Sherborne secured their place in the U15 NatWest Vase final at Twickenham on the 25th March after a dominant semi final victory over RGS Newcastle.
The South West outfit seemed inspired by the Allianz Park surroundings for the semi final as they secured a SCORE victory.
It all began right in the first minute of the game as Sherborne hooker Finnian McLoughlin charged down an RGS Newcastle clearance to surge over the line, giving his team the perfect start and RGS the ultimate nightmare.
Eleven minutes later Sherborne were once again over the tryline, again punishing an RGS mistake in the most devastating way possible, as a spilled ball in midfield saw Johnny Page pick up the loose ball and race away for Sherborne, giving Dom Prest an easy conversion to make it 12-0.
RGS were actually trying to play more rugby, but Sherborne were absorbing their play with excellent defence and tenacious breakdown work, and were then punishing RGS mistakes ruthlessly.
At 12-0 though Sherborne began to dominate, and it was not long before they were over again, Barney Humphrey diving over the line after a great shunt from his inside centre Patrick Reynolds.
Prest’s conversion took it out to 19-0, and you feared for RGS, certainly they needed the next score, however it was to be Sherborne who got it. William Bailey claiming the ball from an RGS lineout, what a contest a lineout without lifting is by the way, before bouncing some would be tackles on his way to the line, giving Prest a simple chance to make it 26-0, which he took.
Sherborne took that lead into the break, and must have felt like the game was theirs, however an early try in the second half for RGS number 8 James Mackin off a cleverly worked tap penalty gave them cause to think again, RGS still had life in them.
More than just life it turned out, as just minutes later RGS were over for their second of the game, a thunderous finish down the left wing from the substitute Chidera Obonna, who simply powered his way over the line to reduce the gap to 26-10.
Then came the moment that arguably decided the match. RGS Newcastle intercepted a Sherborne attack but chasing back brilliantly Sherborne managed to haul down the attacker and turn the ball over.
From the resultant phase of play Sherborne immediately shifted the ball wide to captain Nick Jonas, who streaked down the left, showing a wiggle of the hips to sell the defender before moving into the 22 before an offload to his centre partner Patrick Reynolds to finish off a sensational move.
What might have been 26-15 was infact 31-10 to Sherborne, and it felt like a truly decisive moment for the game.
So it proved a few minutes later when Jonas himself was this time the scorer, collecting the offload from winger Doug Hickling, after a sensational run, to stroll in.
With Prest’s conversion that really was game over, however RGS are a brave side and refused to give up, coming back to score an excellent try with just two minutes remaining from scrum half Elliott Groves.
It was a thoroughly deserved win for Sherborne though, whose early pressure helped them build a lead before some excellent craft extended it. Their work on the floor was ferocious, particularly for an U15 side and they will certainly take some stopping at Twickenham.
Full Time: RGS Newcastle 15-38 Sherborne
RGS Newcastle:
15 Jack Peter, , 14 Elliott Jefferies, 13 Findlay Edwards, 12 Ben Scott, 11 Matthew Sheerin 10 Ben Snaith, 9 Elliott Groves; 1 Raiyan Chowdhury, 2 Archie Elder, 3 Alistair Blackett, 4 Manav Chopra, 5 Findlay Edwards, 6 Will Pettifer, 7 Dillon Cave, 8  James Mackin.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Stembridge, Blank Henry Haslam, 18 Will Mackay, 19 Chidera Obonna, Blank Daniel Edwards, 21 George Waterhouse, 22 Gus Conningham.
Sherborne:
15 Tom Perkins, 14 Johnny Page, 13 Nick Jonas, 12 Patrick Reynolds, 11 Doug Hickling, 10 Dom Prest, 9 Barney Humphrey; 22 William Bailey, 2 Finian McLoughlin, 3 Felix Storer, 4 Louis Down, 5 Hugo Pralle, 6 Peter Folkes, 7 George Sutton, 8 Felix Carey.
Replacements: 16 Ben Rainbow, 17 Ben Childerley, 18 Rupert Chetwode, 19 Tom Lane, 20 Tom de Wesselow, 21 Guy Deverell, 1 Harry Taylor.
