As the England rugby team warms up for its next World Cup fixture, pupils from a Derbyshire school have tackled their own international competition.
Mount St Mary’s College welcomed a talented team from South America for the triangular tournament played in the school grounds.
Chilean side St John Conception, currently on a tour of England and Ireland, were joined by Read School, from Drax, for the sporting contest.
Overall winners Mount St Mary’s recorded a 50 – 0 victory over Read School before beating St John Conception 21 – 0.
The touring team left with a victory – beating Read School 32 – 0 in what was a well contested fixture.
The end of the three-day tour was marked with speeches and presentations by Mount St Mary’s College’s Head of Games, David Griffiths, and 1st XV captain Shane Hill, who presented St John Conception players with school ties and the Mount school plaque.
David Griffiths, Head of Physical Education and Games at Mount St Mary’s College, a day and boarding school, said: “The event was a tremendous success. It was great to welcome St John Conception for the competition at a time when there is a real buzz about the sport because of the World Cup.
“It was a great experience for our pupils, not only in terms of testing their sporting abilities against teams from other countries, but our rugby boys made some strong friendships, which I am sure, will last for years to come.”
Mount St Mary’s has long been renowned for excellence in rugby with 23 schoolboy internationals since 1990, including two England 18 group captains. Throughout the last twenty years the College has achieved many successes in the sport including winning the Daily Mail Cup finals in 1994.
The school’s facilities played host to a Sheffield Eagles fixture earlier this year and a number of teachers have coached and played professionally at Premiership and National One level at both rugby union and rugby league.
