Rugby

1ST XI After a year without any rugby, the 1st XV began their season with a tour in Newcastle, which ended with a 19-0 victory against RGS Newcastle. Our first Saturday fixture began against Campion at home in which the backline displayed an impressive display of free-flowing rugby orchestrated by James Beverley at 10 resulting in a 43-0 victory.

The 1st XV then travelled to their first away game of the season against Epsom without having conceded a point, with ambition to overturn a side that St Paul’s 1st XV hadn’t beaten in over 10 years. A weak start saw the team go 12-0 behind early on, yet thanks to tries by Jack Taylor and Claudius Wheeler, we led 12-14 at half time. After conceding a penalty, going 1 point behind in the second half, a pressure kick was handled with composure by Alex Pama and St Paul’s led 15-17 again. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t to go our way, with the scoreline ending 25-22 to Epsom. Nevertheless, it was a respectable performance to take into our first cup game against Emanuel.

After a comfortable 50-0 win against Emanuel at home, the team faced a strong Radley side in suboptimal conditions. The rain called for a change of tactics for the 1st XV from what we were used to, and the lack of adaptation in the first half was costly and meant the scoreline stood at 3-21 to Radley. Some fightback was initiated thanks to a dominant display of kicking and a solid line out orchestrated by Jake Sinclair in the air. However, it was not enough and the score ended 17-28 to Radley.

The last two games of the half term saw another couple of demanding matches for the 1st XV including a tough match against a very strong Harrow outfit and a frustrating performance against Hampton, not helped by injuries, but nonetheless frustrating. Yet the second half of term entailed a good opportunity for us to cause some upsets.

The second half of the season began with a fixture against a strong Tonbridge side yet without our regular coaching team (due to COVID-19) for the fixture it provided an opportunity for individuals to step up including an exceptional performance by Arthur Kenny where his leadership could not be faulted. What followed for the first team was an opportunity to experience the cruelty of sport, with a last play defeat to Eton away despite admirable performances from the likes of Alex Pama and Liam Corcoran. From here, it would have been easy to give up on the season yet, instead, the team showed bravery which was rewarded with some exceptional displays towards the back end of the term. A 41-17 victory against Solihull was a result of a commanding performance by Nick Vincente at 9 and exceptional defence from Louis Wilson in the centres, not to mention a stand-out performance from James Beverley.

The next fixture saw a home game against Dulwich. Some poor defending early on saw Dulwich go 5-0 up, yet from that moment the 1st XV dominated both possession and territory in the first half. An opposition threat at no. 8 was nullified by Cameron Nelson and Dominic Fitzpatrick and a long range penalty from Jack Taylor meant the half time score was 3-5 Dulwich. Yet straight from the off in the second half a key penalty was won by Henry DrewittJones which left Jack Taylor with a simple opportunity to take the score to 6-5. Some ill-discipline in our own half

allowed Dulwich to take the lead with a penalty, however a brilliant move from a line out that was well won by Jake Sinclair in the air allowed James Beverley to put Jack Taylor into some space before he broke the line and scored in the corner. A drop goal in the last play from James Beverley sealed the game and gave St Paul’s a 16-8 victory.

The final game of the season was against London Oratory and a comfortable 50-7 victory was made possible by some expert finishing from Danny Shai on the wing, which saw him score two tries. This was a season which included all the natural highs and lows involved in sports, but what stood out the most was that the 1st XV always remained in the fight and for that they should be extremely proud. Furthermore, none of this would have been possible without the massive help and support of Mr Kirschstein-Smith, Mr Blake, Mr Strang and Mr Blurton – thank you. ❚ Julius Turley 2ND XV Back to back wins including a 14-12 nail biter against Epsom, most likely due to the riling speech from Mr O’Brien, secured us a great start to the season. Man of the match Olly Powell displayed skill in scoring the second try seemingly gliding through the Epsom defence. A trip to Reading saw a tough test which challenged the 2XV, but a resurrection was witnessed the following week. A confident victory beating Radley highlighted the skill of Zach Newsholme with his blistering pace that turned full backs inside out and Louis Fenner’s reliably strong performances. Sam Monro-Davies was the catalyst for our eventual line out success, providing a platform for our host of well-worked moves that we saw throughout the season, such as Pelican or St Paul’s classics in Aussie, which enabled Seb Kirdar-Smith to display his technical prowess in his perfectly placed passes or cross field kicks landing in the hands of a lucky winger. This tended to be Gabe Treneman who with his height and agility was able to outcompete any defender.

