Newsletters

We have matches tomorrow with Cothill and on Saturday with Twyford.

At Under 9 (Year 4), the touch team will travel to Cothill, with Games for the contact group tomorrow. On Friday there were fixtures planned, together with the Under 8s (Year 3), at home with Farleigh before Pilgrims’ Got Talent in the afternoon. However, these have been cancelled due to diary clashes at Farleigh. On Saturday, we host Twyford.

There are cross-country events on Saturday morning at Stroud, Romsey and Monday afternoon at Farleigh.

Match reports

Wednesday 6 March

U13A XIII vs Cheam
Lost 50-20 (James P 3, Barnaby D)This was another full-blooded encounter. Cheam had some strong runners who managed to break the line despite our best efforts. We managed to come back in the second half. James took a couple of quick penalties to score and also finished off another move from down the wing. Barnaby’s strong running all afternoon also saw him rewarded with a try. Another gallant effort from the lads. AJS

U13B XIII vs Cheam
The U13B showed some great skill throughout their mixed match with Cheam; attack was a strong point throughout the match (though this could be because of the lack of defence).  Pilgrims’ boys showed a lot of heart at times. IB

Colts A IX vs Cheam
Won 30 – 15 (Archie W 2, Farid A 2, Theo W, Elliot N)
Cheam are a strong sporting school and almost always put out a decent team, able to compete with the best. Sadly, for Cheam, their Colts A team were missing two of the better players for the match against Pilgrims’. Cheam did start off by putting up a fight. They scored first, with an easy run through several weak tackles by Pilgrims’. I was worried! But then Theo W answered with a determined and powerful run all the way through Cheam to score under the posts. The first half was an even battle from then on, with both sides rather weak in the tackle, allowing for several run-throughs. It was one of those days. However, ten minutes in an injury stopped the match for sufficient time to necessitate the restart to begin with the second half. Another five minutes in and two more Cheam players were injured. Cheam only had six to field and were clearly very demoralised. By this point, they were 30 – 15 down and the referee called it a day. It was rather a disappointing outcome. Christian Barda had an excellent game and was the coach’s man of the match. Lucas Jia was awarded captain’s man of the match. PB 

Colts Touch IX vs Cheam
Lost 18- 13
The Colts started this game brightly despite facing what looked like a very strong team.  Cheam passed the ball well, but it was the speed of the Pilgrims’ players which caught the eye early on. It was, in fact, Pilgrims’ who looked the stronger in the early exchanges. As the game progressed, and Pilgrims’ began to show fatigue, Cheam began to take control. Pilgrims’ did keep themselves in the game throughout, but unfortunately came up just short. A very entertaining game. Well done. JB

Foals A VIII vs Cheam
Lost 45-0
Pilgrims’ Foals welcomed Cheam with three targets to work on throughout their match: target number 1 was to have the confidence when running with the ball in hand to aim for the gaps and to go down and present the ball when going into contact. Target number 2 was to come up as a line when working in defence, not giving any holes for the opposition players to run through. Target number 3 was to communicate with each other, make sure that they were calling for the ball as attackers worked their way with the ball down the line. Despite the heavy scoreline, I felt that Pilgrims' played well and worked their way well towards all three targets. Some excellent running with the ball in hand, particularly from Rio and Charlie, meant that we almost got over the line on several occasions. It was great to see the likes of Nicholas B and Teddy looking very threatening in defence, and it was good to see several defenders being proactive in the tackle and moving forwards to put pressure on the opponent. This was certainly the most complete performance I have seen from this set of boys so far this season, and the players should be proud of their commitment and the progress they are making. MTG

Foals B VIII vs Cheam

A disappointing mis-match between the two sides forced us to mix the teams to level the playing field a bit better. A good display of sportsmanship and camaraderie between us and the opposition created a well-played and easily- reffed game. CAL

Foals Touch VIII vs Cheam
Won 3
Lost 1
We played a competitive level of touch that definitely stumped the opposing contact teams. Some great runs resulting in tries from Thomas and Anthony were undeniably a deciding factor in our victories. Against Elstree we were forced to play a different form of touch that we haven't been playing through the season to accommodate for the opposition, we conceded more than we had hoped for and by the time we had got the hang of it we were 2 tries short of Elstree. Yet, this didn't affect the boys' confidence in the following games where our usual playing style could be put to use. The shift in attitude and flair from Pilgrims' was evident in the continuity and will to win shown on the pitch. After each of our last three games against Pilgrims B, Farleigh and Cheam the boys were always breathless from exhaustion. There were small tears and a few upsets, but nonetheless, the boys can be proud of their efforts and take what they've learnt on board for the remainder of the season. TWR

IAPS Swimming – Regional Round

Pilgrims’ swimmers performed well at this meet. The Year 8 relay teams won both their relays, with Summer, Yan and Edward (Year 8) together with Sasha (Year 6) and Daniel M (Year 5) winning their events. The Year 6 relay teams came second with second place in individual events from Harrison (Year 7) and Lucas (Year 6). Times are compared with dozens of events taking place across the country, and we will find out whether anyone has progressed to the finals in due course. Well done to all involved. AJS

Andrew Short
Director of Sport