Rugby Team Win Brecon Sevens Tournament

As the season of Rugby Sevens tournaments, begin, the Rugby 1st 7s team put together a magnificent run of matches against stiff competition and triumphantly took the title of the prestigious Christ College Tournament.

After a gruelling 6 weeks of rugby preparation and demanding fitness based sessions the 1st 7s team travelled down to Brecon on Saturday 26th February to participate in the Christ College Sevens Tournament.

The group stages proved to be a steep learning experience for Ellesmere. The first game saw them play against a fine Blundells team who were to later knock out reigning champions Millfield, but Ellesmere ran out winners by 26 0. The next group fixture was against Kirkham, with Ellesmere again victorious by 24 - 12. Ellesmere then played to their true potential by beating Glantaf School 29-10 and Christ College 2nd team 52 0, resulting in them topping their group.

Then followed the Knock Out Stages with Ellesmere College drawn against Christ College 1sts. Christ College, spurred on by strong home support were a good VIIs team but were unable to match the Ellesmere team who were, by now, finding their form that was to see them win the trophy. The final result, in a well contested match, was Christ College Brecon: 15 Ellesmere College: 26.

The Tournaments quarterfinals saw Ellesmere pitted against a successful Kings Worcester team. At this point Ellesmere were now comfortable in their style of play and were able to keep the ball for long periods of time. Some shaky midfield defence allowed Kings to score three tries but the result was never in doubt, ending Ellesmere College 26 Kings Worcester 15.

At this late stage of the tournament the physical demands of the day began to show. Several players were beginning to suffer the effects of cramp, ice packs were being pressed on to various bruises and tired muscles were slowly being sapped. However, in a professional manner the Ellesmere College players prepared for the Semi Final against Plymouth. This game was perhaps one of the best 7s displays of rugby seen at the Tournament with Ellesmere keeping the ball and scoring from anywhere on the pitch. The times when Plymouth did manage to find some ball, Ellesmere kept them pinned in their own half. End result:   Plymouth 0 Ellesmere 30. 

In the Final for the first time in this Tournaments history, Ellesmere College saw the opportunity to win the much sort after Llangoed Hall Rose Bowl trophy. They would meet previous winners, Llandovery College. Tired, battered and bruised the Ellesmere players took the field for one last battle. They began in a positive style by playing with confidence and patience which eventually led to Bryn Phillips breaking the line and putting an intelligent kick across the field for Jack Baxter who hacked the ball forward to score in the corner. Llandovery threw everything at Ellesmere who defended valiantly on their own line, eventually stealing possession. In the second half Ellesmere still looked confident on the ball and played some first class 7s rugby with Tom King leading by example and Will Goodwin producing several pieces of magic. Adam King was then able to give the team some breathing space by producing a fantastic solo effort to chip over a wall of defence, gather his kick and run the rest of the pitch to score. Ross Mackaill also crossed the try line to finish a superb team try that saw the ball go through several pairs of hands for a score in the corner. Llandovery hit back with a try of their own but by now the game was out of reach and with Ellesmeres fitness levels being far superior George Baxter was able to have the final say by scoring in the corner to end the game.  Final Score: Ellesmere 26 Llandovery 5.

Alex Murphy, Rugby Academy Coach commented, Winning this tournament was without doubt a squad effort as all players were involved at some stage especially throughout the group stages. It is the result of hard work and commitment and winning the Christ College Sevens is hopefully just the beginning of a successful season.
Ian Williams, Director of Sport, added, This was a great tournament for the team and a magnificent final match. The Ellesmere boys wanted to win, produced some great rugby and took the coveted Llangoed Hall Rose Bowl. Well done to them all.

Ellesmere College Rugby Sevens Squad

  • Tom King
  • Adam King
  • Will Goodwin
  • Mike Finnemore
  • Bryn Phillips
  • Iwan Phillips
  • Matthew Mackintosh
  • George Baxter
  • Jack Baxter
  • Kieran Pinches
  • Ross Mackaill
  • Ollie Brereton

Of particular note was the fact that the strongest line up included 3 sets of brothers, the Baxters, Kings and Phillips, possibly something of a record for a 7's team.

Brecon1

Click on the image for the Tournament report from Ultimate Schools Rugby.

3rd March 2011  Back to News