saturday, An early start did not deter the singing on the coach to the festival and a quirk in the schedule saw Roosters play four games, and Cockerels three. There was a buzz when lining up against Sidcup as Mario Itoje’s young cousin was playing. A great day of rugby and whilst we do not count the scores the players will tell you that we won all seven games. More singing on the bus back home, an afternoon of activities and then tour court in the evening.
The scheduling remained strange on the Sunday with the opposition being very similar to the previous day. Indeed Sunday morning saw some adjustments to opposition teams, presented as ensuring equal game time, thinly disguised as streaming. We did not follow this approach and our players all raised their game to deal with the challenge. Cockerels, as in 2025, saw out the festival unbeaten.
The last game involved Hampstead and Roosters. Both teams were unbeaten and again we saw some Hampstead players from other squads suddenly getting involved in this game. Hampstead had the better of the first half but a crucial Roosters score just before half-time saw the game evenly poised at 2- 2. The second half was an incredible game of rugby but Roosters put Hampstead under immense pressure and ran out worthy 6-2 winners.
Everyone knows it is not about the result but the players know the scores and it is important to them. To have both squads go through the festival unbeaten is a fair refection of the hard work and team ethos that they all displayed. Sunday afternoon was a mixture of the beach, more activities and another tour court!
Many thanks to the players, coaches and families for making it such a memorable tour.
Everyone was amazing!
