U13 XV
In the early days of the season the team had to be carried by the more experienced backs. Winning enough ball to make an impression on teams was always going to be difficult with the majority of the forwards playing their first full season of rugby. However, the forwards knuckled down to the task and made rapid progress as the season progressed. Despite losing our first game to a strong Notingham High School (7-29), it was only the second week of the season when we gained our first win (19-14) against a rugged Woodlands School team from Coventry. Captain Alex Kirke led the team with distinction, he defended bravely and was a stalwart in midfield. His switch to centre in the early part of the season allowed Jack Matthews-Jolly to move to fly half, a position he made his own with his tactical awareness and his tenacious defence. Charlie Rodman settled in well at full-back where he read the game well, but he was pressed hard by the hard tackling Christopher Allen in the later stages of the season.
We managed to compete well in all of our early games, gaining notable victories over Bedford Modern School (12-5) and King Edward’s School, Birmingham (19-7). James Trueman supplied much of our attacking threat; he scored almost half of the team’s points and with a little more confidence in his ability to attack on the outside he could have been even more successful. Wingers Frank Phillips, Jamie Broomhall and Joe Sharp caused defences problems with their dangerous runs, while at scrum-half William Barber’s defence often gave a lead to the whole team in how to tackle, while still managing to supply an excellent service to his half-back partner. Defence was a problem at the beginning, with a number of soft tries being conceded. However, we eventually became much more workmanlike in this area, as witnessed by the fact that despite losing more games than we won before Christmas, the team never lost by more than ten points, until a heavy defeat by a massive and unbeaten Warwick School side (46 –7) at the end of November.
By the end of the term the forwards had improved beyond recognition and were now beginning to make their presence felt. The front row of Sam Fletcher, Jack Walden and James Meredith scrummaged hard and frequently caused disruption to the opposition with their bullocking runs in loose play. We had lost promising newcomer Ben Timms to a persistent knee complaint in the early part of the term, but George Gibbs rose to the occasion and became a dominant lineout presence. Rohan Thomson and Tom Baines gained in stature as the season progressed and they provided solid support. Daniel Sinton proved to be a tenacious open-side flanker, but the main penetration in the pack came from the powerful running of Alex Crichton on the flank and from number eight Robert Ashby. Robert was the dominant forward in many games, he defended belligerently and had the pace and running skills to threaten the best of defences. We go forward optimistically into the new season with a battle- hardened and much more confident team.
The B team started the season brightly by winning two out of the first three matches, against King’s Worcester (17-0) and King Henry VIII Coventry (41-0). Unfortunately they then lost a number of games by narrow margins. However, in the last game of the term they gained an encouraging victory over a useful Trent College team, winning by 12-0. A number of the team gained experience in the A team during the season and they are likely to be competing for places in the A team next term. A total of 50 players played for the A & B teams during the course of the term and this indicates the enthusiasm in the squad.
The seven-a-side season was successful although we did not win any tournaments. We were competitive in all games and technically our play was pleasing. Our most memorable moment was the manner of our victory against a confident Warwick School team in their own tournament. The annual visit to the National Sevens at Rosslyn Park was most enjoyable.We did not progress beyond our group, but the event will be talked about for years to come.
I would like to thank Mr Patrick Hall-Palmer for all of his encouragement and coaching of the B team during the last four years.We will miss his enthusiasm and commitment. Finally, we would like to thank our parents who supported our team extremely well last season. Many of them even travelled away, often losing their way, despite ‘satnav’ technology, but normally managing to find some pub en-route.
Mr G A Ginns