Felsted Prep v Royal Hospital School

1^st XV: Won 19 -12

Preparations for the game were slightly disrupted when we lost our hooker, Luke Bury, 15 minutes before kick-off; but Ross Ingram seemed thrilled to be given his chance and he would play like a seasoned professional! From the kick-off we recycled it twice and moved the ball wide and ended the move with Tom Walker scoring in the corner. RHS came straight back at us and soon crossed our line under the posts to take a 5 – 7 lead. We responded again and a period of pressure was rewarded with a determined try from Will Barker at close range. Once again RHS came back at us and leveled the score at 12 – 12 just before half time. Despite all the pressure in the second half we couldn't cross the line, as the final pass refused to go to hand and they threatened a break away try at any moment! We struggled in the scrum as we were constantly going backwards, but the tight five kept working really hard under intense pressure. We seemed to lack a bit of composure and our decision making was, at times, poor. However, in the last passage of play we finally moved it wide quickly and Jonathan Salami crossed the line, just, to snatch the victory. This was a truly great game to watch and, whilst the performance was not as impressive as on Wednesday, the sheer determination and heart shown by the whole team was what won the game for us. Each and every player showed exactly what it means to wear ‘the shirt’ and they should be immensely proud of themselves.

Tries: Tom Walker, Will Barker and Jonathan Salami

Conversions: Tom Hitchcock (2)

2^nd XV: Won 27-0

Finally the 2nd XV turned up to play some proper rugby. There was a much more positive attitude to the game. We were aggressive but controlled and we rucked RHS off the pitch, with great handling in all areas.

3^rd XV: Lost 7-26

 Never have I been so proud of a team in defeat as I was on Saturday 10th November. Our opponents are always difficult to beat and as we faced their well-drilled Year 7 A team we knew our work was cut out! This was RHS' best Year 7 players and although we had a few older Year 8 players we were clearly up against it from the start. However, your young men battled their hearts out and tackled like they'd never tackled before. When we did get ball, our backs made good ground and, but for some solid defence, would have scored more tries. RHS just seemed a little sharper and more dynamic in the contact areas and often counter rucked us off the ball; giving them lots of attacking opportunities. But for some tenacious last ditch tackling and all out commitment from us, RHS could maybe have scored more. Joe Head showed initiative by taking a quick tap penalty and going over for our try under the posts; which he also converted. I thought James Cotterill, coming up from the 4ths at the last minute, played really well as did so many of the team but I felt Robert Hadley just shaved it for Man of the Match, not so much for his running and try scoring on this occasion but for his dogged refusal to let his winger, (or indeed anyone!), get past him. Well done boys - New Hall next up!

4^th XV: Won 24-0

The 4^th XV didn’t leave the best performance of the year for their last game, but it was a great spectacle to watch.  The boys played the RHS U12B team and managed to beat them 24-0 in our final game of the year, to remain unbeaten after our 6 games! Their forwards came at us hard for the full 50 minutes and also had our forwards troubled. With Felsted losing a lot of ball in the ruck, the boys tried to respond by pouring more numbers into the ruck, which was a risky plan to try and win the ball. It worked for most of the time, but RHS’ defence was defiant and it took until the 20^th minute and about half of that time spent in the RHS 22. With Jasper Sullivan having a pick and go and grounding the ball in superb style to take us into the break 7-0 up.

As we say every week, the first 5 minutes is always a barrage, and that it was! RHS threw everything they had at us for 5 minutes. But once again we weathered the storm and managed to hit back with great thinking in our own half by Hamish Rowe, to take a quick tap and to run 60 metres down the blindside to bring it around for Peter Hipkin to successfully convert.  RHS’ heads started to drop and the boys kept applying pressure with a barnstorming run by William Pierpoint, to have his first try of the year and to set us up for another great win. But in the last few minutes, “Captain Courageous”  (Serge Savva), who scored the last try of the year under the posts and to cap off a fantastic year from all of the boys, winning in a style that I tried to install into the boys throughout the whole year. It was an honour coaching such a great bunch of boys and getting to know them all individually and I will sincerely miss the team spirit and the way they carried themselves on and off the field.

