08/03/2026
“Under Attack! Sale U11s Swat the Flies and Fight Back” 🪰🏉
If the rugby wasn’t tough enough this morning, the flies certainly were. From the first whistle to the final chat, it felt like we were under attack from left, right and centre — and not just from the opposition!
The first half saw Sale FC struggling to get going. With only around ten minutes to warm up and run through a few moves, the boys were not quite at the races from the start — a lesson for the coaches to allow a little more preparation time next week.
There were also a few moments where play was allowed to continue for Broughton in ways that aren’t normally permitted at our age group, which added to the challenge. A combination of those factors and Sale not being fully switched on saw the first half slip away, with Broughton racing into an 8–0 lead.
However, there was no finger-pointing at half time. Coach Chris had a quick chat with the referee to clarify a few things for the second half, giving the lads a fairer chance to show what they could do.
The half-time talk with a slightly glum Sale squad focused on one thing: forget the first half and treat the second as a brand-new game.
And what a difference that mindset made.
The second half saw a completely different Sale team take the field. The boys worked tirelessly for each other, showing great support play which allowed some fantastic offloads from Quinn, Wilf, Harry and Henry. The link-up rugby was brilliant to watch and quickly resulted in four unanswered tries to get Sale right back into the contest.
Broughton didn’t go quietly though. They put the defence under serious pressure, taking the ball through several phases and testing Ithiel, Jackson, Noah and Angus repeatedly before their standout player finally powered over the line.
But the strong defensive effort only seemed to lift the Sale players further. Tackles flew in, the chase for loose balls never stopped, and the support play kept flowing.
While the first half certainly belonged to Broughton, the second half was dominated by Sale, with the team scoring 8 tries and conceding 3 in a hugely impressive turnaround.
After the final whistle we had one of the longest post-match debriefs we’ve had. Credit to the lads — they led much of the discussion themselves, talking about what went wrong early on and what they want to work on in the upcoming training sessions.
All in all, it was a brilliant morning of rugby and a great example of resilience from the team.
It would have been the perfect morning… if it hadn’t been for the flies! 🪰
Poor Coach Chris seems to have been eaten alive, while Harry B may have had the best idea of the day — pulling his scrum cap down over his face in an attempt to survive the swarm.
Rugby lessons learned, character shown, and a few insect bites collected along the way.
Another memorable morning for the Sale FC U11s. 💙🏉
