For October’s School Team of the Month, we revealed that there would be a Fans Team of the Month as well as the regular Fifteen Rugby School Team of the Month.
The vote proved hugely popular, with five schools emerging at the top of the pile, Kirkham Grammar School, Millfield, Oakham, Sedbergh, and Wellington College.
Between those five they collected a staggering 84% of the vote, however within that there was one school that stood head and shoulder above the rest in the eyes of our fans.
It was clear why each was there, Kirkham Grammar School have been in unstoppable form and proved their quality by travelling down to the South of England and defeating schoolboy heavyweights, Tonbirdge.
Millfield won the St Jsoeph’s Festival, arguably the toughest test in schools rugby, and often a good barometer for our Team of the Month award. The South West side also progressed to the Champions Trophy semi finals.
Oakham too progressed to the Champions Trophy semi finals, and did so with an extraordinary victory over Epsom College, who were unbeaten for over a year.
Sedbergh have simply been in stunning form, unbeaten all month and averaging well over fifty points a game, they have honestly been close to unplayable.
Wellington College have been no less impressive and put in one of the all time great schools performances to convincingly beat Millfield at Oxford University’s Iffley Road, a result that was noted the length and breadth of the country.
Fans Team of the Month
Despite being 84% weighted between those five schools, within that one school was voted head and shoulders above the rest, acquiring 20% more votes than anyone else.
The Fans Team of the Month is Oakham School, who secured 29% of the vote, showing that rugby followers still love a story of the underdog rising to the top. It was an excellent month for Oakham, who recovered brilliantly from a sloppy start to the season to secure some good results. It was all about the Champions Trophy quarter final though, Oakham are a proud school with a good rugby history but that day the expectation was against them. To win was tremendous.
Fifteen Rugby School Team of the Month
With our selection of the official team of the month it was tempting to go with the fans vote, after all, who are we to argue with what hundreds and hundreds of schools rugby supporters think?
Our choice did, like the fans vote, come down to that same five schools – their achievements have all stood out brilliantly. There was a strong temptation to go with Sedbergh, their results have been almost ridiculously good, however that also gave the sense that this had perhaps not been their most testing month (and a look at their next fixtures tells you that there are some big challenges ahead).
For us that left Wellington College and Millfield. Oakham deserved their spot at the top of the Fans pile but we wanted to reward consistent excellence across the month.
Oddly that rather played out of Millfield’s hands as they lost to both Wellington and Bromsgrove. However winning the St Joseph’s Festival is such an achievement that it just has to merit very serious consideration for the award. Over the last two year’s the October Team of the Month has been the St Joseph’s Fesitval winner.
For a good few days it looked that way again but we kept coming back around to Wellington College. If they had beaten the St Joseph’s Festival winners, they simply had to be considered the best.
They won four from four in October, beating Harrow, Eton, Sherborne, and of course Millfield, averaging over forty points a game – against that level of opposition, that is staggering.
Therefore the Fifteen Rugby School team of the Month is Wellington College. Four wins from four, 43-0 v Harrow, 41-27 v Millfield, 31-10 v Eton College, and 45-17 v Sherborne. A brilliant month.
Team of the Month Fans Votes Results:
Oakham – 29%
Sedbergh – 19%
Wellington College – 13%
Kirkham Grammar School – 12%
Millfield – 11%
Bedford Modern – 5%
Dulwich College – 5%
Stamford – 5%
Others – 1%
Do you agree with the Fifteen Rugby and Fans Teams of the Month? Let us know via @FifteenRugbyXV or drop a comment in the box below.
