Plymouth College Rugby at Rosslyn Park Sevens 2017

Plymouth College took three age group teams to compete at the annual Rosslyn Park Schools Sevens. The tournament is the largest Rugby competition in the world and Plymouth College have a longstanding tradition of participation and success.

The Colts started the group stages well with a narrow, but well deserved 24-22 win over Bedford Modern School. They followed this up with a comfortable victory over Rydal Penrhos, 52-0, but were unable to build on this as they went down to Aylesbury Grammar and St George’s Weybridge in their final two pool fixtures. Overall, the Under 16s should take a lot of encouragement from their experiences at the tournament, where their attitude and commitment were never less than 100%.

The Under 18s had a tough group at the tournament that included Cardiff Blues Academy side, Whitchurch High School who have more than 2000 pupils from which to select. The side started well by beating Coopers’ Company and Coborn in their first fixture, 24-21. However, the side struggled to match the standards of previous tournaments and went on to lose their second fixture to Eastbourne College 29-12. Then followed by a much-improved performance against Whitchurch, but were denied victory when they scored on the last play of the game to shade the result 17-15. The final game against Harrodian finished Plymouth College 33, Harrodian 10, which meant that the side finished with a pool record of won two, lost two.

The Under 14s also achieved a won two, lost two record and played exceptionally well against their final opponents, Haileybury, to win a tight encounter 19-17. A tight first game saw Plymouth College come up short 19-12. However, they responded well to achieve a victory against Robert Clack School. However, the eventual pool winners, Mount Saint Mary’s College, proved too strong in game three and were deserved winners of their pool three match.

Overall, Plymouth College achieved a record of won six lost six at this year’s tournament, which is a very respectable return for a school of 500 pupils.