Wellington College and Whitgift meet in the annual Seb Adeniran-Olule Memorial Game, kicking off at 3pm LIVE on NextGenXV this Saturday.
The game supports Seb’s Foundation, which began in the wake of Seb’s tragic passing in 2016, raising funds and profile for the work they do in giving talented aspiring young people from less privileged backgrounds access to the highest quality academic and sporting opportunities.
The game will be live streamed on the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and can also be viewed through the embedded video below.
Seb Adeniran-Olule was a pupil at Whitgift and then at Wellington College for sixth form, progressing through the England age-grade system to play for the U20s and also for Harlequins, among many other sporting and academic achievements. Seb’s Foundation was created to bring hope to others from the tragedy of his death, to provide for other young people the opportunities that he was fortunate to enjoy.
The foundation does so by providing scholarships, rugby training programmes, as well as workshops to develop mental health and self-esteem to young people who wouldn’t usually have access to them. The first pupil to receive a scholarship through the foundation was Cassius Cleaves, now thriving at Harlequins and England U20.
To find out more about the foundation, please visit their website or visit them on Social Media at @sebsfoundation
While so much will be about the good causes off the field and remembering Seb, on the field the action will likely be played in his spirit too – all action.
When these two met last year we were treated to one of the most thrilling games of the season as Wellington just clinched the most dramatic of games to break Whitgift hearts, 29-28 (see below).
This year Whitgift are the ones travelling, heading from Croydon to Berkshire off the back of a tough opener against Sedbergh where they were in the game from a long time before Sedbergh were, well, Sedbergh, and pulled out to a 47-20 victory.
They should travel with plenty of confidence though after a performance that contained real promise and with much to build upon, as they knew already after a strong summer tour of South Africa as well.
Wellington College will, as ever, be a hard side to beat. They worked hard last week for a 38-25 victory at Northampton School for Boys that took real guts and quality to get done and they will be keen to make it back to back victories and give themselves a strong platform under new Head Coach Adrian Jarvis and after a tricky year, by their high standards, last year.
Whatever the outcome, we are in for one of the great days on the school calendar, not just for the likely quality of the fixture, as we saw last year, but in people coming together to remember Seb and to do some good in the world.
Do come and join us at 3pm on Saturday, it’s going to be a very special day.
Wellington College v Whitgift – 3pm, Saturday
