Wellington College soared into the Champions Trophy final with a display of schools rugby that verged on clinical perfection at times against Epsom College on Wednesday as they sealed a 41-24 victory.
The game was a repeat of last year’s final, won 24-16 by Wellington College, and gives the Berkshire side a chance to make history by becoming the first side ever to win the Champions Trophy twice if they beat Rugby School in the final at Allianz Park on Wednesday 4th December.
It would add to what has already been an historic season for Wellington, they sealed the St Joseph’s Festival title in October in their first appearance in over a decade, in the process becoming the first side in schools rugby history to have won the St Joseph’s Festival, the Champions Trophy, the Daily Mail Trophy, the Schools Cup, and the Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s. Not only that but they currently sit unbeaten for the season and lead the standings in this year’s Daily Mail Trophy.
Of course the final is going to be no easy task, Rugby School have proven their quality throughout the season and in their semi final against Hampton on Wednesday they showed the sort of spirit and determination that all champions need as they bounced back from a late Hampton score, putting them behind, to score in the very last play of the game to seal their place in the final.
If Wellington College play as they did against Epsom, though, then it will take one of the great schools rugby performances to stop them. The story of the game is perhaps best told in the fact that Epsom College actually played pretty well, they did little wrong and yet in a performance of utter ruthlessness Wellington College went into half time 26-0 up.
In commentary, alongside the excellent Jack Zorab, this writer was left open-mouthed at this at the physicality of then men in black and gold in the tight, and the clinical simplicity of their ball movement once on the front foot.
Electric winger Cassius Cleaves, one of twelve survivors from last year’s triumph in the Wellington College 22, claimed a first half hat-trick with Finn Tawse, one of a number of U15 Schools Cup winners in the squad, also scoring in that scintillating first half, Max Thomas, another last year’s Trophy winning side, adding three conversions.
In the main the scores came from absolutely rock solid basics from Wellington College. Meeting the ball at pace, making good decision to move the ball into space, and tying in defenders by moving the points of contact. Cleaves’ tries were all relatively simple, though for the second two he needed some smart footwork to cross the line, but they were built on that foundation of outstanding basics from his teammates. It was a similar story for Tawse’s try on the opposite wing to Cleaves, Wellington getting through phases through wonderful carrying from the likes of Fin Baxter, Marcus Rhodes, and Ted Johnson, before releasing the electric backs likes Monty Bradbury and Hector Elrington to get the ball through the hands and into space.
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It all added up to a first half performance that left few in any doubt as to why this Wellington College group is so highly rated. Yet Epsom had done little wrong, every score had come right on the fringe of the defence, Wellington had been forced to be utterly clinical in order to get their rewards.
It was therefore no less than they deserved when the home side opened the scoring in the second half, sixteen year old centre Bryn Bradley, a giant in the centres all day, crashing through from short range. Fin Lock hit back for Wellington, though. Capitalising on some wonderful rugby that brought his side to within inches of the line he was the released in the inside left channel to cross for Wellington College’s fifth try of the game and a 31-7 lead.
At that point those watching could have been forgiven for writing the game off as a done deal, despite how much time was left on the clock. However that would have been to ignore the quality that Epsom College has at their disposal. It is no accident that up until Saturday they had been unbeaten this season and are rated among the top handful of teams in the country.
That level of performance does not just take skill, it takes a huge amount of mental application and both of those assets were on full show in the face of a seemingly insurmountable challenge. First outside centre Kitan Ojo threw in a wonderful fend and then raced to the try line, fitting reward for an afternoon of hassling and harrying the Wellington College midfield, then the outstanding Thomas Lynagh took matters into his own hands. The exciting fly half arced around on the right hand side and jinked his way across for his side’s third try.
31-7 was suddenly 31-19 and whispers began, was this wonderful tournament that so often throws up high drama about to have its most dramatic moment of all? Epsom’s tails were up, and Wellington College, for the first time in the game, were just starting to make a few errors.
