Head of rugby full of praise after emphatic victory in quarter-final

The King's School's head of rugby Aidan Barr was full of praise for his team after an emphatic victory over Worth School in the Continental Tyres Cup.

Tries from scrum-half Monty Jones, No.8 George Green and fly-half Charlie Stallard saw the King's School cruise to a 30-8 victory in the U18s National Vase, built off the back of a complete performance in all phases of play.

And after watching his side secure their place in the next round of the competition in style, Barr lavished praise on the team for executing their gameplan to perfection.

“Worth are an unbeaten side and an unbeaten side is always a dangerous side but our lads knew that if we got our details right in our attack and defence and stuck to our fundamentals, we’d cause anyone problems,” he said.

“We started the game extremely well. We put them under a lot of pressure with the ball and we made good decisions when we had the ball. The bounce of the ball went our way at times but I think they were a little taken back by the amount of pressure they were under and we executed the gameplan really well.”

The Continental Tyres Cup is foundational to age-grade rugby in England, enabling students from across the country to compete against one another and represent the best the game has to offer at schoolboy level.

A spring-time trip to Weybridge to take on St George's College is the reward for the King's School's win in Worth and Barr is relishing another opportunity for his side to showcase their abilities on the field.

Barr added: “To beat a side like Worth is a massive achievement but without sounding arrogant, we’re extremely confident in the side that we’ve got.

“We’ve worked really hard to build a rugby program where we’ve got the right people in the right areas to give the kids information that they need to succeed.

“We’re very fortunate that we have a really good coaching setup consisting of Jonathan Thomas, a former Wales international, Ed King and Chris Lane.

“We want people to be aware of what a strong rugby school we are. Gloucester’s a hotbed for rugby and we just want to keep getting our name out there so we’re well-known for all the right reasons.

“We’ve not been this far in the tournament before so it’s just another opportunity for these guys to play.

“Come the 1st of March, we’ll be ready to go again.”

The Continental Tyres Schools Cup is an important part of the age-grade rugby landscape in England, with schools’ rugby often where players fall in love with the game for the first time. For more information visit the Continental Tyres Schools Cup section of the England Rugby Website