The Hallifordian - 2016-2017

96 Old Hallifordians: The Rugby Sevens Having listened to my fair share of Halliford Sport reports over the years, the prospect of enter- ing such a canon of eloquence fills me with a fear that only one teetering at the precipice of unfulfilled greatness can truly understand. Hedger, Crosby, Wright, Greasby, Hill, Toor, and Todd all shuffled up to the podium during my time. Awkward and linear, surreptitiously folding or thrusting the backs of way- ward shirts into trousers before striding out between the metaphorical pincer formation – the blindside body of the faculty and an open side student body, frothing at the mouth desperate to pounce on any scrap of, um, hesitation, loose-headed deviation, or unwarranted repetition. Old Hallifordians reunited for Rugby Sevens But wait sixty seconds, this must have been a familiar feeling for those happy few of Halliford- ian ilk, congregating at the gates of another famous bed of Sporting excellence - the Richmond Athletic Ground on Saturday, June 3rd. Despite their trepidation, to their stage they stepped, jinked, darted, and chipped. Fortune’s slings and arrows were suffered. Outrageously in our heroes’ final but with fortitude they weathered their setbacks and ventured into well-loved night, to dance, drink and make merry at one of the fin- est Sporting and Musical events in London’s social calendar. With our first game ending in a decisive win over the only other social side in the group, the Old Hallifordians faced stiff competition to close the group out. With two very close defeats placing us in the plate semi, our band drove off a sizeable Old Goats side that had them sharing the final stage against a Wrong Direction team who were able to capitalise on an untutored arbitrator’s inability to manage the balance sheet of bodies at the break- down. Our players were strong. They did very well to pop passages of champagne rugby that fizzed with joie de vivre and panache. For a unit so green they are building a culture salubrious for Old Hal- lifordian sport. Their efforts have not been left un- recognised. Tireless cover-tackling and an effective chip-and-chase option from Churchill saw the world turned up-side-down as he secured OHS player of the tournament. Tom Reed’s creativity and explo- sive ability were qualities of worth that we could not have done without. Tom Dacre’s game manage- ment, eye for a gap, and hard earned core/hamstring strength confirmed his long-held reputation. Ben Parsons’ ability to exploit a gap and still release the unselfish try-scoring pass sealed his credentials as an Old Hallifordian and Aleks Naess-Clarke’s re- actions at the breakdown and set-piece upheld that all so important link between forwards and backs. James Hudson provided stalwart work at the break- down, never shying away from those all-important hard yards and nearly securing himself a brace of tries. Although on the wounded list, Alfie Evans’ ef- forts to muster a team right up until the moments preceding kick-off must also be acknowledged - we very much look forward to seeing him back in action next summer. For Summer Social 2018 we hope to field netball, rugby and football outfits as part of the OHS representation. Participation in the sports grants free entry to the festival, a wonderful lunch and drinks provided by the OHS. If you want to be involved, make yourself known to Kim so she can deflect your advances onto the appropriate captain. We also hope to enter one of the later 7s tournaments for those re- turning from university after the Richmond affair. A number of Old Hallifordians have regis- tered their interest in OHS sport and cultural events. The OHS is pleased to be able to facilitate but we need more than the registry of interest. Get involved, organise something. Perhaps we can help facilitate it. “Who seeks and shall not take, when once ‘tis of- fered, shall never find it more”. Joe da Costa