Framlingham College celebrates 100 years of rugby with crushing victory
An independent school has celebrated 100 years of rugby, with a special centenary match to mark the milestone.
Rugby replaced football at Framlingham College in 1924 when the then headmaster, Francis Stocks, declared that he was “absolutely unrepentant” in making his students switch to a sport that he considered “would be most useful to them in the future”.
This year’s match, which took place on September 22, replicated the college’s first fixture, when Ipswich Rugby Club beat Framlingham 22-8 on October 11, 1924.
Will Cotterill, who joined the college as its new head of rugby at the start of term, said: “It’s a great commitment for the college to have kept rugby on the sporting programme for 100 years, and for the pupils to continue to get involved and contribute to the sport across the decades.
“It’s a great game. It’s faced some pressures recently around the contact element, but we need to work through that and make it a safe game for everyone to enjoy.
“This is our focus at the college at the moment. Our aim is to ensure that pupils are coached well and supported medically so that they can enjoy rugby safely and benefit from it as a team sport.”
Taking place on the college’s Lords rugby pitch, The home side came out 69-0 winners over Ipswich Rugby, watched by current pupils, staff, alumni and supporters.
After the win, Mr Cotterill praised the team’s hard work and determination, adding: “The players were really excited, so they did a good job to maintain their composure and come out in front of a big crowd, which can sometimes give you the jitters.
“We dropped a couple of balls really early on, but, once we got through those initial nerves, I thought they played some really great rugby.”