10 February 2017
On Sunday 5 February our 1st VII took part in the Shiplake College U18 Rugby 7s tournament. Abingdon’s group was arguably the strongest of the four groups with Cheltenham College picking up silverware later on, and Tonbridge School being last season’s U18 Rosslyn Park Festival winners.
The day kicked off with a fantastic 17-7 win against Tonbridge School, and continued to get better with a convincing second match victory over Emanuel School, Wandsworth 31-10. With the full squad being used throughout the first two matches the teams final match of the group was against Cheltenham College. However, the 1st VII lost the match 24-7. It meant Abingdon, Tonbridge and Cheltenham were all tied on points in the group. However, Abingdon finished 3rd having scored less points overall and went into the Trophy competition.
This set a semi-final clash against Worth School where the team stormed through to a 19-12 victory and a final against an impressive Seaford College from Sussex. After a close first half the Abingdon 1st VII pulled away in the second half to win the final 33-7 to be crowned Shiplake College Trophy champions 2017.
The day was a big success with all boys showing a real team effort. Thank you to Shiplake College for organising such a great event to kick off the Rugby Sevens season.
