Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools
IT would be stretching a point to claim that Warwick have always been a major force in the schools game, but there is no question that in the 21st century at least they have become an absolute powerhouse, producing outstanding fifteens on an almost annual basis.
Rugby has been played at the school since 1879, not always with great success. Indeed in their own school magazine, the Portcullis notes one run of games between 1899 and 1906 which saw them win just two of their 62 matches, conceding 1,182 points in the process and scoring just 116 in the process.
There were however two early internationals – Sidney Crowther, who represented the Lions on their 1904 tour of Australia and New Zealand, who found himself lined up against another Warwick Old Boy, RC Challinor, who played for Australia.
Since then, until the new millennium, success was largely elusive. They did win the Rosslyn Park Sevens in 1986 and there was a semi-final in the Daily Mail Cup in 1993 but it was only midway through the noughties that they began to hit their straps.
So much so that if Covid had not intervened in March, Warwick were poised to appear in their fourth straight NatWest Cup final at Twickenham, something achieved before only by Dulwich College and Colstons.
Warwick beat Bishop Wordsworth’s in the 2017 final, QEGS Wakefield in 2018 and lost to Whitgift in a classic 2019 showdown, while this year they were due to play Whitgift again after an outstanding semi-final win over Northampton School for Boys. Warwick are now among one of the most prized scalps in the schools’ game.
Many have contributed to that success, but there is little doubt the initial impetus came with the inspired appointment of Kiwi Mark Nasey as director of rugby in 2004, the start of a 13-year reign that transformed rugby at the school.
Nasey arrived from Massey HS in Auckland where he was also the director of rugby, and soon got Warwick upping their game. He wanted everybody playing and enjoying rugby to the best of their ability and mastering the core skills. He added D and E XVs to the lower years and a 4th XV at U15 and U18 levels.
It was a classic case of widening the base of the pyramid, increasing the number of those who laced up for a game every week, growing the talent pool and then identifying those who wanted to take their rugby to the next level by committing extra time and effort.
Nasey was greatly assisted in the task by the arrival of former Wasp Tom Pierce, who arrived at the school in 2007 and took control of the U15s – the first elite level – and helped Nasey with the 1st XV before taking over the main DoR job in 2017.
That continuity of staff and rugby philosophy has been a big part of Warwick’s success.
Looking back, 2007 was the big breakthrough with Warwick winning an epic Daily Mail Cup final against strong favourites Barnard Castle 24-23.
Everybody played their part that day, not least future England Sevens star Charlie Hayter who scored a fine try, but the ‘hero’ was probably fifth form wing Sam Millar.
“Warwick were poised to play in their fourth straight Natwest Cup final”
As the match went into injury time Millar somehow managed to prevent towering Barnard Castle No.8 Alex Gray touching down wide out on the wing after Rory Clegg had launched a crossfield kick.
Experienced referee JP Doyle was on hand to adjudicate…
Millar had saved the day.
That triumph offered early encouragement, but the schools’ circuit is incredibly competitive and you can’t just order up success.
A little patience was needed before the happy combination of good coaching and a couple of exceptional year groups came into play and brought more tangible success.
That happened in 2013 and 2014 when the U15s won back-toback Daily Mail Cups, defeating QEGS Wakefield on both occasions.
The U15s also reached the final in 2015 but on that occasion lost to QEGS. The 2013 year group kicked on the following year and contributed a number of players to the senior side that reached the U18 final but it was a chastening experience, being battered 53-5 by one of the greatest ever schools sides as Dulwich recorded their third straight title.
It was a reality check but with all those exceptional U15 sides coming through the system Warwick would be back at some stage. It was a matter of staying patient and keeping the faith.
The school’s status in rugby circles was growing by the year and received a further boost in 2015 when they were appointed as a host centre for RWC2015 and the dynamic Japanese squad spent the best part of a fortnight training and preparing there. On one afternoon Eddie Jones and the full Japan back- up staff took the school 1st XV for a full session.
Among the players at this time was Jamie Shillcock who made history in May of 2017 when, as a Warwick schoolboy, he became the youngest player to appear in a Green King IPA Championship when, at the age of 17, he came off the bench for Worcester Warriors against London Scottish.
The current phenomenal run got underway in 2017 when they powered their way to another U18 final. This time there was no stage fright from their battlehardened squad and they were rewarded with a fine 27-5 win over Bishop Wordsworth’s.
Quick out of the blocks, Warwick were 19-0 up after 22 minutes and the match was won although Bishop’s battled hard to ensure it wasn’t a walkover.
Skipper Tom Fawcett received the MOM award while Nick David, their England U18 fullbackwho now plays for Worcester Warriors, was another to impress. David was also a member of the winning U15 side in 2014.
The snowball was beginning to roll and the following year brought possibly the most satisfying win of all against their old rivals QEGS Wakefield, their conquerors in the 2015 U15 final. Thirteen of the Warwick 22 that lost 15-6 in that junior final in 2015 tasted victory on this occasion, a strong subliminal message for players both at Warwick and everywhere.
Four of the starters against QEGS at Twickenham in 2018 – Kieran Curran, Ollie Thorneywork, Max Roberts and Fawcett –were starters against Bishop Wordsworth’s 12 months earlier and that big match experience kicked in with Warwick hitting the ground running and never letting the Yorkshire school into the contest. Warwick owned the ball for the first nine minutes before Curran stormed over for the first try.
Curran was an interesting player and an example of how some players develop at school.
He appeared at prop in the U15 team in 2015, flanker in the successful U18 side in 2017 and was now doing his stuff at inside centre. Fawcett added a second before Jacob Mounsey got one back for QEGS, but nothing was going to stop Warwick. Alex Sabin added a third to make it 17-7 at half time and after the break there were further tries for Fawcett and Roberts.
A hat-trick was on the cards the following year but Warwick ran into an exceptional Whitgift side who won an outstanding final 32-22. No complaints there but they had every intention and hope of taking revenge in their much anticipated ‘return’ final this year, alas a game that was destined to never be played.