5^th XV: Won 52-10

Saturday 10th November saw the first 5th XV home fixture of the season and, with a record crowd turning out on the back of Wednesday's big win, there was an air of anticipation as some of the supporters got to see their team for the first time. Captain Joe Wahl quickly gathered the squad together for the warm up and, after some discussion amongst themselves, it was decided that there was no real advantage to be gained by choosing ends should he win the toss and as a team they would prefer to receive the first kick off. The coach's instructions were simple today, keep doing what you have been doing and take the game to them from the off. As the first kick off fell into the arms of the mighty 5ths a swift passing move and burst of pace from Jordan Guerrero saw him ground the ball and the team take an early 5 - 0 lead. The quality of passing, pressing, moving and mauling continued throughout the first half and, although the half ended on a slightly sour note for the 5ths with Boomer Entwistle coming off with a stiff neck, his replacement Owen Howell, and a shuffling of the team with the effervescent Ben Dally moving up to prop, meant that the lead was never in doubt. It was a deflated RHS side that went in at half time trailing 25-0 after some superb battling tries from Ed Davis, Elliot Reeve, a tremendous running try from Will Ginsburg and the now famous number 8 pick up try executed superbly by Silas Turner Jones. Jelly babies, water and words of encouragement from both the coach and referee saw the boys take to the field for the second half, (with a substitution of Matthew Hudson-Lund coming on for the ever present Joey Ginsburg), not only aware of the change of ends but warned that RHS would not take this lying down and that it would be a different game altogether this half. Captain Wahl was having none of this though and surged through the RHS back line to score an early try taking the score to 30 - 0. As if foretold in the stars, RHS came back fighting and the remainder of the second half was a real ding dong battle. An RHS try to take the score to 30 - 5 woke up the Felsted defence and, were it not for the fearless tackling of Jonathan Barber chasing anyone who dared try for a breakaway, many more tries would have been conceded. After Silas Turner Jones powered over the line, (powered or was bundled we are still unsure), and Alex Bunn added his now customary try the score was taken 40 - 5 and then ensued another tremendous passage of open play and fearless rugby. Joe Wahl and Jordan Guerrero added another try each and, with the latter being converted from the boot of Joe the score reached 52 - 5. As if sensing the end of the season already (and having been involved in two awesome matches of rugby in 4 days) the 5ths allowed RHS to score another try for consolation which sent Coach Clarke behind the posts during the conversion attempt to remind them that the game was not yet over. The game finished 52-10. Of course, I have not yet mentioned all of the boys who played on Saturday but, were it not for the tremendous hooking of Will Newnham, the front row strength of Bertie Webster and Boomer Entwistle, the back line presence and intelligent support running of George Harvey, and the controlled aggression of Bram Emsley, I can assure you that the result would not have been the same. It has been an incredibly enjoyable and successful season for the 5th XV and I now look forward to the boys showing the rest of Year 7 and 8 exactly what they are capable of during League Matches.

U11A at the Felsted seven-a-side tournament

What a morning! There was a lot of excitement building up to this and we had been working on sevens rugby during the week. The boys need to think a lot more during sevens and cannot just put themselves on their default setting. We started a little tentatively in our group and only beat The Perse by two points (a missed conversion). However, we got into our stride and managed to win the other pool matches quite convincingly against FKS and St Cedd's. This put us in the semi-final against Felsted 'B' team. The 'B' team battled well and played their hearts out, but we were just a little too strong for them. This then put us into the final against a big Dame Bradbury's side. However, Dame Bradbury's were unlucky as we had been improving every game and getting more used to the style of sevens. An absolutely outstanding display of rugby by the boys, even more impressive considering how tired they were, meant that we came out convincing and deserved victors. A good day at the office! Thank you to Mr Hays for organising the event, thank you to the parents for their support and thank you to the boys for their unfailing enthusiasm and effort.

