THE MRFC U12 Tigers brought three weekends of fixtures to a close last Sunday at the Wolverhampton festival.

Their first fixture against local giants Hereford bought a surprise win for Malvern with a seven tries to one whitewash, a win dominated again by the cornerstone of the pack, Louis Jones.

The next fixture away at Bromsgrove saw the Tigers come into their own with an impressive three tries to one success.

Ben Shaw dropped into the scrum half slot for the first time and as well as giving service to the backs blunted many of the Bromsgrove attacks, topping it off with a try and was voted man of the match.

Michael Webber, last year's most improved player, also hit the scoreboard along with Harry Jelly who was held up over the Bromsgrove line denying him a second score.

The score in that game completely misses the aggression shown by the whole of the squad from Robbie Field, who was clearly tackler of the day, to Max Sharpe and Chris Spicer, who fitted excellently into outside centre and fly half roles.

The festival bought the Tigers up against the toughest competition they will face this season and it took the grit of props Sam Cornick and Tom Hughes to hold back the formidable sized packs they faced. Worn down by the pressure in the pack the French brothers, who only played in the second row for the third time, were replaced by Sam Pocock and Fraser Pearson who managed to hold back the tide until the fourth and final game.

Sam Merley stood out with his ability to ruck and maul but man of the day without a doubt was Luke Lupton who took his first shot at scrum half and gave the bravest display of tackling seen by a Tiger all season.