Bronte House U11s through to the National Schools’ Rugby Finals in Epsom.

After a very early start and a long journey, the U11 rugby squad arrived at Wellingborough School ready to play in the North/Midlands Qualifying Festival. The emotional rollercoaster started with a tough match against St Faith’s school where we went 2 tries up thanks to Thomas Rowe but poor defence in the second half allowed St Faith’s to draw 2-2. The next game against St John’s was a similarly tough affair and after conceding a try we battled back to draw 1-1 with Archie Robinson crossing the line. Still waiting for our first win we played Akeley Wood and were rewarded by a fine performance and a single Archie Hurford try making the difference. The final game against Gayhurst School was a solid 3-0 victory but qualification from the group was not guaranteed as a result of the RFU’s festival regulations where fair play and sportsmanship (decided upon by the referee) accrue points as well as the results in the games. After a nervy wait for the other games in the group to finish we were crowned group winners and had qualified for the national finals.

With 12 boys in the squad and only 26 boys in the year, this is a superb achievement and certainly justifies the early start. Thank you to Mr Eaglestone and the parents for all their support and hot chocolate on a bitterly cold day.

U11 boys celebrating their victory with grapefruit Shloer