Warwick School Rugby teams can hold their heads up high!
Published by Warwick School on Wednesday 16th of March 2016
Warwick School U18's bowed out of the NatWest tournament in the semi-finals against QEGS, Wakefield at Allianz Park, home of Saracens. A disappointing performance from Warwick with a slow start allowed QEGS to gain confidence and impress their forward orientated style upon the game. It has to be said that Warwick had enough possession from kick receptions to make the most of counter attacks but often opted to counter kick rather than run. Four lost line-outs and a scrum against the head provided lots of confidence to QEGS and their superior possession and territory had them take a deserved 8-0 lead at half-time. QEGS ball carrying, driving mauls and work at the ruck continued to present challenges for Warwick in the second half. However an excellent break out from deep in Warwick's territory resulted in a 90 metre score by centre Will Roberts. The next score was going to prove to be key - once again QEGS control and forward drives resulted in another score to the Yorkshire team. In the last 10 minutes Warwick started to risk their hand and a well taken score by Centre Jordan Ainslie took the score to 21-12. Unfortunately the clock ran out and Warwick bowed out of the tournament. Warwick U15s produced a heroic performance against a very strong Wellington College team in the U15 Natwest semi-finals. Warwick started the better of the two teams and some excellent kicking from Fly-half Henry Mortimer and Scrum-half Henry Miles put Wellington constantly in their own 22m line. Warwick were very close to scoring if it wasn’t for a forward pass and also a deliberate knock-on from the opposition with winger Keaton Badhan free on the left. However, Henry Mortimer put the side into a 3-0 lead with a penalty with 5 minutes before the half-time whistle. The second half saw Wellington fight back very well and after constant pressure scored under the posts to take the lead 7-3. Warwick produced an excellent fight back with some powerful carries by Roger Jackson and Will Kelley, and gained penalties in the opposition’s 22, but opted to go for the try and didn’t quite make the vital line break. A heroic effort as big underdogs, from an amazing set of players. The school is so proud of their efforts and this season will live long in the memory of all involved. Warwick U13s were narrowly defeated by Trinity School, Croydon in the School Sports Magazine National Cup final at Maidenhead rugby club. Trinity started with the wind advantage and kicked the first points of the game. However, Warwick came back strongly and two tries by Tom Patrick either side of half-time gave Warwick a 12-3 lead. Then, the larger Trinity pack started to dominate possession in the second half resulting in two tries to take the lead 15-12. The Warwick boys threw everything they had at Trinity in the last 10 minutes but couldn’t break through. So, disappointment at the final whistle but this was a fantastic effort by a team who has improved enormously over the season. Congratulations to the team as Runners-Up in the National Cup.
