Rugby Reports 16
(1971-72)

The 1971-72 season will be remembered primarily for the erratic form of the 1st XV and the number of high scoring matches which the team contested.

It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons why greater success was not achieved. Despite a good team spirit throughout the season, an apparent lack of self-confidence often manifested itself. The final tally of eight victories was no mean achievement, considering the strength of the fixture list, but the team failed to win any of the stronger'' fixtures and went down embarrassingly heavily at the hands of Hampton G. S. and St. Benedicts (as readers of the 'Daily Telegraph'' will testify!)

On the merit side, however, commendable performances were recorded against Reigate G.S. (lost 23-10) and Llanelli (lost 8-3), and the attacking flair of the side came to the fore in victories over St. Ignatius (44-10) and Broxbourne (41-0), admittedly much weaker sides.

Mention in this respect must go to C. Elias whose strong running and positive approach, coupled with the tactical wiles of C. Szelewski, resulted in many fine tries. C. Szelewski is to be further congratulated upon his achievements in representative rugby, being selected for the South and South-East England XV. D. Crombie proved himself to be a consistent full-back in defence, and deadly with his boot.

As in previous seasons a significant role was played by less experienced boys, notably J. Hall, S. Moss, P. Johnstone, M. Huddleston and B. Nash, who often shared the determination that more seasoned players lacked. Allied with the strength and determination of players such as G. Harding, R. Plowman, D. Hughes, S. Papworth, and A. Szelewski, they should form the nucleus of a strong side for next season and future years.

I would also like to mention the effort put into the side by the veterans' of the team namely M. Barber, G. Briggs, A. Long, G. Peters and S. Pearson who could always be counted upon to give their full support throughout

Finally I would like to think that the younger players have learned from the mistakes of their predecessors and that, strengthened with the vociferous determination with which they will be encouraged forward by Mr. Gibson, they will strive to greater success in the future.

S. Martin - M6A.

The Sevens season started as usual for us with the Buckinghamshire Schools Tournament in which we lost our first match to Aylesbury by 4 points to 12 and won the second against R. G.S. High Wycombe 28-0. This win improved the confidence of the team and showed that they could produce some excellent play.

We won in our group in the Middlesex Schools Competition, beating Downer G.S. 36-0 and Feltham School 42-0, very good scores in only 14 minutes of play. We found Isleworth harder nuts to crack and narrowly won 10-6. In the quarter finals we were convincingly beaten by Windsor G.S. 0-16.

The first match in which we were involved at Oxford was an U. 16 game against Humphrey Davey School, who defeated us after a hard first half battle by 20 points. This turned out to be no disgrace as they were runners-up in the final.

In the senior section at Oxford we narrowly lost to Wolverstone Hall by one converted try to nil. We all thought ours was a poor performance but perhaps we underestimated our opponents, as they went on to win the final quite handsomely by 32-0.

The Public Schools Tournament concluded our Sevens programme for the year and as usual we played well in this competition, which attracts the best Rugby Schools in Great Britain. We won our first game against King Edward VI School, Nuneaton, 20-0, knowing that if we won we should be playing Emanuel School the following morning. They had won the match preceding ours and had looked very robust indeed. As it happened, the match was very exciting and cleanly fought. They scored two tries, both converted, to lead 12-0 and the match seemed lost for us. Plowman opened our account with a score under the posts after a fine dummy and break and we were back in the match. The scores were soon level at 12-12 and the whistle was due the next time the ball went dead. Emanuel were awarded a penalty in our 25 just to the right of the posts, and again we seemed to be on our way out of the competition. The ball, however, rebounded off the posts to Hughes, who quickly fed to the wing and we had scored, to win 16-12.

The next round was equally exciting and the final whistle blew with the scores at 10 points each, and extra time had to be played. Our opponents scored first, however, and our Rugby season was over. To reach the last 32 in this competition was a very creditable performance and was a just reward for all the effort put in throughout.

