Year 10 Rugby - Middlesex Shield Champions
By Mr Mangat
At the start of the Middlesex Shield competition, the boys felt intimidated by the bigger and more experienced private schools. This attitude unfortunately followed them into their first game against Richmond-upon-Thames, with a number of missed tackles and numerous handling errors. After the game, we had a long team talk about commitment and effort. With our next game being a very tough game against St. Benedicts, I stressed the importance of a good performance and to forget the result. The boys lifted themselves up and really turned up for this game, with some huge tackles from Oscar Astley, Kane Seccombe and Denish Gurung. St.Benedicts dominated possession but struggled to break through the I&S wall. Late tries at the end of each half gave St. Benedicts a 10-0 win. However, the mood amongst the group was not disappointment but belief. The team had just gone toe-to-toe with one of the best rugby schools in Middlesex and so they had no reason to fear any other team. This was a huge turning point for the team as they won every game after this.
A must-win game against Radnor house was a very tense affair. An early try from Oscar Astley gave I&S the lead but Radnor were dominating possession and continued to look dangerous. Wave after wave of Radnor attack was defended and pushed back with I&S working brilliantly as a team to hold on to this lead so that they could qualify. Harry Mason and Finn Wood showed calm heads to kick and clear our lines whenever we managed to steal the ball from Radnor. In the last minute of the game, the Radnor winger broke through the defence and look certain to score until Denys made a try saving tackle to ensure we qualiifed for the Shield semi-final.
The semi-final match against Christ's School saw I&S come out and play with some real confidence after their first win of the day. Big powerful early carries from Denish, Jan Spychalski and Alexander Moran helped put us on the front foot. Tries from Finn, Oskar Blazevicius and Oscar Astley gave I&S a 15-0 lead. Oskar lead the way in this tough semi-final with some ferocious tackling. A late try meant the final score was 15-5 to I&S, meaning we would play St. James in the final.
The final was a complete performance from our boys, including three tries from Kane who could not be stopped. A beautifully-worked team try, finished off by Oscar once again, gave Isleworth a comprehensive 20-0 win. The boys demonstrated real resilience to fight back after to early losses to become champions of the Middlesex Shield.