U15 Rugby 7s - what a week of impressive playing!

Mr McKee writes, Sunday 19 March: We were Cup final runners-up at both tournaments we played at this week and due to this created a shockwave throughout English Schoolboy rugby. The two tournaments we played in were the Surrey U15 7s held at Trinity, Whiftgift on Thursday 16 March and the prestigious John Pieroni Wimbledon 7s, today, Sunday 19 March.

Surrey 7s Round up:
We were in a tough group on paper for this tournament but ended up winning the group and having the highest scoring difference in the pool stages of the tournament with 153 points in only 4 games. Additionally, we beat Whitgift 35-0 with some outstanding performances from Nick John, Joe Harmsworth, Jack Hamilton, Sam Holder and Erin Warnock

In the quarter finals:
We played a very good Epsom College team and beat them convincingly 38-19. This game set the standard of how we wanted to play and gave the whole squad a belief we could beat these big rugby-playing schools. This game was our 'flicked the switch' game, as I called it.

Semi final:
We played a Cranleigh School team filled with Harlequin and London Irish Academy players and we beat them convincingly 26-15. Jack Hamilton was absolutely outstanding. The sportsmanship illustrated by the whole team in this game was fantastic. Although the boys were over the moon about making the final they showed an enormous amount of humility and respect for the devastated Cranleigh boys who also played extremely well also.

Final:
We played a very close match against a Dulwich team who had the bounce of the ball in the first half and suffocated our possession. The Freemen's boys rallied very well in the 2nd half and never gave up and I believe if we had one more minute of time we could have beaten Dulwich, as momentum had swung our way, but unfortunately we ran out of time. I was so proud of my boys after this game. The attitude, commitment and team work shown was inspiring.

The Freemen's boys after this final, although deeply upset they didn't win, now had a belief and a desire to experience high intensity, high quality rugby like this again. Notably, all the boys were very conscious about how sore their bodies felt but wanted the chance to represent the School at the John Pieroni Wimbledon 7s (today). Hence their dedication to their own recovery to play today was an exceptional testament to their desire to represent Freemen's at sport.


John Pieroni Wimbledon 7s Round up: http://www.johnpieroni7s.co.uk/
Again, we were placed in the group of death on paper for this tournament but ended up winning the group and having the highest scoring difference in the pool stages of the tournament. Once again, the boys started the tournament where we had left off at the Surrey 7s, with a BANG! We beat a very impressive Eton College 21-7. and again we beat a Whitgift A team convincingly 33-7 with some outstanding performances, by Sam Holder, Oscar Wood, Jack Hamilton and Nick John. Because we topped our group we were through to the Cup Semi-finals again.


Semi final:
We played the biggest and most physical team we have ever played, Wimbledon College. We won 17-12. I overheard coaches and parents on the sidelines of other teams saying that they had never seen such an amazing U15 7s game. Spectators commented that both teams played with superb respect for each other but also with tremendous skill level and physicality. I don't like to single individuals out but Nick John, Joe Harmsworth and Jack Hamilton were excellent!

Final:
Once again, we met Dulwich in the final and unfortunately we lost to them 26-12.  They were extremely impressive and our boys were absolutely exhausted by this point, after the tough encounter with Wimbledon college in the semi. That's not to say we didnt give 100%.
The Dulwich coach after the game mentioned his side had won 25 out of the last 25 7s matches they have played and he said that this Freemen's 7s side is by far the best they have ever played and the only school to have scored 2 tries against them in a game.

The Squad of Players involved in both Tournaments.

Oscar Wood
Nick John
Harry Greenway
Peter Boardman
George Berendji
Sam Holder
Cameron Butters
Jake Hall
Ben Butcher
Jack Hamilton
Joe Harmsworth
Adam Coates
Erin Warnock