A Morale Boosting Cup Win for the Rugby 1st XV

The senior rugby squad headed over to a blustery Rydal on Wednesday, in the first round of the cup, optimistic about their chances of securing a first win of the season. The College team came out the blocks firing, playing a mix of hard running and free flowing rugby, taking advantage of any overlap opportunities to score some early tries. Year 11 Jan's rampaging runs were an early highlight, as well as the lightning speed and agility of Michael O, Layo F and Harry P in wide positions. The College dominated the first half and led 45-0 at half time, with tries from Harry P, Layo F, Ahmed S x2, Ben W, Malik S, Meshach O and Matthew R. 

 

The second half saw the very young Rydal team demonstrate admirable resilience and had opportunities to get on the board, but some last-ditch defence, just about held them off. The College's performance wilted in the second half, with unforced errors, lacks in concentration and Rydal's perseverance in counter rucking. This meant is took 20 minutes of the second half, before a Ciaran R try put a halt to the game at 52-0. 

 

A brilliant first win for the College side, that will hopefully do wonders for confidence and belief going into more difficult fixtures in the future. A personal highlight was seeing smiles and celebrations, between all three year groups, with positive bonds and relationships being developed through rugby.