Our U13 squad performed with immense credit today at the Northampton Saints U13 Rugby 7s festival, hosted by Bedford Athletic RFC

By playing with pace and handling the ball adeptly, the students beat St George`s, Harpenden and two other schools to deservedly finish top of pool A.

The squad then joined the winners of the other three pools to form a separate competition to decide which two schools would take part in the regional finals at Franklin’s Gardens, the home of Northampton Saints. It was clear from the way that the students were playing that we had every chance of doing just that if the bounce of the ball fell our way.

The pivotal match that would decide our fate surprisingly turned out to be the first one against a physical Bishop`s Stortford High School team. Despite going two tries up, we couldn’t quite shake off our dogged opponents and they tied the game up at 15-15 with a minute to go. A decision in contact on our 10 metre line resulted in BSHS gaining possession and they pounced on the opportunity to score with the final play of the game. This was a cruel blow to a team who had clearly played the better rugby throughout the match.

The second game was a resounding victory against Sharnbrook Academy, a school with links to Northampton Saints. This inevitably resulted in us having to win our remaining game by at least two tries against Bedford Modern (who had earlier helpfully beaten BSHS). Alas, with aching muscles and exhausted minds it was to be a step too far despite us scoring two late tries. Final score 20-10.

The students, under the expert guidance of Mr Dutta, played some superb rugby over the course of six matches and their behaviour was exemplary throughout. Moreover, it was an absolute pleasure to spend the day with them. I have no doubt that each and every one of them will sleep well tonight!