St Joseph’s College National Schools Rugby Festival has been won by Millfield School for a second consecutive year, the first time the title has been taken by the incumbent champions.
Millfield’s eighth victory in the tournament makes them the most successful side in its near-40-year history.
Sixteen teams took part in this year’s event at St. Joseph’s School, Ipswich, with players looking to follow in the international cap-earning footsteps of previous competitors including Matt Dawson, Mike Tindall, Andy Goode, James Haskell, Tony Diprose, Tom Rees, and Christian Wade.
Millfield alone has previously nurtured such stars as Chris Robshaw, Mako Vunipola, and Jonathan Joseph.
The number one rugby school in the world in NextGenXV’s annual rankings, Millfield arrived for the festival following an unbeaten 2021-2022 season.
You may also like: Had Millfield School competed in this year’s Commonwealth Games as an entity in its own right, its haul of 14 medals would have seen it place 15th in the final standings
After comfortably processing through the group stage, they overcame RGS High Wycombe and Denstone College in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively, before meeting reigning National Schools Cup champions, Trinity College, in the final.
Once again, Millfield’s defence was the key to their triumph. Having conceded only 10 points in all their previous matches in the tournament, they whitewashed Trinity to claim an 8-0 victory.
“It’s an extraordinary achievement from this group of boys,” said Millfield School director of rugby, John Mallett.
“They’ve exceeded our expectations with the level of their performances this weekend, created some special memories, and we’re delighted to be St Joseph’s winners for an eighth time.
“The boys prepared themselves really well and it’s great to see their hard work rewarded with this result.”
Pic credit: NextGenXV
