U14s Kent Sevens Tournament

On Tuesday 14^th March, 10x Year 9 students were selected to represent the School at the under 14s Kent Sevens Tournament. Throughout the day, the students played against some of the top selective and private schools in the County, finishing as runners up after a full day of intense rugby.

The team left at 7.30am, ensuring they arrived in plenty of time for their first fixture of the day against Ravensbourne. Barton Court conceded the first try, but regrouped well to comfortably win their first game 19-5. The boys then had a two hour break before their next match against St Dunstan’s School. However, this didn’t affect their performance as they came away with an exceptional 31-5 win, scoring 5 tries in total. The next group match pitched Barton Court against Norton Knatchbull School from Ashford, with both teams knowing the winner from this match would probably go on to top the group. After a tight first half, the game was tied at 5-5. Barton Court then displayed an excellent second half defensive effort, keeping out Norton Knatchbull for the full 5 minutes and then scoring a length of the pitch try with the last play of the game to win 12-5. This left Barton Court knowing a win against Hayes School in their final game would see them top the group. The boys started slowly, conceding two quick tries leaving them 12-7 down at half time. A quick team talk resulted in a much improved second half performance, with Barton Court winning the game 31-12 meaning they topped the group.

The semi-final match saw Barton Court play against tournament hosts Dartford Grammar School. Again, a slow start by Barton Court saw them go 7-0 down. A try before half time meant the teams went into the break level at 7-7. Barton Court took control in the second half, with a try of the tournament and Dartford Grammar having a player sent off for dissent and poor sportsmanship. Barton Court scored 4 further tries in the second half to give them a 29-7 win and a place in the final.

The final match of the day was, therefore, the final against Kings Rochester. This was, by far, the biggest challenge for Barton Court, with the half time score showing a 12-5 lead to the opposition after a very close fought encounter. Barton Court were the much more dominant team in the second half, scoring an unconverted try to take the score to 12-10, and continuing to attack against a very well drilled Kings Rochester team. Unfortunately, Barton Court were unable to break down the defence and, with the ball spilled during the final play, Kings Rochester kicked the ball out of play to win the match 12-10.

The 10 students selected performed exceptionally well throughout the day and represented the School extremely well. Despite not winning the final, the team can take lots of positives from this tournament which will prepare them well for future seasons.