It was a busy week for our rugby players last week with four teams playing at Rosslyn Park National School Sevens - the largest school rugby tournament in the world. It was brilliant to have a strong representation at the tournament with pupils from U13 to U18 playing for the College. It was the first time that we have had four teams at the tournament which is a real sign of progress within rugby at the College.
The U18 boys were the first of our teams to play at the tournament on Monday 18 March. Placed into a challenging group with strong schools, the boys went down in each game though each contest was close in nature and often high scoring – all despite being 7-minute halves. Their results were 14-22, 28-35, and 14-26. Another try in the first two matches could’ve led to a different outcome overall but alas, it was not meant to be as the team bowed out of the tournament.
On Tuesday 20 March, our U14s had some success winning their first game 19-10. This was followed by a close 10-17 loss in the second game before a physically strong St Paul’s overcame our boys 36-0 in the final match. Nonetheless, winning their first game of the day meant that our U14s finished 3rd out of 4 in their pool.
Wednesday 21 March saw our U16s in action and they would go on to be our most successful outfit at this year’s tournament. They swept aside Coopers' Company & Coborn School 52-19 in the first game before producing a heroic comeback in the second game to win against Merchant Taylors’ School. Down by 19-0 at half-time, our boys scored 4 tries in as many minutes to win 28-26. This set up a final match showdown against Rugby School with the winner proceeding through to the knockout stage. Both teams knew that a win would guarantee passage, and this was clear in the early stages of the game with each trading early tries. However, it was Rugby School that prevailed 35-19 and our U16s had to settle for a 2nd place finish in the group. In previous years, this may have been enough to send them through nonetheless but due to the number of entries this year, only the top placed team from each group progressed.
Our U13s were the last team to compete at the tournament and did so on Friday 23 March. They played five matches in their group which included two wins – one being a 30-15 win over Ryde School and the other a strong performance and 20-15 win over Stamford School. Those two results secured them a 5th place finish however it was the win over Stamford that proved to be a highlight. With Stamford coming 3rd in the group and just a single point off 1st place, the results show just tight the group was in the end.
Well done to the following pupils who did a fantastic job of representing the College:
- 1st VII: A Langton, H Simmons, O Smaje, B Zacharias, S Bailey, H Benton, W Rider, F Hawkes, L Spence, J Cooper, D Coles, P White, and H Brough.
- U16 VII: S Baker, J Henshall, W Huckle, K O'Connor, G Demery, F Partridge, S Pickering, M Taylor-FitzGibbon, O Perkins, A Mullens, F Holgate, and H Terrington.
- U14 VII: B Oliver, E Grubb, O Spearing, EJ Tavinor, O Thomas, J Calow, A Lee, S Crisford, S Cripps, D Siddiqui, H Webb, T Sharp, and O Jomar.
- U13 VII: G Huckle, F Jenkins, O Thorpe, L Waldegrave, B Keown, M Terry, H Woodward, L Moss, J Filippetto, O Owens, O Houldsworth, L Ellison, and O Methven.
For many of these pupils, it would’ve been their first time playing rugby 7s, either in this season or in their rugby career. Playing at Rosslyn Park is always an experience as well and we’re sure that the day in London will leave many hungry for more in the future.
Flickr album: Rosslyn Park Rugby 7s 2024 |
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