The first round of the Schools Cup is now complete, with several exciting fixtures lined up for the second round starting on Tuesday.
Among the highlights from the opening round was RGS Newcastle‘s 24-19 away win at three-time finalists Barnard Castle, Rugby School and Warwick’s thrilling 36-36 draw (with the latter going through as the away side), and champions Trinity destroying 2012, 2013 and 2014 winners Dulwich College in a 55-5 mauling.
But it was also an impressive start for Sean Thomson’s Seaford, whose team overcame their patchy form to hold on for a battling 23-17 victory of RGS High Wycombe.
A very tough set of Saturday fixtures, including defeats against as yet unbeaten Hampton, Wellington College and Berkhamsted, who hammered New Hall 60-10 in the first round of the cup and lifted the Daily Mail Trophy last year, has meant it has been a challenging start to their weekend campaign.
But Thomson was relieved his team, made up mostly of Year 12 students, had held their nerve to set up a second round clash against another RGS, Guildford.
“High Wycombe are a good cup team, they’ve got a lot of history in the competition. Even when we led 12-0 after 10 minutes, then 20-10 heading into the last quarter, they never went away. They always keep fighting and always keep scrapping, they know how to win, but I always felt we had enough in the tank.
“What I was quite proud of was our ability to win ugly. There are certain areas we need to improve and if we do, that’s very exciting. We’ve got better as every game has gone on with quite a young team.”
Elsewhere in round two, the pick of the games is the Croydon derby, where the winners of the three most recent titles meet.
Whitgift, the 2019 and 2020 champions, and opponents Trinity, last year’s winners, meet in a mouthwatering clash for bragging rights on Wednesday.
Pingback: page