Felsted Prep v St St Faith's Cambridge

1^st XV: Won 24 - 14

Having taken virtually all the 1^st XV away to Dublin on tour the hope was that they would carry their form through to this week. They did not disappoint. This was a fierce contest against a previously unbeaten St Faith’s side and only our very best was good enough to beat them. In the first half we dominated upfront and were the more physical and demanding side and deserved our 12 – 0 lead with both tries being scored by Will Barker. In the second half St Faith’s showed their spirit and determination and fought their way back into the game, mainly through the boot. Two tries allowed them to move into the lead 12 – 14. However, we were not to be denied victory and a period of pressure in the opposition 22 lead to a Tom Walker try following some outstanding scrummaging as we took a 19 – 14 lead. Any worries about losing the game were then dispelled by a strong Jonathan Salami try in the left corner.

The team were all superb today and showed a confidence, determination and desire that comes from winning. Luke Bury, Sam Wisbey, Toby Guild and Tom Walker had all been awarded full colours and their colours’ ties in assembly this morning and they all showed why. Gregoire Imber was outstanding up front and in the loose, as was Harry Sturge whilst Cameron Cowie and Thomas Jardine worked tirelessly in the second row. Ollie Stonham and Barnaby Stoner both showed why they won ‘potential’ awards on tour, and Jem Salmon and Jonathan Salami were immense on the wings, especially in defence. At scrum half Will Buttleman was at his ‘nuggety’ best. It was however our three senior players who proved the difference: Tom and Tom were both a class act and Will Barker, who was individually outstanding, showed exactly why he is Captain of Rugby.

Tries: Will Barker (2), Tom Walker, Jonathan Salami

Conv: Tom Hitchcock (2) 

2^nd XV: Lost 22 -7
 A close first half with St Faiths winning more ball to go in at half time 12-0 in the lead. Felsted came back with a try early in the second half but simply did not win enough ball. 

 3^rd XV: Won 36 - 10

Playing St Faith's immediately after the half-term break has always proved difficult, however the boys rose to the challenge and came out as convincing 36-10 victors. The team played some lovely, controlled rugby in the first half and, once they got the rustiness out of their handling and decision making, started to get the points. St Faith's came back into it briefly in the second half as our forwards failed to hit rucks with the necessary drive and body shape and we allowed them 2 tries. Thankfully we steadied the ship and ran in two more tries.

Try scorers: J Clarke (2), Dowling, Beale, Timmis and McIlvenna,

3 conversions from J Head

Man of the Match - J Clarke 

4^th XV: Won 32 - 5

After a long half term, the boys knew they were going to a bit rusty only after one games session, but they were determined to keep playing for each other and to remain unbeaten. James Cotterill was one of the stars of the show again, scoring his 2^nd hat-trick of the year with some of his barnstorming runs and the boys were great at the support play and rucking also. But the Man of the Match had to go to Samuel Barratt. Starting at flanker, we soon realised they had a kicker and swapped Amaar with Samuel, which was where he shone. Without scoring a try but taking four crucial catches, which swung the momentum back into our favour, scoring from almost every single counter attack. It was a great performance also by Tobias Butler, Harry Britton and Serge Savva who all also scored tries. The final score was 32-5 which mean we remain unbeaten after our 5 games with 1 remaining. 

5^th XV: Won 61 - 10

The 7th November 2012 will go down in history as the date of the first win for the mighty Felsted Prep 5th XV; and what a win it was...

Captain Joe Wahl won the toss in a cold but bright Wednesday afternoon in Cambridge and cleverly opted to attack uphill in the first half giving St Faiths the sun in their eyes. The tone was set from the kick off with John Barber scoring a try straight from Felsted receiving the kick off after some incredibly direct and powerful running. St Faith’s knew they were in a game and Felsted's historic slow starts were a dim and distant memory.

