Chronicle 687

69 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Senior Rugby (3rd XV) The 3rd XV’s season started promisingly with big wins over Marlborough College (36-29) and Clifton College (30-12), but they then faced stiff opposition against Oundle, Stowe and Harrow. The boys were unlucky to go down by one point to Haileybury (19-20) in what was their performance of the season. The boys will be excited about the prospect of a fuller fixture card next season allowing them to develop more cohesion and consistency. Their awards went to John Cartwright (Players’ Player) and Freddy Neill (Coaches’ Player). U16s The U16As were coached by Andrew Goldsmith, Andrew Grounds and Gabs Lowe OSE this year and they faced a rigorous schedule, contending with formidable opponents throughout the season. Despite the challenges, they secured significant victories, including wins against MCS (38-0), King’s Worcester (30-7) and Harrow (26-0). Jonnie Perkins and Harrison Cox, thanks to their performances over the season, have been selected to represent Gloucester Rugby U16 Academy Squad and the 1st XV. The team has displayed great potential and several players are poised to advance to senior rugby next season. Individual accolades were awarded to Theo Tustian (Players’ Player) and Victor

Scates (Coaches’ Player), recognising their outstanding contributions throughout the season. The U16Bs enjoyed a very successful start to the season with a narrow loss to Merchant Taylors’ (27-29) and huge wins against MCS (60-12) and Clifton College (52-0). They faced some tough opposition in their next block of fixtures, derailing their season slightly, however they stormed back to finish on a high with a victory over Lord Wandsworth (36-21). Despite the losses in the middle part of the season the boys scored 196 points over their seven fixtures and conceded only 195 points which shows how competitive their

season was. The awards at the end of the season went to Ferdie Oakes (Players’ Player) and Tommy Welchman (Coaches’ Player). The U16Cs unfortunately only played three fixtures over the course of the season but performed admirably, losing to Marlborough College (12-40) and narrowly to Oundle (10 14) and beating Clifton handsomely (50-0). End of season awards went to Harry Stewart Liberty (Players’ Player) and Skipper Toby Stott (Coaches’ Player).

Bertie Gowen at Rosslyn Park

U15s Following on from an extremely impressive first season in Teddies colours as U14s there were high expectations for the U15As. The season didn’t start as well as we had hoped, with a 0-19 loss to Reading Blue Coat. The boys got straight back to their winning ways with three victories against Merchant Taylors’ (36-15), MCS (57-10) and Shiplake in the Cup (22-14). As with the rest of the teams across the club the boys then entered their most challenging block of fixtures and were unfortunate not to come away with a win as they went down to Clifton College (34 49), RGS High Wycombe in the Cup (12 56) and Oundle (17-22). The boys reacted well coming back with an extremely impressive win over local rivals Stowe (41-17). The boys then ended the season in fine style with three further wins against Kingham Hill (50-18), Bedford Modern (29-27) and Lord Wandsworth (26-24). The performances over the course of the season have shown the level of potential that this group have and we will be excited to see them transition into the U16s next season. Awards went to Noah Casey (Players’ Player) and Kasuka Mutukwa (Coaches’ Player). Louis Peirsegaele and Seb Watters earned selection for Gloucester Rugby U15 Foundation Phase Group and Theo Williams has been selected for the Northampton Saints U15 Foundation Phase Group.

Zac Hartley