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Ipswich School have swept to the top of the SOCS Daily Mail Schools Trophy by overcoming former champions Sedbergh for the first time.
The Suffolk team are continuing a rise which first brought them to notice last season in this national competition played over the autumn term. The task now is to maintain the impetus which has brought Ipswich the scalps of Sedbergh (32-19), Denstone College (27-0), and Northampton School for Boys (52-19) so far this season. ‘We are developing a team which has great potential,’ said head of rugby Jacob Ford, the brother of England fly-half George Ford makes no secret of the fact that he has had to get creative in encouraging overseas students to join Ipswich.
‘We achieved some good results last season and have done well so far this term,’ he said. ‘But we don’t have a big pool of players in the Norfolk and Suffolk area so we have to look out of the box a little bit in attracting players.’
The win over Sedbergh included players from Italy, the Netherlands and Georgia, led by Italy Under 18 centre Eduardo Todaro, who was among the try scorers. Danny Meijers, a lock from the Netherlands, also scored and there were two tries for Dave Owusu and one from the other wing, Noah Woodhouse.
Ipswich caught Sedbergh by surprise, sprinting into an early lead of 17-0, and they led 32-10 before the Cumbrians launched a late comeback to score three tries. ‘It was a bit tense but we got there,’ Ford added. Sedbergh captain Charlie Turn-bull contributed three tries but head coach Simon Mulholland admitted his side were not at the races in the opening stages. ‘We just handed them points. We were down 32-10 and then went berserk and nearly won it — incredible,’ he said.
For Sedbergh, who won last season’s clash with Ipswich 33-19, it was a first defeat of the campaign after wins over Whitgift and Denstone. Ipswich’s win fired them to top place in the early-season trophy standings. The competition is run on a merit table basis with the 140-plus teams earning bonus points determined by the ranking of their opponents. Sedbergh, by contrast, dropped from inside the top five to 30th.
A number of teams have a perfect record after three games including Ipswich’s Suffolk rivals St Joseph’s College. St Joe’s toppled Norwich 44-39 thanks to a late try converted by scrum-half James Thompson in a match played as a curtain-raiser to Cambridge’s Premiership Cup tie against Ealing. St Albans School have also posted three wins, inspired by two England Under 18 players in flanker Charlie West and full back Jack Bracken.
This duo were on the England Under 18 tour in South Africa and have resumed at their best, helping St Albans defeat Bedford Modern, Reading Blue Coat and St Benedict’s from Ealing.
Sir Thomas Rich’s School, from Gloucester, have also started the tournament confidently and claimed their third win by beating Monmouth 17-8 to follow wins over Christ College and King’s School Worcester. Hooker Will Towers scored two and No 8 Jay Evans one against Monmouth.
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