The U14 Rugby Team has been working hard in training and lessons to prepare for this Tournament which marks the start of their League matches and the boys were really up for playing against different opposition in an afternoon of Round-Robin matches. Shoreham College were placed in Pool 1 alongside Durrington High and Our Lady of Sion, whilst six other Schools competed in two other Pools.

We played our first match against Durrington High and Matt Jackson kicked off. The game seemed fairly even until a missed tackle allowed their winger through and he scored under the posts; which was converted and Durrington High went 7 points up. Once again our Forwards worked hard in the scrums to create a stable platform for Max Jefferies to pass the ball out to the Backs but we were unable to break through the opposition line. Tom Welch had the great idea to move from prop to Number 8 and from a scrum on the half way line he picked up the ball from his feet and went on the charge breaking through countless tackles. He was finally brought down and Luke Quincey was on his shoulder to receive the pop pass and drive over the try line to score. Matt Jackson missed the conversion but all was not lost as we still had time to score again; the score was now 5 – 7. Unfortunately two missed tackles by us once again allowed Durrington through and they scored and converted.
Final Score: Shoreham College 5 Durrington High 14. We had a lot to talk about on the sideline!!

Our next match was against Our Lady of Sion and we got off to a tremendous start with the Forwards working hard to link phases of rucks and Elliot Box scored early in the corner; Shoreham 5 Sion 0. The structure and communication in this match was far better and there was a good atmosphere in the team which kept our heads up with all players wanting to take the ball on in attack. Tom Welch again scored handing off countless Sion players and Matt Jackson converted; Shoreham 12 Sion 0. The partnership between Dom Kent and Harry Corton was strengthening in the Centres and Harry was now able to make some very strong runs with Stuart Allcock coming up from Full Back to create overlaps. Luke Quincey scored twice in quick succession with some awesome breaks around the outside and Sam Risbridger converted.
Final score; Shoreham College 24 Sion 0.

We finished 2nd in our Pool and went through to play St Andrew’s and Kings Manor in the Runners-Up playoffs.

Shoreham received the ball from the kick-off against St Andrew’s and George Day caught it and quickly passed to Joe Spencer-Smith who made a fantastic run straight through the opposition defence. He used the strength in his arms to hand off tacklers and made excellent ground. The Forwards cleared out the ruck and Max Jefferies quickly got the ball away to Matt Jackson who moved it to Luke Quincey then Harry Corton and Harry Bushby. Joe Spencer-Smith went on the loop and took the ball on again to score; Shoreham 5 St Andrew’s 0. Shoreham played many phases of play and did a wonderful job of moving the opposition defence to create gaps which were exploited by Luke Quincey and Harry Corton with Sam Risbridger converting; Shoreham 17 St Andrew’s 0. Harry Bishop was now getting the hang of getting closer to the Centres to receive the ball and made great runs using his footwark to change direction. Not only was he strong with the ball but also in the tackles. The one occasion St Andrew’s came close to scoring, Stuart Allcock kicked brilliantly to touch and made 30 metres, good decision making. Dominic Kent, now playing Flanker, charged through to score wide of the posts and was happier playing in his new position.
Final Score: Shoreham College 22 St Andrew’s 0.

 Our last match was against Kings Manor and considering that they are only up the road from us, I had a feeling that this would be a grudge match. We didn’t play with as much structure and shape as we did against St Andrew’s but early on the Forwards dominated and Max Jefferies was again given good ball to work with. This match was close and it took all of Tom Welch’s determination to barge his way through to score the opening try; Shoreham 5 Kings Manor 0. For 10 minutes the game was close, and although Kings Manor didn’t see much of the ball, we were unable to get our Backs though to score. Luke Quincey, Harry Bishop and Stuart Allcock came close but again the power of Tom Welch thundered over the try line and Stuart Allcock completed the score with a conversion.
Final Score: Shoreham College 12 Kings Manor 0

 Overall, Shoreham College finished 4th out of 9 Teams, very well done!

U14 Rugby Squad:
Forwards
Tom Welch, Joe Spencer-Smith, George Day, Elliot Box, Max Horney, Michael Rickard, Luke Quincey, Sam Risbridger.

Backs
Max Jefferies, Matt Jackson, Harry Corton, Dom Kent, Stuart Allcock, Harry Bushby, Harry Bishop, Taylor Richardson