Hill House Teams Thrive at National Rugby 7s Tournament!
The penultimate week of the Lent term saw the Hill House teams make their annual rugby pilgrimage to South London, and to the National Schools Sevens at Rosslyn Park. With a record-equalling five teams taking part throughout the week at the internationally renowned and world's biggest rugby sevens competition, the week proved to be one of exhilaration, at times frustration, but ultimately more pioneering success for the rugby programme.
The week commenced with the Under 18 boys and Under 16 girls, the first to take to the stage, the former facing an immensely challenging pool, including both the reigning National Bowl Winners and National Plate Champions, in addition to Collegiate, the alma mater of Jonny Wilkinson, England's World Cup winning fly half. The opening encounter featured on the live-streamed RE1 pitch with the boys responding to a poor start to come back to win in the dying stages, with a Fraser Perry try proving the difference. The greatest accolades, however, were received by Hill House flier, Mario Garrido, whose tackling heroics saw him dominate the social media channels with tackle of the day, seen by thousands on the RP7s channel. The efforts of our senior side were to be thwarted by tournament-ending injuries to both Alfie Bazlinton and Fergus Downie, though they fought courageously in their final two pool games. Ultimately, however, in spite of many spectacular scores, it was not to be for the U18 side, though they can reflect with pride on the greatest ever 1st XV season for Hill House Rugby, competing in Tier 1 of the National Cup for the first time, winning the plate at the Scarborough Sevens and reaching the Plate Final at the North of England 7s.
The U16 girls were to dominate their group, as many expected they would, having won the title two years previously and having been dramatically starved of stern tests ever since. A 31-7 victory over international opposition from Jumeirah English-speaking School was followed by two more convincing outcomes against Stamford (40-5) and Durrington High School (33-5), seeing the girls advance as group winners in comfortable fashion. More wins were to follow in the knockout stages as Backwell School were defeated 43-0 in a one-sided quarter-final and a 38-7 win over DESS College in the semi confirmed the girls' place in the final for the second time in three years. The Hill House girls battled bravely in the final on RE1 with Isabel Fortune-Davies providing the dream start with her neat finish on the right edge. Courageous defence from Connie Fairclough and powerful drives from Annie Green and Matilda Lee saw the blue and gold remain in the fight until the end. The cruel defeat in conclusion, however, is unlikely to be the end of the story for this team.
Tuesday saw the U14 boys and girls teams make their bows with highlights including the boys'12-5 success over Kirkham Grammar, though an incredibly tight one-try defeat against Bedford School would deny the opportunity to progress to day two, as the team had achieved a year earlier. The girls, in their first appearance in the competition, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Cup after a dominant display in the group. Results included a 30-0 win over Collegiate, 50-0 against Ysgol Gyfun Gwr, and 27-19 over British School Khubairat. The live-streamed quarter-final drew Hill House with fellow established girls rugby pioneers, Ivybridge, who edged out the Yorkshire side 19-12, impressive though in no small part for our talented group.
The U16 boys, bolstered by five U15 players, made a small piece of history by defeating the Hymers team that had been so brilliant in recent competitions by 24 points to 12, though the efforts, coupled with injuries sustained by Franke Mangham and Kieran Davies, in addition to a controversial dismissal of Teddy Curran, were to see hopes of qualification quashed. The boys, however, can be extremely proud of some scintillating rugby across the sevens campaign as a whole.
Once again, the traditional conclusion of the schools rugby season truly did not disappoint, with great memories and valuable experiences aplenty for our brilliant boys and girls, as the reputation and success of Hill House Rugby continues to gain national acclaim. We thank you all for your efforts throughout the year and look forward in earnest to the 2025/26 season.
