On the Saturday before long leave, it was fantastic to see so many matches in action. The rugby teams faced off against the Old Boys (Gower teams for the 1st XV and 5th XV), while the rest of the club competed against Brighton. The School performed brilliantly, winning 8 of the 11 matches against Brighton and drawing one. The Gower matches were split, with the 5th XV narrowly losing, but the 1st XV securing a win. The Girls hockey teams had indoor house matches and internal games. Congratulations to Rhodes who beat Martlet on flicks after a 5-5 draw in the final.
Over the first weekend of half term our equestrian team took part in the NSEA National Championships, returning home as the Open Arena Eventing National Champions, as well as taking the silver medal in the Team Dressage. There were individual silvers for Tara M. and Madeleine R. too with Rory S. and Pernille A. making up the teams.
Over the half-term break, 19 girls and 16 boys travelled to Tilburg, The Netherlands, for a four-night hockey tour that included four training sessions and two matches each. Special thanks to the staff who dedicated their time to make these trips possible. Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd XV rugby teams attended a training camp in Barcelona, while the U16 and U15 rugby teams went to Northampton for training and matches against Northampton School for Boys. The U16 team had a notable victory, winning 21–7. The Golf team travelled to South Carolina, where they received high-performance training in elite facilities.
On Saturday, November 2nd, the 1st and 2nd XV teams travelled to Harrow. The 2nd XV secured a 17–12 win, and the 1st XV triumphed in a close 30–29 game, coming from 9 points down in the final 9 minutes with two impressive, length-of-the-pitch tries to defeat the top-ranked side of the past two years. Congratulations to everyone involved. We also received excellent individual achievements: Joe T. trained with the England U18 rugby camp, Alex F. was named in the England U19 cricket squad for an upcoming tour in South Africa, and Will M. placed 3rd in the English National Championship Finals and then 1st in the League Finals.
During the week we had a number of cup hockey matches as well as other sport fixtures. The Girl’s 1st XI hockey side have had a great week with two wins out of two against Bede’s (5-1) and St John’s Leatherhead (2-1) in the Tier 1 cup. The U14 Girls had an amazing game finishing 5 all against Wellington. This then went to penalty strokes which sadly we lost but it doesn’t take away from an excellent performance. The Waterpolo team played against Charterhouse as well as the Badminton side which was great to see.
I hope you enjoy this weekend’s fixtures. Following on from the email from the school office a few days ago, a reminder that you are now able to view which team your child has been selected in for sports matches via your Firefly account from 7.00pm the evening before the match (so this evening for the matches tomorrow). Please be aware that we will still be asking pupils to contact you and that last minute changes do happen on a Saturday morning in terms of selection due to injury and illness. Please click on the link for instructions:
