2 December 2011
On Friday. 2nd December the Preparatory School hosted the inaugural U13 Rugby Sevens Tournament. Eight teams on the local Oxfordshire Preparatory Schools circuit competed. Teams included: Abingdon School, Christchurch CS, Cothill, Pitsford School and St Hugh's. Abingdon Preparatory School entered both an 'A' and a 'B' VII.
The Abingdon Preparatory 'B' VII made a very good account of themselves but narrowly lost all of their three matches. .The forceful running of Andrew Marples and Robbie Allen, and the pace of Joseph Curtis out wide particularly caught the eye.
The Abingdon Preparatory 'A' VII won through their Pool by beating Cothill 'B' (Won 21 - 12), Christchurch CS (Won 50 - 7) and St Hugh's (Won 31 - 0). In the Semi-Final they faced a physical Abingdon School VII and were trailing by 21 - 0 at half time. An early score from John Corran and the home side sensed a comeback! Tries from Rhys Humphries and Tom Buckle in the dying seconds of the game meant extra-time and the 'golden try'. The first team to score would be the winner. The senior school kicked to Abingdon Prep 'A's who put together several phases of play. Both Max Smith and Ruihri McNicholas almost went over but recycled the ball for Rory Parsons to put john Corran into the corner for the winning score (Won 26 - 21).
In the Final against Cothill, Abingdon Prep 'A' denied the opposition any possession and created a superb score for Joseph Delafield in the corner. However, in the process of this score, Toby Collins went down injured and could not be moved of the pitch. With the light fading fast it was decided that the trophy would be shared between Cothill and Abingdon Prep 'A'. The joint winning team comprised of: Rhys Humphries (capt.), Joseph Delafield, Max Smith, Ruiri McNicholas, Toby Collins, Rory Parsons, John Corran, Tom Buckle and Charles Nabnian.
