U13
Curtain Raiser
KO 5.30pm
Scotty’s Little Soldiers
Cheltenham College is proud to be supporting Scotty’s Little Soldiers as this year’s Charity of the Year. Throughout the school year, our whole-school fundraising efforts will help raise awareness and vital funds for the charity.
Students will have plenty of opportunities to take part, including the annual rugby fixture at Kingsholm, the Spring Term netball match at Cheltenham College, and a variety of fun community events in between.
Scotty’s Little Soldiers is a charity that supports children and young people who have lost a parent who served in the Armed Forces. Their work focuses on helping bereaved military families by offering emotional support, memorable experiences, and practical guidance as young people navigate life after their loss.
The charity provides a range of services, including access to specialist bereavement support, opportunities for young people to meet others with similar experiences, fun activities, and help with education and wellbeing.
Director of Sport, Tim Watts
As Director of Sport at Cheltenham College, it is my absolute pleasure to welcome you all to the 2025 charity match here at Kingsholm. This wonderful annual charity fixture is a true celebration of schoolboy rugby at its finest. It showcases not only the exceptional talent and commitment of the players but also the values that underpin sport at Cheltenham College, teamwork, resilience, and a deep enjoyment of the game. At College, we believe sport is about far more than just winning. Our environment encourages pupils to enjoy their sport, take risks, make mistakes, and learn through the process. Through hard work and dedication, they develop confidence and character, qualities that extend well beyond the playing field.
We pride ourselves on offering every pupil the chance to experience sport at a level that suits them. From our core sports of rugby, hockey, netball, cricket and tennis, to a wide range of others including rackets, rowing, polo, equestrian, and golf, there truly is something for everyone. Our co-curricular programme is, quite simply, second to none, providing a fantastic mix of competitive opportunity, personal growth, and lifelong enjoyment.
Sport at Cheltenham College Game Schedule
Curtain Raiser: Kick Off:
Finish: 5.30pm
Cheltenham College Prep School U13s vs Sir Thomas Rich’s School U13s 7.30pm
Cheltenham College 1 XV vs Sir Thomas Rich’s School 1 XV st st 9.00pm
Meet the Cheltenham 1 XV Rugby Coaches
Olly has previously played professionally for Gloucester and England. He has been Director of Rugby at Cheltenham for almost a decade.
Rugby at Cheltenham sees almost 250 boys play across 14 teams in an extremely competitive fixture list. Olly has established a strong link with Gloucester Rugby which continues to see many current and former pupils involved in the programme. This year’s charity game is the seventh
Director of Rugby, Olly Morgan year Cheltenham College have played Tommies and every game has been played with huge passion and grit.
Cheltenham College are looking forward to another tough challenge on Thursday night fundraising for Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
Freddie Million
Nick Runciman
Luke Narraway
Cheltenham Pre C t i R i
Head of Boys’Games at Cheltenham Prep, Chris Gibbons
Chris joined The Prep as Head of Boys’ Games after 15 years of working in schools in and around London. Chris is involved heavily in the rugby, which is a key part of the games programme, with all boys training and playing in weekly fixtures, held on both Wednesdays and Saturdays.
With the help of the College, Chris and his team works with the coaches weekly to support the development of The Prep players.
This year marks The Prep’s third charity rugby match, building on the success of last year’s event, which saw almost every Year 8 boy participate. Cheltenham Prep are eagerly anticipating a tough challenge against Tommies and hope to raise significant funds for Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
Cheltenham Prep U13s
Cheltenham College Sporting Success Stories
Cheltenham College are proud to have a number of alumni who have gone on to achieve fantastic sporting success since their time at Cheltenham. A selection of some successful Old Cheltonians have been named below.
From left to right, top to bottom:
Tom McEwen (H, 2009) was awarded FEI Eventing World Number One in 2024. In April 2025, Tom and Brookfield Quality came fifth at the Lexington Kentucky CCI5* (the highest level of eventing). Zak O’Sullivan (Prep, 2018) has been signed by Kondo Racing for 2025 to drive in Super Formula, Japan, as well as by Envision Racing as a sim support driver, with participation in the rookie tests at Jeddah and Berlin. Emily Drysdale (W, 2019) has played for Wales Senior Women’s hockey squad. Will Goodrick-Clarke (L, 2014) played with Exeter Chiefs rugby club, having made over 50 club appearances for London Irish Seb Blake (BH, 2020), Jack Clement (S, 2019), Louis Hillman-Cooper (S, 2020) and OllieThorley (BH, 2015) all played for Gloucester Rugby, with Seb Blake captaining in the Premiership Cup and Jack Clement on the short-list for 2025 player of the season. Nikita Prothero (CL, 2019) signed with Sale Sharks in the women’s rugby premiership until 2027. Flora Peel (A, 2015) played for England Senior Women’s Hockey, captaining the team at the FIH Hockey Pro League in June 2025. Photo @GBHockey. Jamie Chadwick (Ch, 2016) and her IDEC Sport team came first at the 2025 European Le Mans Series LMP2 class. In February, Jamie was announced to remain with Williams Driver Academy as one of their driver ambassadors. Jonjo O’Neill Jr (NH, 2016) had a fantastic season with several firstplace wins, including the JCB Triumph Hurdle and the TrustATrader Plate at the Cheltenham Festival 2025. Photo @NigelKirbyPhotography
Sport at Sir Thomas Rich’s
Director of Sport, Rhys GWilliams
I would like to thank all spectators and supporters of both schools this evening for making the game as special as possible for all the boys involved. I would particularly like to thank Cheltenham College for the chance to, yet again, be involved in this fantastic opportunity to raise funds for an incredibly worthy cause. Scotty’s Little Soldiers does amazing work for so many young people. It is a privilege to be part of an event like this evening where we are able to support them. Games between Sir Thomas Rich’s and Cheltenham College are always hard fought battles, played in good spirit. They are usually hugely competitive, which I am sure will continue to be the case this evening. I wish all boys playing tonight the very best; play hard and enjoy it! - Pob lwc pawb!
