It has been quite a week of school rugby, with a number of fixtures throughout the week and some fantastic games among them.
An unusually high number of midweek fixtures took place with many schools not playing on Saturday and therefor arranging fixtures for the midweek slot in their place.
That saw some top level fixtures taking place, particularly on Thursday when some real high flyers went head to head.
There was also the start of the 2018 Champions Trophy, plus the completion of the first round of the U18 Schools Vase, which we look at here: U18 Schools Vase Round 1.
Tuesday
The action began on Tuesday with one really hard fought game in East Anglia as Royal Hospital School hosted RGS Colchester. RHS were hoping to avoid a third defeat on the bounce but they were unable to do so against an RGS side that dug incredibly deep for a 15-0 victory ahead of their short trip home.
Wednesday
Wednesday’s headline act was the beginning of the Champions Trophy. The competition begins in earnest next week but there was one game on Wednesday as new entrants Hampton hosted St Albans. An impressive start to the season has seen Hampton labeled dark horses in this their debut season, and they showed just why on Wednesday with a 57-10 win. It sees them join the nine sides with byes in the last 16, while the await the final six sides to join them next week.
Elsewhere, St Ambrose College were in good form as they beat Altrincham Grammar 31-8 away from home, while Hayes, carried on their unbeaten start with a thrilling 45-21 win over Glyn.
Bishop’s Stortford High School, Leighton Park, and London Oratory all picked up midweek victories too, as did Halliford in some style at home to Claires Court.
In Wales Christ College Brecon were in sensational form. They beat Pembrokeshire College by a stunning 50-15 margin. Newport High, meanwhile, were also in fine form, beating Llandovery College 24-0.
Canford were the latest side to face Chilean tourists Craighouse, going down 22-8, while Magdalane College’s good start to the season continued on Wednesday with a 31-7 win over Cokethorpe. Merchant Taylors’ were also on form, beating Watford Grammar 36-5.
Oswestry were quite simply stunning on Wednesday, beating Birkenhead 98-0, while Worksop College were also in point scoring heaven as they beat Thomas Rotherham 62-5. KES Five Ways were sensational too, with a 62-0 win away at St Joseph’s College Stoke.
Sedbergh played their third game of the season on Wednesday, and having travelled to Whitgift and RGS Newcastle, they finally had a home game. With two wins already under their belts, they turned on the style, beating Wilmslow High School 52-0 to send them into Saturday’s game against Bedford full of confidence and with three wins from three.
Exeter School enjoyed a 26-5 win over Plymouth College, who have been playing well, while Trnity got back to winning ways with a 39-17 win over Gordon’s. There were also strong wins for RGS Worcester and Royal Alexandra & Albert, who beat The Crypt and Ewell Castle 41-0 and 40-7 respectively.
Thursday
Thursday was a massive day, with some really key fixtures taking place across the country. One of the biggest was Marlborough College v Cheltenham College. Both sides arrived with two wins from two, and Cheltenham were yet to concede a point, however on a windy day that defence was to crack as Marlborough took control of the conditions and performed brilliantly for a 31-10 victory, inflicting a first defeat on Cheltenham College in well over a year.
Up in Rutland there was another massive head to head between two previously unbeaten teams, Oakham and Rugby. A thrilling game played out, with plenty of tries and ambition. Both had the confidence from such strong starts, but while Oakham’s wins have been tight, Rugby have been looking exceptionally strong, and that perhaps just shone through as they seized the initiative for a 33-20 victory to give them a 3/3 record at the start of the season.
Oakham’s great rivals, Uppingham, made the trip to Bury St Edmunds to face Culford on Thursday and notched a second win of the season as they ran out 19-7 victors.
Up in Scotland there was a thriller in Edinburgh as Edinburgh Academy just edged out Fettes College, 35-33, in one of the games of the day. Meanwhile in Wales Cathedral School Llandaff dug unbelievably deep for a 12-0 victory over visitors Wycliffe College. King’s Canterbury were meanwhile in superb nick, beating Duke of York’s Royal Military School 38-0.
Another huge game saw two of the most recognizable school names go head to head as Eton College hosted Radley College. Eton’s season had not started quite as they might have hoped, but they certainly put that right on Thursday as they beat their old rivals 22-12.
It concluded a brilliant and high-level midweek of rugby, leading us perfectly into what looks like being yet another outstanding weekend of schools rugby, with so many huge fixtures to look forward to.
A reminder that we welcome any photos, videos, and reports from your school’s games – the more the merrier! You can send them in to us via any of the methods below:
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Email: writers@fifteenrugby.com
Schools Rugby Midweek Results:
Tuesday
Royal Hospital School 0-15 RGS Colchester
Wednesday
Altrincham GS 8-31 St Ambrose College
Bishop’s Stortford HS 36-12 Saffron Walden
Burnham GS 14-29 Leighton Park
Canford 8-22 Craighouse, Chile
Christ College 50-15 Pembrokeshire College
Glyn 21-45 Hayes
Halliford 49-6 Claires Court
Hampton 57-10 St Albans (Champions Trophy)
London Oratory 29-17 Twyford
Magdalen College 31-7 Cokethorpe
Merchant Taylors’ 36-5 Watford GS
Newport HS 24-0 Llandovery College
Old Swinford Hospital 48-12 KES Camp Hill
Oswestry 98-0 Birkenhead
Plymouth College 5-26 Exeter
RGS Worcester 41-0 The Crypt
Royal Alexandra & Albert 40-7 Ewell Castle
Sedbergh 52-0 Wilmslow HS
St Joseph’s College, Stoke 0-62 KES Five Ways
Trinity 39-17 Gordon’s
Worksop College 62-5 Thomas Rotherham College
Thursday
Cathedral School, Llandaff 12-0 Wycliffe College
Culford 7-19 Uppingham
Duke of York’s RMS 0-38 King’s Canterbury
Edinburgh Academy 35-33 Fettes College
Eton College 22-12 Radley College
Marlborough College 31-10 Cheltenham College
Oakham 20-33 Rugby
