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Schools rugby at its best is always helter-skelter, as demonstrated yet again by the early matches in the 2024 SOCS Daily Mail Trophy.
Some 160 teams are competing in this national competition, which is played over the autumn term on a merit-table basis.
The clash between Epsom College and Radley is typical of the attacking rugby that the competition produces.
Epsom needed a superbly-taken try by wing Ben Temperley to help fend off Radley 20-17 to build upon their opening 48-15 victory over St Paul’s.
‘It was one heck of a match,’ reflected Paul Burke, the former Ireland fly half who is Epsom director of rugby.
Temperley scored two tries, with scrum-half Arthur Garfield getting another.
‘We’ve a strong group this year and we led 10-5 at half-time but we still found ourselves trailing 17–10 with 15 minutes to go.
‘However, Ben took his try superbly and a conversion and penalty from captain Ollie Waugh nudged us ahead.
To finish we then needed some heroic defence to hold out an impressive Radley side.’
Burke, whose playing career included stints at London Irish, Harlequins and Munster, is hopeful of a strong campaign after a similar quick start last season put them among the contenders.
King’s School Worcester have also burst out of the blocks to grab a share of the early leadership following wins over Solihull and Bloxham.
Like Epsom against Radley, King’s were pressed hard on Saturday as Bloxham staged a come back, before prevailing 27-22.
King’s enjoyed a strong start to the second half which produced 17 unanswered points after the teams had turned round at 10-10.
As part of their campaign, the Worcester team are also raising funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) and have an impressive new kit to help promote the charity.
Jonny Mason, King’s director of sport, praised his team’s pack for the way they managed the ball in creating opportunities.
Wellington and Whitgift produced a fitting contest in their annual memorial match to remember former pupil Seb Adeniran-Olule, the England age group player who died in a traffic accident in 2016.
Whitgift fought back from a 21-0 half-time deficit to lead 26-21 going into the final minutes, only for a late Wellington try to bring about a 26-26 draw.
Louis Johnson scored twice in Whitgift’s second-half comeback alongside one each for Dan Cooper and George Grisdale.
A high-profile match takes place this afternoon when former champions Sedbergh host Clifton, who have already beaten last year’s winners Harrow this month.
Sedbergh warmed up for the crunch contest by toppling Denstone. Captain Will Bennett and scrum-half Ferg Mainey led the way in a team effort.
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