Once again we had a brilliant weekend of school rugby, with some extraordinary scorelines from some teams, and some brilliantly tight and tense affairs from others.
As ever, it makes choosing a standout five teams of the weekend a tough task, but an enjoyable on nonetheless, hopefully you will agree with at least some of our selections!
Top 5 Schools of the Weekend
Abingdon
Victories by a 36-5 margin are pretty impressive anyway, but 36-5 victories over a team with the players and coaching staff that Cheltenham College have is highly impressive indeed, yet that is exactly what Abingdon did.
In fairness, it should not have been a surprise to see such a strong scoreline, Abingdon had won two of their three games leading up to this, including a 62-5 victory over Magdalen College.
Abingdon have a week off ahead of Radley College on the 11th, and that game will certainly be worth watching.
Denstone College
We predicted a tight game between Ellesemere College and Denstone College, with Ellesmere just prevailing. What actually happened as an astonishing 51-15 victory for Denstone, a stunning result.
It means that in their last two games Denstone have scored 116 points, a pretty stunning recovery from their opening day defeat to Bromsgrove and real justification for the early season hype surrounding their potential this year.
Up next they have the high flying Kirkham Grammar, before a foray into the St Joseph’s Festival. Keep up this form and they could be a real dark horse there.
Kirkham Grammar School
Kirkham have played four, won four, and have scored a barely believable 189 points in those four games, including hitting fifty in each of the last three, they have also only conceded twenty-eight points.
They have been deserving of a spot in our top five for weeks now, but this week with a 59-7 victory over St Ambrose College, their highest score of the lot, they finally make it.
It is going to be an interesting period for them leading up to half term, with RGS Lancaster and Denstone College up first before a huge trip down to Tonbridge that will be their biggest test of all, on this form they have every chance of passing it.
Stonyhurst
At Fifteen Rugby we do enjoy a spirited team and a game that requires heart and soul to win it just as much as it does skill, and this weekend Stonyhurst certainly gave us that, landing a last minute penalty to beat Bradford Grammar School.
They were 28-27 down to the prestigious rugby school, who have already beaten Durham and Ampleforth this season, yet were able to dig deep and fight their way to win a kickable penalty and seal the game 30-28, and brilliant show of desire and nerve.
Stonyhurst have been regarded as dark horses for a little while now, perhaps they are now on the cusp of proving why.
Wellington College
Wellington put in a performance of true grit and determination to beat Whitgift 16-6 on Saturday. With a 13-6 lead at half time Wellington found themselves camped on their own tryline for large periods of the second half yet managed to prevent Whitgift crossing the whitewash throughout.
It was a performance of defensive brilliance, about sheer desire and tenacity in defence more than anything else, and we found it deeply impressive. It also keeps alive their unbeaten season, which so far now reads as three wins and a draw.
All of which makes their tussle with Millfield a week tomorrow all the more interesting – it will surely be one of the games of the season.
Honourable mentions – As ever, there could have been many other teams in our top 5 and there are a few who deserve a quick honourable mention, notably Wilmslow High, for inflicting a second defeat of the season on Daily Mail Trophy winners Woodhouse Grove, and to Millfield, who produced another stunning performance, this time a 40-0 victory over Bryanston, whose own pedigree is shown by having 6 old boys in the Bath ‘A’ squad yesterday evening.
Do you agree with our top 5 school teams of the weekend or would you have selected some other sides? Let us know via @FifteenRugbyXV or you can you’re your say through the comment box below.
