Cronk Cunis U21 Festival of Rugby

by Mr Steve Brown

This rugby tournament proved to be a great weekend and the quality of rugby was very high indeed, as many of the teams had imported ‘ringers’ into their teams. The rules state that each school must have at least ten bona fide former pupils in its team – as I walked to the ground from the railway station I think I was the only person not speaking Afrikaans!

We had 16 players who trained really hard in Regent's Park on Saturday afternoon and, for the vast majority of them, it was their first rugby for over 12 months. At the tournament on Sunday we played 3 matches – against St Pauls, Churchers and Cranleigh. These sides, being all relatively ‘local’ to London, could call on a host of players who were playing at a good level in universities and clubs in the South East and beyond. There were a lot of players playing at County U21 level and above. We lost all three of the games but, considering the makeshift nature of our side and lack of preparation, the team performed remarkably well and played some really good rugby. Their courage and determination was fantastic and they appeared determined to return next year when they would have a little more preparation under their belts.

We were very well supported over the weekend with around 35 OGs and parents playing and/or cheering enthusiastically. They were all on outstanding form and to a man/woman they were a real delight to be with - enthusiastic about the weekend and wonderful ambassadors for the School.