Rampant Whitgift set up revenge match

WHITGIFT School set up a Daily Mail U18 Cup rematch with St Benedict's School after beating Chislehurst & Sidcup 58-0 in the sixth round on Tuesday.

The south Croydon school will visit their conquerors from last year's competition on Saturday January 30 but go into the game in good heart after dismantling Chislehurst & Sidcup on Blackheath RFC's all-weather pitch.

The flat surface at Kidbrooke allowed Whitgift's backs to demonstrate their ball-handling skills to the maximum and it came as little surprise to find them 43-0 up four minutes into the second half.

They looked to have drawn first blood in the fourth minute but play was called back for an infringement. A long delay ensued, due to an injury to a Chislehurst player but, when the game restarted from a scrum, the ball was fed back for Lawrence Okoye to run through for a try.

England schoolboy international Elliot Daly converted with ease and the centre added to the points tally with the first of two penalties that Whitgift successfully kicked.

Their second try owed everything to some superb handling with Marland Yarde exchanging passes with Daly to put James Canty clear to score.

Although Daly missed a difficult penalty from near halfway, two tries in as many minutes in the final moments of the first period underlined Whtgift's superiority.

Yarde was involved on both occasions, linking well with Canty to allow Chris Crane to score before getting on the scoresheet himself with a try in the corner.

Chislehurst's demoralised defence was breached twice more in the opening four minutes of the second half as Whitgift continued to press home their superiority.

Okoye waltzed through some half-hearted tackles for his second try of the game before the best passing move of the match resulted in Canty touching down near the posts.

With half an eye on the next round, Whitgift rang the changes resting key players and giving squad members the chance to shine.

It inevitably disrupted the flow of the game but although Chislehurst did enjoy a brief period of pressure, they were kept at bay by some resolute defence and it was Whitgift who ended the game on the offensive.

A break down the right flank culminated in Yarde scoring his second try of the afternoon and Will Smith then stormed through from a scrum for Whitgift's eighth try, six of which were converted.

Head coach Chris Wilkins said: "The attitude of our players was very good after the break. We trained hard over Christmas, but there's only so much you can do so it was good to get a game in.

"We need to do better at the breakdown, but there was some good handling out there and there's plenty to work with going into the next round."