The first widespread wet weekend of the season gave this week’s school games an extra dimension, and saw a fair few tight games as the running rugby made way for a more controlled type of game.
That said, there were sill a fair few big results, not least in one of our Daily Mail Trophy prediction competition fixtures.
Prediction Competition
That was from King’s Macclesfield, one of the form sides in September, who returned an outstanding 41-12 victory over the 2013 Daily Mail Trophy champions, Woodhouse Grove, their third defeat of the season.
Another highly impressive victory was Stowe’s 27-10 victory over Oundle. Oundle are a very good side this year but Stowe have lofty ambitions and proved why, going 27-5 up before a late Oundle score narrowed the gap a little.
Our other three prediction competition games were very tight indeed, despite that tightness though, there were still ten winners of this week’s competition, a great return.
Tonbridge were looking to bounce back from that gut wrenching midweek to Millfield, and did so brilliantly. They beat Radley, who have been a tough opponent for Tonbridge lately, by 12-3 in what was by all accounts a real dogfight.
Back down the M40 we had RGS High Wycombe v Hampton, a classic in the NatWest Cup quarter finals last year, and another excellent one this year. RGS ran out as 19-15 winners as they continue to build a good run of results following that horrible loss to Millfield, while for Hampton the result is still a decent one given their current injury crisis.
One fixture that many had an eye on, if social media is anything to go by, was Warwick v Whitgift. Last year’s NatWest Cup finalists against one of the best school sides of the last decade.
Warwick took the game, 17-13, an important win for them as they look to demonstrate that the current high praise that surrounds them is justified – it would certainly appear to be.
Previewed Games
Our five major previewed games also returned some interesting results, Sedbergh proved their undoubted strength with a 68-17 victory over Ampleforth College, while Sherborne backed up their early season form with an excellent 22-0 victory over Marlborough College.
The other three games were far tighter. Grammar School at Leeds and RGS Newcastle both had plenty of players rested for various reasons and almost had a major effect as RGS came as close as anyone to beating Grammar School at Leeds this season, just missing out by three points at 24-21.
Bedford are the only other side to have come that close to topping GSAL, and they had to work hard this weekend to beat Oakham, eventually prevailing 29-20 to continue their good season.
Dulwich have had an excellent start to the year and carried that on with an excellent 20-15 away victory over Brighton College, no mean side themselves, it will definitely be worth keeping an eye on Dulwich as they build towards the St Joseph’s Festival in two weeks.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere St Paul’s did well to beat high flying Abingdon 20-15, while Bedford Modern came within a point of Stamford, who won 10-9, a result that both sides will probably see as a positive, Bedford Modern for getting so close, and Stamford for carrying on that winning habit away from home.
Bromsgrove beat Solihull 27-0, they appear to be very formidable this year, while Hymers won their sixth game in a row with their 23-17 victory over Durham.
One of the big surprises was a 16-0 win for KCS Wimbledon over Champions Trophy quarter finalists Eton College, a truly excellent result. Eton’s opponents in that quarter final are Millfield, they were in no mood to stop their winning ways though, beating Cowbridge 50-5.
St Joseph’s College won their first ever Daily Mail Trophy game, a 14-3 victory over Northampton School for Boys.
Skinners’ surprised a few by beating Cranleigh 13-7, that was a surprise down south, but up in the north QEGS really got firing with a 54-21 victory over St Peter’s York. Kirkham Grammar School continued their fine start with a 39-3 victory over RGS Lancaster at Fylde RFC, while in another big game in the north Lymm High School beat Wilmslow High 32-24.
Epsom College meanwhile continued their fine start with a 33-17 victory over fellow Champions Trophy quarter finalists RGS Guildford.
Do you have any missing results, match reports, photos, or videos? Let us know via @FifteenRugbyXV promotions@fifteenrugby.com or via the comment box below.
Schools Rugby Results – Saturday 4th October
Daily Mail Trophy Prediction Competition Fixtures:
RGS High Wycombe 19-15 Hampton
King’s Macclesfield 41-12 Woodhouse Grove
Stowe 27-10 Oundle
Tonbridge 12-3 Radley College
Warwick 17-13 Whitgift
Five Previewed Fixtures:
Brighton College 15-20 Dulwich College
Grammar School at Leeds 24-21 RGS Newcastle
Marlborough College 0-22 Sherborne
Oakham 20-28 Bedford
Sedbergh 68-17 Ampleforth College
Other Results:
Abingdon 15-20 St Paul’s
Aylesbury GS 36-12 Reading Blue Coat
Bedford Modern 9-10 Stamford
Bradford GS 61-10 Nottingham HS
Bristol GS 40-5 RGS Worcester
Bromsgrove 27-0 Solihull
Campion 57-3 QES Barnet
Christ’s Hospital 39-14 Eastbourne College
City of London Freemen’s 28-0 Caterham
Colston’s 5-22 King’s College Taunton
DoY RMS 0-27 King’s Canterbury
Haileybury 7-28 St Albans
Hymers College 23-17 Durham
John Fisher 60-0 Ravens Wood
KCS Wimbledon 16-0 Eton College
Leicester GS 22-17 Bablake
London Oratory 13-22 Wimbledon College
Lord Wandsworth College 12-7 Churcher’s
Loughborough GS 5-12 Adams GS
Malvern College 8-31 Cheltenham College
Millfield 50-5 Cowbridge Comprehensive
Mill Hill 20-16 Pangbourne College
Monmouth 22-0 King’s Worcester
Northampton School for Boys 3-14 St Joseph’s College
Oratory 10-22 Reed’s
QEGS Wakefield 54-21 St Peter’s, York
Ratcliffe College 12-46 Mount St Mary’s
Reigate GS 13-25 Worth
RGS Guildford 17-33 Epsom College
RGS Lancaster 3-39 Kirkham GS
Rugby 17-19 Uppingham
Shiplake 0-7 Bloxham
Sir Thomas Rich’s 23-30 Kingswood
Skinners’ 13-7 Cranleigh
St Edward’s Oxford 0-36 Clifton College
St John’s Leatherhead 24-21 Hurstpierpoint
Trinity 55-5 New Hall
Wellington College 43-0 Harrow
Wilmslow High 24-32 Lymm High
Still to come:
Ashville v Giggleswick
Austin Friars v Merchiston Castle
Pocklington v Barnard Castle
Sevenoaks v Eltham College
St Benedict’s v Tiffin
Trent College v Old Swinford Hospital
