Every young rugby player’s dream is to run out at Twickenham, the home of English Rugby and recently two teams from state secondary schools did just that, playing a curtain raiser before England V Argentina, the first of the Autumn national series.
England Rugby wants to take rugby to more state schools and is partnering with multi academy trusts. Schools from two of them, King’s Oak Academy in Bristol from the Cabot Learning Federation, and Sedgehill Academy from United Learning, played before the test match.
Although competitive, no scores were kept from the games. This was just a chance for the two teams to play on the pitch, then watch the main event after.
Jude, a Year 7 student, said, “It was really amazing to play on a really nice pitch and a once in a lifetime experience to play in a stadium of that size, with the crowd cheering us on.”
Alex Heath, Head of Year 11/PE teacher, added, “The day was a great experience, both students and staff loved being able to play and watch in an environment that our students would never normally get to experience.”