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Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
Sport
The Year 10 side, captained by Alex O’Connor, were the
success story of the year. Their squad has strengthened
and grown significantly over the last 18 months. They
managed to reach the last 16 of the National Daily Mail
Vase losing after a brave contest against Sherbourne
College. Along the way they pushed RGS all the way in a
fierce contest on Home Meadow whilst also comfortably
beating some strong sides like Reading Bluecoat, John
Hampden and Claire’s Court along the way.
Junior Full colours were awarded to Toby Roberts-Moore,
Alex Spicer, Johnny Hartrick, Matt Wilson, Lachlan Ewing,
Matt Formstone, Lewis Maguire, Alex O’Connor, Joel
Watson, Matt Rowley, Tavis Hunter, Harry McCaffery, Caleb
Selman and Ethan Bond.
The 1
st
XV season was mixed. A number of victories gave
them moments of success but they faced some tough
opposition that proved too much. There were some
very good performances, but it was patchy and talented
opposition such as St George’s and Dr Challoner’s were
difficult teams to overcome. The team were led superbly
by SamShaw and Stephen Oliver was a deserving recipient
of the player of the season award. Senior half rugby
Colours were awarded to Adam Murphy, Tom Maher,
Lewis Morgan, JordanWeddepohl, Steve Oliver, Sam Shaw,
Marcus Cracknell, Nick Paskins andWill Cook.
The First XV
With the first XV left decimated after the departure of the
class of 2012, the season 2012-13 was always going to be
an uphill struggle. This was made immeasurably worse
with key player, JemWatson, sidelined with a serious back
injury. Staring adversity in the face, the task to rebuild
the side commenced. The remaining key squad players,
Marcus Cracknell, Alex Harvey, Guy Lambert and Nick
Paskins, were joined by an intake of year 12s and with
Steve Oliver and Will Cook returning to the fray, things
began to look up. What the team lacked in general rugby
playing ability it made up for in commitment and within
weeks the group of shaky teens were transformed into
a battle-ready unit. This was owed almost solely to the
work of coach, Stuart Hill, who crafted tactics so astute,
it is not surprising he has entitled himself the ‘
Director of
Elite Performance’
. Aided by outstanding play from Tom
Maher and Vice-captain, Robbie Stewart, the team ground
out two victories to start the season against Chesham and
BurnhamGrammar Schools.The squad thenwent on to put
in the performance of the season against Dr. Challoner’s
pushing the heavy favourites right to the whistle and
causing preconceptions of Borlase Rugby to be rethought.
From there on in however, an unkind fixture list left the
teamon the back of a series of losses. Off the pitch, the first
XV found a sport which they were better suited to – pub
golf and it was on the 9-hole tour of Marlow’s finest Public
Houses that team spirit reached new heights. This became
evident on the field with the team playing at a level only
few thought possible and going on to secure victory in a
local grudge match against Furze Platt.
The year was undeniably one of highs and lows but to
call it unsuccessful could not have been further from the
truth. To take a group of almost entirely new faces and
turn it into a team playing some seriously good rugby was
a success in itself and a testament to both the team and
Stuart Hill’s hard work.
Sam Shaw
Year 10 Rugby
During the course of this season Borlase’s rugby team has
exceeded all expectations and managed to pull out some
terrific performances.
Our first game saw us travel to Chesham Grammar School,
a very accomplished side. Fortunately we managed to
scrape a win in the last play of the game setting us up
nicely for the rest of the season. A string of good results
saw us up against RGS in the Daily Mail Cup, RGS being one
of the favourites to go far in the competition. We all knew
how much of a challenge this game was going to be, and
although we did not come away with a victory, the result
does not do justice to how well we played, forcing them
to kick for points because they could not break through
our defence. With this loss we were sent into the Vase
Tier of the Daily Mail competition, facing Lord Willaim’s,
Thame and Claire’s Court both with convincing margins of
winning.
At this stage we became aware of an opportunity to face
our fierce rivals John Hampden in the final of the regional
competition, with only Reading Blue Coats in our way.
We were relishing the opportunity to face an unbeaten
John Hampden side as we were in such fantastic form.
We arrived in Reading to face Blue Coats. From the kickoff
it was looking bright with lots of possession for Borlase
but we were not able to convert it onto the scoreboard.
And after tries from both teams we found ourselves in
need of 5 points to send us through with only seconds
remaining. A quick decision from the back of a ruck and
a well timed pass from Joe Beams saw Lewis Mcguire in
space 5 metres out and after a cool finish the final whistle
was blown, giving us that all important place up against
John Hampden.
After a couple of weeks recovery and training we found
ourselves at Maidenhead Rugby Club to play on their
artificial pitch, adding to the importance of the occasion.
