Cranleigh School wins Hampton Sevens for second year

Cranleigh School has won the prestigious Hampton School Sevens Tournament for the second year running.

Incredibly, since 2012, the school has now won the title four times and the plate once and has reached every final since 2016. The young squad deserves a huge amount of credit for the way they played and developed throughout the tournament.

The squad, made up of boys who all represent Cranleigh School in football or hockey, took part in their first tournament of the sevens season. They started off with a loss in their first match but responded well to beat Millfield 22-19, then St Benedict’s 52-0 before a winner-takes-all match against Gordon’s School (affiliated with Harlequins ACE rugby programme). The team started the match superbly well and raced to a 26-5 lead at half time. The second half was a tighter affair but a try from Gabe H. settled the tie to mean the squad advanced to the final against Hampton.

The final was a brilliant game with Hampton starting well racing into a 12-0 lead after only two minutes. The team responded well with two tries from Theo N. after excellent defence. The second half was end to end but a try from Gabe H. and then a crucial score by Captain Jack A., followed by superb work from Max P., meant the team were able to hold out and win the trophy two years in a row.

Andy Houston, Director of Sport at Cranleigh, is delighted with the result: “It is wonderful to see the hard work paying off for this squad. All of them are involved in a wide variety of sport this term, with rugby sevens being played on top of their other sporting, co-curricular and academic commitments. They have put in so much effort and I am very proud of them all.”