Golden crop triumph again at Twickenham
WARWICK School’s class of 2017 will long be remembered in the West Midlands after they claimed the NatWest U18s Cup at Twickenham on Wednesday, three years after triumphing at U15s level.
The day did not start as the school would have hoped with the U15s losing to Wellington in their Cup final, but four tries to one saw the U18s secure a 27-5 victory over Bishop Wordsworth’s.
Warwick made a perfect start to the U18s final with tries from Kevin Curran and Kyriakos Grammatopolous either side of a penalty try to lead 22-0.
But they lost Tom Fawcett to the sin bin which allowed Bishop Wordsworth’s to get on the scoreboard through wing Chris Nichols.
But Warwick controlled the second half and they sealed the win 15 minutes from time as Nick David skipped through tired defenders for a try.
With World Cup winner Will Greenwood on their coaching staff, Wellington College were desperate to maintain their unbeaten season at U15s level and did so beating Warwick 25-12.
A brace from Wellington captain Fin Baxter, was accompanied by a try from replacement wing George Morison and ten points from the boot of full-back Max Thomas.
Thomas Hardye cruised to a comfortable win in the opening game of the day as they trumped Dr Challoner’s 62-7 in the U15s Vase final.
They scored ten tries in total with the midfield pair of Freddie Marsden and Frankie Read helping themselves to a brace.
Trent College put in a dominant performance to beat Royal Latin 43-7 in the U18 Vase final with triplets Ben, George and Jack Dickinson leading the charge.
A busy week for the NatWest Schools Cup started on Tuesday with Sixways hosting the inaugural U18s and U15s Plate and Bowl finals.
It was a special occasion for the Reigate Grammar School 1999 generation as tries from Joe Gregory and Alex Skinner helped them lift the U18s Plate two years after winning the Colts tournament at the Rosslyn Park Sevens.
They hung onto a 20-16 win over Solihull as prop Henry Nicholls forced his way over with five minutes to go to set up a tense finish.
The day began with Beths Grammar School beating Pocklington 37-27 in the U15s Bowl in a tense opening game.
Beths’ No.8 Daniel Ademola proved to be the difference, scoring four tries and was deservedly named Man of the Match.
The following match between Sir Thomas Rich’s and St Pauls in the U15s Plate was a lower scoring affair but equally as tense.
Sir Thomas Rich’s emerged narrow victors, winning 6-3 thanks to two first-half penalty goals from hooker Luke Carr.
It was the Gloucester academy’s first national title after two previous defeats in U15 national finals.
In the senior games, Old Swinford Hospital were able to hold off a brave fightback from St Olave’s to win 24-13 in the U18s Bowl final.
The U18s Cup finalists from 2013 outscored the Kent school four tries to two with Benny Trimmer, Sam Hughes, Jolby Beech and Charles Fraser all getting over the try line.