It has been an exhilarating week of sporting triumphs for our boys who have showcased dedication, resilience, and teamwork in abundance. From the playing fields to the river and from the hockey pitch to the badminton courts, their achievements have been nothing short of remarkable.
Rugby
Bedford School boys are leading the way on the rugby field at an international level with two Upper Sixth Formers named in the England squad for the upcoming U18 Six Nations Festival at Parma’s Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Italy.
Jonny Weimann and Aiden Ainsworth-Cave have been selected in a 26-man squad by England U18 Men’s head coach Jonathan Pendlebury.
Upper Sixth Former Freddie Drake-Lee, another one to watch, was included in the U18 Scottish rugby camp at the beginning of the month.
Rugby Sevens
This week saw the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens tournament take place – now the world’s largest rugby tournament with over 14,000 boys and girls taking part. Following a superb showing at the prestigious QE Barnet tournament last week, the U14 team won all of their matches on day one to reach the last 32. Unfortunately, they then lost out to very strong outfits from Wales and Harrow. However, they can be really pleased with a promising first season on the circuit.
The U16 boys started the event with confidence, having won the Perse School tournament the previous Friday. The subsequently won all four games on day one to reach the last 32. On day two, they qualified for the last eight in the cup competition, where they beat Clifton College to secure a place in the semi-final. While they did not go any further, narrowly losing to a physical Trinity side, to finish in the top four teams, out of the 200 teams who entered, was a superb achievement.
The U18s came second in their group on day one, and gallantly fought in the plate competition on day two. To finish in the top 24 schools in the country is a testament to the quality of the rugby sevens programme and the boys’ hard work and determination.
Hockey
Our U16 Hockey boys stole the limelight this week beating a strong Eltham College side in the semi-finals of the England Schools Championships to secure a well-earned place in the plate finals.
Three of the boys in the team are playing up an age group and it was Remove Former George Knight who scored two penalty corners to win the match.
The team showed real potential and have played with grit and determination throughout the competition. They are hugely excited to play in the finals, which will take place in the Olympic Park on Tuesday 23 April.
Rowing – Schools’ Head of the River
Wednesday 20 March saw the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Colts A crews race at the Schools Head of the River. 
The race proved to be as fast as predicted with St Pauls winning overall taking 12 seconds off the course record. However, the Bedford School 1st VIII produced a strong performance, overtaking Shrewsbury School and holding off Hampton by 0.7 seconds to finish 8th. They were just 1 second away from Latymer in 7th and equaled the schools’ highest ever finishing position. Their time of 16 minutes 46 seconds took 29 seconds off the school record for the course set by the 2018 crew. They finished just 22 seconds behind St Pauls, the closest a Bedford School crew has ever finished behind the winners of the Schools’ Head.
The 2nd VIII finished 5th in 2nd VIIIs, just 0.7 seconds behind Hampton’s 2nd VIII. They finished 19th overall, the highest overall position by any Bedford School 2nd VIII. Their time of 17 minutes 12 seconds also beat the time set by the 2018 1st VIII, and therefore, they are now the second quickest Bedford School crew over the Schools’ Head course.
The 3rd VIII also produced a strong performance to finish 3rd in 3rd VIIIs.The Colts A gave a creditable performance, but, ultimately, will be a little disappointed to finish in 15th place in the J16 8s – they are a much stronger crew than these results suggest. The J15 As finished 11th in J15 8s and the J15 Bs finished 8th in the J15 2nd 8s. Solid performances from both crews given the disruptions due to the flooding and storms.
Badminton Regional Finals
Both the U14 and U16 teams enjoyed a very competitive day of badminton at the regional finals in Cambridge this week. Playing against the best schools in Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire was always going to be a challenge but the reward would be being crowned East Champions and gaining a place in the National Finals.
The U14 team of Josh Tsang, Rishit Kumar, Harry Hodgson and Miles Trueman did well to secure second place with an incredibly hard-fought game against Watford Boys Grammar, pf losing three games to two to miss out by the narrowest of margins. An even more impressive result as two of the team, Joshua Tsang (Y8) and Rishit Kumar (Y7) both played up an age group.
The U16 Team Jacob Yau, Marcus Wai, Yash Stachowiak and Leo Mathew went one better and won all their matches, including a fantastic battle with Parmiters School from Hertfordshire, which they won 3-2 to gain a place at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes on Sunday 21 April.