
It took them a year to adapt but Wellington College entered Schools Sevens history on Friday by lifting their first Open Cup at the Rosslyn Park Sevens.
First-half tries from Tom Parton and Ollie Kitto helped them beat a plucky John Fisher 12-7 in the final to end the term undefeated with six trophies from the six tournaments they entered.
In fact, they have only lost one game all season and that was in their Daily Mail Trophy clash against Sedbergh back in November.
“Winning the Rosslyn Park Open is an incredible feeling even if it hasn’t sunk in yet,” captain Will Wilson told The Rugby Paper.
“It was fantastic to win the Daily Mail Trophy in 15s but our focus was on Sevens and that tournament was massive for us, so to achieve it is huge.
“We wanted to put things right against Fisher, too, after last year. We knew they’d struggle if we kept to our pattern and it proved right.
“It’ll be really nice to look back at this term and see what we’ve achieved. Six tournament wins is pretty special and it’s a testament to the 17 or 18 players who have been involved and worked really hard this term.”
After years of dominance in the Festival tournament, nine titles in 12 finals since 1999, Welly were allowed to take part in the Open tournament in 2014 but, playing against better opposition, they ran out of juice in the semi-finals against that same John Fisher team.
Keen to take their revenge, Wellington flew out of blocks in the final as speedsters Parton and Kitto went over to open a 12-0 lead at the break.
But state school John Fisher refused to lie down against one of the most prestigious private schools in the country and they hit back through Suvwe Obano, who showed a lethal mix of power and pace to score in the corner.
Unfortunately, it was to be two lost finals in a row for Fisher but, with nine members of the 12-man squad in their lower sixth form, captain Nathan Thomas was quick to look at the bigger picture and the rematch at Twickenham during the London leg of the World Series in May.
“We want to leave a legacy and that’s what we’ve done today,” he told TRP. “A lot of people didn’t think that we could make it to the final again but we proved them wrong.
“‘Heads up, chests out’ is our motto and we’ve gained a lot even if we lost and that’s a rematch at Twickenham.
“I can assure you we’ll put in a performance there like we did last year when we beat Millfield at the home of English rugby in front of a packed house.”
Wellington had had an easy ride on Day One scoring 138 points from their four pool matches but they had to raise their game on Day Two with the likes of AASE League powerhouse Hartpury College and, most importantly, Millfield between them and the final.
Their Sevens experience shone through against Hartpury in the quarter-finals pools, however, for a 10-5 win to set up a mouth-watering semi-final against their arch rivals Millfield in the semi-finals.
With skills most World Series team would be proud of, this titanic clash lived up to the expectations as Welly led 17-10 at the break.
But Millfield hit back and a try on the last play of the game made it 31-29. Adam Hastings had the conversion to take the game to extra time but his kick drifted wide ending their hopes of back-to-back titles.
John Fisher only made it to Day Two as best runners-up after losing their opening game 19-17 to Coleg y Cymoedd. But wins over St Joseph’s College, Coleg y Cymoedd and Sedbergh saw them go through the gears early on Day Two.
Like Wellington, their best performance came in the semi-finals where Obano scored a hat-trick as they easily dispatched with Sherborne, 29-7.


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