The well-developed attack would have been nothing without the support of ➦

the pack. Led by Charlie Hunt, our vicecaptain, the forwards would always be somewhat trying in the scrum. Whether that came to our avail or not varied, but with behemoth props like Oli Thomas and Alex Adams, one a prop since birth and the other a 100m sprinter, it always seemed to be an entertaining tussle. When discussing the scrum, one must mention both Robert Simmons, a breakdown expert who frequently managed to steal balls from nothing, and Robert Wight, an all round gent with the drive of a workhorse and the handling skills of one too. Senan Bottomley was at the top of his game throughout the season, frequently employing both his handling and tackling skills. Whilst not a stalwart given his shoulder, ankle and any other vulnerable body part, Josh Thomas would tear up the pitch with his aggressive play-style and supreme lineout jumping. Henry Harrison initially began his journey at hooker but he eventually wound up at 9, where he blossomed into a devilish defender and sniping runner, managing to snag quite a few tries.

It is easy to praise the players, but I must not forget the commitment of the coaches. Archie brought his Pauline wisdom to the art of coaching and Mr Block enabled us to reach unpredictably great heights. Without his selection, we would not be able to discuss Harry Turner’s many disallowed tries, nor Nikolas Boyd Carpenter’s bullish running or Zain Nathoos players’ player of the season success. A brilliant season with a great group of players was completed with the perfect 50-0 win against local rivals Oratory. ❚ Jamie Fielding, Captain 2021

3RD XV The 3rd XV has long been known as the moral and social centre of the St Paul’s School community. No words, therefore, could truly do this season justice, but we will do our best to convey the epic highs and lows of a term that couldn’t be a better end to the 10 years of rugby at SPS many of us have played.

It all began with a strong first win against the Campion School, with a dominating pack (led by self-appointed forwards captain, Miley Howorth) setting the tone for a season of bravery and courage: bodies were put on the line. Despite an unfortunate lack of green results on SOCs against some big schools as we charged further into the half term, the thirds didn’t stop playing champagne rugby. The consistent rucking commitment of Max Iskandar and Dom Satchell, the magic (but perhaps overly keen) feet of Will Thomas, and the rocket that is Harry Turner were complemented by a rogue’s gallery of heroes: from Max Manoff to Benny Harrison to Harry Mugisha, all who stepped onto the hallowed ground of Pitch 4 and showed the character, grit, and determination demanded by the side.

This character was only heightened by that of our staff team, led by Dr Gilks and Dr Clough, who, despite some occasional creative differences, worked in seamless synchrony to keep us performing our best. Yet, all this was not yet enough to secure the desired Ws. Reflection occurred over half term: a notable lack of turnout to Tuesday fitness trainings, a lack of execution of the infamous “Saints” ball (Dr Gilks swears it will work), along with the daylight robberies of key players like Z. Nathoo, and stalwart Josh Thomas may have been responsible for previous subpar performance, but this could not explain all. The team needed a saviour.

And, with the ground shaking underneath him as he walked up to our Wednesday training session, saviour we found. Jack Averre, after months of contract negotiations by Dr Gilks, was finally secured for an unstoppable victory against RGS Guildford. This was the catalyst needed for a final trio of top performances that saw Nik BoydCarpenter tear the Merchant Taylor’s back line to pieces and Jake Bidwell confound the Dulwich defence.

With that glorious finish, this season was one that John Colet would be proud of. Thank you to all who have made it possible, especially Dr Clough and Dr Gilks. Only celebration is left to round off the season from here. ❚ U16A A long summer anticipating the return to contact rugby with a pre-season tour to Swansea was well worth the wait. A productive, fun, and exciting trip along with some school training led us into our first two matches: The Campion and Epsom. We came out the other side with 11 tries, including a clinical finish from Hadjiloizou, glimpses of potential and two wins under our belts, but Hampton the following week would be no easy game.

