On Sunday 7 February, Shiplake played host to the hotly anticipated Shiplake 7s. The tournament marks the beginning of the 2016 schools’ rugby 7s season, and attracts a lot of attention. Top rugby teams from schools across the country headed to the College to play against their rivals in the competition. Teams from Caterham, Tonbridge, Cheltenham, Hurstpierpoint, Seaford, Abingdon, Bedford, Oakham, Haileybury, Radley, Worth and, of course, Shiplake were put into four pools, and battled it out across the pitches to become the proud winner of the Cracknell Cup. Named for Old Viking Chris Cracknell, who left Shiplake in 2006, the cup is in honour of the incredible achievements Chris made in the world of rugby; he has represented a myriad of teams from Harlequins, Newbury, and Bath, to England in a 7s World Cup.
Having been launched in 2013, the curtain-raising event is fast becoming a calendar staple. Hurstpierpoint were champions of the inaugural games, and Wellington were the winners for 2015. The competition was very much open for a new champion to lift the Cup.
However, getting through the tough pool stages is a challenge for every team; 14 minutes of gruelling matches make for a physically exhausting day for the boys. Testing their skills and endurance, the players braved the freezing weather to take on their opponents. Group C saw Abingdon and Oakham beaten by Bedford, who showed a strong display of dominance from the very beginning – indeed, fifteenrugby.com had them marked as potential winners from the first whistle. Tonbridge topped Group A, beating Caterham and hosts Shiplake. Haileybury won Group D over Radley and Worth, and Seaford College won Group B over Cheltenham and Hurst. Tonbridge then played Haileybury, winning by quite a margin of 45-19, whilst Bedford beat Seaford College 29-19. The losing teams went on to play for the Howe Plate, which went to Seaford after a 26-17 win over Haileybury. Cheltenham College walked away with the Bowl, winning 17-12 over Radley College. Worth collected the Trophy, with a 19-10 win over Hurstpierpoint. The final piece of silverware, the Vase, went to Oakham, after their 17-10 triumph over Caterham.
Shiplake took on Abingdon in an incredibly close battle for the Shield. Captain Charlie Sitchel, Billy Sayers and Zach Heppner-Logan were the scorers for the game, giving it their all in a tightly fought game. With Abingdon scoring two tries early, the pressure was on for the host team to up the ante; the Shiplake defence was strong and they put pressure on the Abingdon line, eventually breaking through and evening the score. Abingdon were very strong in handling, and what ensued was an even match, with both sides using the full length of the pitch. Although Abingdon managed to get the winning score of 24, the final word was Shiplake’s, as they scored the last try of the match.
Tonbridge took on Bedford in a nail-biting final match to see who would be crowned winners of the Cracknell Cup. However, it was Bedford that were crowned the winners, beating Tonbridge by a healthy 26-10.
Head of Rugby Mr Sam Beckett, who was instrumental in organising the spectacular event, commented that ‘despite not walking away with any silverware, the boys played superbly and showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the game. We have several more tournaments to come and then the big one at Rosslyn Park on Wednesday 16 March, so we’ll look forward to coming out fighting! Congratulations to all involved and many thanks to our supporters.'