Busy few weeks for Cooper’s high-flying Reigate

REIGATE Grammar School beat Crossley Heath 38-14 to reach the inaugural NatWest Schools Cup U18 Plate final at Sixways on March 28.

The Surrey school, who will take on Solihull in the final, scored six tries from second row Billy Elliston, flanker Marcus Sotiriou, full-back Joe Wills, scrumhalf Alex Skinner, No.8 Oli Brooks and centre Tom Allen. Lucas Overtoom kick-ed four conversions.

A far tighter game was fought out at Lymm HS ,where Solihull earned a 10-8 success after the home team had led 8-3 early in the second half.

It will be the first time RGS will play in a National Cup final but with the Sevens circuit hotting up too, director of rugby Doug Cooper is preparing for a busy three weeks.

They begin with their own Sevens tournament today, where they reached the final last season, before taking part in the Surrey Sevens on Wednesday March 15. The flagship Rosslyn Park tournment follows the week after and Reigate want to build on the U16’s success from 2015.

“It’s fantastic for the school to be in a national cup final and I’m sure the boys are looking forward to it,” Cooper told TRP.

“With have a few Sevens tournament coming up too so we need to make sure we manage commitment levels and play the players appropriately to make sure we’re in the best possible place going into that final.

“We reached the semifinals of the South Coast Sevens last month where we beat Wellington in the quarters before losing to a decent Millfield side the semis but to compete on the same level as these big names is where we aim to be.

“There’ll be a strong field at our tournament with Wellington, Brighton, John Fisher, Hampton or Whitgift all coming.”

Meanwhile Warwick School with meet Bishop’s Wordsworth in the final of the Natwest Cup at Twickenham. Warwick beat Felsted 30-17, while Bishop’s triumphed over Bromsgrove 41-19.