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Lyam represents North of England

Congratulations to Lyam Thorpe who has been selected to represent the Northern Prep Schools’ Barbarians against the South of England side in his position as hooker. The final trial took place at Giggleswick School in late January. He will play for the Northern side at Rugby School in mid February and is in line to be selected for a Barbarians representative side in Cardiff at the end of the month.

Well done, Lyam!

Under 9 Rugby Team Success

The Under 9s Rugby Team made the long trip to Moseley Rugby Club in Birmingham on Sunday 1st February to represent the School at the North & Midlands Prep Schools' Rugby Tournament.

Despite a three hour drive and the arctic conditions the team made a good start, beating Bronte House 15-5.

Next they faced Winchester House and despite taking the lead they ended up drawing 5-5 in a close fought encounter.

Following this Town Close beat Warwick School 15-0.

In their last group game, they knew that they needed to win in order to qualify for the semi-finals.

Up until now the team was relying heavily on individual skill, particularly that of Thomas Huckerby and Ben Watson. A fantastic team display, however, saw Town Close outscore St Faith's from Cambridge 8 tries to 1.

This set up an exciting rematch against Winchester House in the semis, but by now the team was in full flow and won comfortably 20-0 to secure a place in the National Finals next month at Epsom College.

Autumn Term 2008

It has been a very successful year on the rugby field for Town Close. We have played more matches than ever before and 11 teams have represented the School. Their consistent performances have resulted in some very impressive results from Under 9s through to the 1st XV.

Altogether we have played 74 matches, winning 47 of those games, drawing 6 and losing 21.

In the Under 9 age group we fielded two sides and the A team have arguably been the most successful in the School, winning 8 out of their 9 fixtures. Their performances have been characterised by a very aggressive defence and the regular names on the score sheet, such as Thomas Huckerby, Nathan Sharpe, Ben Dugdale and Ben Watson are all ones to look out for in the future.

The Under 9 House matches were very close between all four of the Houses, with Filby narrowly coming out on top.

Although the Colts A & B teams started a little slowly, under the guidance of Mr Greenhall and Mr Timmins, they soon got into their stride - both sides averaged over 30 points per win in the second half of term.

Cameron Greenhall, Lyam Thorpe and William Hunt were invited to train and play with the Midlands Prep Schools’ Barbarians. All three, along with William Garson were awarded Colts colours this term.

The other Colts teams have also had success and have been very enthusiastically coached by Mr. Smith, Mr.Kendrick, Mr. Sowry & Mr. Ruffell who have found a depth of talent that runs all the way through to the mighty Colts D, who won all three of their matches this term.

The Colts House matches were a very tightly contested affair and Ranworth and Filby were inseparable, drawing in the final match of the day and sharing the top spot.

There has also been a great deal of success at the top end of the School. The 2nd XV got off to an explosive start with 5 straight wins and the 1st XV developed into a very competitive outfit, losing only one out of six matches in the second half of term. One of the most pleasing statistics of all though, is that up to 50 boys have represented the School in senior teams meaning that we have been able to field a regular 3rd team over the course of this term.

Full School Colours are awarded to:

Henry Allton-Jones
Tom Turnbull
William Tomson

Colts Colours are awarded to:

Cameron Greenhall
William Hunt
Lyam Thorpe
William Garson

Cups:

Best Senior – Henry Allton-Jones
Best Colt – Cameron Greenhall
Innes 7s – Henry Allton-Jones
Davies Plate – Oscar Cator

House Rugby Cup - Filby