Wellington College made sure to bring the curtain down on the 76th Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens title in style, edging out John Fisher School in the Open final.
The Berkshire outfit raced into a 12-0 lead at the break before last year’s runners up John Fisher School hit back with a spirited second-half showing.
But Wellington College, who also knocked out reigning champions Millfield School in the semi-finals, held on to triumph 12-7 for what was their first Open success.
John Fisher School will get their chance for revenge with both teams replaying the final at Twickenham in May during the London Sevens, the ninth and final round of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
But for now, victorious Wellington College captain Will Wilson was determined to enjoy the moment.
“I don’t think it has really sunk in yet, all credit to John Fisher, they pushed us all the way, as did Millfield,” he said.
“There are so many sides here that could have won it and we’re just grateful to be the ones that did.
“I can’t fault any of the lads, the effort they have put in has been incredible.
“The rematch at Twickenham will be amazing, playing there is every rugby player’s dream and we will be able to live it now, I’m really looking forward to it.”
It proved to be another close affair in the Open plate final too with St Joseph’s College, Ipswich edging out Hampton School 19-17.
Girls AASE
And it was not just the boys putting on a show at the annual event either with the girls teams also taking to the pitches on Friday.
A round robin format was used in the Girls AASE competition with the first-placed team deemed the overall winner.
As it was, there were three teams – Hartpury first and second squads and Bishop Burton College – tied on 16 points, each with four wins apiece.
But Hartpury College first team got the nod for the title, due to a superior points difference of 152, much to the delight of captain Sarah Bern.
“It’s amazing to be Rosslyn Park Sevens champions. We’ve worked so hard for this all year and to finally pull it off is just brilliant,” she said.
“This is the best sevens tournament we play in, the biggest one of our season, we’ve been preparing for about six weeks, so this result is brilliant, it puts the college out there and hopefully gets more girls involved in rugby.”
Girls Tournament
And it proved to be an all-Welsh affair in the Girls tournament final with Ysgol Bro Dinefwr and Amman Valley School going head-to-head.
The latter had finished as runners up on two previous occasions but it proved to be third time lucky as they ran out 19-10 winners.
Captain Hannah Jones said: “It’s a great way to end the tournament with a win and it’s the last year of school for a lot of us so it’s nice to be going out on a high.
“I’m really proud of all the girls. We have done well recently so were quite confident but this is the biggest tournament we play in so it’s amazing to win it”.