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Army take 'All Golds Cup'
The British Army were the winners of the inaugural All Golds Cup at the Cheltenham Rugby Festival at the Prince of Wales Stadium in the town on Friday night.
In front of a good-sized and enthusiastic crowd the Army won their first two pool matches before being defeated 14-10 by the Royal Navy.
Both qualified for the semi finals along with the Police Sport UK side that won all its pool matches and a team representing the Farnborough Falcons.
The Army and Navy won through their semi finals to stage a rematch in the final. The Navy took an early lead through Danny Johnson. The Army replied with a try from Max Vave, converted by Rob Smart before Kevin Boyd’s try snatched the lead back for the Navy just before the turnaround.
Smart’s defence-splitting pass sent Sam Cattaki away from distance and Smart’s conversion restored the Army’s advantage before Stewart Butters sealed the 16-8 win with the final try of the competition.
Local hopefuls the University of Gloucestershire, made a slow start going down 30-6 to the Falcons before finding some form to defeat the RAF 20-10. Their final pool game was a disappointing 18-0 loss to the Police.
The winner of the William ‘Massa’ Johnston Medal for player of the tournament went to the Army’s captain Rob Smart who scored eight tries and nine goals in a superb personal display.
Prior to the All Golds Cup, the 1908 Cup took place between eight Gloucestershire Schools.
All the schools had received coaching from Matthew Pritchard over the two weeks before the tournament and again in a warm-up session before the competition began in earnest.
Split into two pools, the schools (Pittville, Christ College, Bournside, St Edwards, Cleeve, Winchcombe, Archway and Tewkesbury) soon produced a number of close games with only two of the 18 matches ending with a winning margin of more than 14 points.
Winchcombe School defeated Tewkesbury in the Final of the 1908 Plate and Archway School from Stroud won the 1908 Cup defeating Pittville 20-16 in a tight game where the advantage swung from one side to another.
Head of PE at Archway, Paul Smith said: “The boys are delighted to have taken part in the competition and especially delighted to have won, of course. We thought it was a really well-organised event and a great day.”
The winner of the Arthur Smith Award for the player of the tournament was Billy Chick of Pittville School, while Pritchard presented a special award for exemplary attitude both in the coaching sessions and the tournament consisting of a St Helens shirt and DVD (courtesy of St Helens RLFC) to Bournside School’s Jack Stanley.
The prizes were presented by Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham, Martin Roddy MBE who kindly donated the 1908 Cup and special guest former Bradford Bulls rugby league player and current Gloucester RFC star Leslie Vainikolo.
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