School profile: Campion

Campion School, a large comprehensive in Hornchurch, was only opened in 1962 but quickly established a strong reputation for rugby and is now established among schools rugby's top drawer, especially after last year's Twickenham triumph over Durham.

The Essex boys have one of the best pedigrees in the Cup, reaching the final for the first time last year after seven successive quarter or semi-final appearances, a testament in recent seasons to the coaching of Chris Jones. Campion has always seen school rugby as a stepping stone to further involvement in the game whether at club or international level and last year's fly half Michael Whitehead, now at Wasps, was capped at England U19 level recently.

Campion, skippered by fly half Ian Rudgeley, have made it to Twickenham again despite the fact that this year's team contains only six squad members who helped lift the cup. They have had a fantastic season, winning 18 out of 18 matches against other schools and have only been beaten by themselves! In a pipe opener to the season the Old Boys, the majority Twickenham heroes, stole a narrow victory.

Campion's young but mobile pack provides a solid platform for some exciting runners. Winger Tim Dowling is top try scorer with 18 and their kicker, inside centre Paul Roberts, has amassed 150 points. Both were prominent in a crucial part of the cup run when Campion beat both Whitgift and St Peter's, Gloucester in the space of four days to reach the semi-finals. What also caught the eye in those two games was theirtrademark tackling and team spirit, so often vital qualities in big cup games.

They needed both those qualities plus the steely mentality of champions in the semi-final when they broke Manchester Grammar hearts with the decisive try in the last minute. They will take some beating.

ROUTE TO THE FINAL:

2nd rnd Saffron Walden HS (a) won 51-0
3rd rndDavenant Foundation (a) won 37-3
4th rnd Bishops Stortford HS (h) won32-3
5th rnd Wymondham College (h) won 17-14
6th rnd Whitgift (h) drew18-18 (won on try count)
qtr-final: St Peter's, Gloucester (h) won 23-10
semi-final Manchester GS won 20-19.