In such moments it often takes someone to stand up and grab the game by the scruff of the neck, and in blindside Ted Johnson, Wellington College had a man who did just that. From close to the half way line he collected the ball tight to the ruck and burst through with stunning power. He surged forward to within inches of the Epsom line, and from there he’s teammates took over, blasting at the Epsom line before the impressive Mack Keast made it over. It may seem silly to say in a game that was probably utterly in Wellington College’s control for 60-65 of the seventy minutes, but it was a key moment.
A key moment that also provided the platform for the moment of the match, one of the tries of the season, coming straight from the restart. Collecting the kick off Wellington moved the ball from right to left before the electric Elrington danced through a couple of tackle and burst upfield. The ball shifted through the hands to Fin Lock, another who was exceptional on the day, who surged into Epsom territory.
With options available to his left he opted for the miss pass, knowing that the gas man on the left, Alex Teague, would be the recipient. It proved the right option as Teague turned on the afterburners to soar away for a simply glorious coast to coast try in the left hand corner and a 41-19 lead.
There was time left for a final flourish from Epsom College, who worked the ball well to create space out wide for Jack Briggs, but ultimately it was a consolation. Nevertheless, heartbreaking as it would have been for Epsom who are this tournament’s most consistent team, it demonstrated just how much effort the home side had put in and what a contribution they had made to this wonderful knockout tie.
Wellington College, though, were ultimately just utterly brilliant. This outstanding group of players have put themselves on the brink of yet another piece of schools rugby history. The superlatives simply keep stacking up to describe this group and their achievements, perhaps the most clear way to describe what this group is doing is to say that they are approaching a two week period that, should they come through it successfully, would take them beyond the conversation about whether they are one of this year’s greats, and into the conversation as to whether they are one of the all time greats.
Full Time: Epsom College 24-41 Wellington College
Teams:
Epsom College
15 James Webster, 14 Thomas Wearne, 13 Kitan Ojo, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Shaun How Teo, 10 Thomas Lynagh, 9 Daniel Davies, 1 Nilesh Raghavan, 2 Jamie Hughes, 3 Ollie Matthews, 4 Max Smeby, 5 Max Hales, 6 Charlie Richardson, 7 Makeen Aikhan, 8 George Addington.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Brown, 17 William Curwen, 18 Jack Briggs.
Wellington College
15 Hector Elrington, 14 Cassius Cleaves, 13 Harry Cain, 12 Max Thomas, 11 Alex Teague, 10 Monty Bradbury, 9 Finn Livingstone-Learmonth, 1 Alessandro Heaney, 2 Lucas Brooke, 3 Fin Baxter (c), 4 Nick Teague, 5 Cassius Forshaw, 6 Ted Johnson, 7 Finlay Lock, 8 Marcus Rhodes.
Replacements: 16 Mack Keast, 17 Ben Murrin, 18 Jack Jinnear, 19 Arvind Sangha, 20 Robbie Offord, 21 Finn Tawse, 22 Rory Diez-Harrison.
Images via Jason Brown
Champions Trophy Final:
Wellington College v Rugby (Wednesday 4th December)
Champions Trophy Semi Finals:
Epsom College 24-41 Wellington College
Rugby 22-19 Hampton
Champions Trophy Quarter Finals:
Blundell’s 0-20 Epsom College
Hampton 27-7 Uppingham
Rugby 13-8 Oakham
Wellington College 12-6 Dulwich College
Champions Trophy Round 2:
Rugby 45-0 RGS Guildford
St Paul’s 6-15 Blundell’s
Oakham 25-19 Clifton College
Berkhamsted 0-38 Hampton
Hurstpierpoint College 19-20 Uppingham
Kingswood 26-56 Wellington College
Epsom College 31-12 Bristol Grammar
Dulwich College 24-13 St John’s, Leatherhead
Champions Trophy Round 1:
Bedford 7-66 Rugby
Clifton College 24-18 Monmouth
Hampton 24-15 Tonbridge
RGS Guildford 17-3 Bryanston
St Paul’s v BYE
Oakham v BYE
Berkhamsted v BYE
Hurstpierpoint College v BYE
Bristol GS v BYE
Kingswood v BYE
Blundell’s v BYE
St John’s, Leatherhead v BYE
Epsom College v BYE
Dulwich College v BYE
Uppingham v BYE
Wellington College v BYE
