On Monday, 11, Year 9 boys travelled to London to play in the famous Rosslyn Park Rugby 7s festival. It’s the first time Stover has entered the competition which consists of 10,000 boys and girls playing over the course of the week.
Stover drew King Edward’s, Scarisbrick Hall and Finborough schools in the pool.
The first game was against Scarisbrick Hall. Scarisbrick started well and took an early lead. However, Stover settled into the game and started to play some brilliant 7s rugby. Harry Y, Freddie C, and Joel M started to orchestrate the attacks. They set William L on his way to run over our first try of the game. Stover dominated in defence and attack and came out worthy winners, with a fabulous 26-10 final score.
In the second game, Stover played King Edward’s, who have dominated the rugby circuit. In a close game, Stover trailed just 15-10 with two minutes left. Joel M then produced a moment of brilliance. He received the ball from a line-out from his own 5m line, and proceeded to run the length of the pitch knowing he had to try and score under the posts. He stepped in and drew his defender before passing the ball to Samson H to run under the posts. The conversion that followed was simple for Joel M. The final whistle blew and Stover came out on top winning 15-17.
In the final game, Stover needed to win to progress to day two of the competition. They were playing Finborough who had won both their games by 30 points. Stover went 12-0 down in the first-half, but continued to play attacking rugby. Before half-time Stover clawed one (try) back, going into half-time, trailing just seven points. With two minutes left in the game, Finborough were reduced to six men, an opportunity for Stover, who then scored, leaving a nerve-racking finish. Finborough, despite being a man down, held on, meaning Stover lost 17 points to 12.
A superb effort from the under 14s, and a great sign of things to come.
Well done to all.