Saturday 9 September saw the first set of rugby fixtures of the 2017-2018 academic year. There was a clean sweep of wins against Windsor Boys' School, with the fixtures against Claremont Fan Court proving tougher due to our C teams playing against their As. Despite a lot of rainfall the day before, the weather stayed kind and the boys played in glorious sunshine.
1st XV Won 55-3 vs Windsor Boys' School
After a strong performance throughout our tour to South Africa we went into our first game against Windsor Boys with high hopes. We received kick off and found ourselves making many simple errors early on. The ball was greasy due to the wet grass and there were lots of simple handling errors in the early stages which meant we weren’t putting many phases together. After we had eventually strung a few phases together off a lineout, Joe Booth managed to snipe around the fringe of the ruck to score under the posts. Matty Fitzgerald converted making it 7-0 after 10 minutes. We started to put together some good patterns in the backs, and the forwards were securing the ball well, so it was only a matter of minutes before Matty Fitzgerald made a partial line break and off-loaded to Harvey Hendry to cross the line. There was still a lot of dropped balls and we found it hard to keep ourselves composed in and around their try line. Eventually Shiplake gave away a penalty that was in range for their kicker, who successfully slotted the ball through the posts. We were eager to come back before the whistle went for half time. We were deep in our half but we advanced forward following a scrum, and some slick handling down the short side led to Louis Ashcroft fending off the fullback and dotting the ball down over the line. We went into half time 19-3 up, but knowing we had lots of areas of our game that needed tightening up.
After a quick breather we went into the second half knowing that we had made the first half very hard for ourselves. After playing down in their half for the majority of the time, Matt Dalrymple hit Ollie Brown on a flat ball, resulting in Oliver Brown touching down over the line. The forwards’ lineout was functioning well and we were receiving a lot of turnover ball. Joe Tucker lead the forwards from the front and the likes of Joachim Ridley-Barker, Tom Coates and Robbie Cartwright were supporting ball carriers well and generating quick balls for the backs. We spotted their weakness and found that we could easily get on the outside of their defence with our set and phase play moves. After a poor kick from Windsor, Matt Dalrymple sold a dummy and had lots of support on his shoulders. Shiplake managed to weave their way through their loose defence, which resulted in Harvey Hendry scoring again. Shiplake continued putting the pressure on Windsor and lots of good running from Rhys Edwards down the wing led him to a try of his own. Before full time was up we managed to run in two more tries, scored by Josh Howard and Lucas Smyth. This left the final score at 55-3 to Shiplake.
Report written by captain Harvey Hendry
3rd XV Lost 5-17 vs Claremont Fan Court School 1st XV
The 3rd XV started the season on the back of two excellent training sessions, meaning competition for places was extremely tough. The opening game would also be a challenging one, against Claremont Fan’s 1st XV. The visitors started brightly and quickly raced into a 12-0 lead, thanks to two well-taken tries. However, under the leadership of Tom Paine, the 3rds rallied and built a period of sustained pressure, which sadly yielded no points, meaning Claremont went into the break with their 12 point lead intact.
From the restart the 3rd XV made a couple of sloppy errors to allow Claremont to score a third try and make it 17-0. Not deterred, fly half Will Brunning drove his team upfield, aided by the direct running of Tom Paine, Oli Heap (who played at hooker, second row, flanker and inside centre throughout the course of the game) and full back Jack Rees. After some excellent work at the breakdown by the forwards, especially James Daniel and Robbie Rayne, William Brunning dived over to make it 17-5. Moments later replacement Zack Green was denied a second Shiplake try by a matter of millimetres.
Sadly that was the final score but it was a fantastic way to start the season. The 3rd XV used 25 players on the day and competition for places will be tough as we head into our first away game of the season at Seaford on Saturday. Thanks to Claremont Fan for a wonderful match.
