Chronicle 687

70 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Rugby Sevens

The U15B team experienced a season of highs and lows, with the highs coming at either end of the season with big wins and impressive performances against Merchant Taylors’ (56-42) and MCS (60 12) at the start and against Haileybury (37-0), Bedford Modern (33-31) and Lord Wandsworth (26-24) at the end of the season. The middle part of the season saw tough fixtures against Clifton and Oundle – the boys were unfortunate to lose narrowly to Stowe (21-29). The end of season accolades were awarded to Daniel Rakhmatov (Players’ Player) and Archie Rigby (Coaches’ Player). U14s The U14 squads demonstrated significant growth and enthusiasm in their first year in cornflower blue and yellow. The season has presented some significant learning moments for the Shells which they will be able to draw upon as they go through their rugby journey at Teddies. The U14As had a great start to the season with a 22-19 win over Reading Blue Coat but came across some stiff opposition in the middle part of the season. They were unlucky not to come away with more wins under their belts having lost very narrowly to Stowe (12-19), Haileybury (19-22) and Lord Wandsworth (12-17). Their awards went to Steffan Jones (Players’ Player) and Tibaud Leake (Coaches’ Player). The U14Bs had a relatively successful start to their Teddies careers winning five out of their 10 fixtures, highlights being wins against MCS (22-20) and Kingham Hill (52-5). There were also wins against Reading Blue Coat (39-31), Merchant Taylors’ (28-17) and Bedford Modern (27-26). Individual achievements were celebrated, with awards recognising dedication and improvement, Noah Salah was named Player’s Player and Callum Wallace Coaches’ Player. The 2024 rugby season at St Edward’s was marked by determination, growth, and notable achievements across all age groups. The dedication of our players, coaches, and support staff has been instrumental in fostering a culture of excellence and sportsmanship. As we look forward to the next season, the experiences and lessons from this year will undoubtedly propel our teams to even greater heights.

Will Mowat, Oscar Danby, Mukeah Turay and Hal Holland on Upper 1

Senior Sevens The 1st VII went into the Sevens season with huge amounts of confidence thanks to a successful end to the XV-a-side season. Will Mowat was chosen as captain with Bertie Gowen and Hal Holland in supporting roles. The season kicked off at Pangbourne and, against some tough opposition, the boys played some exceptional 7s, finishing third overall and beating Pangbourne, MCS and Stowe. The next tournament in the schedule was Oakham 7s. The boys were drawn in a tough group consisting of Denstone College, Stamford, Felsted and Framlingham College and again finished an admirable third, beating Framlingham and Felsted and losing to Stamford and Denstone. Stowe put on a great performance in the Bowl Semi-Final to defeat us 21-24. The boys were quickly back in action at the Reading Blue Coat tournament where they finished second overall beating Rams, Reading Blue Coat and Salisbury Sixth Form College and drawing with Shiplake. The group stages of Rosslyn Park couldn’t have gone any better with the boys playing some sublime 7s to defeat Coleg Sir Benfro, Coventry College and Finborough School. This saw them top their group and set up an elimination game against Gower College, Swansea. Gower started the game the better of the two sides, denying Teddies possession for the entirety of the first half and going into the half-time break 19-0 up. Some words of wisdom from the coaches and Captain Will Mowat must have done the trick as the boys put on a faultless second half performance to take the game 28-19. Teddies started day two in fine fashion defeating Millfield 19-12. Knowing that a win against Samuel Whitbread would most likely be enough to see them through to the knockout stages, the boys were confident, however it was Samuel Whitbread who took the game, winning 14-38. Millfield defeated Samuel Whitbread 28-12 which meant that Teddies needed to defeat King’s Bruton by 51 points to progress! The boys pulled out a stellar performance to win 52-0 meaning that they progressed to the quarter-finals

for the fourth time in four

years. Teddies raced into a 14-point lead in their quarter-final but were ultimately defeated 14-24. The team had overcome significant challenges during the course of the tournament to get to the knockout stages. In the post-match huddle the boys made the commitment to each other to strive to go at least one step further next year. U16s I coached the U16 1st VII this year alongside Sean Thompson, looking for next year’s potential 1st XV players and helping players embed some of the plays, systems and structure that they will need for next year. The boys performed well at Oakham finishing third in their group beating Framlingham but losing to St Joseph’s and Oundle. This set up a Bowl Semi-Final match against Rugby who unfortunately proved too strong for Teddies, taking the game 24-7. The boys doubled their efforts in training and the ranks were bolstered by four outstanding U15 players as they prepared for Rosslyn Park. The boys were drawn in a group against Lord Wandsworth College, University College School and Coopers’ Company and Coborn School. The day started in exceptional fashion with a 17-14 win over Lord Wandsworth. The boys were full of confidence going into the University College School game but they went down 17-33 which left them needing to score a significant number of points and concede even less. The boys stepped up and pulled out their performance of the day to beat Coopers’ 31-10 but missed out on qualification to the elimination round by 20 points.