THE Oratory School enjoyed their annual short tour to Dublin recently, overcoming a strong St Gerard’s Bray side 18-15.

The game was played under floodlights on a very cold night with a strong wind coming in from the Irish Sea.

It was The Oratory’s third game in six days and came following a midweek win against Pangbourne which had left them with four injured players.

In a game which ebbed and flowed throughout, the two played exciting, expansive rugby, which produced tries from Iwan MacRae and Josh Bisdee for the visitors which put them in a strong position.

However, further injuries left The Oratory having to go to uncontested scrums, and with St Gerard’s hitting back strongly, it was the Irishmen who led 15-13 with five minutes remaining.

Yet there was to be a final twist in the tale as visiting captain George Probyn surged up field, and following some deft handling, Charlie Williams scored in the corner for his 10th try of the season.

St Gerard’s continued to battle away, but after a couple of failed attempts, The Oratory (pictured above) managed to clear the ball to touch to record a dramatic victory.

The Woodcote school’s trip was rounded off with a visit to the Aviva Stadium to watch Ireland lose to New Zealand.

  • READING Blue Coat School battled bravely before ultimately losing 33-22 to a very powerful St George’s, Weybridge, team.

The opposition dominated the first half but an opportunistic try from Matt Herbert and a superb one scored by James Rogers after a well-executed backs move ensured the visitors trailed 26-10 at the break.

Blue Coat showed tremendous character in the second half and fought to the very end. Paddy Spiers scored out wide after a great cross-kick from Sam Lawton-Davies and James McGonigle was in possession at the award of a penalty try after some great driving play by Ed Wisener and Jamie Henson. Will Dexter kicked the conversion but it was too little too late.

Men-of-the-match for the hosts were Rogers and Henson, who both enjoyed superb games.