In a fantastic Autumn campaign, John Kyrle High School Year 10 rugby team, captained with skill by Tom Biggs, remained undefeated in the South Herefordshire league, scoring a massive 246 points for, and giving away only 39 points with a tenacious defensive display.
The team's efforts were rewarded with a victory in the inaugural Year 10 Herefordshire County Cup rugby competition over the North Herefordshire league champions, Whitecross school.
With this victory under their belt, the team entered a Herefordshire and Worcestershire competition to be played out at Sixways rugby ground, the home of Worcester rugby club.
Unfortunately, the timing of these finals was not conducive to John Kyrle as there was a gap of nearly four months from the Hereford final to the Bi-county final but the boys entered into the tournament as though there had only been a gap of a few days between games.
The team went through the pool stage recording two wins and two defeats. Due to a superior points difference, they got into the grand final, where they met their first round opponents, Bishops Perowne, to battle for the honour of becoming the first Champions of Hereford and Worcester at their age group.
This was again a hard fought match, with some immense defensive displays from both backs and forwards, and some huge hits from Higton, Brooke and Rutsch to drive the opponents off the ball.
John Kyrle led going into the final minutes, but a hotly disputed try drew Bishops Perowne level. This was followed by a great kick from Bishop's outside half from the five metre line which sealed victory for the opposition.
The John Kyrle boys were bitterly disappointed with the final result, but showed great sportsmanship in watching the presentation ceremony and accepting the second place shield. This was not to be the last trophy won by the team, and it was with great delight that the John Kyrle Year 10 rugby team cheered their own captain Tom Biggs as he was awarded the player of the tournament trophy from the organiser Peter Reed.
John Kyrle pupils and staff are grateful to Peter Reed and his staff for running an outstanding tournament and are looking forward to taking part again next year.