This week ...
This afternoon, the 1st and 2nd VIIs host Westbourne House in hockey at Winchester College astro.
Tomorrow, Thursday afternoon, Under 8s (Year 3) host Twyford for TAG rugby at home.
On Monday, some Under 11s (Year 6) enjoyed a water polo joint training session with Twyford. They learned how to move with the ball, technical rules and skills. They appreciated combining all of this with swimming makes water polo a demanding physical game! Further joint training sessions follow: Year 7 on Monday 7 March, Year 5 on Monday 21 March, Year 8 in the Summer Term.
Last Tuesday, our team of cross-country runners competed at Horris Hill. The runners did tremendously well. Three boys were picked out as runners of the day for each age group, James Z, Barnaby D and Farid A. Our congratulations to all of them.
Have a good half-term!
In the news...
There are reports that Esports are to be included as a pilot event in this year’s Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham. Whilst attracting younger audiences and a bid for broader access seems to be driving this change, the Youth Sport Trust have argued having gaming within the Games will cause great confusion for young people. In particular, according to a recent Youth Sport Trust survey, one in four children confuse gaming with exercise. The arguments that gaming in particular sports can lead to participation in the real activity seem unfounded.
When I asked some young boarders around my breakfast table what they thought of the issue, they wondered if certain fitness games such as on Wii added to the confusion but, thankfully, agreed with Commonwealth swimmer, Sharron Davies! (Link to Dan Roan tweet on esports) (BBC Sport Commonwealth games and exports)
Match Reports
From Saturday 12 February:
Twyford
to follow, by half-term.
From Wednesday 2 February:
U9A VII v Farleigh
Won 55-30
Pilgrims' were understandably itching to get started and began the match with incredible intensity. Onlookers would have been forgiven for thinking that this group of boys had been playing contact Rugby for years! Every boy was fully committed, brave and showed excellent technique to perform strong, but safe tackles. Pilgrims' running ability proved too much for Farleigh, Elliot N, Archie W, Barney S all scored freely. Christian B played a vital scrum half role to perfection with Lucas J and Edward W showing great power in the tackle. Farleigh had their moments and Pilgrims’ will have to sharpen up on their organisation in the defensive line in future games. The potential of this group of players is exciting! Well done, chaps. JB
U9B VII v Farleigh
Won 55-45
A fantastic start to the season for the B team who looked competent and capable throughout. Some demon tackles from James Y, Davis and Daniel G kept the opposition on the permanent back foot, with Rufus M managing to steer the team from the No. 9 position (which he looks like he’s occupied since the day he was born). Fantastic work from ‘Four-try’ Farid A who kept the score line moving throughout the course of the game. An excellent game from everybody, and a very, very encouraging start to the season. Well done. CAL
U9 All Blacks VII v Farleigh
Won 80-55
Roared on by the vociferous support of a couple of parents and Mr Rainer, the noise of the ‘crowd’ could be heard all the way back to Winchester. The boys produced a fabulous first outing scoring 16 tries and conceding 11 to run out winners. The match was evenly balanced with each side swapping tries until 4-4. Some superb running from the boys evaded the oppositions attempts to get anywhere near the ball and as a result confidence soared. As the match evolved Pilgrims’ tackling came stronger and the ability to stop the attack or cleverly use the touch line to force the opposition out meant we were able to pull ahead. Individually and collectively the boys were magnificent, and it bodes well for the rest of the season. As teams (both ours and opposition) improve, there will be sterner challenges. However, a wonderful start followed by an excellent match tea, all returned content and looking forward to the next round of matches. TWR
U9 Wallabies VII v Farleigh
Won 70-55
What a fine display of sportsmanship – these players played hard but fair, demonstrating some good tackling skills. Hugo W, Sasha G and Ralph M played fine games and enjoyed running with ball in hand. Well-played all. BD
From Thursday 3 February:
U8 Tag Rugby Triangular vs Princes Mead and Stroud
Wednesday was a lovely occasion which allowed our Year 3 cohort to experience a match day and represent the school in Rugby for the first time. The boys were excited for the fixtures and were relishing the chance to get on the pitch. The afternoon was full of end-to-end Rugby from all teams. Our boys should be proud of their efforts. There were some careful passes made, last-ditch tackles and some excellent speed and evasion on display. Cheered on by a supportive parent body, our three teams were able to score some great, well deserved tries throughout the six short matches. The day was capped off by a delicious match tea, which was well received by the boys! Well done to every boy for their efforts, we look forward to your next games and seeing you progress. MTG
From Saturday 5 February:
Foals B VIII v Stroud
Lost 0-15
This was a good match against a strong B team from Stroud. We attacked well but couldn’t find the line. In defence we rucked well but fell off too many tackles on their strong runner, who scored all the tries. A higher intensity than previously encounters, this was a good learning experience.
Foals B VIII v Farleigh
Lost 35-5
Farleigh came with an even greater intensity, which saw us struggle with ball retention as we were outplayed in most aspects of the game. However, we never gave up and scored a pleasing try after keeping the ball through several phases later in the game. Although we found it hard, we were encouraged as in parts of the game, we were on the up! Well done! MDS
U9 All Blacks VII v Farleigh
Another outstanding game between two evenly matched sides. Pilgrims’ had won convincingly against the same opposition on Wednesday, but Farleigh were to exact their revenge with a closely fought game ending up 11-9 winners. The big difference was the tackling. Farleigh improved and a tiring Pilgrims' side found it harder to stay in touch. A big round of applause for an excellent effort and ever improving young rugby players. TWR
U9 Wallabies VII v Farleigh
Pilgrims’ came out all guns blazing and edged out with a narrow win, by a single try. All players were fully committed – in particular Wilfred S, Nicholas U and George W who ran well with the ball in hand, scored plenty of tries and made lots of tackles! BD
Andrew Short
Director of Sport