P. Gibson

Played 19: Won 5: Lost 10: Points for 261: Points against: 312.

This account of the 2nd XV must seem very similar to that of the two previous years: rationalisation of a moderate record! Again the side was young and small, so that in several games our pack was dominated on a purely physical basis, as against Hampton G.S. (Lost 0-42) and Reigate G.S. (lost 3-39). Our attempts to compensate by emphasising mobility and backing up were thwarted by the failure to develop teamwork of a sufficiently high standard, but this was hardly surprising as 42 players represented the 2nd XV during the season.

However, there were two general weaknesses that are less easily excused. First, few players were willing to take the opposition on by hard running, too often there was the depressing sight of three-quarters in the opposition twenty-five punting ahead when challenged. Second, there was a lack of ''ball hunger" (in my experience a traditional St. Nicholas fault); too often our players were perfect gentlemen with their "After you, Claude" approach.

But there were assets. In general, the tackling was good, most players making the attempt, even if they sometimes missed their men. Indeed, against Vyners G.S. two really hard tackles set up the first two tries, while against Harrow C.G.S. stout defence by all fifteen players earned a draw (4-4) that deprived our opponents of their 100 per cent record. Glimpses of our attacking potential were seen in convincing wins over Gunnersbury G.S. (30-0), Vyners G.S. (20-4), R.G.S. Guildford (30-4) and St. Albans G.S. (38-0).

Individually there was much to remember and especially hopeful for the future was the progress made by several younger players. From the backs there was the impeccable catching and courageous head-on tackling of S. Jones at full-back; the exciting running of wing D. Cox; the hard tackling of centres B. Pendred and G. Peters; and the all-round promise of C. Thomas at fly-half. Of the forwards the best were S. Moss, a mobile prop who showed real aggression in the loose; M. May, who in some matches seemed to be in perpetual motion; and D. Banks, a fast striking hooker. B. Dunlop and A. Foulkes deserve special credit for their sustained efforts and good performances, as they were frequently obliged to play out of position. Finally, it was fortunate that P. L. Jones was available for another season, as his captaincy, both by words and example, did much to maintain a happy team spirit in his constantly changing XV.

E. A. Cox.

Played 7: Won 3: Lost 4.

"The Dynamic Thirds''. These are the words used to describe the St. Nicholas third fifteen during the last season by the thirds themselves. However the old saying, "Flattery gets you nowhere'' certainly applied to the thirds and despite several five pound notes waved under the noses of our referees, results were not as hoped.

Although we were trounced by Wallington G. S. in the first match of the season the team's performance in the second half showed promise. Indeed, we went on to several fine victories, notably that over Reigate, all due to tremendous team spirit and enthusiasm. To round off the season we played R.G.S. High Wycombe, a match which was lost (82-0) by a depleted team with few of its regular members.

We should like to thank Mr. Cahill and Mr. Haydon for encouragement and support throughout the season.

I have mentioned no names because all the team were brilliant and modesty prevents me from naming the greatest player of all time.

R. A. Blundell

Played 21: Won 14: Drew 2: Lost 5: Points for 527: Points against: 161.

After a very successful season last year as the Junior XV, this year's Colts XV were looking forward to an even better one. And some pre-season training proved invaluable in preparation for the first game against Wallington, which we won (24-0). However, the following game against Gunnersbury was drawn, much to the disappointment of the team, but we gained consolation by defeating Vyners (52-0).

The results continued to go in our favour, with many fine victories, partly because of the high team spirit. Our first defeat was by a touring side from Bishop's School, Hereford; this was a close and exciting game in which we played well but were narrowly defeated (16-14).

At this time in the season we had the county trials, and had to play Windsor G.S. without seven players, W. Lambert, W. Healey, I. Wise, T. Barber, A. McClelland, P. Murtagh and J. Szelewski, who were selected for the final trial, the latter four eventually playing for the County.

