Last weekend, the annual Cracknell Cup Rugby 7s tournament returned to Shiplake College as 16 schools, 192 players, 40 coaches, six referees and four medical staff descend on Shiplake's own New Field. Buoyed by their performance at the St Edward’s Oxford 7s two weeks earlier, the 1st VII had high hopes for the Shiplake 7s on the road to Rosslyn Park National School 7s in March.
The much anticipated first match against group favourites, Haileybury, started well with pace and power shown by the 1st VII with tries by Louis Ashcroft, JJ Acton, Matty Fitzgerald & Harvey Hendry which gave the boys a 24-0 lead going into half-time. Haileybury started the second half well, scoring within 2 minutes. Harvey Hendry and Rory Diez-Harrison put the game out of sight in the last two minutes of the match leaving the final score at 36-5. A huge result against a well-known rugby playing school who, prior to the Shiplake 7s were tipped as one of the favourites for the Cracknell Cup.
Next up were New Hall School, well known for being specialists in the shorter form of the game. Shiplake didn’t play to their strengths and allowed the match to be a bit of a dog fight. Robbie Cartwright gave the 1st VII some go-forward and scored twice and the boys went into half-time, 12-0 up. The second half was just as messy as the first, with New Hall scoring first but the pace of Harvey Hendry and JJ Acton was too much for the New Hall defence, scoring two converted tries making the score 26-5 going into the last two minutes. New Hall scored a consolation try in the final minute making the final score 26-10.
The final group game for the 1st VII was the clash of the only two teams to win both their group matches. Louis Ashcroft started the ball rolling with a lovely solo effort to score after only 2 minutes. Hurst quickly replied with a converted try making the score 5-7 to Hurst at the half time break. JJ Acton started the second half well and weaved through the Hurst defence to take the lead 12-7. It was looking like the 1st VII may top their group but Hurst scored two tries in the final minutes of the match, sneaking the game with a final score of 12-19 and finished top of the group.
After the group stages, Shiplake were placed second in the group and entered the Shield & Bowl semi-finals and were pitted against Caterham. Regulars at the Shiplake 7s, year-on-year Caterham were known for having some pace out wide which the 1st VII were confident they could handle. The game was a very well-matched affair, with Shiplake and Caterham trading blows for the entire match. Tries by Joe Tucker, Joe Booth, Robbie Cartwright and Matty Fitzgerald left the score 26-26 at full time with the match going to “golden try”. Caterham kicked off and gave the 1st VII possession. Shiplake, determined to progress to the Shield final put pressure on the Caterham defence through runs by Casper Wise and Louis Ashcroft. Ten meters out of the opposition try line, Lucas Smyth found himself in space and Matt Dalrymple put in a deft cross-field kick which is becoming a trademark of the Shiplake 1st VII.
The 1st VII were in the final of the Shield against Eastbourne, the third tier competition behind the Plate and the Cracknell Cup. JJ Acton, Louis Ashcroft and Robbie Cartwright started the scoring off and the Shiplake boys went into half time 17-7 up. Sadly, one of the Eastbourne boys ended up with a fractured ankle and after the medics had taken care of him, the second half got under way. With the Shield in their grasp, the 1st VII continued to show their power game and the final try of the day was awarded to JJ Acton with the final score 24-12.
Next up is the Hampton 7s after a week deserved half-term break for the 1st VII squad.
Report Provided by Director of Rugby Mr Sam Beckett