ST PETER’S School pupil Will Pepper conceded they did not find top gear at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens as they came up agonisingly short.

One of two St Peter’s teams at the 75th anniversary of the tournament, Pepper and the under-18s got off to a great start as they progressed out of the group stage of the Festival competition.

A 48-7 loss to Kingswood then ended their Festival Cup participation but all was not lost, dropping down into the Plate before bouncing back with four games without defeat to reach the final.

And, while they lost 33-5 to Marlborough College, 17-year-old Pepper insists they could still be proud of their achievements.

“It was a great day; we were just disappointed we didn’t go all the way,” he said.

St Peter’s under-16s also enjoyed a fine run in the Colts competition, where they reached the semi-finals before losing 33-5 to Wellington.

Sam Hudson was already eyeing up coming back even stronger next year.

“We were very proud,” he said.

“We went not expecting to get out of our group seeing as we had Warwick so to get as far as we did was unbelievable, I’m very proud.

“I want to come back next year and hopefully go one better. We want to win it next year.”

l HSBC is proud to sponsor the world’s largest schools rugby tournament. All HSBC’s rugby sponsorships aim to help develop and grow the sport and ensure even more youngsters get involved with rugby.

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