Sidmouth College’s Under-13 and Under-15 rugby squads took part in a Rugby Sevens Tournament at Blundell’s school, Tiverton, last Thursday.

The Under-13s began the day in a competition that involved four pools of four teams.

Sidmouth first drew with Cullompton then beat Crediton before going down to the hosts to finish third in the pool.

Next up the Under-13 defeated King’s before being edged out by St Peter’s.

All involved clearly enjoyed the experience, for some it was their first taste of rugby sevens.

Squad: Cian Warren, James Emmett, Jed Reid, Ethan Welsh, Jake Welsh, Josh Allen, Tom Moore, Toby Garrick, Louis Adey, Matt Salter and Archie Snowling.

In the afternoon the Under-15s took centre stage. Sidmouth were placed in the larger pool of seven teams.

They demonstrated great maturity by managing their own substitutions, distributing match time sensibly and making good use of fresh players. Their play was characterised by strong defensive work, maintaining a good flat line which pressured the opposition, denying them time and space to attack.

Sidmouth maintained possession well, moving the ball comfortably through the hands until opportunities arose to penetrate the opposition’s defence. They won all six pool games, seeing off Uffculme, Exmouth, Crediton, Kings, Okehampton and St Peters, to progress to the semi-final stage where they met Colyton, who had finished as runners-up of pool two.

Sidmouth won this game 42 and so now venture forward to the County Finals which take place on March 19.

Squad: Harvey Sargent, Finn Marks, Connor Murphy, Jamie Newbery, Taiyla Young, Jake Allen, Ed Bolton, Jacob Cornish, Mark Pearse and Will Down.