The Lent Term is a very busy period for rugby 7s, competing in several festivals with all eyes on Rosslyn Park and the end of term.
The U12s competed well in their county cup, gaining valuable experience in festival rugby. The U13s had good preparation for their Rosslyn Park games as they went undefeated in their County Cup. At Rosslyn Park they started off strongly with a win against Blundells (20-15), losses would follow against a fast Bedford Modern School team. A great match against the eventual pool winners Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School ended in a 30-25 defeat. They finished the day with a brilliant win against King's College School (KCS), Wimbledon.
The U14s had a challenging term but learnt a lot of lessons, which will put them in a stronger position for the Michaelmas Term. At Rosslyn Park, the U14s started well in their first game against Kingsbridge in a tight contest that ran away from us in the last minutes. St Anselms and Solihull proved a much greater test and despite strong resistance we came away with two more losses.
The U16s started off their 7s season at Oakham. As a result of unavailability this was a fantastic opportunity to lots of U15 boys to get into contention for selection for Uppingham 7s the following week. Uppingham 7s tournament would prove that Norwich School U16s can compete with the best, as they reached the final. With great wins against Oundle School, Stamford, Uppingham and Finborough on route to the final. A strong Bromsgrove side proved one step too far, however, it took them until the final 2 minutes to take the lead. At Rosslyn Park, the U16s would start the day off with a 24 point draw against Pangbourne College. In their following group games, some great wins against Graveney School and Kingsbridge Community College left them at the top of the pool. To qualify for day 2, they faced Cheltenham School, a very strong opposition, the boys came second best, but an outstanding effort from all involved.
The Under 18 7s season has been an exciting one all round. The season began with the Northampton Saints 7s tournament at The Perse School. This was a great opportunity to put in to practice the hard work in training whilst also giving some experience to some who are new to 7s. Highlights included good wins again Bishop Stortford High school and Oundle School to reach the Plate Final.
The U18 County Cup hosted at Redmayne was next and both the 1st and 2nd seven were in action. The 2nd seven fought hard against Wymondham College and Gresham’s in their pool whilst the 1st seven went unbeaten all afternoon beating Wymondham College in the final to retain the Trophy.
Two trips to the East Midlands followed with the Oakham and Uppingham 7s on consecutive weekends. 4 wins from 4 in the pool stages at Oakham including good wins against Eton College and Bedford School took Norwich to the Semi Finals losing out to a strong Finborough team. Uppingham followed with another strong pool stage winning 3/4 beating Gresham’s School, Bedford School and Stamford School only losing to eventual winners Bromsgrove.
The season culminated in the prestigious Rosslyn Park National 7s Cup Competition in which the top 60 schools in the country compete. Entered into a pool containing 3 professional rugby academy colleges and Wellington College, we knew qualification for the second day of the competition would be difficult. An enthralling live-streamed victory vs one of the tournament favourites Beechen Cliff including spectacular tries from Tobias Spencer, Freddie Snary and Ollie Shipp and heroic defence from Oscar Ratledge and Freddie Snary, was an important start to the day. A close victory against Oaklands College followed, with thanks to ferocious work around the breakdown from Edward Tremelling and powerful running from Jonathan Ikazoboh and Harvey Nkrumah. An in form Wellington College were then shocked Norwich’s ability to retain possession in a game that we unfortunately lost by one score. However, an emphatic victory over Richard Huish to finish the day confirmed qualification the the Plate Competition the following day, with the UK’s top 24 schools remaining. Day 2 proved less fruitful as the the strength of the opposition squads showed, meaning we were unable to qualify for the Plate Finals. Despite this, the performance of the squad was exceptional and it was great for them to have the support from those watching back at school.
Thank you to the U6 who were involved in their final outings for the rugby club and have contributed so much over this season and over a number of years.