Felsted maintained their excellent start by quickly adding two more tries through excellent support play, offloading and attacking running with the ball finally being grounded by Will Ginsburg twice. Still the Felsted pressure continued and with St Faith’s struggling to keep up with the powerful mauling and quick rucking on show, a scrum was given to Felsted about 5 metres from the St Faith's try line. The superb scrummaging from the 5ths kept the ball well until Silas Turner-Jones executed the perfect number 8 pick up to drive the ball over the line. With three more tries delivered from Alex Bunn, Will Ginsburg and John Barber before half time, Felsted went to collect their couple of jelly babies each (how many is that Sir?) leading 39-0. There was some distraction as an RAF fly past took place but the key messages were conveyed and the boys took to the field for the second half determined to improve the score.

Half time saw Ed Davis replaced by Ed Yeatts on the left wing, and Finlay reminded to defend the other end of the field this time! All of Ed's substitute's energy was evident when he ran in an excellent try straight after the break. A much improved St Faith's side started to give as good as they got and, after more tries from Joe Wahl, Alex Bunn and Will "four tries" Ginsburg, there began an incredibly open, competitive and combative passage of play in the Felsted 22. There then followed a Felsted substitution replacing George "pat the dog before the line out" Harvey for Ed Davis after George's hard running had taken its toll on his legs. With the score at 61-0 it was good for our boys to know that the game was not over as St Faith's scored one good battling try followed by one fast breakaway try to take the score to 61-10.

Any concerns of a St Faith's comeback were quickly settled by the sound of the full time whistle and everyone relaxed to bask in the glory of a well earned and much deserved first win for the 5th XV. It was a real team effort and, whilst Will Newnham, Boomer Entwisle, Bram Emsley, Elliot Reeve, Jordan Guerrero and Joey Ginsburg have yet to be mentioned, this is not because of their lack of contribution - I could write much more in them match report given the space! Well played boys, you have all worked so hard for this win.

RHS await at home on Saturday...bring them on! 

U11 A: Won 21-10

What a day! The boys started well and quickly realised they were up against a good St Faith's side. There was a small element of rustiness in the early stages, but the game was very evenly contested. However, the boys went down two tries to one by the end of the first half, making the score 10-7 as St Faith's did not convert. However, the second half told the real tale. The boys kept their heads high and showed some real grit and determination. Tackling was superb and they really took it to the St Faith's boys. We managed to score two unanswered tries in the second half making the final score a very deserved 21-10. A very satisfying afternoon and the boys did the School proud showing real character to come from behind and illustrates that they are continuing to develop. Thank you for the rousing support from the parents and thank you to Mr Townsend for refereeing. 

U11 B: Won 56 - 0

After a long lay off over half term and with only one training session before we faced St Faith’s, it was very gratifying to see the boys play with determination and commitment. We dominated in all aspects of play, both in the forwards and backs. Once we had secured the ball either in open play or from set phases, the backs worked well moving the ball out to the wings, giving our runners space to exploit the opposition’s defence. A thoroughly deserved win boys, well done. 

U11 C: Felsted Won 55 – 34

The Squad was larger than normal as this was our last match and several players deserved to play in a competitive match and the squad had practised with enthusiasm and determination.

The Squad:

The starting line up was: Forwards; Aiden Swan-McSorley, Cameron Wallace, Dominic Savva, Scrum Half: Lewis Isaacs, Fly half: Harvey Minks, Centres: Samuel Winter and Sebastian Martinez-Minett, Wing: Joshua O'Conner. As the game developed forwards were substituted: Henry Barker, Archie Pritchard and Elliot Smith, and in the backs came Ethan Weatherstone, Thomas Gilbert, Orlando Drewitt-Barlow, Matthew Reagen and Oliver Craig.