Sport at Sir Thomas Rich’s is the lifeblood of the school. Although Rich’s has a long tradition of academic excellence and we are always in the top 50 state schools in the country in terms of performance in examinations, sport is an integral part of school life for many Richians. Rugby and cricket are the major sports in the winter and summer, and the programmes in these sports are extensive in participation, foster elite performance and most importantly individual pupil development. There are also a wide range of other sports available to pupils from cross country, basketball, swimming, football, tennis, badminton, athletics, to name a few, that supplement and enrich the lives of pupils in the school.
However, in many ways the chief pride and glory for many Richians lies in their rugby. Rugby at Sir Thomas Rich’s has a long and distinguished history with the victory in the Oxford 7s in 1963, often cited to reinforce the message about our heritage. However, in the last decade we have gone from strength-to-strength Regardless of the sporting discipline, when pupils at Rich’s participate in sport, we hope that they enjoy the experience and perform to the best of their ability. Garde Ta Foy!
We are celebrating our 80 year of playing rugby this academic year, with a day of celebration on Saturday 21 March 2026 which we would love as many Sir Thomas Rich’s Rich’s School alumni to attend, please see the school website for more details.
Meet the Sir Thomas Rich’s 1 XV Rugby Coaches
st Rhys GWilliams
Rhys returned to Sir Thomas Rich’s three years ago, and resumed his role as Director of Sport, which had been his role for 10 years previously. In the interim period, Rhys spent four years as Director of Sport at Bristol Grammar School. Rhys is a former Wales Schools U16, U18, Wales U19, U21 and Wales 7s international, who played for Ebbw Vale and Newport Gwent Dragons. He is thoroughly enjoying being back at Rich’s and helping with rugby in all year groups.
Nick O’Neil
Nick is a former Richian who joined STRS in 1998. He played rugby throughout his time at Rich’s. Nick represented Gloucestershire county during his time at school both at U16 and U17 level. He left to study Sport and Exercise Science at UWIC, now Cardiff Met. Nick has been working at Rich’s since 2012. He has coached a number of age groups and has been involved in Tommies’greatest successes on the rugby field since 2012. Including two U15 plate finals at Twickenham and again with the U15 team who won the National Plate Final at Sixways, Worcester in 2017.
Lewis Keates
Lewis joined Sir Thomas Rich’s in 2024 and became Head of Strength and Conditioning in 2025. With a background in Sport, Exercise and Health Science and postgraduate study in Sport Nutrition, he brings both academic insight and coaching experience to the role. He has coached across all levels of the game, including at the University of Birmingham Women’s rugby squad and in the Gloucester Rugby Academy Foundation Phase, and also consults with Birmingham Moseley Women’s rugby. He enjoys working with players throughout the school and finds helping them develop in all areas of performance from gym work and conditioning to lifestyle and nutrition incredibly rewarding.
mie Payne
mie grew up in the rugby-rich heartland Cornwall and eveloped his passion for rugby at Mounts Bay Academy, a hool with a strong rugby tradition that has produced two itish and Irish Lions. He continued his playing journey ith the Cornish Pirates junior setup before moving to oucestershire. He joined Sir Thomas Rich’s School as a PE acher eight years ago and has since coached across ultiple age groups, contributing to a successful period for e school.
Jamie led the U13s to victory in the Curtain Raiser at Kingsholm last year and coached the U14s to two County Cup titles, also at Kingsholm. He has additionally coached on three senior tours to Canada and South Africa. Now Head of PE and coaching the U16s, Jamie remains committed to developing a strong, positive, and highperformance rugby environment.
Sir Thomas Rich’s Curtain Raiser
SirThomas Rich’s U13s
Cheltenham College
Adi. S (Front Row)
Bear. M (Back Row)
Charlie. M (Wing)
Charlie Q (Back Row)
Dan. J (Prop)
George S (Scrum Half)
Harry. D (Back Row)
Harry H (Back Row)
Jack. E (Centre)
Jack S (Full Back)
Jack S (Second Row)
Johnnie T (Scrum Half)
1st XV Team Player Profiles
Zach. N (Fly Half)
Justin. C (Second Row)
Max. H (Second Row)
Nathan. B (Hooker)
Rhodri E (Wing)
Rufus. H (Wing)
Troy F (Centre)
Ty B (Prop)
Will. G (Prop)
Tolly. K (Hooker)
Sir Thomas Rich’s
Aidan. D (Second Row)
Charlie. C (Back Row)
Charlie. M (Centre)
Dan S (Wing)
Ed. B (Second Row)
Ellis W (Front Row)
Ethan. C (Outside Half)
Fin B (Wing)
George. D (Front Row)
Gilbert T (Fullback)
Gus C (Back Row)
Jack H (Second Row)
1st XV Team Player Profiles
Toby O’N (Front Row)
Will T (Outside Half)
Jack. M (Scrum Half)
Jack. W (Wing)
Jake. W (Centre)
James B (Front Row)
Lourens. B (Wing)
Matt J (Back Row)
Peter. S (Back Row)
Sa’ad A (Front Row)
Sam. D (Back Row)
