Walsh to live Twickenham dream
His players put him through the wringer for an hour but eventually Paul Walsh was rewarded with a trip to Twickenham by John Cleveland College at Castlecroft after a tense Under 15 Cup semi-final.
Walsh, a coach for 25 years, suffered a terrible sense of deja vu as he paced behind one set of posts watching Dean Richards' old school struggle to impose lasting superiority on a tigerish St Peter's, Gloucester, side.
Seven years to the day, he had seen his team take a 5-0 halftime lead against Whitgift in a semi-final, only to lose 9-5.
The big occasion again seemed to have got the better of his players on Saturday. They took the lead after 17 minutes with a well-worked move which was finished off by hooker Aled
Roberts. It was to prove a rare glimpse of their attacking potential but they held out to win 5-0.
'It would have been a travesty had we lost,' said Walsh, 'but we can play much better than that. But I can retire a happy man now after taking a team to Twickenham.'
They will have to conquer their nerves on April 3 against a Sherborne side, who, in contrast, played with a real sense of style to come from behind and inflict a first defeat of the season - 17-12 - on Northampton School for Boys.
The quality factor in this semifinal went up several notches and after Sherborne began to match NSB's fire up front, they rucked the ball superbly, showed quick, safe hands and finished clinically with winger Henry Bond going over for two tries, although Northampton's No 8 Luke Reeves set up an exciting last five minutes with his second try which levelled the scores at 12-12.
Lawrence Sheriff from Rugby and St Benedict's, Whitehaven, battled through driving rain and wind to earn their places in the Under 15 Vase Final with victories over Whitecross and London Oratory respectively.
