Millfield eye history with assault on the Daily Mail RBS U18 Cup

By Rob Wildman

PUBLISHED: 11:22 EST, 20 September 2012 | UPDATED: 11:22 EST, 20 September 2012

Millfield, the famous sporting school which helped Chris Robshaw to the England captaincy, is chasing a title it has never won.

A new policy at the Somerset-based school, which helped rear nine members of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams, has prompted an entry into the under-18 section of the Daily Mail RBS Schools Cup for the first time.

Millfield, who won the under-15 tournament in 2009, have always preferred to concentrate at under-18 level on the sevens circuit, dominating the prestigious Rosslyn Park event.

However, former England prop John Mallett, the school’s director of rugby, explained that it had been decided to look for more competitive rugby in the 15-a-side game.

He said: ‘We have prioritised the sevens circuit in the past, but we will have a big number of 70-80 lads playing rugby in the under-18 age group this season and we want to give more players opportunities to play competitive rugby.

‘For us, it may not be about our top 15 players, but giving more boys good rugby. We already play a lot of schools who are involved in the Daily Mail Cup so it will be interesting to see how we go in a competition proper.’

Millfield have enjoyed a ‘golden 2012’ which has seen one ex-pupil in Robshaw become England captain followed by gold medals at London 2012 for Peter Wilson, in the double trap shooting, and rower Helen Glover.

Mallett hopes the success of the school’s under-15 teams in the Daily Mail RBS tournament over the years will rub off on his under-18s this season.

The group who won the event in 2009 – beating The Judd School 34-11 in the final – are now making their way in senior rugby led by England under-18 players in James Bloxham at Bath and Leicester’s Tom Bellak.

Mallett added: ‘Those boys loved that experience of getting to Twickenham. They are very competitive and wanted to win it. So the under-18 event is a good new opportunity for our guys. It will be interesting to see how we go.’

Millfield have a first-round bye and play the winners of Sexey’s School (Bruton) or The Blue School (Wells) in the second round.

For the first time since 2004, the finals this season will be played on a Saturday – March 23. Thus ‘Super Saturday’ will be a suitable finale for a tournament which has attracted a combined total of 1,012 teams in the two age groups.