Last week saw our boys take on Cokethorpe School and St John's School, Northwood. Our boys gave it their all and brought home some great wins and valuable lessons learnt. Unfortunately the recent wet conditions meant that Saturday's block fixtures against Emanuel School were all cancelled, as were the two rowing events due to be attended.
U14A Rugby v Cokethorpe School
Shiplake had a quick start going up one try in the first two minutes, however Cokethorpe replied quickly with a try of there own, putting Shiplake on the back foot. Some changes in the scrum had to be made. Shiplake had to put up a heavy defence for a period of 10 minutes to hold on till half time. In the second half Shiplake responded and in the last 10 minutes we put in lots of hard work to secure the game, leaving the final score 29-17 to Shiplake.
To improve going forward we need to focus on how we played within the last part of this game and focus on the positives from this display.
Report by Mr R Curtis
U12A Rugby v St John's School, Northwood
Having not had a game for a while, we were looking forward to a fixture against St John's. As the match started we immediately tested their defence but showed signs of a little bit of rustiness. However, we became more organised and worked better as a team and scored a couple of tries, both from B Saunders, with good support on both sides of the pitch which is something we have been working on. Although this was not our finest performance there were signs of encouragement and it was great to get back out onto the pitches, especially as we have had to manage a lot of illnesses this week in the Lower School.
Report by Mr T Crisford
U12A Rugby v Cokethorpe School
It was a tough and physical game against a well-organised Cokethorpe side. As we were not on our 'A Game' we had a slow start and this cost us a couple of soft tries. After a rousing half time talk from Mr Brown we upped our game and put up a good fight but ultimately Cokethorpe were too strong for us. As always in defeat there are lessons to be learnt and on this occasion we learnt that to improve our performance we need to work better as a team, supporting each other even when things get tough during a match.
Report by Mr T Crisford
U12B Rugby v Cokethorpe School
This was an extremely tough ask for our B Team and with a few of our most experienced players away the remaining players had to step up to stop a very powerful Cokethorpe team. The team deserves real credit for how they stood up; sadly we were never really in the game but I can not fault the enthusiasm and commitment they showed during the match. Whilst tackling was at times a little lacking, albeit some very quick and powerful runners, there were periods of the game when I was impressed with their growing confidence. With only a handful of rugby matches left this season I hope they save their best for last as against evenly matched opposition there is much to be encouraged by from this relatively inexperienced team.
Report by Mr T Crisford
Other Results
1st XV Rugby lost 3-22 v Cokethorpe School
2nd XV Rugby won 19-7 v Cokethorpe School
U16 XV Rugby lost 0-21 v Cokethorpe School
U12B Rugby v St John's School, Northwood
