So stylish even Sir Clive came for a lesson
Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools
THERE are very few rugby clubs that can claim to have been at the cutting edge of organised rugby in England at the dawn of time nearly 150 years ago while still maintaining that status now in 2020.
That, though, is the justifiable claim of Wellington College in Berkshire who were among the 21 founding members of the RFU in January 1871 yet remain a powerhouse in the modern day schools game.
Wellington are perennially among the strongest rugby schools in Britain – arguably the world – and the school is the first port of call for local senior clubs such as London Irish and Harlequins looking to recruit young rugby talent into the professional ranks.
Thus far they can claim 11 Rosslyn Park Sevens titles – second only to Millfield – while in the NatWest Cup and Daily Mail Trophy competitions they have been consistent winners and finalists.
Modern day Wellington sides have become bywords in slick handling and imaginative attacking ploys. That point was vividly illustrated one afternoon late in 2000 when Clive Woodward, not happy with the off-loading skills of his England squad and their ability to keep ball live, brought them down for a long session with the Wellington Sevens squad who were in the middle of a run of three Festival wins on the trot at Rosslyn Park.
The rugby tradition at Wellington is a long and proud one and the ethos of those representing the school was set by a number of outstanding early pioneers.
First a hat-tip to AJ English, the 1st XV captain in 1870-1871 who took it on himself to attend a meeting – at the Pall Mall Restaurant in London – of likeminded clubs playing the Rugby code of football who wished to form a Union. In total 21 clubs – there was one other school represented in the shape of St Paul’s – attended although it should have been 22. The Wasps representative went to the wrong restaurant on the wrong day at the wrong time.
There were some distinguished Old Wellingtonians in these early decades. Henry Laurene – to become Baron Laurence – captained England against Scotland in 1874 and was to serve as the vice president of the RFU between 1874-77.
Murray Marshall was another England captain who reeled off ten caps between 1873 and 1878 while Frank Adams won seven caps around this time as well. Adams enjoyed the distinction of captaining England in the first ever Calcutta Cup game in 1879 which resulted in a 1-1 draw at Raeburn Place which meant the teams had to share the splendid new trophy.
Throughout much of the 20th century Wellington was a good nursery of quality club players and occasional England representatives – one thinks of Jamie Salmon who represented both
England and New Zealand in the 1980s – without perhaps rivalling some of the other huge names on the schools circuit. Its rise to pre-eminence, indeed powerhouse status, has been relatively recent.
As is usually the case, such success can be attributed to a combination of factors. Dedicated teachers and masters in charge who go the extra yard, headmasters who make sure the facilities are the very best the school can afford and then, slightly more randomly, outstanding year groups that miraculously appear to take the school up another level. That all has a snowball effect with less talented year groups striving to maintain standards.
The golden era which kick started 20 years and counting of excellence was 1999-2002 which included an extraordinary purple patch of 55 straight wins over three seasons including a demanding tour of New Zealand. That period saw the emergence of James Haskell, the Evans brothers Tom and and Max, Paul Doran Jones and Adrian Jarvis to mention just five players who made a considerable splash at senior level. Unsurprisingly they dominated the Festival tournament at Rosslyn Park as well.
Wellington’s then MiC and coach was Ken Hopkins who recalls the era well: “When I took over in 1997 – and I had been helping with teams down the school for 12 years – we had actually endured a couple of difficult seasons so we decided to go back to basics, master those and initially aim to be a little more competitive.
“One of the big advantages at a school like Wellington, with the lads on site if you like, is time and resources. The school had video equipment, so we used it for match analysis, I got a fitness specialist to do our conditioning and I asked Scotland and Quins lock Bill Cuthbertson to help with our forwards.
“No half measures. We took a professional approach and Wellington have never lost that, it became ingrained.
“A typical week then would be: play Saturday, video analysis put together on Sunday for the team to look at Monday lunchtime. That would be followed by a real hard fitness session on the Monday night with some skills as well. Tuesday and Thursday we would train, Friday a light skills session and then Saturday would be match day.
“If we played badly, we trained twice as hard the next week! Those Monday night sessions could be very tough indeed. If things weren’t going well at half-time at the game on Saturday sometimes all I had to say was, ‘look out Monday, boys’, and there would be a massive improvement after the break.
“One of my last teams – in 2003 – were not as naturally talented as their predecessors yet ended up unbeaten at 15s and took the sevens as well. They trained even harder because they felt they had a reputation to live up to. Their success was a big lesson, you don’t need blazing stars to be successful.”
Wellington have been singularly well blessed with rugby masters since Hopkins stepped down in 2006. Absolutely pivotal in the further growth of rugby was the influence of former London Irish scrum-half Keven Brenan who maintained the very highest standards at both 1st team level and on the sevens circuit with his sides at one stage reeling off three titles on the trot at Rosslyn Park.
Brenan, who eventually departed for pastures new at Scots College in Sydney, was assisted by Canada and Glasgow Warriors prop Keven Tkachuk and former Wasps lock Steve Shortland. He was succeeded by Dan Richards who has already enjoyed a couple of stellar seasons while in charge. Richards, the former Leeds Tyke and Cambridge University hooker, arrived from Caterham School where he was director of sport and also enjoyed a successful spell as head of rugby at Blundell’s School.
Richards says: “Some people comment there is a distinctive “Welly” style of rugby but we have never seen that as the case. There has always been a big emphasis within the coaching staff – which we discuss among ourselves – to adapt and to coach in ways that enable each year group and in fact every side down the school to play their best rugby and just as importantly enjoy the process.
“If you are having a good time you are more likely to excel. We place a premium on values such as integrity and kindness in the coaching process. Victory is the by-product of our approach not the out and out aim.”
It’s sometimes invidious to compare teams but there is no question that in the Wellington pantheon the classes of 2007-8 and 2014-15 are right up there.
In 2008 they achieved the Daily Mail Cup double with the U15s first up against Millfield. Then the U18 final, a massively intense affair, with Wellington probably underdogs against a particularly good St Benedict’s side. Heroic defence was what saw Welly prevail 7-3 with Welsh U18 fly-half Christian LewisPratt scoring the solitary try.
The 2014-15 team won the Daily Mail Schools Trophy and went unbeaten on the sevens circuit. Indeed their only defeat all season in any game was a 37-34 loss to Sedbergh in a classic that went to the wire.
A remarkable number of that year group quickly made an impact on leaving. Tom Parton, Rory Brand and Matt Williams were snapped up by Irish, while Sam Aspland Robinson has played for Quins and Tigers. Will Wilson is an Oxford Blue who played for England 7s and Josh Basham made a big impression at the Junior World Cup in 2018.
“They’re bywords in slick handling and imaginative attacking ploys” “No half measures. We took a professional approach and never lost it”