Day 3 of the Games definitely lived up to its “Winter” title with the day starting with snow showers and a biting wind blowing throughout the day.
Over 300 pupils from across the county battled the elements in order to represent their local School Sport Partnerships (SSP) in the Norfolk School Games Tag Rugby Finals held at Norwich Rugby Club.
The event was split into two competitions, with one for Year 5-6 pupils from large schools (>125 pupils) and a separate one for Year 4-6 pupils from small schools (<125 pupils). The aim of including separate competitions for large/small schools was to encourage more of the county’s small rural schools to take part in the Games alongside the larger schools who have more pupils to select a squad from.
Over recent months, each of the 8 SSPs had held a local qualifying competition to give more young people the opportunity to represent their schools in a competitive rugby competition as well as to select which schools would represent their local area in the Norfolk School Games Finals.
Each SSP was allowed to enter 2 teams into each of the large and small competitions. In the big schools competition, school squads included 12 pupils whilst in the small schools competitions squads included 10 players. In both competitions teams were allowed 8 players on the pitch at any time with a min of 2 boys and girls on the pitch at all times in the large schools competition and at least 1 boy and girl of the pitch in all small schools matches..
Year 5-6 Large Schools Competition
During the morning, the 16 teams in large schools competition were split into four equal groups of 4, where they competed against each other in a round robin format. Once all of the games had been completed, the highest finishing two teams from each group went forward to the afternoons Cup competition with the lowest placed two teams going into the Plate competition.
In the afternoons Cup competition, the eight teams were again split into two groups of 4 and played off against each other. The matches became tighter with the ability levels of the teams being closer.
Once the fixtures in each group were completed the teams that finished 4th, 3rd, 2nd in each group played off against each other in decide 8th-3rd position. The teams that finished 1st in each group also played each other in the grand final to decide the winners/runners up in the Cup competition. The final was played by Millfield Primary (North Norfolk SSP) and Robert Kett Primary (South Norfolk SSP) with the team from Millfield eventually coming out on top and being crowned 2016 Norfolk School Games Champions.
Similarly in the Plate competition, teams were again split into groups with those finishing in the same position in each group playing against each other for overall positions. In the Plate competition it was St Martha’s Catholic Primary School (West Norfolk SSP) that were victorious beating Stoke Holy Cross Primary (South Norfolk SSP) in the final.
Year 4-6 Small Schools Competition
The Small Schools Competition followed a similar format to the large schools competition. In the afternoon teams were also split into separate Cup and Plate competitions.
In the small school cup competition the final was played between Wreningham Primary and Alpington & Burgh Apton Primary, both of whom were representing South Norfolk SSP. It was the team from Wreningham who were victorious and were named 2016 Norfolk School Games Small Schools Tag Rugby Champions.
In the plate competition, the final included the teams from Great Hockham (Breckland SSP) and Wimbotsham and Stow Primary (West Norfolk SSP) with the team representing West Norfolk winning.
To see the full breakdown of overall results for both the Large Schools and Small Schools Competitions please click here.
Photographs
You can also view a gallery of photographs taken at the event today. You can even purchase copies of photographs of your child to keep as a reminder of their achievements.
Clubs
If your child took part in the Norfolk School Games Tag Rugby competitions and would be interested in joining a local rugby club, then check out the clubs section of our website for more information about clubs in Norfolk.
What next?
Day 4 of the Winter Games Finals will be held on Tuesday 1st March and will see hundreds of Primary and Secondary school pupils competing in sportshall athletics, table tennis, gymnastics and indoor rowing finals. All events will be based at the Sportspark in Norwich.
