Another season of rugby has (almost…) drawn to a close at Worksop College; it won’t be too long until we are hit our 100 year anniversary. Momentum remains good, with Worksop having produced a number of excellent XVs over the past few years. This season has been a resounding success too and for the first time ever, the first XV have made it to round 6 of the NatWest (formerly Daily Mail) Cup. This fact alone spells out the obvious: 2014/2015 has produced a very fine team. Perhaps not as good as it could have been – our under 16 XV of two seasons ago was amongst the best in the country. Alas, a school the size of Worksop often struggles to fully convert successes at lower age groups into the first XV, due to (I assume) our small size of 60-70 boys per year and the impact of two or three good players leaving (in the case of this team, one former player recently started for the Leicester Tigers 1st team!).
Victories this year have included: OWs, King’s Grantham, Birkdale, Hill House, Ampleforth, Denstone 2nd XV, Mount St Mary’s, Ashville, Hartlepool VIth Form College, Manchester Grammar School and Lawrence Sheriff. Three reversals occurred against Nottingham High School (by 4 points), Cardinal Newman, Argentina and Trent College (by 4 points). So, two narrow losses against our biggest rivals and a bigger loss against a big (and aged!) tour side from Argentina is disappointing, but on reflection not unexpected. Trent and the High School are well-established rugby schools and the results could have gone either way (let’s not forget that Trent are the reigning Daily Mail Vase champions). But let us also not forget that the season hasn’t finished yet. Worksop entertain Lymm High School (at home) in January for a place in round 7 in the Cup – this mirrors the under 15 XV of 2011 whom also faced the same opponents in the same round at the same location (and lost by a solitary point on that occasion).
So, how does the 2014/2015 1st XV Compare to past seasons? Favourably for sure, and I would say the team would certainly sit in the top 5 XVs from the last 50 or so seasons. Since the beginning – perhaps they’d edge into the top 10 – but it’s hard to compare. Let’s bear in mind that the fixture list this year is slightly weaker than normal – no Oakham, Stamford, Silcoates or Hymers and no Denstone 1st XV – but the victorious NatWest Cup encounters against Ampleforth and Manchester Grammar made up for these omissions. And vitally, in the close win against MGS, Worksop are into the last 32 nationally. A win against Lymm in January would put us into the last 16. When you take the latter into consideration, perhaps this team should be higher in up in this all-time list.
Some previous XVs to compare this team to (I am in the process of adding all our results to Schools Rugby – this takes lots of time..!)
- 2009 – Daily Mail Vase Quarter Finalists, narrow loss to eventual winners
- 2007 – unbeaten season
- 2000 – some big scalps
- 1996 – strong season
- 1956 – unbeaten against school sides
- 1942 – unbeaten, captained by future England captain, N.M. Hall
- 1941 – unbeaten, inflicted the largest ever defeat on Sedbergh (28-0)
- 1938 – unbeaten against school sides
- 1937 – unbeaten against school sides
And here are some of the best Worksop College rugby Tweets from 2014 – all inspired by the new Worksop College rugby Twitter account…
Pymm curls one along the try line, Phipps dives on and #trytime 77-0 #bananagrubber
— WorksopCollegeRugby (@WCR1stXV) December 6, 2014
Only one thing to say @WCR1stXV – YES PLEASE!!! The tank is full (ish) and we keep rolling on. You boys left it all on the field. Well done! — Donavan van Vuuren (@DonnievanVuuren) December 3, 2014
Massive tackles by Pymm. Penalty! AND THAT’S IT! WE’RE THROUGH! #worksop #rugby #schoolsrugby #inattheside
— WorksopCollegeRugby (@WCR1stXV) December 3, 2014
@WCR1stXV supporting road worker safety for #RoadSafetyWeek RT to support! @azcawla @davebown090 @ben_kilford pic.twitter.com/3MWpJWUNF5 — BB Road Safety (@BBroadsafety) November 19, 2014
Priestley-Nangle on for debut, Wells off. Farnworth on for Thacker in front row #tigerslive
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) November 9, 2014
Superb performance for the 1stXV against Mount St.Mary’s today. To win 48-0 in those conditions was a great effort. #bakersboys #worksop — WorksopCollegeRugby (@WCR1stXV) November 8, 2014
Congratulations to the 1stXV for an excellent victory against Ampleforth College today in the NWC,14 -5 #cuprun #Worksop #hardworkpaysoff
— WorksopCollegeRugby (@WCR1stXV) October 8, 2014
Very proud of @WCR1stXV for a great effort. Well done to @LymmHighSports for a well deserved win.Good luck in the next round.#inattheside
— WorksopCollegeRugby (@WCR1stXV) January 14, 2015
Worksop College 1st XV, @SchoolsCup round 6 squad v Lymm High School #worksop #rugby #inattheside #schoolscup pic.twitter.com/EJ1BZK4TFY
— WorksopCollegeRugby (@WCR1stXV) January 14, 2015
16th January is a Thursday not a Tuesday…clarification please as we would like to be there in support!
Basher / GBL
Now I’m wrong…16th is a Friday …DOH!
Apologies, 14th Jan – see https://www.facebook.com/events/733614453401870/