Report provided by Mr Jonnie Howorth
U16A Won 45-7 Windsor Boys' School
Only a minute into the game and a converted try was already scored after a couple of phases. Windsor Boys were a bit shocked by the start but little did they know Shiplake had even more to offer. We soon realised their weaknesses lay with their backs; although they had big boys defending the centre and wing, their defence was very slow and wide gaps made it easier for Shiplake to make use of our quick backs which led to another beautiful team try scored by Harvey Greenaway. This was due to the quick hands sent from a ruck in their 22, all the way to the right wing. Even though we had only had two training sessions before the match, Shiplake’s performance was to high standard. We were, however, able to notice some of our flaws, which was our defence and realignment. This made it difficult for us when Windsor attacked in a series of continuous and fast phases, but we stayed strong. Big tackles after a few turnovers from our forwards meant we had not conceded a try going into half time.
The second half started a bit scrappy but we got back to out previous rhythm. This half, scoring a try became a bit harder to do, Windsor’s determination put us back in our 5 for a couple of minutes but Shiplake’s big tackles and fast defence pushed Windsor all the way back to the 22. Windsor did manage to score a try under the post but that, we decided, was the only one they were going to score and it was true. The end result was 47-7 win for Shiplake. We have identified what we can work on in our next training session, however this does not diminish our first performance as a team, which was a very good one and I am excited to see the outcome of this season.
Report written by Rory Diez-Harrison
U15B Won 41-22 vs Windsor Boys' School
This was a very good opening game for the Under 15Bs. Despite going behind early on, the team worked four phases from their own 5m line, finishing with a superb try in the corner from Ben Willis. They then gained momentum and overcame a team who were much bigger in size. During the first 20 minutes, the team scored a flurry of tries. Harry Clark and Matt Healy both scoring two. Windsor regathered and started to come back in the second third, however Shiplake put in some heroic tackles and held-up Windsor over the line a number of times. Tries late on, including one from John Kawkabani, secured Shiplake a 41-22 win. It was a promising start to the season.
Report provided by Mr James Arney
U15C Lost 0-50 vs Claremont Fan Court School U15As
On Saturday 9 September the U15cs played Claremont School away. At the start we kicked off, Billy Bryan tackled the first man and gained possession of the ball, our whole team was committed to following the man with the ball and pushing up with the rucks. Near the end Monty Greenaway caught a difficult ball and ran down the wing to nearly score a try. Despite our best intentions and fine work from Billy Bryan, Monty Greenaway and Conrad Cameron-Tueton The opposition was a little bit strong for us but we will get them next time.
Report written by George Belcher
U14A Won 64-0 vs Windsor Boys' School
This was a fantastic start for the season for the Under 14As, which resulted in them winning in impressive style 64-0. All players deserve congratulations for their efforts and assisting the following players in scoring tries. Thomas Carpenter with four, Otto Lazer with 1, Jensen Perry with 1 and Jai Angell with 4 tries and 7 conversions.
Report written Jake Shortland
U14B Won 56-10 vs Windsor Boys' School
We started the game with strong play from the team and an early try from Ben Allan put us in the lead. With good tackles from Bertie Wallace and Thomas Ratiu the team kept pushing Windsor back and a quick try from Ollie Stalder and another from Thomas Ratiu put us further ahead - but then a Windsor wide pass from the outside center allowed their winger to score. At half time the score was 30-5.
In the second half we started strong with good runs from Sam Horn, Bertie Wallace and Ed Dallas. Although we conceded one try, we fought back quickly and ended up scoring 56 points.
There was great play from the whole squad but special mentions to Ed Dallas, Ollie Stalder, Freddie Ellis and man of the match Bertie Wallace.
Written by captain Sam Horn
U14C Lost 10-55 vs Claremont Fan Court U14As
in Just
september when the pitches are grass-
luscious the old grey-haired
coach
shouts far and wee
and the 14C s play
rugby by the gentle river
and ruck (a little) and
its rugger
when the pitch lines are shiny white
the weird old coach
shouts far and wee
and the players miss tackles
but it’s rugger
and the young welsh coach
scribbles in his notebook
and the ref blows his whistle
far and wee.
Man of the Match: Hashim Iqbal
Provided by Mr Chris Alcock, with apologies to e e cummings
Other Results
U15A Won 15-10 vs Windsor Boys' School