RUGBY UNION: THERE was a double celebration for Warwick School after its Under-15s and senior team progressed in their respective national competitions, proving once again that Warwick is fast becoming a hotbed for rugby talent.
The Under-15s eased past Cheltenham College 34-5 to make it through to the quarter-final of the NatWest Cup, while the senior side recorded a narrow 13-11 win against QEGS Wakefield which booked them a place in the semi-final.
Greasy pitch conditions met the Under-15s on January 17 and they started the better of the two sides by scoring two early tries through Tom Patrick, who was playing a year above his age level, and Ethan Evan Cook.
In the second half the team started to show some of its potential with the try of the day coming from Tom Boorman who finished off an excellent backs move by Fin Smith, Jack Forsythe and Harry Spencer.
Spencer also picked up a try with Will Pugh finishing the match off in the last play of the game to set up a quarter-final clash against Langley.
Revenge was on the cards for Warwick’s senior team having lost on the last two occasions against QEGS Wakefield and it proved to be another challenge this time around in front of a vociferous home crowd.
An early mistake by the home team provided a penalty opportunity for the visitors to take the lead but as the first half progressed Warwick started to dominate most facets of the game with a powerful scrum, almost perfect lineout display and some very dangerous counter attacking.
However a lack of composure close to the opponent’s line resulted in a handful of errors releasing the pressure.
Five minutes before half-time second row Will Fawcett broke from the back of a driving maul to score wide out for a try which was duly converted by fly-half Will Tannera and he also added another penalty to take Warwick into a 10-3 lead at the break.
Aside from a run of penalties and the handling errors Warwick appeared to have the game under control and started the second half positively with only a second half penalty to show for their efforts.
But the hosts found themselves on the wrong side of the referee and simple errors crept back into the game.
QEGS were dogged and eventually rewarded with a penalty to bring the scoreline within touching distance
Warwick were denied close to the try line for a knock-on and were then were penalised in the scrum for their dominance allowing the QEGS scrum-half to go quickly and were able to score their first try of the match but the conversion fell short.
Warwick will now play Felsted in the National Semi-Final at Allianz Park in London on March 4, 2017.
