By Harry McLusky
Wednesday’s wet and windy weather set the perfect playing conditions for Hampton’s 1st VII’s opening fixtures of the 2023/24 season as the side hosted the annual Hampton Founders’ Day Sevens tournament.
The hosts left it late but James Abrahart’s golden try secured silverware for the hosts, with the winger diving over the tryline to clinch a 22-17 win over Epsom College and win the plate competition.
Hampton’s group stage performance was enough to finish in 2nd place, with their only loss coming to Millfield, which ended up being the difference between the two prolific rugby sides. Their 33-0 defeat in their third game was arguably the only low point of what was an overall successful afternoon for the hosts.
The 1st VII set the tone in their opening fixture against The John Fisher School. Toby Smith pounced on an early error to score the first points, before Rory Paterson and Tom Williams both scored on either side of half time to put Hampton in a commanding position. Ben Conaghan stole the show with his run from the half-way line, performing an outrageous dummy, before leaving three defenders in his wake and extending the advantage. James Abrahart managed to keep his balance in the final moments, sneaking in one more try before the full-time whistle, securing an encouraging 33-5 victory to kick off their campaign.
The home side’s momentum was carried forward into their second game against Hurstpierpoint, with Hampton running away with the game in the end, despite a close-contested opening few minutes. Tom Williams broke the deadlock, slicing through the opposition defence to open the scoring. Captain and England U18, Finlay Wiseman demonstrated his ability, brilliantly utilising his strength to offload to Joe Cornell who was able to finish off a simple try. Cornell, Abrahart and Harry Armstrong linked up beautifully to provide two more tries before the final whistle, with the latter grabbing both tries after quick interplay between the other two.
The loss against Millfield set up a crucial final group stage match against local rivals, St John’s, Leatherhead. St John’s had managed to edge past Millfield with a 12-10 scoreline, demonstrating their threat as a strong, physical side, who would be tough to beat in what was a must-win game should Hampton wish to advance to the plate final.
St John’s drew first blood, showing particular attacking threat down their right flank. Joe Cornell immediately equalised, bursting through their defence and levelling things up heading into half time. Harry Armstrong was involved yet again following the break, setting up Tom Williams to score his second try of the tournament. However, two quick tries from the opposition left Hampton in a precarious position: trailing with just five minutes left on the clock. Hampton’s winning points came from an unorthodox source, with St John’s conceding a penalty try after Joe Cornell was tackled from the floor. The late penalty try was just enough to confirm a second place finish, booking the hosts a spot in the plate final against Epsom College.
With silverware on the line, both sides battled it out in a thrilling final match, despite being exhausted following an intense afternoon of rugby. Standard time was not enough to separate the two closely-matched sides, being level 17-17 at full time, taking it to sudden death, in which the first try would win the plate competition.
James Abrahart stepped up as Hampton’s hero, picking up the ball on the left flank from Theo Tyler-Low, and sprinting half the pitch with frightening pace to cross the tryline and ensure that Hampton would achieve their second plate in three years, after last year’s disappointment in the cup final at the hands of Cranleigh School.
Cranleigh retained their title this year, prevailing against Millfield in a 19-12 score line in the cup final.
A brilliant all-round display from Hampton shows real signs of promise going forward in the 2023/24 sevens season. The 1st VII will look ahead to the Middlesex 7s and Surrey 7s tournaments, before the highly-anticipated Rosslyn Park tournament kicks off in March. Hampton will return to face Millfield, as well as notably facing formidable rugby opposition, St Joseph’s College in the group stage.