Plymouth College 1st XV in last 16 of Daily Mail Cup

Published: 20 January, 2011

Plymouth College 49, King's College Taunton 10.
After a long weather induced lay off, Plymouth College and King's Taunton played their round six Daily Mail Cup fixture earlier this week.

Plymouth, who are sponsored by chartered surveyors Monk & Partners, took a 6-0 lead thanks to two pens from Henry Slade (one from 50 metres) before King's replied with their own three pointer. Sustained pressure from Plymouth resulted in a 40 metre run in for George Stephenson with the extras added by Slade from out wide. Further tries from Wace and Tolan extended Plymouth's lead and a distance drop goal from rock solid full back Charlie Attis meant the half time score stood at 28-3.

King's came out strongly in the second half and had most of the territory and possession in the first 20, though they were unable to translate this into points. After weathering the storm, Plymouth scored a further three tries with Ollie Wace securing his hat trick and Stephenson claiming a second. Henry Slade kicked seven from nine for a haul of 16 points.

King's refusal to lie down was rewarded when their right winger intercepted and raced under the sticks from 60 metres. However, Plymouth's dominance was across the park with the lineout targets of will Dickinson and Tom Clenaghan also picking off King's on their throw. Jack Norris had a very strong game at open side while the forward pack showed a great collective work rate.

The win takes Plymouth College through to the final of the South West A group section, which will be against Stowe School or Abingdon.

The unbeaten Plymouth team are Rugby World's 'Team of the Month' and currently lie second in the national schools rugby league table.  They will play the postponed final of the Devon Cup against Kelly College in February.