A great match ensued with debut performances on pitch 1 for all; it was a hard fought 20-14 victory helped by courageous defensive performances all around, but especially from Tredre and MOTM Patel.

The two games to go before half-term were where we could really make our season special. A miserable day lashing down with rain saw the boys in black and white conquer Radley away and put forth, arguably, the best 70 minutes of the season. The game was dominated by kicking and territory but everyone fought for the badge. Outstanding performances from Evans Alcantara, who scored a hat trick, Patel, who managed two interceptions, and Liu, who led the forwards’ aggression, helped us to win 26-15. Harrow, on the other hand, gave us the first of two defeats. We were too self-penalising, with silly errors and not being clinical enough costing us the game.

A hard fought win against Hampton on pitch 1 Team huddle before Hampton on pitch 1

Four weeks later, we played Tonbridge. The first half silenced supporters as we went 10-0 down, but a half time talk we won’t forget inspired us to fight back with Lam, Sicheri, Palmer, and White all showing incredible heart. Eventually rewards came as Stadlen and Evans Alcatara dotted down a try each followed by Bottomley converting to win 12-10.

Eton, the first home game since Hampton, was a huge game and the boys – inspired by a great turnout of support – put on a first half show not to be forgotten, scoring the first two tries Eton conceded that season: one from a great Hadjiloizou and Freebairn linkup. Eton fought back convincingly in the second half and proved to be too strong for us but it was a performance the whole team should be proud of.

The following four matches proved the strength and depth of our squad as, even through injuries and some sub-par performances, we managed 4 from 4 to achieve 9 wins from 11 games overall. Standout performances included Evans Alcantara who scored all 21 points against RGS, Lee-Imnadze for an excellent debut in the forwards against Dulwich, and Inglis who played very well in all 4 matches.

Thanks to everyone who played for the team because what made the season so great was the collective dedication and commitment by every one of you. Furthermore, from all of us, thanks to Mr Maguire and Mr F Harrison for your support and passion which helped create a memorable, successful, and enjoyable season. ❚

A win in rainy conditions away at Radley

U16B The under 16B’s season can only be described as mixed: we had bad games, we had great games, and we had quite a few in between. We played in all conditions from rain at Radley to massed crowds on the first team pitch. Scores and win ratios may not look so favourably on the season that we had and in my opinion fail to show the true triumph of the U16 Bs. Our season was fraught with injuries, covid, and discordant line ups. With the As stealing another one of our players every week, we were at best inconsistent. With our losses and poor win rate being only the fault of external factors, I think it’s best to focus on the positives of the season. My personal highlight of the season that I think I most likely share with the rest of the team was the last game.

It was a grim Saturday afternoon home game against Oratory. Pitch 5 was lined with fans from both sides brewing an intense atmosphere for what many are now calling the game of the season. The game, much like our season, started well with some incredible tries, most notably Thomas Wong who fly-hacked the ball up the whole pitch before putting it down for a try. Things quite quickly went all wrong, however. A few unlucky tries let them back into the Game. At half time, tensions were high with everyone desperate to finish the season with a Win. We got back onto the pitch and put on some incredible defensive phases before scoring a few tries all expertly converted by Gabe (vice capt.). Before we knew it, the whistle was blown, the game had been won, and the season was over. This performance perfectly summed up our season: started well, finished well, with a lot to be desired in between.

There were of course some other performances and players I’d like to highlight: Gabe Hoffman, our VC and fly half, managed to score the most points this season with his incredible kicking and occasional tries; Mevan Wijayatilake, who probably made more tackles than the rest of the team combined; James Wilson, who was consistently one of the best forwards in the team and a force to be reckoned with; as well as Arun Gainer, who was a star back; Torgua Lee Imandeze, who put a shift in both the forwards and backs; and Alex Whadawani, with his quick feet and thinking at 9. ❚ U16C When the season began in September, there was no U16C Rugby team. It remained that way until a torrential downpour away at Ridley, where 12 C teamers in high spirits arrived and set out to try and obtain an unlikely victory. Despite a huge shift from Luxsigan Vamadevan covering every blade of muddy grass, we were on the receiving end of a hefty 82-7 loss. Things improved greatly a week later against Harrow: for starters, we not only had a full team but also a small group of fans that had made the much shorter journey to Harrow in comparison to Radley. Again, we were on the receiving end of a hefty loss, but this time it was a more respectable 41-3 scoreline in favour of the home team. Half-term arrived and provided a few weeks off Rugby, and perhaps that showed in the Cs next fixture, another big loss, this time at the hands of Tonbridge. The scoreline finished 78-3 and many at this point would start to think the we were wasting our time, never going to get anywhere near a positive result, especially with heavyweights Eton arriving the following week for our first home game of the season. The scoreline, a 7-45 victory in favour of the Etonians,

