Last week, while the U18 Girls’ Rugby team made history taking part in their first ISAA Rugby Finals, the U18 Boys’ accompanied them to The British School in the Netherlands (BSN), in The Hague for their own ISAA/ISST combined finals.
Having been struck down with injuries in the lead-up to the tournament, the U18 Boys’ travelled to the Netherlands with only nine players for the 7s competition and the BSP being easily the smallest of the ten schools in attendance. However, despite the small squad, each player arrived with determination to improve upon the last three years’ results which have seen the Boys’ team historically finish 3rd (2022), 2nd (2023) and 4th (2024).
Day 1:
The tournament started against old rivals The British School of Brussels (BSB) in the opening game of the two-day competition. Whilst the BSP had several chances to score throughout the game, unforced errors cost the team dearly. The final score was BSP 0-24 BSB. This made all further games in the group, must-wins if progression to the finals was to be a reality.
Game 2 saw the boys face off against the other Belgian team in the competition, The International School of Brussels (ISB). For this game, the BSP came out fighting, seeing the team winning comfortably 33-7. There were some excellent moves from our fly half and centre.
Game 3 pitted TASIS England against a rejuvenated BSP team. The game saw some of the best play of the season and resulted in the highest scoring game of any on Day 1, with the BSP winning 47-7. Our scrum half, winger, and forward were amongst many scorers in this game.
Day 2:
Game 4 was the group stage match and saw the BSP face off against The International School of The Hague (ISH). The ISH had played in several international schools’ Rugby 7s competitions this year and were yet to lose a single match! Despite a valiant effort from the BSP in the first half, the ISH never lost control of the fixture and the final score finished with BSP 12-40 ISH. This result meant that the BSP moved to the 5th/6th place final game of the competition.
The 5th/6th place match was against fellow Parisians, The American School of Paris (ASP). The game seemed fitting, given that the team’s first game of the 2024/25 season was also against the ASP and that the last game would measure the team’s progress. The game started well for the BSP with early tries securing a comfortable lead before half time. The 2nd half saw much of the same, with the BSP winning comfortably 34-5 to finish 5th overall in the ISAA/ISST combined competition.
After the full time whistle, the boys were thanked for their services to sport this season and over the years. Special thanks went out to our Year 13s who played in their last schoolboy match. Without their commitment to the sport, the school’s programme would have not been possible over the last three years. From my personal position as coach and from the entire sports department we would like to thank all these young men for their passion and example as our most senior players.
The team now looks to next year when the ISAA/ISST competition will take place in London. We look forward to welcoming even more young players next September at pre-season training.
