Taylorian 2020

80 1st XV Played – 10, Won – 10, Points for – 254, Points against – 146 The school moved to Sandy Lodge in 1933. In that time no 1st XV have ever gone ‘invicti’. Truth be told, however, ‘invicti’ on its own means very little. Teams that focus solely on winning at schoolboy level often lose sight of why we play this glorious sport. Brotherhood, friendship, developing grit, and learning from failure, are values that are far more important. This will be hard to comprehend for seventeen- and eighteen-year-old young men, but trust me, when you think back in many years’ time, when you tell your children and grandchildren about your time at Taylors’, the values above will form your real memories. There have been too many highlights to name them all, but I will mention two that stand out clearly. The first was an away match on a cold frosty morning against Reed’s school, who we had never beaten at 1st XV level before. Confidence seemed low and the warm-up was flat, but then the whistle went. Reed’s didn’t know what had hit them. Your performance that day was one of the best I have seen in my eleven years at Taylors’. The second highlight was when you were 0 - 12 down against St Albans in the final match of the season, Fifteen Rugby had been writing about you all week, and the pressure was sky-high. Nobody panicked. You believed in each other. It might not have been our greatest game, but character and grit got you over the line that day. Fifteen different players scored tries for this team, which shows we had no superstars but a team that was willing to play for each other. You did yourself and the school proud every time you entered the field of play. A huge thank you to the parents for the support, which was outstanding all season and hugely appreciated. I have highlighted no individual players in this report, because for this team individuals have never been important. Thank you for the memories, 1st XV invicti! Mr A J Mills Squad: S. Duce, O. Gilbert (Captain), O. Speller, J. Townsend, A. Shaikh, T. Szostak, A. Florestein, H. Lidstone, D. Byrne, C. Byrne, R. Pandya, T. Wickham, B. Fallowfield, R. Pattni, D. Flanagan, A. Lewis, B. Menekse, L. Kenny, D .Odejinmi, H. Bridgewater, V. Mastin. Sport Sport Rugby