did not fairly reflect the game in our unanimous opinion. Firstly, our defence had vastly improved with Alexey Klekovkin and Felix May executing some outstanding tackles in their first game for the Cs. Secondly, we felt that some decisions went unfairly against us, although we cannot dwell on if, buts and maybes. And thirdly, Enzo Beattie scored undoubtedly our best try of the season with a clinical interception that Jack Morris had discussed at half time. Then, on a typically autumnal Saturday, we arrived at RGS Guildford for the game that would define our season and make all four heavy losses that we suffered be worth it. Being only 7-0 down at half time and going downhill for the second half, we knew we had a chance to win the game if not at least put up a very good fight. As St Paul’s and Guildford lost players in higher teams, the numbers in the C team game were reduced, after a try each from Leo Ballick and Yannis Zelalem and two conversions by Jack Morris, the score was locked at 14-14. Deep into overtime, we had a scrum in the RGS Guildford 22. We knew the call, we had discussed it with naive optimism before the game, but we had a very real opportunity to get a victory here. Nicolas Dyer to Jack Morris, up charge the RGS defenders, Jack caresses the ball on the bounce over the posts for a drop goal and a 14-17 victory. Our final game was affected by Dulwich College’s surge in COVID-19 cases. Since they could only field one team, The Cs played just 20 minutes together for our final game. We made it count. Winning the 20 minute period 19-0, our season was capped off by Bobby Sice, stepping and diving over the try line as the Cs concluded their season.

We all would like to thank Mr Roberts, who made every game of ours possible and never gave up on us despite four consecutive thrashings. A season of lows that were outweighed by two great highs with all of us enjoying it along the way. ❚

U15A Our season started off with a memorable tour up to Durham, where we trained hard in preparation for the long season ahead. We finished our pre-season training with two great wins in fixtures against a top school in RGS High Wycombe and Reading Blue Coat. Two brilliant weeks of rugby were to come for the U15As, where we picked up three phenomenal wins against strong schools in Campion, Epsom, and Hampton. These impressive results set us up for what was arguably going to be the most difficult game of the season playing against an excellent Radley side. The weather conditions didn’t play in our favour, but the entire team massively stepped up, and fought till the end for a superb 0-0 draw. After half term, St Paul’s bounced back from a disappointing loss to Harrow, when we played the formidable Tonbridge school. It was an exceptional performance from the squad on Pitch 5, and we came out with a tight 12-7 win, fighting back from being a try down. Towards the end of the season, after two injury ridden weeks and a few results that didn’t go our way, we ended the season on a positive note with two amazing wins and a well-earned draw against a top Dulwich side. This season has seen great improvement in many players such as Chris Leaver, Mayowa Odewale, Ben Lozovsky, and Matteo Salford, who have moved up the ranks and got lots of appearances for the A team. Manny Dell, Jacob Bethell, and Sai Singh Bhatia ➦

have also consistently performed throughout the season, putting in huge tackles for the side on many occasions. Jadon Ekpo and Alex Toledano have been outstanding on the wing, both in attack and defence, utilising their immense speed effectively. And we have also seen some stellar individual performances from the likes of Fraser White against Epsom, Connel Nelson against Hampton, and Eli Joseph against Tonbridge. Alongside skill, leadership in Rugby is a key to success for any team and this season it has been excellent from Jacob Bethell (c), Eli Joseph, and Manny Dell, who have pulled the team together after a few tough moments. The season has left us with 8 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses: statistics which the side should be incredibly proud of. Overall, it has been a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable season for all, and the entire team have shown commendable courage, desire, and bravery against some of the best schools in the country. Finally many thanks must go to Mr Harrison and Mr Lawrence for their commitment, effort, and tremendous coaching throughout the season. ❚ Eli Joseph & Jacob Bethell

