Wellington College's U16 rugby sevens celebrate national title
Posted on 29th Mar 2017 in School News, Sport
Wellington’s Colts (U16) Rugby squad have confirmed their place as the best in the UK by becoming National Sevens Champions at the 2017 Rosslyn Park Sevens held over two days of intense competition on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March....
The boys dominated their four group games on Day One scoring 195 points and conceding only one try before going on to beat Kirkham Grammar School 50-0 in the last 32. After a good night’s sleep, Harrow were first up on Day Two but were soundly beaten 29-5 meaning a quarter-final game against last year’s champions, Brighton College, who were defeated 24-0.
The semi-final was a replay of last year’s fifteen-a-side NatWest Cup Final against old friends and rivals Sedbergh. Having lost by one score to the Cumbrian side at Twickenham 12 months ago, the Wellington boys were keen to avenge the defeat and it was a titanic struggle with both sides playing some superb sevens. With less than a minute to go, the score stood at 12-14, but one final push saw a try with the final play of the match – 17-14 to Wellington.
The final against Millfield was another outstanding display of rugby with nothing between the teams throughout the game: it was 7-7 at half-time and 14-14 with 30 seconds to go. Yet again, the spirit of the boys shone through as a final surge ended with a try in the far right corner. It was heart-break for Millfield but irrepressible joy for the Wellington boys who ran out 19-14 victors.
There can be no doubt that Sedbergh, Millfield and Wellington were the stand-out teams of this year’s competition and, on another day, the title could have gone to any of them. The rugby gods, however, were on Wellington’s side and huge congratulations must therefore go to the squad:
Jack Reid (S), Will Sinfield (S), Joe Gibbons (S), Jasper Johnston (S), Tom Cunningham (S), Charlie Sellers (Bl), Tobias Scalabrini (Bl), Bertie Pughe-Morgan (Bl), Jamie Miller (L), Ben Jordon (Hl), Ross Hanekom (Hl), Theo Burn (Bd), James Carton (Pn), Olly Cash (Pn), George Timberlake (Pn).