Everyone played with energy and showed they knew how to play with good positive rucks and mauls and winning most of the scrums. The backs passed it out down the line and made some terrific runs through the gaps and round the outside. Dominic led the team and pack from the front and Harvey distributed the ball efficiently and ran forcefully. Sebastian and Samuel were extremely strong runners cutting the opposition apart in the first half, thanks to the possession the forwards had battled for in the rucks. Oliver Craig showed us how to run strongly through tackles to score.

1st XV Rugby Tour to Ireland

Once we arrived in Ireland, our drive to the Johnstown Hotel was short and exciting. The prospect of who was sharing with who in each apartment was causing great expectations! After lunch the boys were given their apartment keys and room mates and a short time to settle in before the first training session. It was a two hour full on session that blew away the cobwebs and reminded the players of the physical nature of the game - it was a great session! The evening was spent playing silly team games in the games room as well as completing the first team quiz of the tour (on the subject of Ireland). 

After breakfast on Tuesday we again had training. We had picked two sides called ‘Dub’ and ‘Lin’ (see what we did there – Joe didn’t!) and our plan was to give each team a half of each upcoming match. We spent the morning perfecting scrums, line outs and back lines. After lunch we headed off to the rather high class indoor Mayan and Aztec Crazy Golf Centre for a sophisticated game of golf! It was great fun and a good bonding exercise and Jem proved to be the top golfer on the day. Afterwards we headed off to Seapoint for our first full fixture. 

An outstanding performance from all 24 players saw us run out comfortable winners against a competitive and persistent Seapoint side. We played an exciting brand of open rugby and thrived on the large, wide senior 1^st XV pitch. The quality from all the players was fantastic and there was no doubt that our two training sessions had helped every player step up a level and perform with ambition and confidence. Plenty of tries were scored from all areas of the pitch. The scrummaging was good and we showed aggression in defence and ambition in attack. The pre-match golf had clearly helped the team building preparations and all the players showed a confidence in each other and a willingness to trust them and to work hard for each other. Tries were scored by Harry S (2), Harry N, Connacht captain Tom H, Munster captain Will, Leo, Hugo, Ben and Leinster captain Tom W (4) with Christian adding two conversions and Tom H kicking 8 conversions. The final score was 80 – 24. The post-match hospitality was typically Irish – generous, warm and genuine (after which Mrs Stringer dashed off to the airport to collect Henry so he could join the rest of the tour). A huge thank you to everyone at Seapoint for allowing us to experience such a wonderful opportunity and a special thank you to Sean, the Seapoint coach. Thank you must also go to Mr Head, whose generous sponsoring of our tour shirts meant we not only played the part of a professional outfit on the pitch, but we also looked the part. We returned to our apartments tired but happy and managed to squeeze in the second team quiz (on the subject of rugby) before retiring to bed. 


On Wednesday morning we travelled into Dublin for a bit of light shopping in Grafton Street before heading towards Croke Park for our tour of this incredible stadium and home to the Irish Gaelic Games. Two hours later we had learnt a lot about this magnificent stadium and its rich history and I can only recommend the tour as a ‘must do’ in Dublin. To emerge from the warm up area to the sound of 80,000 fans was quite something even if it was piped in noise! We returned to the hotel for another full training sessions followed by time in the pool and the ice bath. Silly relays added to the team scores. Halloween evening was spent running around under a full moon playing Wide Games whilst wearing Halloween masks! More team scores were gathered from this and the Halloween Quiz which the teams completed. 


