Non Stop Rugby Success For HSFC!
Posted on 31st March 2023
Hereford Rugby Academy Lift the ECRFU Trophy
Hereford Rugby Academy Win the Rosslyn Park 7s Girls Plate
Hereford Rugby Academies' wonder week started off with the Girls Rugby Academy becoming the holders of the Rosslyn Park 7s Girls Plate. After playing incredibly well on day one and beating the likes of Clifton College and Wellington School with some excellent flowing ruby, the girls narrowly lost to Dubai College 22-17 which meant they started the next day gunning to win the plate.
They were pooled with Hurstpierpoint College and Hills Road Sixth Form, beating both teams comfortably to reach the semi-final where they faced a stiff opposition from Worth School. The pitches throughout the day had become more and more like a mud bath than a rugby pitch and in awful conditions the girls beat Worth School 24-12.
With the final only 40 minutes after the last game, the girls were on their last legs from having to run around in thick mud but dug deep and preserved into a fantastic 24-0 win against Hills Road in the Final. After what had been a momentous effort for 2 days, Els W who captained the side for the tournament was handed over the trophy from the RFU President - Nigel Gillingham.
Moving onto Saturday the first game of the Six Nations was played at Cardiff Arms Park. Former pupil Sisilia Tuipulotu gained her 8th cap for Wales against Ireland with her first start in the number 3 shirt. Sisilia had a great start to the game carrying the ball well with many Irish clinging on for dear life and being awarded a number of scrum penalties as well.
After a try being disallowed, she was determined to get over that white line and a few minutes later made sure this one would count. After a sensational performance she was rightly awarded player of the match. We look forward to watching Sisilia in the rest of the Six Nations and also welcoming her back into college after the competition has finished.
Finally this week the Boys Rugby Academy played in the England Colleges Final against one of the top colleges in the country for rugby, Hartpury College. The team beat teams such as Shrewsbury, SGS, Hartpury and Exeter in the lead up. The team had already faced Hartpury in the pool stages so knew what challenges they were going to face. The game was played at North Bristol Rugby Club with the team delivering a stellar perofrmance against Hartpury.
The final scoreline of 39 – 11 does not really reflect what was a tough game in tricky conditions. Hartpury played with the wind in the first half and opened up a 6 – 0 lead. They were pressing the Hereford defence hard and the team did well to hold them out for the first 20 minutes.
HRA managed to gain some territory and after a fine individual score from Ethan Y and a conversion from Ben D they crept into the lead 7 – 6. The team then enjoyed a good period of pressure and managed to extend the lead to 17 – 6 at half time.
With the conditions now favourable and the team gaining control the result looked a formality. Hartpury however, had other ideas and having resisted attack close to their line managed to put several phases together to score in the corner at the opposite end.
The game was now balanced at 17 – 11 at 60 mins and momentum would be determined by the next score. Fortunately, it was Hereford that raised their game and dominated the last 15 mins to run out 39 – 11 winners.
Retaining a cup is always harder than winning it for the first time and the team can be rightly proud of their efforts not just at this game but over the whole season.
Congratulations to all of the players on amazing performances!
Write up by Andy Douthwaite & Benny Williams