HORNETS Under-17s finished their season with a successful and eventful tour to Paris.

HORNETS Under-17s finished their season with a successful and eventful tour to Paris.

Unfortunately, due to an itinerary mix-up, they found themselves having to play a match after travelling for over 12 hours against Rugby Club Creteil-Choisy Under-19s and were unlucky to narrowly lose.

The fact that the team played this game after travelling through the night speaks volumes about their commitment and attitude. Afterwards they enjoyed the post-match hospitality provided.

The rest of the weekend comprised of a cultural tour of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, a tour of Stade Francais and a day at Euro Disney before returning home.

Hornets Under-17s would like to thank their tour sponsors Edmundson Electrical for their support.

The Under-11s finished off their season in fine style with two tours in a month.

The first saw the lads travel to St Tropez to take part in an international festival with teams from France, Italy and Spain. This was a big challenge for the young players who had to adjust to different playing laws and tactics.

The players warmed up with a game against the local team of Port Grimond. This was a hard physical encounter with the game played at a high tempo. Only strong leadership in the first half from Fen Acreman and Oliver Coppage kept the team's discipline in defence to hold out the strong French opposition.

In the second half the players adjusted to the new tactics and tempo of the match and turned defence into attack with great plays from Sam Aplin, Bertie Maoine, Mitchell Sage and Ashley Locker leading to three second-half tries and eventually winning by three tries to one.

The team took part in the estival and played eight matches in a league format. The lads, now fully adjusted to the new style of rugby, played extremely well with Dan Murtagh and Josh Hopper making breaks at every opportunity with close support by Leon Counsel and Keenan Harvey.

This led to a wining format with tries being scored by almost every player on tour and the team managing to win six matches out of the eight and drawing one match two tries each.

Hornets lost only one match to a French national league 1 team CARF, two tries to one.

The second tour took place in Cornwall, the weather was not as good as St Tropez, but the team was back playing in an accustomed style. Matches took place against Looe who fielded a strong side.

Hornets played the best rugby of the season with good scrum-half work by Ryan Heeney, linking to Scott Beeching who launched the backs into attack, and three unanswered first half tries were soon on the score sheet.

In the second half, Looe repeatedly attacked but were kept at bay by great defensive work from William Hillman and Callum Manning.

The second match of the morning was played against Fowey Lankelly who had featured well in national minis tournaments. This became a tight and hard fought match with no side getting the upper hand. Only Tom Townsend's dependable play at full-back kept the opposition out and the match finished a draw.

Hornets travelled to Tavistock and all their hard work during previous matches came good, winning nine tries to one. The forwards linked well with the back line and created four scoring opportunities for Jacob Hill, and William Kennett powered through the defence to score his first try for Hornets.