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THE ALLEYNIAN 710
RUGBY SEVENS
ROB WOOD
Buoyed by the international representation of recent OAs Femi Sofolarin and Oludara Odunlami, as well as the Rosslyn Park national final appearance of our 1st VII in 2019, Rugby Sevens continues to be played enthusiastically at Dulwich, with teams from U11 to U18 playing regular tournaments. Although this was formerly thought of as a game for only the speedy runners, boys across the College of all different playing positions are now taking the advice of their teachers to keep playing sevens in the Lent term, both for the inherent enjoyment and to develop their technical skills and fitness for the 15-a-side season. New to the senior calendar this season were two prestigious ten-a-side tournaments, with the first to open the term at Seaford College. This hybrid form of the game was a new experience for Dulwich, and despite a narrow loss to Felsted in the first game, we bounced back with a convincing win against Emanuel. Tom Wautier, Jamie Anderson and Niccolò Robertson were a constant threat with the ball in their hands, scoring several long-range tries across the day. The U18 Surrey Sevens is one of the premier tournaments in the country, and Dulwich made a great start with a convincing victory against Wasps AASE Scheme College. Zach Carr and Cameron Gilbert were excellent in the forwards, and Archie Wright pulled the strings brilliantly from scrum half. Sadly, narrow losses to Bedford and Berkhamsted meant that DC could not progress to the knockout stages, in spite of a proud performance. The U15s built on a very strong 15-a-side season with some excellent sevens performances. They made the semi-final of the Surrey Sevens, losing to the eventual winners, Cranleigh, and then reached the knockouts of the John Fisher Founder’s Day Sevens. The highlight came when an injury-depleted squad attended the
historic John Pieroni Sevens and again made the semi-final, thanks to standout performances from Tristan Saunders, Michael Ijeh and Charlie Pickering. After a two-year enforced hiatus due to Covid, the largest sevens tournament in the world returned at Rosslyn Park. Our U11s finished their Junior School career by winning all of their matches in a round robin tournament. Reuben Horsfield, Cosmo Maguire, Aiden Smyth and Xavier Oakley-Whyte led the way with fantastic tackling and ball carrying. A special mention must go to captain Hari Gilchrist, who progressed enormously throughout the year to become an outstanding all-round player. Our U13s, U14s, U16s and seniors also returned to the tournament and made great progress playing against prep schools and senior schools from all over the country. Standout performances came from Freddie Pickering, Reuben Gokah, Matthew Corkum, Thomas Chamier and Harry Corkum. Dulwich’s debut appearance at the Super Sedbergh Tens was the final event of the year, and this was a fitting way for our Year 13s to finish their Dulwich Rugby career. Due to injuries and unavailability, we took a young team mostly composed of Year 11s, and those players stood up and learned a great deal against top-class older opponents. Dulwich took heavy defeats from Sedbergh, Hampton and QEGS Wakefield, but deservedly finished the tournament on a high, with a victory against Cokethorpe. It does not get any better than playing competitive rugby in stunning surroundings such as the Lake District with your closest school friends, and this is exactly what Dulwich Rugby is all about. We look forward to returning to all of the above tournaments and to competing even harder next year at Rugby Sevens.
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