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A high standard of play in some testing conditions characterised the 42nd annual Queen Elizabeth’s School Rugby Sevens.

With 128 teams booked for the event from 45 schools nationwide, the spring tournament is a highlight of QE’s sporting year.

In the U16 Cup final, Tonbridge School triumphed 19-14 over Whitgift School, of South Croydon, while in the U14 competition, it was Whitgift who won, beating Berkhamsted 25-22. Berkhamsted recorded a convincing 47-0 victory against Langley School, of Norwich, to take the U16 Plate, while Trinity School, Croydon, beat The Judd School, from Kent, to win the U14 Plate.

Organiser James Clarke, PE & Games teacher at QE, said: “There was a very high level of rugby. Conditions were tricky, with muddy pitches, but the rain largely held off throughout most of the day.” He was assisted by a team including former senior Games staff Mark Peplow and Dave Maughan, who returned to QE lend their support.

Richard Scally, also of the PE & Games department said: “Our U16s had an exciting opening match against Gunnersbury from Brentford, although a second-half resurgence was not quite enough to overturn the deficit from the first half. They then had to play the eventual winners, Tonbridge, before putting in a controlled display to beat The King’s School, Gloucester, 12-0, with a brace of tries from Year 10’s Jeff Hagan.

“They displayed commendable intensity, particularly in that final game, which will set them up well for joining the senior XV next season.”

QE’s U14s began with defeat to Wimbledon College and were awarded a 25-0 walk-over win against absent Colfe’s School [from south-east London], before drawing 12-12 with Gunnersbury.

In the next age category down, QE’s U13s headed to Berkhamsted School for its Sevens tournament on the same day. PE & Games teacher Luke Jacobs said: “They performed very well, playing six matches, winning five and losing only one, to a strong side from The Perse School, Cambridge. They beat tough schools along the way, such as Barry School from Wales, Campion from Essex and notably Whitgift, a very prestigious rugby school whose older boys were doing so well at our own Sevens.” Notable performances came from Year 8 boys Oke Onyebuchukwu and Vinesh Sritharan who were “outstanding throughout the day”, Mr Jacobs said.

As he prepares for the 2012 outdoor athletics season, Year 8 pupil Nabil Haque is looking to build on his successes of 2011.

During last season Nabil recorded a number of strong performances in both track and field events. These culminated in him representing Middlesex at the National Schools’ Athletics Championships, where he won the shot put with a throw of 11.2m. He was a member of the Middlesex 4 x 100m relay team, which won the event in a UK record time for their age group of 49.48s. And he competed for Shaftesbury Harriers at a national club meeting, winning the 200m in 24.5s and the shot put with 11.5m.

Nabil also received a Jack Petchey Award for his athletics achievement, which was presented to him at Arts Depot in Finchley.

The Jack Petchey Foundation has invested millions of pounds each year in more than 2,000 schools across London and Essex. The organisation offers awards to young people aged 11-25 to recognise their achievements in a range of activities, from athletics to music. Nabil will now choose how to spend the £200 cash award from the foundation, which can be spent on additional equipment for a school or club, but not core administration costs.

Hundreds of boys from the first four years of the School took part in QE’s 2017 Sports Day, with Harrisons’ House emerging as the overall winners after hours of hard-fought competition.

Almost all pupils in Years 7-10 participated in the day, which featured 53 separate track races, as well as many field events, and competitions in sports as diverse as Eton Fives, rowing, tug of war, volleyball, tennis and table tennis. When the scores were all tallied up, Harrisons’ had beaten Stapylton into second place.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was a very good, action-packed day, with pupils engaging well and relishing the excitement of competition. The weather held out for us, despite predictions of rain storms, although at one point the wind almost made the scorer’s gazebo take off, in apparent imitation of the high jump competition taking place adjacent to it!”

Almost 30 staff undertook tasks including scoring, timekeeping and starting races, while Year 12 pupils helped out and also competed in some of the relays. Assistant Head of PE & Games Rhys Davies-Horne provided a tireless stream of commentary, with events starting at 10.30am and many extending into the afternoon.

Sports Day was rounded off in traditional style with the running of the QE Mile – a 16 x 100m relay, which saw the six Houses compete against Sixth Form and staff teams and against an additional mixed team comprising both sixth-formers and staff members. The race was won by this joint staff-Sixth Form team, with the staff team second, the Sixth Form third and with Broughton taking the honours as the best of the Houses in fourth place.

Among the athletes competing were Year 9 boys Jeff Hagan (triple jump) and Nicholas Shaw (100m). Both also competed earlier this month at the English Schools’ Athletics Championships national finals in Birmingham, where Jeff came 4th out of 16 in the Junior Boys competition with a distance of 12.56m and Nicholas ran a new personal best of 11.45 seconds, although he did not progress to the final. QE Director of Sport Jonathan Hart congratulated the pair on their impressive achievement in reaching the finals and commended Jeff on his impressive position in his event and Nicholas on his PB.