Fantastic day of Rugby League at the College and Champion Schools Finals

There was plenty of quality Rugby League on show from some the game’s promising young players in Featherstone this week, when the Millennium Stadium hosted the College and Year 11 inspiresport Champion Schools Finals.  

Champion Schools is the Rugby Football League’s flagship schools competition and is now being run in partnership with inspiresport and on Wednesday (April 26) there were two titles up for grabs: Year 11 Girls and Year 11 Boys. 

The Year 11 Boys final between Spen Valley and Great Sankey was a repeat of last year’s thrilling Grand Final, in which Sankey clinched victory in the final two minutes of the game. This time around the Warrington school produced a dominant display, thanks to tries from the likes of Lachlan Webster, Junior Westwood and Oliver Garmston. Great Sankey were eventually crowned champions after a 36-8 win.

As the early evening approached, so too did the Year 11 Girls Final between reigning champions St John Fisher and The Brooksbank School. Several St John Fisher players turned in eye-catching displays, including kicker Ruby Walker who successfully converted 10 tries as her side cruised to a title-retaining 58-4 victory. 

The Girls College Finals are a new addition to this year’s calendar, and it was Calderdale College and Cronton College facing off in this category, with Carmel College and Newman College representing the Boys. 

Former Wales, St Helens and Salford fullback, Clive Griffiths, was on the touchline for Carmel in his role as Head Coach, as his side took on Newman College who made the mammoth 250-mile journey to Featherstone from Brighton. Carmel got things off to an explosive start and scored their first try in the opening minutes of the game, and their prolific goal scoring continued throughout the match with the St Helens side going on to win the inaugural Boys’ College Final in a 60-4 victory.

A solid display from Cronton Girls in the first half of their game saw the Widnes side lead 0-14 at the break, and although there was a strong fight back from Calderdale after the restart Cronton eventually went on to win the game 34-18 with Beth Armstong named player of the match.

RFL Director of Participation and Development, Marc Lovering, says:

“The College and Year 11 Champion Schools Finals were an absolute triumph this year and I was really impressed with the quality of Rugby League on show.

“The event drew a fantastic crowd, and it was great to see just how much every team enjoyed taking part. Congratulations to everyone who was involved.”

The final of the Year 7 Boys competition will again be played at Wembley on August 12; two months earlier the final of the Year 10 Girls will be played at St James’s Park in Newcastle as part of Super League’s Magic Weekend.