Thursday morning saw another light training session before we departed for ten pin bowling at the rather superior ‘Super Dome’! Again it was great fun with a lot of laughs and absolutely the right thing to do before our second fixture. Henry proved to be the top bowling champion. The journey to our fixture against the Wanderers Club took us right into the shadow of the Aviva Stadium where we were due to play on the warm up pitch right next to the Stadium. Mrs Stringer got chatting to Brian from Security and before we knew it we were taken into the Aviva Stadium itself and put in one of the secondary changing rooms. We then warmed up in the sound proofed area that Ireland will use this weekend to prepare to face South Africa. Having warmed up we came out of the stadium and onto our pitch to face the Wanderers. ‘Lin’ started the game this time under the captaincy of Will B and it was obvious from the beginning that this was going to be a tough game. Wanderers moved the ball well and mauled extremely effectively and we found ourselves under intense pressure as the tackle count mounted throughout the half. We conceded 3 tries which were well worked by Wanderers who were exposing us out wide. An injury to Jem saw Tom W introduced to the game and we quickly struck back. 7 – 15 down at half time was a great result for the ‘Lin’ team and huge credit must go to all the players. ‘Dub’ played the second half and our superior skill, strength, defence and pace began to show. Now it was the Wanderers under pressure and through the leadership of Minster’s Will, Connacht’s Tom H and Leinster’s Tom W we began to score regularly. The tries were great tries, including tremendous solo efforts from Will and Tom W but the team collective proved too strong for Wanderers and we finished the game 42 – 15 winners. Tries came from Leinster’s Tom W (3), Munster’s Will, Luke and Connacht’s Tom H with Christian (1) and Tom H (5) adding the conversions. 

Following the game Brian then took us on a private tour of the Stadium. We entered through the players’ entrance and were taken to the Senior home changing rooms and shown the suites, the baths and facilities as well as being able to sit where the Irish players will be sitting this weekend to face South Africa. Then we were taken out into the stands to sit in the Irish team dug out and soak in the quite incredible atmosphere of the empty stadium. Brian had organised for some of the lights to be turned on and it was a unique experience. We were also shown the medical rooms which are so impressive that Sir Alex Ferguson wants the same facilities at Old Trafford next year! As a once in a life time experience this was very special as we had the whole Aviva Stadium all to ourselves this evening. We travelled back to our apartments for dinner and, incredibly, the tour prize giving ceremony. Everyone received recognition for their part in the tour.

Friday morning was Barnaby’s birthday as well as the inter-team 7’s competition (although we actually played 8’s!). With the team contest in the balance every game and every try was crucial as all carried bonus points. Ultimately Leinster came out on top as they just managed to overcome Connacht in a tense deciding game. This result would put Leinster briefly in the lead although Connacht had been leading all week with Munster not far behind. The final result however would not be finalised until we were five minutes from school so there was still plenty of opportunity to gain and lose points.

And so incredibly we reached the end of the tour and only needed to travel home. I cannot say enough about how good the boys were (most of the time!) and how they treated their grown up surroundings and accommodation in a mature and professional manner. Despite the large flat screen televisions, it was a delight to see so many Uno cards in action. Even the packing and cleaning out of the apartments was relatively painless!

A massive thank you to all the players for their part in this wonderful tour. Thank you also to all the parents for allowing us to take their children away and thank you to those parents who were able to join us on tour and provide friendly faces for us on the touch line. Thank you to Mrs Stringer for her tireless efforts all week and thank you to Mr and Mrs Le Chevalier for all their enthusiasm, help, quality coaching and refereeing! Well done also to Luke, Toby, Ethan and Noah for being great tourists! Thank you to the parents for their generous gifts to myself and Chevs. Thank you also to Kevin for organising our fixtures and promising us more in the future if we so desired!

A final thank you must go to Mr Tydeman whose generosity towards the tour allowed us to enjoy those extras that made the tour the unforgettable experience it became – thank you.

The final team scores were as follows:

Connacht 77

Leinster 76

Munster 67

Congratulations to Tom H and vice-captain Jem for leading their team so well although Munster’s Will and Luke and Leinster’s Tom W and Sam also deserve great credit. Mention must also go to the four young Year 7’s on tour who all showed real potential in terms of rugby and leadership.

Needless to say the tour was immensely good fun and all the boys were great value. All of them have learnt a lot about themselves and each other and hopefully will take a lot away from the tour. There is so much more that I could write about but, as you know, “what goes on tour stays on tour” – isn’t that right Jem!?