Following Hampton School’s superb Daily Mail Cup quarter final victory over Truro School, Fifteen Rugby caught up with Hampton’s Director of Rugby, Zoran Higgins, to get his take on the game, here’s what he had to say.

“It was a very good and high level match. Truro were a very forward dominated side who possessed a strong set-piece and a good kicking game.  We had done our homework on them and understood what their threats were, but more importantly where there weaknesses were and then targeted these.”  

“We were quietly confident going into the game that if we could achieve, at least, parity at the set-piece, which we more than did, and get to their fly half with our big ball carriers that we would have too many threats across the team.  Our idea was to play with some tempo and exploit the fact that we play on a strong fixture list – we have had to learn some lessons this season, which has really helped the growth of the team.’

“As a result we have developed a side that possess threats across it and it means that we can play in a number of styles depending on how we need to play to win.”  

The whole side played well to be honest; however, standout players were Alex Lundberg, Hugh Browne, George Fulton, Akira Takenaka, Tom MccGwire and Harry Hall.”

“I thought that Graham Whitmore ,Truro’s Director of Rugby, his boys and school deserved a huge amount of credit.  Their team was clearly very well coached and full of good, and young, players.  The Truro boys contributed to what was a great game of full-blooded rugby; exactly the way the sport was meant to be played!”

“The Hampton parents were extremely complimentary with regards to Truro School’s hospitality.  On the journey home, my boys spoke of their respect for the way in which the Truro lads played and their hospitality after the game.”

Victory over Truro School puts Hampton into the semi finals of the Daily Mail Cup, which will take place on the 2^nd March at Broadstreet RFC.

Joining them will be the winners of Wilmslow High v Warwick, Dulwich College v Sherborne and Northampton School for Boys v The King’s School, Macclesfield.

The superb form of Higgins’ side has seen them crowned the Fifteen Rugby Team of the Month for January 2013, and if they continue to play in the same manner they could find themselves collecting many more awards over the course of the season.