OEs George Lowe and Chris York and Deputy Headmaster Paul Williams with the victorious Shrewsbury House U10 team

Local schools take the spoils at NSRT finals

Prep school rugby teams from all over the country converged on the Epsom College campus on Sunday for the finals of the 16th National Schools Rugby Tournament (NSRT).

Over 1,000 young players representing 72 teams from schools that had won through to the finals from qualifying competitions in the South East, South West, North and Midlands treated a large crowd of spectators to a feast of free-flowing rugby played in a competitive but wholly sporting spirit.

Old Epsomians George Lowe and Chris York, both full time professional rugby players with Aviva Premiership club Harlequins, were on hand to offer advice, sign autographs and present the trophies to the winners of the U8 (tag), U9, U10, U11 and U13 Cup and Plate competitions.

This year's NSRT attracted entries from as far afield as Wakefield, Chepstow, Worcester, Warwick, Norwich, Bath, Tiverton, Bristol and Stratford upon Avon, but such is the strength of prep school rugby in London and the Home Counties that all the Cup competitions were won by schools local to Epsom College.

In the flagship U13 final, Shrewsbury House School from Surbiton beat Rokeby from Kingston-upon-Thames 17-0, while Donhead from Wimbledon won the U11 Cup, beating Blundell's Prep School from Tiverton, Devon. Shrewsbury House also won the U10 competition, Cranmore from Surrey took the U9 crown and Denmead from Middlesex won the U8 Tag trophy.

Paul Williams, Deputy Headmaster of Epsom College, spent the day watching the matches and talking to parents and supporters. "We are delighted to have played host to the finals of this national competition for the 10th year in succession and especially pleased that two of our alumni, who have made it into the ranks of professional rugby players, were able to share the day with us," he said.

All the results from the tournament will be posted on the NSRT website at http://www.nsrt.org.uk/