1st XV Rugby
Forty-two boys gathered in the Lecture Theatre on a sunny May afternoon and were challenged to be part of the 2014 senior rugby squad. Summer pre-season was designed to improve both skill and fitness and I must say some of the track sessions left something to be desired. The summer sessions allowed us to focus on more complex areas of the game during our annual pre-season camp in Cardiff. The standard blood, sweat and tears were spilt and a bond was formed between the year groups. The camp was topped off by a training session led by Lions Captain Sam Warburton. A final week of pre-season training was finished with training matches vs Mill Hill and Shiplake, the signs were promising.
For many decades the school’s senior rugby sides have training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school. This season things became a whole lot more serious. The weekly 'Micro Cycle' included two 7.30am strength and conditioning sessions, pool recovery, performance analysis and three rugby sessions a week. In fact it was very similar to that of a professional team.
The season started with close matches against St Albans and Oratory but was really kick-started by a fantastic performance and 36-6 win against Watford GS, with Aaron Francis running wild on the wing. Next UCS were dispatched 29-5 and Taylors' set their sights on the first piece of silverware ‘The Todd-Raphael Salver’ to be contested with Mill Hill at Allianz Park. Outstanding performances from Alex Wheal and Elliot Tebboth allowed Taylors' to dominate the set-piece on the way to a 20-0 win.
The first match back after the break was Reading Blue Coat School, who were having a successful season until Barney Close ripped them apart with a man of match performance that included a hat-trick in a 37-7 win. The part of the term that resembles that of an American high school, with successive Friday Night Lights matches, was upon us. We won back the Stephen Wright Cup with a tense 15-0 win vs Shiplake College, which included some notable defensive performances from the centre partnership of Scott Gates and Paul Smith. Our second match at Allianz Park against local rivals Haberdashers' Aske's saw Taylors’ start slowly but the boys soon woke up to claim their third trophy of the season in a 27-7 win. Sevir Mandair and Christian Coull were the outstanding ball carriers that evening. Narrow losses to Eton (10-17) and St Paul’s (11-17) followed and these results showed the improvement that this fine group of young men have achieved, pushing two of the country’s biggest rugby schools.
I would especially like to thank Scott Gates and Barney Close for their hard work as vice–captains and to Louis Rose as captain, without whose commitment and fine playing performances this successful season would have not been possible. Additional thanks to are due to Mr. Evans-Evans and Mr. Lambert for all their efforts in helping to coach the team.
Mr A. J. Mills
Squad: L. Rose (captain), S. Gates (vice-captain), B. Close (Vice-Captain), B. Gordon, A. Wheal, W. Reubin, S. Mandair, E. Tebboth, D. Gregory, B. Seabrook, A. Francis. P. Smith, K. Sun, H. Anthony, A. Brooker, J. Seabrook, T. Reynolds, J. Lambert, C. Coull, N. Stephenson, O. Smart, B. Wood