Most of the 10 schools who take part in the Big Yellow rugby program have now had eight weeks of rugby coaching and the improvement from the first festival was easy to see. Sadly London Nautical were not able to attend but all of the remaining nine schools were present and they showed an increased understanding of rugby basics, passing, offloading, defence and the offside rule.
The league table highlights the growing strength of the competition with the top six teams all evenly matched on the pitch and all within close proximity of each other in the table.
Last years winners St Michaels are top of the table but only by a solitary point, they were runaway leaders last year but face some very stiff competition this time round. Good reliable training numbers and always competitive on the pitch make them our benchmark.
Sacred Heart are only one point behind them. Their transformation has been remarkable ever since festival 4 last season. They now receive curriculum time coaching from London Irish coach Jacques. They might not have the highest training numbers but so far they are unbeaten on the pitch.
Only 10 points behind the leaders are ARK Allsaints. Another conversion to curriculum rugby with Jacques they have embraced their weekly session with very high numbers. This has yet to transform into dominance on the pitch but it can only be a matter of time.
A small gap to STAC who tend to be slow starters. Always competitive on the pitch especially when the matches turn to contact. Numbers have been growing at training and you wouldn’t bet against them moving up the table after Festival 3.
Haberdashers are just behind STAC in 5th. Good numbers at training and full festival attendance has allowed them to make an encouraging start but tough games against others in the top 4 have meant that success on the pitch has been difficult to come by. Will be interesting to see how they adapt to contact.
Finishing off the top 6 are Bacons College. They unfortunately missed the first festival which is why they are outside of the top 4 places. Their enthusiastic rugby coaching team could yet see them breaking into the top 3 as numbers are impressive at training.
You never quite know what to expect with Newlands. Numbers are never going to be that high at training but they have an almost 100% record of festival attendance and if they could consistently turn up with a full squad who knows what they might achieve. Some impressive performances at festival 2 bode well for the rest of the season.
ARK Walworth showed in festival 2 that they have the players to compete with every other team in the competition. Will the same team be coming to festival 3 and can they make it on time to play more than two matches?
London Nautical find themselves at at the wrong end of the table for once. Good numbers at training however they have yet to appear at a tournament. So many points are gained at festivals. Winning 3 matches and scoring 4 tries a match will accrue 150 points!!!
At the foot of the table are Harris Boys. Always at a disadvantage as they seem to have longer half-terms and more parents evenings than any other school which means they miss out on points for training. However, numbers are building at their after-school club and some real promise shown at festival 2 means they won’t be at the foot for long.
