A celebration of the Rugby Bicentenary at St Paul’s School

SPS will host a week of celebrations from 9 – 12 October to mark the Rugby Bicentenary.

The highlight of the week will be a trial of the ‘3rd Game’ on Thursday 12 October for SPS U15s and invited schools. The week will also include bicentennial matches with Rugby School, talks and archive displays.

Monday 9 October

We will welcome a guest speaker at lunchtime to talk about their experiences in the game.

Tuesday 10 October

We will be hosted at Rugby School for matches with our U16A, U15A and U14A.

Wednesday 10 October

We will learn about the history of SPS Rugby and our involvement in the sport’s founding.

Thursday 12 October

We will host a trial of the ‘3rd Game’. Developed by former Director of Sport/Rugby, Glenn Harrison as part of his sabbatical research in conjunction with the RFU, the ‘3rd Game’ is designed to improve skill, awareness of space and enjoyment of a fast-moving game with fewer collisions.

We are hoping this exciting pilot with the RFU will be useful in the longer term to make the game safer and potentially keep more pupils playing the game. We will welcome RGS Guildford, Tonbridge School, KCS Wimbledon and Hampton School who, along with St Paul’s, will play in the festival, which will be organised, refereed, filmed and analysed by the RFU with the view to potentially trialling on a larger scale in the new year.