After Christmas, with only six fixtures left, we produced some fine rugby, winning four of the games and losing the other two, to St. Benedict's and Surbiton G.S. Our last game of the season, against an undefeated Copland team, produced probably the best drilled rugby of the year, resulting in a fine win (25-12).

The season ended with the tour to Halifax and the Middlesex seven-a-side competition. Credit must be given to a very strong sevens team, which was unfortunate to be defeated in the first game against Haberdashers' (16-12), who went on to win the main competition easily. But we were not disheartened and won the plate.

Throughout the entire season a consistent effort was maintained by both regular and reserve players. However, some players deserve special mention. Props. W. Lambert and C. Bareham, playing in nearly every game, formed, with either J. Szelewski or W. Healey, a very compact front-row. The second row of P. Devenish and A. Martin, although uneven, and the entire back row of C. Simmons, P. Stockwell and A. McClelland made up a very formidable pack. In the backs J. O'Connell, P. Murtagh, T. Barber and I. Wise played exceptionally well as a team, with help coming from R. Laidler, G. Pendred, R. Brailey and D. Haugh.

The full team was: C. Bareham, W. Lambert, J. Szelewski, P. Devenish, A. J. Martin, C. Simmons, A. McClelland, P. Stockwell, W. Healey, O'Connell, P. Murtagh, I. Wise, T. Barber, R. Laidler, R. Brailey, D. Haugh G. Pendred, N. Drinkwater, R. Warren, S. Coney and I. Dunlop.

A McClelland

Played 19: Won 14: Drew 0: Lost 5: Points for 491: Points against 155.

This was, on the whole, a most satisfactory season. After losing the first match to a strong Wallington side the Junior XV then had a run of nine games without defeat: Gunnersbury, Vyners, Hampton, Windsor and Harrow County were all beaten quite convincingly. The forwards, under the leadership of J. O'Neill, improved with every match. A. White (hooker) was outstanding in the scrums, while Essex and Rowley were effective in the lines-out. Outstanding in the loose play were Owen (No.8) and Bentley (wing forward). First to the rucks and mauls, they invariably came away with the ball. Their dominance in this aspect of the game is reflected by the number of points scored by each: Owen scored 29 tries, Bentley scored 10.

The possession won by the forwards was put to excellent use by the threequarters. Taylor and Tibbs were very sound at half-back and combined well with Searle (inside centre) to produce many scoring opportunities for the strong running of Wilford (22 tries), Darrell (24 tries) and Drake (12 tries).

In defence, the captain, G. Partington, was outstanding. His tackling was excellent while his positional play and handling were sound.

The season ended with a successful three-match tour in Yorkshire. Despite a narrow defeat against Hipperholme; in the first game, the School XV went on to play attractive, open rugby which left the opposition gasping. Ermysted's were beaten by 48 points to 6 and Crossley and Porter were beaten by 38 points to 3.

The side is obviously full of talent and can expect another successful season next year.

P. Gibson

Played 17: Won 8: Lost 9: Scored 297: Conceded 234.

This was an encouraging season for the team, very firmly captained by K. Price to 8 wins in 17 matches. As the points score suggests, when they won they usually won well, on occasions scoring 50 or more points, and when they lost it was normally by a small margin.

The forwards played very well individually and, as a unit, hardly ever met a pack that could hold them in the set scrums. The front row was exceptionally strong and Blundell won many strikes against the head. In the line-out Earwood was outstanding and won a great deal of good possession. The back-row forwards were devastating in the tackle and they set up and won some excellent rucks. In fact, the rucking was the best phase of their play.

The loss of Orlans, who broke a collar bone, disrupted the three-quarter line and it rarely played as well as it can do. This injury did, however, give chances to Lane and Jones, promoted from 'C' XV Rugby, to show their paces in the team and both were regular choices at the end of the season.

Next season I hope to see the excellent attitude continue and produce even more victories.

P. Gibson