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Schools Super 16

Wednesday 22nd December 2004

14-16th Dec 2004

Two very contrasting days at Nottingham University saw 16 teams from England, Scotland and Wales take part in the first ever Schools Super 16 rugby tournament.

On Wednesday all 16 teams played shortened games in their respective pools with the top two teams going through to the Cup and the bottom two going through to the plate. Competition was fierce at all times in near perfect rugby playing conditions with all matches played in the best of spirits.

Waking up on Thursday was a different proposition with a very heavy shower early in the morning making the pitches a little greasy on top. All games today carried high importance in both the Cup and Plate.

In the Cup competition after two rounds in Pool G, Colstons, Coleg Sir Gar, Neath PTC and Hartpury were all tied with one win and one loss for each team which meant the last round of games would determine who went on to play in the final from their group. In an epic match between Coleg Sir Gar and Colstons which went one way and then the other, they ended up drawing 12-12. This made the last match between Hartpury and Neath the all important fixture. Neath ended up victors in another thrilling encounter 20-10 to make the final.

In Pool H of the cup competition, in some very close and tense games, the final place was to be decided by the match between Bradford and Sedbergh. In a final throw of the dice with a defending scrum on their own 5 metre line the Bradford centre made a break up the middle of the field, kicked ahead and after collecting his own kick scored at the Sedbergh end putting Bradford through to the final, 14 – 10.

To make the competition even more intense, the plate pools progressed to also being an Anglo/Welsh final between Filton College, winners of Pool E edging out Merchiston Castle, Keswick and King Edwards, and Llandovery College winners of pool F finishing above Marlborough, Nottingham HS and Mount St Marys.

In a very tense Cup final, an important penalty miss in the first half against the wind by Bradford shortly followed by a try by the Neath fullback, Kevin James proved crucial. With late pressure being applied by the bigger Bradford pack they just could not break down Neath. The score remained 5 – 0 taking the first ever cup trophy to Wales. Neaths explosive hooker Ashley James received the Forward “player of the tournament award”.

In the plate final, Llandovery College scored 2 tries shared between their centres and Filton could just not get back into the game, the final score being 10 – 0 to Llandovery. In consolation, Filtons impressive Fly Half Jo Wearne received the vote for the Back “player of the tournament”.

With both trophies going to Wales in the first year it will be a good incentive for the English, Scots and hopefully Irish Schools for next year’s event.

RESULTS:

Wednesday:

Bradford GS 11 v Merchiston Castle 8
Sedbergh 12 v Coleg Sir Gar 5
Colstons 27 v Mount St Mary 0
Marlborough 11 v Filton College 11
Merchiston Castle 11 v Colstons 12
Coleg Sir Gar 22 v Marlborough 10
Mount St Marys 0 v Bradford GS 41
Filton College 7 v Sedbergh 19
Bradford GS 3 v Colstons 17
Sedbergh 28 v Marlborough 10
Merchiston Castle 26 v Mount St Marys 7
Coleg Sir Gar 10 v Filton College 3
Neath PTC 28 v Nottingham HS 0
QEGS Wakefield 5 v Llandovery 0
Ivybridge 17 v KE6 Stratford 0
Keswick 7 v Hartpury 12
Nottingham HS 0 v Ivybridge 43
Nottingham HS 0 v Ivybridge 43
Llandovery 10 v Keswick 0
KE6 Stratford 0 v Neath PTC 20
Hartpury 3 v QEGS Wakefield 10
Neath PTC 24 v Ivybridge 17
QEGS Wakefield 32 v Keswick 0
Nottingham HS 0 v KE6 Stratford 5
Llandovery 0 v Hartpury 8

Thursday:

Merchiston Castle 13 v KE6 Stratford 3
Marlborough 0 v Llandovery 0
Filton College 15 v Keswick 0
Mount St Marys 0 v Nottingham HS 27
KE6 Stratford 0 v Filton 10
Llandovery 17 v Mount St Marys 5
Keswick 0 v Merchiston Castle 18
Nottingham HS 7 v Marlborough 7
Merchiston Castle 0 v Filton 10
Marlborough 19 v Mount St Marys 0
KE6 Stratford 0 v Keswick 7
Llandovery 7 v Nottingham HS 0
Colstons 10 v Neath Port Talbot 3
Sedbergh 12 v QEGS Wakefield 0
Coleg Sir Gar 24 v Hartpury 0
Bradford GS 7 v Ivybridge 3
Neath Port Talbot 5 v Coleg Sir Gar 3
QEGS Wakefield 0 v Bradford GS 0
Hartpury 3 v Colstons 0
Ivybridge 0 v Sedbergh 5
Colstons 12 v Coleg Sir Gar 12
Sedbergh 10 v Bradford GS 14
Neath Port Talbot 20 v Hartpury 10
QEGS Wakefield 7 v Ivybridge 22