Austin Kiel of Cedar School scored the only try in the U-17 Final of the Inter High School Championship to hand his team a victory over ESHS. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Daniel Singh of ESHS accepts the U-15 Trophy from Ronan Kuscjak. His team beat Cedar "B" 2-1 in Friday's Final. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

The victorious Cedar School U-17's lifted yet another Championship, but the future might not be as successful if not for the work of Sam Solomon and the raising of the Rugby bar across all the schools. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Birthday girl Mary Pringle uses some quick thinking to score against the Seventh Day Adventists in a group match. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

The tournament involved teams from  ESHS, Cedar, The Seventh Day Adventists and St Georges all playing at U-17 and U-14 levels and as Kiel was quick to point out at the conclusion of the U-17 Final, “It’s been getting harder to win the Tournament each year. All the teams now have players training in the U-19 National Team and the competitive nature of the games has definitely improved.

For Cedar's captain, Rory Thornton, the final whistle also represented the end of his final Inter High School Game and brought to an end a very successful stint as captain. “We defended the Trophy we won back in November and have won so many over my time at the school. It’s been fantastic and I’m sure I will be back to help out or maybe as a coach.”

One thing in common from both players who have moved on to represent the National Senior team as well as their age group team is that the work of Coach Sam Solomon has been of real benefit to them and the game as a whole and proves Rugby has a place in the Territory.

To reach the final, Cedar opened the Tournament with a 3-0 victory over ESHS, then beat the Seventh Day Adventists 4-2 and finished the group stages with a 5-1 win against St Georges.

ESHS bounced back from that loss to Cedar with a 1-0 win over St Georges and then overcame the Seventh Day Adventists School by the same score.

The other game in the group saw St Georges and The Seventh Dayers battle to a 1-1 draw.

In the U-15 Division, ESHS were able to go one better than their older school mates and lifted the Championship Trophy with a 2-1 win over Cedar.

Captain Daniel Singh was happy, but subdued after the game. “We could have played a lot better,” he lamented “we didn’t pass the ball well and made too many mistakes, but I’m glad we won.”

The Group play had involved 10 games of excellent Touch Rugby with all the teams showing discipline and respect for the game. They also showed some great team work and with the urging of some vociferous coaches, stuck to their tactics and enjoyed themselves.

The first game saw a clash between two Cedar squads which went the way of the “B” team, 1-0 against the “A’s”. ESHS then cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Seventh Day Adventists before Cedar and St Georges drew 1-1. ESHS beat Cedar “B” 2-0, but then went down 2-1 to St Georges. Cedar “B” scored a 2-0 win over the Seventh Day Adventists and then Cedar “A” compounded their misery with a 4-0 win. Cedar “B beat St Georges 2-0 and then in the groups final games the Seventh Day Adventists drew 1-1 with St Georges and Cedar “A” and ESHS stayed deadlocked at a goal apiece.

St Georges and ESHS both finished on 7 points, but ESHS had scored more Tries and therefore edged through to the final with Cedar “B”, who had scored 9 points in group play.

“It was another good day for rugby,” commented Solomon, “rivalries are developing nicely, the games are becoming more competitive and the levels of skill are going up. All the players are improving their knowledge of the game and are showing it the respect it deserves.”