On Thursday 6th October 2023 a mixed team of prep, MYP 1,2 and 3 students from Wotton House played a competitive touch rugby fixture vs Rendcomb College. With an early afternoon kick off at 14:15 both teams started the game with real energy and excitement.
Rendcomb had the the vast majority of the early possession but a newly formed Wotton House team displayed excellent organisation and hard work to stop Rendcomb from getting an early score. The Wotton House team grew into the game and as the half developed they found themselves with the lionshare of possession and after a continued period of ball retention and a piece of incredible individual skill, Freddie S opened the scoring to make it Wotton House 5 and Rendcomb College 0.
The remainder of the half was fiercely contested in the middle of the pitch with both teams sharing the possession. However, late in to the half Wotton House were applying pressure on the Rendcomb try line when a Rendcomb player shot out of the defensive line and managed to intercept the ball and looked like running the length of the field to score aside from Luc F showing incredible determination and speed to chase down the Rendcomb player to prevent him from scoring. Wotton House then managed to retreat and reorganise until Rendcomb eventually dropped the ball and the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half to a close.
Rendcomb College reacted better to the half time break and started the second half more positively, showing great ball retention to score a try to draw the game level. Following the restart of the game Wotton House failed to keep the ball for long periods of time giving the possession back to Rendcomb who quickly scored their second try taking the game to 10 - 5 in Rendcomb’s favour.
At this stage the momentum was with Rendcomb College but Wotton House showed great resilience and character to get themselves back in the back by keeping possession for a sustained period of time. Julia M demonstrated excellent skills at scrum half where she was showing great tactical nous by quickly moving the ball away from the tackle area which gave the Redcomb defence little time to organise. From this increase in ball retention and speed of play Luc F scored a brilliant team try to draw the game level.
As the game continued to develop both teams showed excellent progress in their skills and understanding of the game with both demonstrating some fantastic rugby. Both teams scored a try each after taking the score to 15 - 15 but it was then Rendcomb who managed to score a 4th try to edge in front after a sustained period of pressure.
In the latter stages of the game both teams were showing signs of fatigue due to the nature of the competitiveness and intensity of the contest but it was Freddie S who quickly pounced on a mistake by the Rendcomb college attack to pick up the ball and gallop the length of the field to bring the score to 20 - 20.
That was to be the final score of the game with both teams not being able to get the winning score in the remaining minutes of the game. However, as the final whistle blew a draw seemed a fitting result for both teams who gave everything to the game.