Congratulations to the Under 13 Rugby team on a very convincing win over Newlands School. Following on from the success last week against St Christopher’s, the boys were really motivated and spirits were high on the journey to the fixture.

Isaac Swan scored his first try for Shoreham College within the first two minutes and was quickly followed by William Ballard and Finley Bigg. All three players showed tremendous footwork and agility, cutting through the Newlands team with outstanding evasive running. Ethan Crosweller was once again dominant at scrum half and scored his first try of the season having spotted a gap from the back of the scrum. Oliver Davis-Smith came on and immediately made his presence felt with a dummy pass to Harry Rummery before scoring. Conversions were taken by Finley Bigg and William Ballard in the first half. As any avid Rugby fans will know, the fortune of scoring in the Backs is only made possible by the hard work of the Forwards and I couldn’t fault them. Particular praise goes to Charlie Boyle (Captain), Alex Kirby, Raffaelle Rummey-Milne, Gus Simon and Jonathan Isaac for their vision to keep the ball in-hand and attack the blind side.

Score at half time: Shoreham College 36    Newlands School 0

I had noticed a number of basic mistakes with the tackling in the first half so with a healthy lead, I told the players to concentrate on that aspect of their game and personal development. Sure enough, Alex Kirby took this on board and made countless hard hitting tackles on their Forwards and was instrumental in stopping the cavalry charges when penalties were awarded against us. Ben Thasarathar was now seeing more of the ball and the experience he is picking up through game time is starting to show as he made many evasive runs before drawing and passing before contact. Shoreham College were now upping their performance and getting the ball wider, quicker. This helped Henry Thornton to charge down half the pitch before scoring close to the posts for a well deserved try. Harry Rummery made his presence felt on the Newlands winger with an outstanding tackle within our 22-metre area, bundling him into touch. Other players scoring tries in the second half were; Finley Bigg, Alex Kirby, Luke Griffiths, Harry Blurton and Raffaelle Rummery-Milne, and four of these were comfortably converted by Finley Bigg, Isaac Swan and William Ballard.

Final Score: Shoreham College 74   Newlands School 0

Try scorers: Isaac Swan, William Ballard, Finley Bigg (3), Ethan Crosweller, Oliver Davis-Smith, Henry Thornton, Alex Kirby, Luke Griffiths, Harry Blurton, Raffaelle Rummery-Milne.

Conversions: Finley Bigg (4), William Ballard (2), Isaac Swan.

Most Valuable Players;

Alex Kirby – strength in rucks and mauls, confident hooking in scrums and outstanding commitment to tackling.

Finley Bigg – identifying space and gaps to run at but also having the vision to pass before the tackle and loop to support.

Area for development;

Moving the ball quicker through the Backs to attack using width and pace.

Lower tackling technique.

Be more alert to penalties against us; getting back 10metres and facing up.