Young guns make the most noise

13 April 2012

Under 18s: Oakham dream comes true

Twickenham twice in 24 hours. Sun sparkling down on two glorious spring afternoons. On Saturday England v Wales. On Sunday the finals of the Daily Mail Schools' Rugby challengers.

On the face of it, in terms of tradition, tension, significance and atmosphere, it should have been no contest. Don't you believe it. Defying all accusations that I am licking the boots of the newspaper that pays my salary, the latter beat the former into a cocked hat.

Actually, I'm rather sad about that. For most of the 122 years England have been playing Wales, they were matches that brought the best and sometimes vilest worst out of both countries.

Nationalism was super-charged, passion overrode rationality. The noise was colossal until it came to a critical place-kick and then, by God, you could hear a pin drop.

Wales called up geniuses: Bleddyn, Cliff, Barry, JPR and Gareth. No surnames required. The great choirs of the valleys sang them onwards. Watching England play Wales in the great days could leave you limp as a rag.

On Saturday, I fear, that was conspicuously not the case. Even the Welsh supporters, afflicted by some gloomy pre-sentiment, could not give their team a defiant rendering of Land Of My Fathers.

The match lasted precisely three minutes as Wales launched an initial attack of Taliban ferocity but failed to score.

Then Jonny Wilkinson popped over a none- too-difficult dropped goal for England and that was the end of it. England 50 Wales 10, a record victory margin which was expertly achieved but was no cause for English triumphalism. Wales simply weren't at the races.

It is not for me to attempt to analyse the social and demo-graphic reasons why Welsh rugby has fallen into such steep decline, because I do not know enough about either. But it was a sad day for this wonderful game.

Sunday wasn't. It was full of hope and talent and vigour as six schools fought for glory in the Daily Mail's three finals.

More than 800 teams, involving 18,538 players counting replacements, had been involved for the honour of playing at Twickenham.

The crowd, of course, were

considerably fewer than the 75,000 who had watched England play Wales.

It was probably about 20,000: nervy schoolmasters and coaches, anxious parents, lots of lovely young lady groupies aged around 17 who kept trying to attract the attention of their boyfriends out there on the pitch.

The din was colossal. St Bartholomew's, from New-bury in Berkshire and founded in 1466, even brought their own band which kept on pounding out The Saints Go Marching In and the Dambusters' March.

St Bart's lost 13-15 to Solihull Sixth Form College in the Under 18 Vase Final but mark these words. Hopefully I shall live long enough to see their captain, Thomas Heath, playing for England. He is a wonderful player.

Solihull are an altogether different proposition. As a sixth- form college they accumulate pupils from surrounding schools for further education. Thus they have little time to form a settled team.

'You have no idea,' said their principal, John Korzeniewski, 'what this afternoon has meant to us.

'Their progress in the Daily Mail Cup has held the college together for the past three months.

'They come from all backgrounds. They are terrifically competitive and I can't tell you how grateful we are to the Daily Mail for organising it.'

The competition has been going for 15 years now and we have no intention of dropping it.

One competitor some years ago reached the semi-finals but went no further.

'It gave me a wonderful insight into what life is like at the highest level,' he said.

It was Jonny Wilkinson, who scored 30 of England's 50 points against Wales on Saturday.

Under 18s: Oakham dream comes true

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