RGS through to Daily Mail Schools Rugby Semi Final

A 20:11 victory over Lawrence Sherriff's school has seen Reigate Grammar's 1st XV go through to the Daily Mail School's Rugby semi final. Both schools had played 5 undefeated matches to reach the last 16 of the many schools that entered this national cup competition. Neither had met before and there were no form lines to study that could give a hint as to who might be the stronger. The Reigate wins were at the expense of Esher College 20 – 14, Imberhorne School 43 – 22, Caterham School 24 – 17 and Colchester VI Form College 22 – 3. Whilst Lawrence Sherriff had beaten Brooke Western College 50 – 0, Princethorpe College 24 – 0, King Edward VI Lichfield 19 – 12,.Richard Hale School 39 – 0 and Solihull School 14 – 10. Earlier Reigate teams have had their successes in the Daily Mail Cup competition with Mike Hynard’s 1991 team reaching the semi-final and Nick Siegle’s 1996 team the quarter finals. The Vase competition is a relatively new concept and though this team has its fair share of under 16’s, there was a great deal of confidence that a quarter final victory was a very realizable prize.

The trip up the M25 and M1 was uneventful with Reigate having plenty of time, under the direction of coaches Dai Bader and Matt Clarke, to shake off the effects of the 120 mile coach journey. The pitch was in good condition and a clear day with the sun shining; to take the chill out of the air, presaged what turned out to be a closely matched contest.

The home side kick-off went straight into touch and from the following scrum centre, with the put in favouring the visitors, it was some surprise that it was Sherriff that won the ball, to attack deep into Reigate territory. They maintained this impetus for the first 9 minutes and showed great control at both the set scrums and the maul. The Reigate defence held out and they gradually began to take the game into Sherriff territory. On 14 minutes a penalty fairly wide out gave the visitors the opportunity to get points on the board. As has been shown by that relentless scorer Johnny Wilkinson, the ability to punish the sins of the opposition at every opportunity is a vital weapon in any team’s armoury and though James Watts scorns the crouch, the hands held as if in prayer, the frequent concentrated looks towards the target and heaven, his almost off-hand two paces back and laconic approach, claims the same results. His four kicks brought 10 points to his team and I doubt whether the total time consumed was more than 40 seconds. The second penalty some six minutes later put the visitors 6 points ahead. Sheriff replied with a penalty on the 24th minute and another one on the 36th to make it 6 – 6 at half-time. Territorial advantage was probably 60% in favour of the visitors mainly because they made fewer mistakes
and won a greater number of the turnover balls.

The Reigate kick-off for the second half was used to great effect by the forwards who surged towards the Sherriff line with Will Godwin claiming the touchdown after only 2 minutes of play. The kick was successful and Reigate had opened a seven point lead. Play swung from end to end with neither side really gaining any lasting ascendancy, with both defences seemingly impregnable. On ten minutes the Sherriff forwards gained a well earned try wide out on the right, too far out for theur kicker but the Reigate lead reduced to 2 points. An injury to left winger Alex Dixon, saw Alex Smith promoted from the substitutes bench in the 15th minute, but it was not until the 24th minute that a chink in the Sherriff defensive line enabled Will Crow to slip through close to the posts. The trusty boot of James Watts added the points and Sherriff were left with a 9 point deficit and 10 minutes plus injury time to play. They tried their hardest and Reigate did not shirk a tackle. Lance Lohse replaced the injured Adam Emsley in the first minute of injury time, but time was running out for the home side and the final whistle came with Reigate’s 9 point lead still intact.

This was a great team victory, the names mentioned are rightly the ones of those who scored, but they know that the points were won by the team. Even James Watts needed the team to get him into a position where his kicking skills were going to be effective. I’ll go further by saying that though only two of the substitutes were used, it was also a great effort by the squad. The competition for inclusion in both the team and the squad for the semi-final against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School from Penrith in Cumberland, will be intense. The other semi-final is between Sussex Downs College from Lewes and the Marling School from one of the heartlands of English Rugby, Stroud in Gloucestershire. Both semi-finals will be played on Sunday March 2nd at the Broadstreet RFC ground in Rugby Road, Binley Woods, Coventry.

TEAM: - Phil Davies, Phil Arnold, Dominic Johnson, Joe Tanner, Dan O’Sullivan, Ross Grimstone (Capt.),Will Godwin, Adam Emsley, Ed Forsyth, Will Crow, Alex Dixon, Will Tame, James Watts, Brad Jepson and Paul Davies.

SUBS: - Lance Lohse, Tom Brown, Lyndon Myall, James Robey, Alex Smith, Ryan Jeffery and Ryan McLean.

February 2008