128
THE ALLEYNIAN 710
RUGBY ROB WOOD
The end of the Michaelmas term brought the curtain down on another great season of Rugby Union at Dulwich, with students and staff (both teaching and operational) having worked tirelessly in games lessons, co-curricular sessions and Saturday matches, embracing the cold and dark weather and competing with pride and passion for their school and teammates against strong opponents. The season opened with our traditional OA’s fixture against last year’s leavers. The OAs, captained by Sam Fleming, took a well-deserved 27–17 victory in a brilliant celebration of Dulwich sportsmanship and competitiveness. We wish our former students well for their future rugby careers either at club or university level, and hope they come back and visit us on a match day whenever they can. The U12 boys had to deal with some frustrating cancellations due to Covid disruption, but they kept up their commitment to training and, when they did see the field, made great progress. Many of the players had not played competitive rugby before joining Dulwich
this year, and boys like Julian Smoczynski, Frank Adom, Jose Wright, Alex Leece, Santi Jackson and Miles Wilson are great examples of players who worked their hardest and, as a result, climbed up through the teams. Frank, for example, played the opening fixture in the 12F against St Paul’s in September and then the final fixture in the 12A’s victory against Dulwich Prep London – a remarkable story, and one that the other boys should be inspired by and look to emulate. The U13 teams had some outstanding matches, including an agonising defeat for the U13A against Whitgift on the final play of the game, but then a dramatic well-deserved victory on the final play against Trinity a few weeks later. In the latter, full-back Freddie Pickering scored the deciding try in a performance which turned around the result from the Surrey tournament earlier in the season, when Trinity had taken the win. The B, C, D and E teams built very strong camaraderie, thanks to their coaches, and enjoyed some great performances, especially away at Skinners’ School and at home to DPL. Eddie Harris, Solomon Adeyemi, Charlie Thornhill and Edward Henwood
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker