Rugby 2nd XV
(1972-73)

1972-73 proved to be the 2nd XV's most successful season for several years. Had it not been for the usual crop of injuries, especially to the backs, and the frequent team changes (again over forty players represented the team) the tally of wins would have been higher.

The strength of the side undoubtedly lay in the pack in which the front row, variously composed of P. Devenish, W. Healey, W. Lambert, S. Moss, P. Stockwell and J. Szelewski, was outstanding. By technical skill rather than brute force, parity in the set scrum was always achieved, while in many matches the opposition pack was completely disrupted. The front row was helped by a powerful shove from the rest of the forwards.

An unusually high proportion of 'good ball' was obtained from the line-outs by the clean catching of G. Thompson and N. Veal, but rucks and mauls were less productive. The back row, again a varied unit, was generally chose from D. Beatty, B. Dunlop, A. Foulkes, C. Simmons and N. Veal, who covered well in defence, but sometimes failed to position themselves intelligently in attack. The front five were exceptionally mobile, with hooker W. Healey a decisive tackler and prop P. Stockwell scorer of five tries.

With an abundance of clean possession the half-backs, J. O'Connell and D. Haugh, got their three-quarters moving well and showed good judgment in making individual breaks. After Christmas, the loss of D. Haugh, who had developed into an extremely sound fly-half, proved a severe handicap and the three-quarter line never again functioned smoothly as a unit. However, the more regular players, P. Harries, P. Murtagh, G. Pendred and S. Salama, all showed promise, while J. Szelewski made a successful conversion from hooker to centre and T. Barber scored eleven tries. T. Barwick, a courageous full-back, was always safe in defence and frequently dangerous in counter attack.

Of course, with nine defeats, there were faults. Although most players tackled if they 'had to', they often allowed opposition attacks to build up because they failed to defend aggressively. Mauls were frequently indecisive with a single opponent being allowed to buy time when outnumbered by our players. The handling by the backs was sometimes sloppy, so that vital momentum was lost by the failure to put the pass in front of the player at waist height. Curiously enough the best exhibition of handling came in atrocious weather conditions -high wind and driving rain - when the backs ran in thirteen tries against St. Albans G.S.

The 2nd XV did not like to lose and played some of its best rugby when facing defeat, notably against St. Ignatius College (lost 9-19) and Northampton G.S. (lost 23-29). Team spirit ran high, especially in the Christmas Term, and was a major factor in the draw (10-10) with Harrow C.G.S. by a side containing seven reserves and in victories over Broxbourne School (24-19), Hampton G.S. (13-10), and Richard Hale School (24-7). Perhaps the best achievement was the first-ever defeat of the Old Boys (11-6), in spite of the loss of our flyhalf at half-time.

At its best the 2nd XV played skilful team rugby with great zest. During the Christmas Term in particular, with A. Foulkes an enthusiastic and efficient captain, it was refreshing to see the mutual encouragement between players and the meeting of adversity with renewed efforts rather than recrimination.

E. A. Cox