13 hours Ago
A double from fly-half Tom Campbell and a try each from No.8 Jamie Arch and winger Finn Morton helped the Wiltshire school to a 20-10 victory amid difficult conditions and secured their ticket to the next round. And after watching the 20-strong squad representing Dauntsey's School come of age Olsen expressed his pride in the team's character for finishing the job and withstanding a spirited Blundell fightback.
“It was a cracking game in difficult conditions, quite a wet, heavy pitch. It was a tough physical battle and I was just delighted with them, real character they showed to get through that game,” he said. “We defended well for the first 15 minutes and stopped them from scoring early and then we scored the opening try through Jamie and about ten minutes later, probably our man of the match, Tom Campbell collected a kick-through, chased his own kick and scored in their corner to make it 10-0.
“We went into half-time 10-0 up but we knew it would be a tough second half. “The last ten minutes we were fantastic, we got into the right areas of the field, defended really well and eventually we got the ball and kept it for a number of phases and eventually kicked it off on the final whistle and there were a lot of smiles from the boys and our parents.” The RFU Continental Tyres Cup is foundational to age-grade rugby in England, enabling students from across the country to compete against one another and represent the best the game has to offer at schoolboy level.
And while Dauntsey's School were in the ascendancy for most of the battle at Blundell's, Olsen praised his charges for their character and determination in seeing out a game that could have just as easily gone the other way. He added: “We have a wonderful group of boys but what’s been most impressive to me, is that none of the squad of 20 that went down to Blundell's didn’t join us in sixth form, they’ve all been together all the way through school, most joining us at 11 years old, they’ve been playing together all the way through their school careers. “As a group of boys, they’ve just shown tremendous character, they’re very close as a group of boys and they’re real examples in the school.
"I’ve been lucky enough to be at Dauntsey’s School for 25 years and this group of boys almost deserve some of the success they’ve had because they’ve worked hard in training and on the field and have been great role models for the school.” The Continental Tyres Schools Cup is an important part of the age-grade rugby landscape in England, with schools’ rugby often where players fall in love with the game for the first time. For more information visit the Continental Tyres Schools Cup section of the England Rugby Website.
