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Marcus Smith would approve of the stylish way Brighton College have started the 2023 SOCS Daily Mail Schools Trophy. Wins over Tonbridge, Hampton and Dulwich have put Brighton in a confident mood for the rest of the campaign.
‘Marcus would be proud of his old school team playing with energy, endeavour and having lots of fun along the way,’ director of rugby Nick Buoy said.
Buoy was among the coaches who set Smith on the way to Harlequins and England when he was a schoolboy star some six years ago.
Brighton’s No 10 this season is Seb McNamara who is in the Cardiff Blues Under 18s squad.
Buoy believes his squad has a good balance in the skills of McNamara supported by a strong pack, led by No 8 James Davies, flanker Archie Kane and prop Alex Barkshire.
The speed comes out wide in wings Seb Arango-Jones and Harry Streak, both scoring in last Saturday’s 47-3 win over Dulwich.
Next up is a trip to Trinity School, Croydon, who were undefeated in last season’s Trophy including a win at Brighton. Trinity have already found this campaign far more testing, losing at home to former Trophy champions Cranleigh, 33-12.
Kirkham have also notched up three wins so far, including a 31-8 triumph over Lancaster RGS last Saturday. They bossed that derby clash after being made to work far harder the previous week to beat St Ambrose 24-20.
Kirkham fell 14-0 behind but dominated the second half. Forwards Jack Austin, Alfie Guthrie and Vinny Duran scored the tries following one by wing Ollie Cook.
Giles Hetherington, head of rugby at King’s Macclesfield, reckoned his team were ‘lucky’ to defeat RGS Lancaster when a late penalty from centre Fred Riordan sealed a 28-26 win.
King’s were inspired by fit-again centre Toby Wilson against QEGS Wakefield, 27-13, but endured a narrow defeat when Northampton School for Boys won 21-17. Hetherington said: ‘It was a match of the highest quality. Perhaps a draw would have been a fair result.’
The Northampton school were resuming winning ways after losing out to improving Ipswich, 52-19. Ipswich followed that win by downing Denstone, 27-0, and will now host former Trophy champions Sedbergh tomorrow for the first time.
Champions Harrow lead the Trophy, which is decided on a merit table basis, courtesy of wins over Clifton, Dulwich and Wellington.
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