BROMSGROVE School have entered themselves into the record books by becoming only the sixth school to retain the NatWest Schools Cup after a hard-fought victory over Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in the U18s rugby final earlier today.
Two tries from Man of the Match Beck Cutting and a further score over the line by Cooper Bent helped Bromsgrove recover from a 10-3 deficit to an 18-10 win against their determined counterparts.
In a blood and thunder first half it was QE that started the brightest and responded to an early James Taylor drop goal to score two well-worked tries in the first 22 minutes.
However, some poor kicking and a nasty looking injury halted QE’s progress and allowed Bromsgrove to work themselves back into the game.
Bromsgrove ramped up the pressure and it eventually told when QE failed to cope with a multi-phase attack and Beck Cuttings muscled his way over the line with seven minutes left in the first half.
This was exactly what they needed and after an excellent offload by the impressive Henry Walker, Bromsgrove managed to work the ball all the way to the opposite corner where Cooper Bent managed to score the try.
Going into the break at half-time with the lead gave Bromsgrove all the momentum they needed as they continued to frustrate a QE team who were starting to make more and more mistakes.
The decisive try was scored after QE failed to react quick enough after conceding a penalty and some clever work by Beck Cutting saw him score relatively easily.
That was the end of the scoring as Bromsgrove hung on resolutely and after a QE fumble were able to kick to touch to complete the famous victory.
Almost 1,000 fans from the school, including pupils, staff, Old Bromsgrovians and parents travelled to Twickenham to show their support for the side.
A school spokesperson said: “We look forward to welcoming the team back tomorrow.”
Match Report by Tom Coulson.
