As ever, selecting this weekend’s Top 5 School Teams of the Weekend has been a tricky task.
Schools all over have made impressive performances and there have been more then a few upsets and exciting games. Selecting the Top 5 is always a challenge, we like to try to avoid it being recycled among the same few teams and would prefer not to include too many blow-outs, that said, sometimes a result or performance is simply too hard to ignore, as a few have been this week.
Top 5 School Teams of the Weekend
Eastbourne College
Eastbourne College travelled to St John’s Leatherhead on Saturday, the side that a couple of days before had secured their place in the Champions Trophy semi finals. Eastbourne College had only won one game all season up until that point, yet came away with a brilliant 24-17 victory. St John’s may have had rested or tired bodies, but this was still a fantastic result for Eastbourne against a side making real waves on the school rugby scene.
Oakham
Oakham were the favourites against Oundle this weekend, but not heavy favourites. Oundle had lost to Stamford 12-3 in midweek, earlier in the season Oakham had lost to the same side 14-12, so that seemed the sort of rough gap to expect between the sides. What few would have seen coming was a storming Oakham performance as they secured a quite brilliant 50-14 victory over their rivals. Oakham v Oundle games are always feisty affairs, but they are rarely won in quite such a fashion. A brilliant Oakham performance.
Sedbergh
We said that thumping wins against inferior opposition are not what we particularly want in our Top 5, but sometimes you simply cannot ignore a result, and Sedbergh’s 83-0 win over RGS Lancaster on Saturday was certainly one of those. Not just because of the scoreline either, but also because it was done without the aid of their skipper, Cameron Redpath, who was starting at inside centre for Sale Sharks in the Anglo-Welsh Cup this weekend instead, a stunning achievement. This is clearly an exceptional Sedbergh side, and their showdown with Wellington College next week could well prove spectacular.
St Paul’s
Neither Tonbridge nor St Paul’s are having vintage seasons, but they are having relatively even seasons with each other. Therefore a trip to Tonbridge for St Paul’s was a tricky prospect, it is not a place that they have picked up a lot of wins over the years. Saturday’s 10-7 victory will therefore taste very sweet and so it should. It was an excellent win, and a hard earned and well-fought one too in a cracking contest.
St Peter’s, York
Having been knocked out of the Schools Cup in the most heartbreaking of ways in midweek to QEGS Wakefield, drawing 27-27 and missing out due to the away rule, St Peter’s could have reacted in two ways. In a positive manner, ready to go out and prove something, or a negative one, downbeat and dejected after the heartbreak. With another strong side, RGS Newcastle, their opponents on Saturday the latter reaction could have been fatal. Instead it was the former, a brilliant reaction as St Peter’s put in a barnstorming display to secure a quite excellent 57-17 win. It was an awesome performance from the home side, and a perfect reaction to a hard week.
