On Saturday, after a hard-fought victory over Reading Blue Coat School, the School's 1st XV marched into the final of the National Vase competition at Twickenham, where they will face Mount St Mary's College. The team's run to the final mirrors that of the 2019/20 1st XV - although sadly the final that year had to be cancelled when the country first locked down in March 2020.  

Unlike 2020 when the semi-final was played at SVS, this time the team made the long journey to the Sixways Stadium in Worcester where they faced a Reading Blue Coat side that had stormed through the previous rounds of the competition playing fluid, attacking Rugby. The SVS 1st XV knew they were in for a testing afternoon and both sides took a while to settle into the match. In the early stages, SVS played their way into the game and quickly scored a well-worked try, however Reading Blue Coat pushed the SVS defence back, scoring three points from a penalty kick. With nerves settled, the SVS team went from strength to strength, scoring again to make it 15-3 at halftime. In the second half, SVS scored another two tries before conceding a late consolation effort, which saw the game finish 29-8.

Earlier that afternoon, SVS had already learned their potential opposition in the final, when Mount St Mary's College defeated Ipswich School 50-12. That sets up a mouth-watering final at Twickenham next Wednesday (16th March). The match is due to start at 2pm, with everyone in the School community invited to attend. Plans for the day are currently being drawn up, but we hope to host an SVS Foundation reception at the stadium before the match (12 to 2pm). Further details will be emailed in due course, but please save the date. We look forward to seeing you then.