Millfield further confirmed their status as arguably the team of the season to date as they won this epic unbeaten head to head contest against Clifton College 23-13.
Right from the off it was clear that this was a bigger day than most for as the NextGenXV cameras rolled in to prepare to live stream what was one of the very biggest games of the season (which you can re-watch below), the dignitaries were rolling in, chief among them the legend that is Sir Gareth Edwards, alongside his former teammates from his time at Millfield, Andrew Higginson and Rod Speed, who also coached the 1st XV from the mid eighties to the mid 2000s.
That set the tone, and with Sir Gareth delivering the team talk to the Millfield team the tone was a very special one indeed. The crowd was growing by the second, and in the commentary box Bristol Bears pair Tom Whiteley (ex Millfield) and Harry Ascherl (ex Clifton College) were picking up on the excitement.
On the pitch the players were faced with brutal conditions, temperatures hovering just above zero and a howling wind blowing straight down the middle of the pitch. With two England U18 fly halves on either side, Sam Harris for Millfield and Sam Worsley for Clifton College, it was going to be a day that tested their tactical and kicking prowess to the maximum.
It was Worsley that drew first blood, landing a penalty with the wind behind him for a 3-0 Clifton College lead but Millfield and Harris would strike back quickly, Harris landing a penalty of his own from similar range.
Two minutes later Harris was having a huge impact, scoring the opening try of the game after a brilliant bit of work at the scrum, skipper Eric Nixon at loosehead, who had a wonderful game, getting a bit of a nudge on to allow fast ball on the right hand side of the Clifton 22 for Millfield inside centre Tommy Davies to suck in the defence on the short line. Davies then pulled the ball back for Harris who simply glided through as the gap to the line seemed to part almost perfectly.
The young fly half nudged over the extras and from 3-0 down, Millfield now led 10-3. The kicking duel moved to open play as the wind grew ever stronger, Harris and Worsley playing the conditions to great effect, including a 50-22 from Worsley that almost defied belief, from inside his own 22 to the Millfield five metre line.
The problem for both sides was capitalising on that territory, such was the force of the wind that the lineout was proving real challenge for both, through no real fault of either hooker, and therefore each was able to escape when under pressure. With twelve minutes gone though, Millfield did manage to capitalise. Bringing a lineout down safely ten metres from the Clifton College line, they nudged and nudged at the line through a series of drives before openside flanker Archie McKibbin called for the ball on the blindside and on and outside arc around the defending pod, he crashed over for Millfield’s second try of the afternoon.
It was a try the Millfield loose trio deserved, between McKibbin, fellow flanker George Timmins, and number 8 Max Jenkins the Millfield back row were exceptional throughout, getting through a workload that would be the envy of any back row.
It gave Millfield a 15-3 lead, but that lineout challenge that both sides were facing was to bite Millfield back later in the half as Clifton poached one right on the Millfield five metre line. The men in blue and white hoops started to batter away at the Millfield line through the forwards before inside centre Isaac Cambell-Wu, on his return from a hamstring injury, called for it wide and went crashing through on the hard line for his side’s first try. It was a deserved try for Cambell-Wu, who had a strong game throughout, playing a little like a Kiwi second five-eighth, but unafraid to use his physical frame as well.
Worsley converted, narrowing the gap to 15-10 but, despite there being plenty of time left in the half, that was to be the end of the scoring for the half as the weather really began to bite.
The two sides were so hard to separate, perhaps unsurprisingly given their unbeaten records heading into this game. The Daily Mail Trophy was also a key factor in this game, defeat was not disastrous for either side on that front, but it was certainly going to be vastly preferable to have a victory and to continue the unbeaten run as each goes in search of a maiden title in that competition.
Millfield already have one title in the bag this season, the St Joseph’s Festival and as the second half got underway that title winning mindset began to show, as they used their scoreboard pressure to great effect, Harris pinning Clifton College back and almost daring them to counter.
That cause was helped no end on 42 minutes when captain Eric Nixon went barging over from short range, the skipper capping a fine performance with a try, though it was a sign of the difficulty of the game that Harris conversion, having started true, blew wildly off course.
It mattered not though, a 20-10 Millfield now had a ten point buffer that they were using to great effect as Clifton College faced more and more pressure to get points of the board. The likes of Sami Hamid and Pete Carter were trying to snipe and cause problems, almost releasing Eamonn Rogers at one point, but the Millfield back row seemed to be sensing danger like a Labrador senses food. Eddie Erskine was starting to carry with regularity while Harris, almost counter to his and Millfield’s natural instincts, was refusing the temptation to release the likes of Denmark, Kamang-Dyrbak, and Sultan-Edwards, who was introduced at half time.
With fifteen minutes left on the clock though, Clifton College at last found a breakthrough thanks to a long-range penalty from Worsley that went right into the face of the wind. At 20-13 they still needed two scores to win, but with just a converted score need to draw, the needle had nudged just a little back their way.
Still time ticked on though and though Millfield started to make plenty of changes, that same awareness of the game situation and what was needed remained. Time was ticking away desperately for Clifton College, and though Millfield were giving away penalties, they were in Clifton territory and with the breeze now nigh on impossible, they gave Clifton no real opportunity for field position either.
As the clock ticked on the final outcome was looking ever more certain, and then, with just a minute left, Millfield were awarded a penalty about 45 metres out. Up stepped substitute Harry Carson who, like the massive gold fan that he is, eyed up the range and the conditions, and told his teammates he had then length. Have it he did, as he struck the ball it absolutely sailed over the posts, giving Millfield a 23-13 lead, and with just a kick off to deal with.
Deal with it they did to cue jubilant celebrations on and off the field, a quite magnificent victory for the men in green, red, and blue, their unbeaten record untarnished against one of the toughest test it had faced all year in the form of Clifton College.
On the Sir Gareth Edwards pitch they had done the great man proud, and with games against Monmouth and Sedbergh to come their could yet be ever more cause for celebration. As the Wales, Lions, and Barbarians man had said to them, ‘no matter what else you go on to achieve, these are the days of your rugby lives’, these boys are certainly making them days to remember.
Full Time: Millfield 23-13 Clifton College
Teams:
Millfield
15 Joe Denmark, 14 Aaron Molnar, 13 Kahan Erturk, 12 Tommy Davies, 11 Kamoto Kamanga-Dyrbak, 10 Sam Harris, 9 Sam Curwen, 1 Eric Nixon (c), 2 Max Pearce, 3 Ioan Emanuel, 4 Eddie Erskine, 5 George Jones, 6 George Timmins, 7 Archie McKibbin, 8 Max Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ellis Baker, 17 Harry Carson, 18 Amir Sultan-Edwards.
Clifton College
15 Sami Hamid, 14 Leo Quigley, 13 Sam Homer, 12 Isaac Cambell-Wu, 11 Eamonn Rogers, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Pete Carter, 1 Louie Trevett, 2 George Davey, 3 Shay Sainsbury 4 Aaron Tull (c), 5 Joe Wooler, 6 Tomoya Nadachi, 7 Kaellen Balasingham, 8 Tom Gardner.
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Evans, 17 Magnus Allen.
