HOUSE LIFE 1ST XV Rugby Played 15, Won 13, Lost 2.
Head Boy Ben Harty and his two Deputies, Haroon Raqib Nisar and Tom Selby. They have been without doubt one of the strongest leadership teams we have ever had. I must also thank our fantastic team of tutors. Mrs Harris has sadly left her role as Ridley 10 tutor to take up the position of Head of Lee House. We wish her the best of luck and will certainly miss her. I would also like to thank Mrs Lillywhite for stepping in and tutoring our new Ridley 7 class and we are very much looking forward to welcoming Mrs Smith back in September. Well done to everyone who has contributed towards such a positive year for Ridley and we look forward with optimism to what the next year will bring.
Following on from a successful summer tour of Argentina and Uruguay, we looked ahead at the 2019 season with mixed emotions of excitement and trepidation. Without doubt it was our hardest fixture list for many years. New block fixtures had been arranged with St Edwards School, Oxford, Kings College School, Wimbledon and Campion School from Essex to supplement an already challenging list with the likes of Northampton School for Boys, Magdalen School, City of London Freemans and Merchant Taylors. However, I knew the 1st XV has bags of ability and had the potential of developing into a really good team. We had a gentle transition into the new season with comfortable games against Sir William Borlase Grammar School in the Natwest Vase and St Columba’s School from St Albans. The Borlase game gave
Mr J Barrie
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The Aylesburian 2019/2020
me a valuable opportunity to rotate the squad and see as many players as possible, winning 56-5. We then played St Columba’s twice in 10 days, once in a Saturday friendly and once in Round 2 of the NatWest Vase. An aggregate score of 119-0 was achieved across the two games and slowly the team was taking shape. Certain combinations were starting to settle and some players were commanding a starting place. The 2nd row, back row and back three all looked pretty nailed down but in other areas, we were far from sure what our best options were. The biggest dilemma was deciding who would play at fly half. This was a challenge that would continue to cause problems for months to come. Our next game was going to be a real test and we played St Edwards School, Oxford on the artificial surface at Aylesbury Rugby Club. This would be our first chance to see how we matched up to the stronger schools on the circuit and make a statement that we were to be taken seriously.