Played 11 Won 5 Lost 5 Drew 1

U15B The U15Bs had a challenging but rewarding season. It started off with an unfortunate loss against Campion (away) where some dropped balls made it evident that our handling would have to improve. Our team responded well and played some great rugby in back to back wins against Epsom and Hampton. We were eager to continue this win streak but getting into mid-season, it was obvious that the next few games would be a challenge. Three schools renowned for their rugby ability – Radley, Harrow and Tonbridge – loomed before us on the fixture list. A tough loss against a strong Radley team seemed a foreboding sign of things to come, but the team continued unphased to draw against Harrow and beat Tonbridge, keeping a clean sheet on our side of the scoreboard. Both teams were very physical and had

much bigger packs. Unfortunately, a rash of injuries (including our captain, Milo Jones) meant that we were unable to keep up our momentum and lost to Eton and some other formidable sides. Regardless, when the final game of the season arrived against London Oratory, no one was prepared to walk away with another loss. At half time, it was anyone’s game, but thanks to some excellent kicking by Cam McConnon, who made every single conversion, and some powerful forward play by the likes of Kavin Swain and Austin Burks, we were able to wrest away a win. It was a great way to end the season and one which reflected the resilience and determination that the team had shown throughout.

All in all, the U15Bs had a strong season and the team’s progress was remarkable. Considering that some of the players were introduced to rugby just last year, the dedication they showed throughout the season really paid off. For most, the highlight of the rugby season was beating Cedars A team: a fixture which was only arranged after a last minute cancellation by Solihull. In the first five minutes we went two tries down, but with a try saving tap tackle from Dan Taylor, some amazing carries from Rohan George and Matteo Shidrawi’s excellent pick and go play, we managed to power through for an amazing team win.

The U15B’s success was only made possible by our excellent rugby department of which we would particularly like to thank Mr Jones and Mr Evans who gave up many a lunch break and Saturday so that we could enjoy playing the game and have a very memorable season. ❚ Richard Eichhorst and Ben Mendelsohn

U14A It was a very hard season for the U14As, with some hard losses at the start of the season but some strong wins towards the end. A special thanks should go to Mr Peterson and Mr O’Brien who helped us throughout the season to become better players but unfortunately have left now. Mr Peterson helped lead us through tactics and improve our game sense whilst Mr O’Brien helped improve our work rate and mental strength. It was a very hard start to the season against some tough teams such as Epsom and Harrow. However, in the second half term, we managed to pull together and beat London Oratory and Dulwich. We have had quite a few changes throughout the season but a huge congratulations to the B team members who stood up and helped us when we had a few injuries. A special mention to Sam Francombe and Andrew Berko-Boateng, who helped the backs with their plays and were two of the highest try scorers this season. And well done to Tybalt, Wilder, and Majdood for stepping up and committing physically in the forwards in each match. Our hardest match was against Dulwich and we had to step up physically and mentally to fight such a strong side. Nonetheless, we beat them on their home grounds 19-12 with a last minute try by Majdood and a sick conversion from the sideline by Sam. And thank you for some B team members from moving up and helping us such as Luca Speciale following in his brother’s footsteps. Special mention to Wilder Daffey carrying the ball into some heavy collisions and being a force of nature in the rucks. ❚ U15C

U14B

U14C We won our first match, against The Campion School, 45-25, which was a brilliant result for the first match of the season.

After that, several of the C team players were promoted to the B’s and we then suffered a string of losses against Reading Blue Coat school, Radley College, and Harrow. In the second half term, after working very hard in practice and a few players returning from injury, we drew to Tonbridge 5-5 and 25-25 with Eton the following week.

We then beat RGS, Guildford 45-10 and lost the following two matches against The Cedars School and Dulwich. We then finished off the season with a 15-5 victory over Oratory. I think that we have done extremely well this season as we have played some good schools. We improved our game a lot when comparing the second half term to the first. During the second half of term, I think that we really started to play better as a team as we learned better shape and began to introduce more calls which involved the whole team. Comparing our first game to our last, there was a huge difference both on the ball and off.

