YEAR 10 rugby players at St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, have been enjoying a run of victories recently.

After a 14-point victory over Malmesbury in the second round of the Natwest National Cup, they were drawn away against Clifton College in Bristol, one of the most prestigious schools in the area.

St Laurence approached the game full of confidence after putting in an excellent display at the Frome RFC schools tournament in the previous week. Teacher Jeremy Hare, who coached the side, was delighted when they played their hearts out to achieve a 12-10 win.

Mr Hare said: "In front of a large crowd an obviously fired up St Laurence came out strongly in the first 15 minutes. Excellent defence from the likes of Ross Alexander and Will Stanton paired with the creativity and explosive running of Murray Dewar and Maksym Oberemok put constant pressure on Clifton College. Captain Jake Nickerson showed his quality by picking the ball up at the back of a ruck and dancing through the Clifton defence to put his side 7-0 to the good.

"This gave Clifton College the kick they needed and they came back strongly at St Laurence, with a strong period of attacking conviction in St Laurence’s 22. However, the Saints stayed strong and managed to get in at half time with their lead still intact.

"The start of the second half was in stark contrast as Clifton came out of the traps quickly and soon scored an unconverted try.

"They then scored again, in the corner leaving St Laurence with a 7-5 lead with 20 minutes still to play. Clifton College now clearly had their tails up and spent the next 10 minutes parked in St Laurence’s half. However, the Saints showed their true character and the introduction of Ross Davis, paired with the determination and tackling of Sasha Roehrdanz and Will Johnson, allowed St Laurence to hold them out until Clifton College again got the ball out wide and scored in the corner, leaving St Laurence 10-7 down with only a few minutes left on the clock.

"It would have been easy at this point for the Saints to lie down and roll over. Instead they came straight back at Clifton, with a renewed attacking flair. In the dying seconds St Laurence were looking for another score to complete a fantastic giant killing. It was definitely a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man as Murray Dewar picked up a loose ball 30 metres out, and jinked his way through the defence to score in the corner to scenes of jubilation.

"St Laurence held out in the final few seconds of the game to complete a Japanese-esque giant killing victory. It was a truly fantastic effort from every single one of the players involved, they gave their all."

St Laurence now have a fourth round tie at home to five-time National Cup winners Colston School, Bristol on November 12.

The team went on to continue their run of wins by beating Sheldon School, Chippenham, 32-12 on Tuesday night in the Wiltshire Schools Cup - a particularly satisfying victory as they lost to Sheldon in the cup final of the same tournament last year.