Rugby Guest at Assembly 

Mr Howe introduced Shiplake pupils to a special guest at the whole school assembly on Friday. Exeter Chiefs' fly-half, Gareth Steenson was invited to talk to pupils about his and his team’s journey to winning the European Cup and the English Premiership in recent weeks.

Mr Howe said: “Over the half term break while many of you were taking some time to recharge your batteries, there was lots of sport going on.

“And for one particular team in England, there was the opportunity to do something really special to cement their place in sporting history and to achieve something that very few teams have done before, and I’m not talking about England winning the Six Nations last weekend! 

“The team I am talking about is the Exeter Chiefs and just over two weeks ago they became champions of Europe. And then two Saturdays ago they won the English Premiership title by beating Wasps.

“One player who has been there every step of the way is their fly-half Gareth Steenson.”

Mr Howe then showed some highlights of Gareth’s career before welcoming him to the virtual assembly.

Gareth talked about the challenges of lockdown alongside having to stay away from family members, and how over the past 10 years and beyond they have taken little steps to get to where they are now. He also talked about how disappointments and failures throughout his career to help him reach his goals.

Gareth always wanted to play for Ulster and his country and had to deal with the disappointment of being told his dream wasn’t going to happen, after playing for Ireland U19s and U21s. He went to lower leagues in England, which at the time was scary to go across the water and leave home. It was tough for him and tough for his family. He ended up playing for different teams in England including Rotherham and in Cornwall before joining Exeter Chiefs. However, he always had the thought he could achieve in rugby and prove people wrong. 

He said: “I just had the mentality I could do it.” 

And with the journey along the way and all the disappointments, it helped him and his team mates to achieve their dream of winning the European Cup and English Premiership title.

Gareth summed up with his thoughts on how you make your journey through school and beyond work for you.

“You need to enjoy what you do. If you are not enjoying it, you are not going to be good at it. Yes there are difficult times but that’s when you get to lean on your support group and friends. Find something you enjoy doing and just throw everything at it.”

Thank you Gareth for an inspiring talk and on behalf of everyone at Shiplake College we wish you all the best in your retirement.