We are looking forward to doing rugby next year and this year has perfectly equipped us for when we do rugby in the future. Hopefully we won’t have to do bear crawls or runs to the nearest post every training session. We have shown a lot of heart, especially in the first game when we came back from behind to beat Campion.

Also, lots of our players have moved up to higher teams so we have had to work with a constant change in personnel. The players from lower teams have done a tremendous job of replacing those players. There are also some special mentions to players like Jamie Horley for making some excellent try saving tackles throughout this season and Tom Richie for being a consistently great scrum half. The leading scorers this season were Peter, Louis, David, and Harry. Thank you to my two vice captains for this year, Max and Kobi, and massive thanks to Mr Slaney for being such a brilliant coach. ❚ Ben Thomas

U14D It was a bit of a mixed bag from the U14Ds – despite a slow start they showed steady progression as the season wore on. There were some stunning victories and the entire squad should be proud of the progress they made, both individually and collectively. The season started with a tough encounter at home to Ewell Castle U14B team. Despite coming up against a more drilled outfit, who had clearly benefited from a significant pre-season, the hunger and desire of the SPS boys shone through. Unfortunately, a sterling second half performance could not undo the damage done in the first half and Ewell Castle ran out victors by a 10-point margin. Up next was a trip to Radley college. On what was one of the worst days to play rugby, SPS fought valiantly but were ultimately undone by a talented Radley outfit – 25-5 was the final score.

It was from this point that the season really took off. Intensity in training increased dramatically and it was

Played 7 Won 4 Lost 3 Drew 0 Points for 219 Points against 131

apparent from early in the week prior to the Harrow fixture that the boys were up for it. Spurred on by the disappointing start to the season, SPS put in their most impressive display of the season. With dominant forward play – and guile in the backline to match – a good Harrow side was no match for SPS. The 40-25 margin of victory was an incredible result, made all the more special by the fact that the U14Ds were the only victorious SPS team of the block fixture.

After half term, SPS went down by one score to a dogged Tonbridge side, although that was definitely one that got away. Impressive victories over Eton, RGS Guildford, and Dulwich followed with the later performance against Dulwich being a real pleasure to witness. Although a clichéd expression, the results do not always do justice to how well the team performed. Credit must go to Hawkie Findlater for being an exceptional captain and to Freddie Hammond-Giles who marshalled the backline superbly. The try scoring machine, Jonathan Miles, cut many defences to pieces and Ravi Walker epitomised committed forward play throughout. Of course, to single out these few does not do really justice to the fantastic team effort over the course of the season. The 2021 U14Ds were a pleasure to coach and many will go on to have fantastic rugby careers at the school. ❚ M O Fitzpatrick

U14E This term the Es have been exceptional. When we play, it’s hard to notice that lots of us haven’t played much rugby before, and we’ve won against very difficult teams. In the beginning, we weren’t doing so well, starting with three losses. We then started to improve our teamwork skills and made strategies. Throughout our training, we also got to know each other better, so that we could work as a team to play and pass more. We strategised more and had our first draw against Harrow, with lots of people playing better than they previously had. That was our first match where we worked together and played very well, but with still room for improvement.

After the half-term break, we weren’t fully back and ready for rugby fixtures, shown by our loss in the next match against Tonbridge, where we had several players who could not join us. Even though we lost, we still showed that we could play as a team, and we did much better after we strategised at halftime. Lots of players who couldn’t play at Tonbridge played in our next match against Eton, where we had our first win, ending with a score of 35-10. We felt confident after the win, and we knew that with cooperation and teamwork, we would win.

Many of our players played for the Ds against RGS Guildford the following week, resulting in a win. The match gave some of us a chance to improve against more difficult opponents and learn to play with different teammates. Unfortunately, our last match against Latymer got cancelled, as they couldn’t put out enough players, but it gave all of us a chance to recover and prepare for our final match. Our last match against Dulwich was played very well, and although lots of our players couldn’t attend, we still left with a 55-25 win.

Overall, the rugby season has left us all with new skills and abilities, especially for those of us who haven’t played rugby before but have improved immensely. We have learned to work together and stay determined even when we are losing. Although we have made lots of progress, there is still room for improvement in all of us, and I anticipate we will all fill it. For all of us, this rugby season has been wonderful, and I hope we have the chance to do it again next year. ❚ Felix Kirchner (captain)