This afternoon the first team from Buckingham’s Royal Latin School will be running out at Twickenham, thanks to the coaching from the Saints’ community department.
Euan Walker has been working in the school for the past two years, delivering four hours of coaching each week with the first team, and a further one-and-a-half hours of coaching with Royal Latin’s girls’ rugby team.
This season has seen this work pay off in some style, with Royal Latin coming through the South-West B regional knockouts to the national quarter finals. A 28-14 win over Taunton School for Boys in February was followed by an equally comprehensive 31-12 success against Silcoates School for Boys at Allianz Park in the semi-finals.
The reward for Royal Latin is a clash with Trent College at Twickenham this afternoon (KO 2pm), a game that will be streamed live on EnglandRugby.com.
Royal Latin’s achievement comes 12 months after Northampton School for Boys won the same competition, and Walker says that it has been an enjoyable journey.
“It’s been a good year for us,” he said. “We’ve built a good squad of players who like to play a fast and exciting style of rugby which will hopefully show in the final. Building the link between Royal Latin and the Saints has been beneficial as it has allowed us to identify and work with young talented players in the region.”
Ian Gould, head of sport at Royal Latin, added: “This has been an excellent link that has really improved the access to quality coaching that the pupils can get.
“Saints have been very proactive within the partnership, and the success can be seen by how well both the girls and boys rugby teams have enjoyed.”
To find out more about how the Saints’ community coaches can help your school or club email [email protected]
