Rugby
This week saw the Rugby Club prepare to take on
Shiplake. All teams were focussed and ready to go.
The U14s continued their excellent season with another
win, a 33 points to 24 victory. Mr Sutton has been really impressed with
the 3rd Form this term and frequently comments on their
teamwork. This, combined with their results from the weekend, make them
the squad of the week.
The U14B team were unlucky to lose but the combined
U14/U15C team levelled their three match mini-series against Shiplake with a 14
points to 22 victory.
The U15Bs recorded a huge 54-0 victory. The team
have benefited from the efforts of their new coaching team and our visiting
London Irish coaches.
At U16 level we were only able to put out one team due to
an unprecedented number of injuries plaguing the year group. However, the
team which travelled to Shiplake did amazingly well and, despite being a
scratch team who have hardly trained together, losing by just 2 points was an
excellent result.
The 2nd XV and 3rd XV had a tough
afternoon, both losing, but the 1st XV match was the game of the
day.
On Bowden, with around 300 spectators, the game was an
intense, physical but good-spirited affair. Pangbourne didn’t start well
and Shiplake ran in several tries, crossing the line in quick succession and
building up a decent lead. However, the 1st XV kept their
heads up and struck back with perhaps the try of the season. With the
ball behind their own try line, a well worked move saw James Townsend find a
gap in the opposition defence. A 50m sprint then saw James offload to
Alex Bancroft who, after an unbelievable dummy, beat the last defenders to go
in under the posts. We were back in the game. The second half was a
tense affair with both teams breaking through the defensive line but Pangbourne
couldn’t make up the points difference, Zac Baxter-Hill getting agonisingly
close to the try line. The game finished with a 30 points to 32
loss. There were many positives to take from the game and staff, parents
and supporters have all commented on how the team is developing and show true
Pangbourne values each week.
Rowing
At Reading Small Boats Head on Saturday, four senior girls –
Tegan Foister, Katie and Nina Giambrone, and Alexandra Dunn - started the new
season with a good win in Intermediate 3 quads. Buoyed by overtaking both
Reading Rowing Club and Reading University in the early stages, they found a
good rhythm and pulled right away from City of Oxford to put a minute between
themselves and Oxford in second place. Later in the day, Katie and Nina
had a fine tussle in Junior 18 single sculls with just a second and a half
separating them at the finish, Nina just taking the honours but missing out on
an event win by an even smaller margin of 1.3 seconds, with Katie in 3rd
place.
For the boys, Callum Temple sculled a very controlled race
in Junior 17 sculls, his first race in a single since capsizing on the start
when in Form 3 and showing how much he has improved since those early days.
Felix Wahlberg had a very good scull too, overtaking five in his category
to finish a highly creditable third in a large field in Junior 15 sculls.
Jack Wood was also placed third in a single then teamed up with Hector
Butcher to win Novice Double Sculls ahead of Eton in 2nd place.
Luke Towers and Felix Lammers, having been the fastest non Tideway crew
in last week’s prestigious Pairs’ Head, in which over 500 pairs and
double sculls competed, took on some of Eton’s top pairs amongst others in
Junior 18 pairs. They raced hard, forced their way past nearly all their
opponents, and won by 22 seconds. They were also 13 seconds ahead of
Eton’s top pair which raced in Intermediate 2 pairs. Later in the day they put
a minute on St Edward’s top pair in winning Intermediate 1 pairs.
So, four wins in total and several near-misses is a most
encouraging start but with all aware that there is no room for any complacency.
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