St Edward's Chronicle April 2018

34 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Rugby By Rob Cottrell, Master i/c Rugby

Teddies takes great pride in its rugby, and the 2017 season was certainly no exception. The Autumn Term is a hugely challenging one, not least because it is the longest with up to a dozen fixtures for some teams and inevitably the club has to get going from a standing start following too many weeks of summer inactivity – for pupils and staff alike! The pre-season programme, however, soon made that a thing of the past with all year groups working tirelessly and cohesively in challenging summer temperatures to set the tone for what was to become a lengthy but outstanding season for many teams. The 1st XV signed off an outstanding season that will be remembered for several years with an emphatic victory over Malvern away from home. Having won eight out of ten fixtures, the 1st XV finished 11th in the national Daily Mail Cup standings, an unbelievable achievement for a school of our size, and were only six collective points from an unbeaten season (two point loss

to an undefeated Cheltenham College and by 4 points to a formidable Haileybury College during pre-season). Indeed it was the 1st XV’s most successful season in recent memory and there were a number of close matches which teams of less character may not have won. The XV went on to some of their most memorable wins to date, not least the 20-0 whitewash of Rugby and the 22-19 victory over Clifton College. The highlight of the season for the boys, however, was the convincing 25-12 win at home against Radley. Under Henry Emmott’s leadership, Dekoye Coker was once again outstanding all season, bagging ten tries in the process. Cameron King won the award of players’ player, supported by best newcomers Harry Woodall and Ollie Kynge who were constant physical threats in the forwards and backs respectively. Luke Valentine was a fine orchestrator, receiving the coaches’ player of the year for his superb performances.

In their final season playing as a single year group, the Colts signed off from Lower School rugby on a high. They have applied themselves consistently well to training making great progress in terms of their skills and game understanding. As a squad they aspire to play a fast and loose brand of rugby, underpinned by a desire to keep the ball alive, and it has been hugely rewarding to observe the improvement of their skill sets allowing them to open up defences and score some stunning tries. In terms of fixtures it was a challenging start to the season sustaining losses against Haileybury, Rugby and Clifton, before defeating Radley away from home: one of the highlights of the season and an 80-point turnaround from their fixture two years ago in the Shells. The second half of the season saw the boys play some expansive and confrontational rugby winning 6 out of 7 games to finish the season with a record of 7 wins and 4 losses. The boys were a credit to Mr Parker and Mr Turner who wish them well as they graduate to the demands

Jack Verschoyle and Cameron King in action v MCS