SEDBERGH UNDER 15S PREPARE FOR NATIONAL CUP FINAL AT TWICKENHAM

Sedbergh School’s Under-15 rugby side will travel to Twickenham next week to face Wellington College in the final of the U15 Natwest Cup on Wednesday.

This is a prestigious national tournament entered by over 500 schools and Sedbergh had travelled away to The Grammar School at Leeds, St Ambrose College, Manchester and Whitgift, Croydon in the competition before playing Millfield at the home of Saracens, Allianz Park in the semi-final.

The semi-final was a nervy and error-strewn affair and Sedbergh had to battle hard to come out on top. Millfield scored first through their dangerous outside-centre Josh Gillespie before Sedbergh hit back with a short-range try off the back of an attacking scrum from dynamic number-eight and man-of-the-match Harry Hill.

Millfield extended their lead through a penalty and led 10-5 at half time. Sedbergh had the better of the second half but continued to make handling errors and failed to dominate territory. However another short range try, this time for rangy lock Taran Stewart levelled the scores.

Sedbergh had the advantage of two tries to one in the event of a draw and would have qualified for the final on that basis but a last minute penalty was awarded to the boys in Brown and Will Haydon-Wood stepped up to successfully slot the kick and put Sedbergh through with a 13-10 win.

B1 coach Chris Swainson was delighted with the win saying, “It was scrappy at times but our defensive efforts, fitness and determination paid off in the end. We will be looking to reduce our error-count next week and play a bit more rugby!”

Captain Ben Patchett (S) was equally pleased and was looking forward to next week. He said, “It was a fantastic experience to play at Allianz Park and Twickenham will be another step up.

We know we made a lot of mistakes and will have to be better to beat Wellington. It was fantastic to know the school was supporting us watching on the livestream at school and it’s going to be great to have their support at Twickenham next week.”

Supporters are most welcome at Twickenham. Kick-off is at 12.30 pm, Wednesday 16th March.  The game will also be streamed live on the England Rugby website and the Daily Telegraph website.