Rugby Report – 16 September 2024

A report by Mr Andy Maguire, Head of Rugby

SPS teams had a great block fixture with Eton College on Saturday.

Firstly, huge congratulations to the 1st XV on an excellent away performance, culminating in a 47 – 12 win. The game began with a couple of early tries for St Paul’s, to which Eton replied with a score of their own. Despite this early flurry, however, we still hadn’t come out of first gear. It was only once we started to look after the ball that we were able to take control of the game and create many an opportunity to convert some great passages of play into points. The team also put in a massive defensive display, tackling relentlessly right from the kick-off until the final whistle. Having had a difficult first fixture against a very good Epsom College side last week, the team showed great resilience to bounce back with an outstanding performance, so well done to all the players. Not to be outdone by the 1st XV, the 2nd XV also put in a very strong performance, winning their game by 43 – 21 and showing plenty of attacking flair along the way. Commiserations to the 3rd XV who sadly lost a very hard-fought contest by 5 – 14.

The Under 15s continued their flying start to the season with a clean sweep of victories for the year group away at Eton, with the B team’s game in particular proving to be a real nail-biter. Congratulations to all the players and staff in the U15 As, Bs, Cs, and Ds. Congratulations, also, to the U14As who, like the 1st XV, showed a lot of character to win at home to Eton after a tough opening game against Epsom – great work from Mr Van Vuuren and his team. The U14E team were also triumphant after securing a comprehensive win against the Eton U14D team, but unfortunately the U14 Bs and Cs were unable to follow suit.

Unfortunately, the U16 A and B team had another difficult afternoon against a strong Eton year group. However, with many key players out through injury, both teams showed a lot of grit and character to keep putting up a good contest, even when the scoreline was firmly in Eton’s favour.

Overall, the convincing results across the board against a strong rugby school in Eton represent a brilliant effort for all the winning teams, whilst the losing teams must also be applauded for their hard-fought contests.

Eton College (Home)

U16 A lost 12 – 38

U16 B lost 10 – 38

U14 A won 29 – 19

U14 B lost 14 – 22

U14 C lost 10 – 43

U14 E won 50 – 0

Eton College (Away)

1st XV won 12 – 47

2nd XV won 21 – 43

3rd XV lost 14 – 5

U15 A won 7 – 43

U15 B won 21 – 22

U15 C won 12 – 21

U15 D won 10 – 34