A two-day festival of rugby, featuring the top state school teams from across England, is being staged at John Fisher School’s playing fields at Plough Lane this weekend.
State of play: John Fisher School have performed with the best for years
The event has been “years in the making”, according to Tom Street, the director of rugby at the boys’ secondary school on Peaks Hill.
John Fisher has had a team play in the final of the national schools’ cup (albeit more than 20 years ago) and is the only comprehensive school to have an annual fixture against Eton College.
This weekend’s festival is all about, “Showcasing state school rugby and providing opportunities for all pupils,” according to Street.
Schools senior rugby tends to be dominated by boys’ private schools, who enjoy far greater coaching and recruitment resources – money – than state schools have for sport.
Street’s John Fisher probably understand that more than most, with local rivalries against Whitgift, Trinity and Dulwich College, fee-paying schools who have all won the under-18s national cup final at Twickenham in the last decade, often including star junior players recruited to their schools when they were 15.
Fisher have nonetheless still managed to nurture a steady stream of talented players, some of whom have gone on to play professionally and at international level, including Paul Sackey, Kieran Treadwell, Kyle Traynor, George Skivington and Alex Dombrandt.
The senior, under-18 sides from 12 schools are taking part in the two-day festival this weekend: Lancaster Royal Grammar; Old Swinford Hospital School; Whitchurch High; Ivybridge Community College; Wimbledon College; Skinners; Judd; Ravens Wood; Langley Park; Campion; Northampton; and John Fisher.
Fisher catch: England No8 Alex Dombrandt is among several top players produced by the Peaks Hill school
The tournament, to be played across two pitches, is being shown with live commentary on YouTube through the Next Gen channel.
Public entry is free of charge on both Saturday and Sunday, October 19 and 20 (though visitors are advised to travel using public transport, as parking spaces nearby are limited).
“Come along to Plough Lane playing fields to watch some of the top state school rugby programmes compete,” Street says.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
- For more information, visit www.say-youth.org
FREE ADS: Paid-up subscribers to Inside Croydon qualify for a free ad for their business, residents’ association or community group, just one of the benefits of being part of our online community. For more information about being an iC subscriber, click here for our Patreon page
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our near 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, which is featured on Google News Showcase and followed by 16,000 on Twitter/X, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
