1st XV triumph against Caterham School
Match Report
Caterham School 15 - 22 Wilson's
The 1st XV kept their composure to register an opening day win away at Caterham School, prevailing 22 - 15. A very exciting day for Wilson's rugby, heralding great promise for the future.
The game began with fast paced back and forth phases of play, with both Wilsons and Caterham spearheading movements against the other. It was clear though that the visitors had the upper hand, with the Wilson's forwards pack, pushing forward with relentless pods, and well executed back play from the likes of scrum half Alex (Year 13) and 1st XV debutant and fly half Howard (Year 11). It would turn out however that Caterham would draw first blood with an unlucky Wilson’s defensive error on the wing leaving their winger free to run through for the try. This unfortunate error would be met by a dominant Wilson's response, as the forwards again muscled their way through a lacklustre Caterham defence, with Sayak ( Year 12) battering his way to two spectacular tries. With a fast paced first half coming to an end the teams regrouped for what would be a disciplined second half.
The Second half although not entirely reflected in the scoreline was heavily Wilson’s dominated with high quality crashballing, rucking and set pieces all round from the Wilson’s forwards, who excelled in particular at the scrum and lineout with multiple turnovers and penalties won. The breakthrough for Wilsons in the second half came from a quick ball out of the ruck by Abhinash ( Year 12) to Pavan (Year 12) who bundled it through the posts and over the line. The only conversion success for either side came from this try as Alex slotted the ball through for the 22 points. The game progressed on from this spring boarding further Wilson’s attacking movements, with an eloquent backs movement, being finished, once again by Ieuan (Year 12), out on the right wing who scored the final Wilson's try of the match. From here it was relatively smooth sailing for Wilsons who only conceded at the very end - against a completely fresh team of substitutes which had been brought on. At the end of the day, this opening to the season against a formidable opponent in Caterham, where the 1st XV had never previously won, served as a token of the hard work and dedication put into afterschool and afternoon training by the lads, and they look to take this forward for the season ahead of them.
Match Report written by Pavan (Year 12)