Morris magic trick means Schools Vase final agony for Kenilworth
KENILWORTH School scored two tries at Twickenham but went down to a 36-14 defeat to Beechen Cliff School in the final of the U15s Schools Vase.
Kenilworth went into the break just 12-7 down before taking the lead early in the second half but a hat trick from Will Morris set Beechen Cliff on their way to victory, writes Sophie Freestone.
Ten minutes into the match Cliff fly half Ollie de Glanville, son of former England centre Phil, was on hand to receive a slick offload inside the Kenilworth 22, slipping through the defence to score the game’s opening try. Captain Jac Therrien added the extras to give his side a 7-0 lead.
Kenilworth responded just six minutes later through captain Josh Marsden. Fly half Will Woolvine’s successful conversion levelled the scores.
After the restart Kenilworth were back on the attack, almost scoring again before a well-timed interception from Charlie Delargy saw the winger race down the right wing to score his side’s second of the match and nudge Beechen Cliff into a 12-7 lead.
Having finished the first half strongly with some excellent defensive work, Kenilworth started the second half brightly in attack with Finn Yallop scoring just two minutes in. The centre showed real strength to shrug off the Beechen Cliff defence to level the scores. The conversion from Woolvine made the score 14-12 as Kenilworth took the lead for the first time. It wasn’t long before Beechen Cliff were back in front, however, with the ball shipped out wide to centre Morris who crossed in the corner for his first of the match. Therrien converted to restore his side’s fivepoint advantage. Morris was then back on the score sheet after 48 minutes, this time taking advantage of loose ball in the Kenilworth in-goal area to touch down and extend his side’s lead to 10 points.
After a great break from Kenilworth and subsequent penalties that took them deep into the opposition 22, Beechen Cliff overcame the pressure before Morris secured his Twickenham hat trick.
The centre was on hand to touch down after Daniel Boyle was superbly brought down by Kenilworth just inches short of the line. That score put his side 29-14 up with just under ten minutes to play before a sixth try through replacement Yuji Westmacott, converted by Therrien, gave Beechen Cliff a 36-14 victory.