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Rugby Academy

 

In September 2008, Robert Clack School was proud to develop a rugby academy led by Mr Maudsley. This page will inform users of any latest news, fixtures and results to do with the Rugby Academy.

 

aCHIEVEMENTS

In September 2008, Robet Clack School's First XV won the Evening Standard Team of the Month.

For more information on this achievement click here

 

Robert Clack Rugby Academy

 

Statistics 2008 – 9 Season (as of 27th February 2009)

 

 

Playing Record

 

Played:                                       17

Won:                                           16

Drawn:                                        0

Lost:                                            1

For:                                              667

Against:                                      97

Average Scoreline:               39 – 6

 

School Sports Rankings

 

Performance League, based on Best Playing Record:                              57th/216

All Comers League, based on Most Matches:                                             13th/380

English League, based on Most Matches:                                                    12th/342

London & South-East League, based on Most Matches:                           4th/127

 

Highlights

 

Winners Campion Pre-Season Tournament

 

Winners Robert Clack 10s Tournament (beating the Colne Community school, Mayflower High school, Queens school, Robert Clack 2nd X and West Hatch High school)

 

Winners St. Josephs College 7s Tournament (beating Norwich school, Woodbridge school, The Leys, Royal Hospital school, Kings Ely and St. Josephs College)

 

Evening Standard Team of the Month

 

Samurai Rugbywear Team of the Month

 

Feature in International Rugby News

 

 

Campion pre-season tournament

 

On Saturday September 6th Robert Clack Rugby Academy were invited to play in the Campion school pre-season tournament. The teams competing were Campion school, Royal Hospital school, Colchester Grammar, Brentwood school and, of course, the newly formed Academy side. 

 

The day started off badly with Anthony Pitts ruled out due to a stomach complaint and young Connor Baker was afforded the opportunity of starting in the fly half role – he handled the day with a great deal of composure and control considering he played every minute of every game.

 

The team started off against Royal Hospital on the main pitch. It was windy but the wet weather hadn’t started so the ball was dry and was moved around the park at every opportunity. The defensive performance was strong from both sides going in at half time nil all. After the half time break Robert Clack scored a stand-out try working the ball through ten sets of hands before Felix Olusanya accelerated through half a gap and dragged four defensive players across the line with him to score. Jack Quirke converted and only minutes later added a penalty to take a 10-0 lead which was not altered.

 

The second game was against Colchester Grammar who dominated the majority of the first half. Robert Clack appeared to be disinterested in the game and more consumed with playing Campion next. It was a scrappy unstructured affair with Clack scraping home with a converted try to win 7-5.

 

At last the Campion game – both sides stacked with Barking U17 and U18s, it was always going to have the most attention and it certainly delivered with a complete ‘edge of the seat’ game. The lead changed four times during the course of the game and appeared to be a Campion victory with less than two minutes left on the clock following a brilliant drop goal by Callum Howard. From the resulting kick off Clack pressure turned the ball over and with the last roll of the dice the backs moved the ball wide to Jack Quirke who shouldered the responsibility of trying to score the winning points; score he did with a powerful and elusive run leaving all defenders in his wake. The final score 12-8 to Clack.

 

The last game against Brentwood school was a one sided affair with Clack running out 47-0 victors.

 

Robert Clack academy captain Dan Webber reflected on what had been a busy day
“I’m pretty puffed out now and looking forward to a nice warm bath when I get home. The group played well today and we will only move forward from here. We had phases of good detail to our structure and we will continue to build on that going forward”.

Paul Cook, the stand in Robert Clack Academy Manager for the day in Dave Maudsley’s absence said “I was really impressed today with the teams’ efforts, they acted in a very professional manner all day and I think that’s a huge credit to the culture we are promoting at the Academy. My focus this week has been about making players accountable for their roles and responsibilities within the team structure both on and off the field. I think that we have succeeded in achieving those levels today and the results were merely a by-product of performance”.

 

There were many stand-out performances from the Clack players but Jonathon Annansingh’s set-piece and Dan Webber’s total commitment to his role as a captain and an on-field leader, with his rugged approach to all facets of the game were particularly impressive alongside Felix Olusanya. In the backs Ross Inwood, Billy Driver and Jack Quirke set very high standards.

 

Third Time Lucky for Academy at St. Jo’s

 

On Tuesday 24th February the Robert Clack Rugby Academy made the trip to St. Joseph’s College, Ipswich, for the third time this season. In October the Academy side took part in the college’s prestigious Festival of Rugby and just a week later they returned as part of the regular fixture list. On that occasion a depleted Academy side ran St. Joseph’s close but fell just a conversion short in the 26 – 24 defeat.

 

Last week it was the turn of the Academy’s 7s squad and the lads were determined to exorcise the only demons of a fantastic season. In the group stage the lads saw off Norwich, Woodbridge, The Leys and Royal Hospital. Though rusty in the early stages the Academy side defended superbly leaking just a try in each game. Ricky McFarlane and Stuart Beattie proved to be worthy of late selection with several impressive efforts to turn over opposition ball. With the ball in hand it was Josh Cook, Billy Driver, Ross Inwood and again McFarlane who led the way. In just four games the Academy amassed almost 150 points. Bradley Reece, propping on the day as he has done all season gave the St. Jo’s crowd something to talk about as he ran one try in from his own 22 and Devon Samson recovered from an early injury to do the same. Vital supporting roles were performed by Lewis Pruce, Lee Wilkins, Dan Webber and Kazeem Lamina.

 

In the semi-final the Academy faced tough opponents in Kings Ely but continued their form from the group stage and ran out comfortable winners, meaning they faced the tournament hosts in the final. Patience proved to be vital as St. Jo’s had all the early possession but after great pressure Josh Cook flew up to make a tackle as the hosts deliberated just off their own tryline. A big hit knocked the ball loose and Cook was first to his feet to retrieve the ball before securing the first points. St. Jo’s continued to have 90% of the possession and despite outstanding defence from the Academy they threatened to level the score on more than one occasion. Eventually the Aacdaemy’s defensive pressure was too much and after regaining possession they finished the game with a well worked team effort, ending the game 12 – 0.

 

Captain Jack Quirke said: “It was great to come back and prove just how good we are! We were a bit slow to start but once we were firing we knew we could go all the way. It was particularly nice to beat St. Jo’s in the final – they  are a great side. I think at the end of the day it came down to the fact that we worked harder, in both attack and defence, than anybody”.

 

 

February 2009

 

Our Year 10 and year 11 Rugby Teams beat King Edward Grammar school Chelmsford in the Essex cup quarter finals. They join our year 9’s who are already in the semis after beating St Martins Brentwood and our year 8’s play their quarter final vs Brentwood independent on the 25th of the month. Considering there are only 4 age group competitions within Essex Rugby this is hugely impressive with potentially 4 teams in the top 4 in Essex and maybe even better.

STUDENTS

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