RICHARD Huish College rugby coach Keith Leaker says a run to Continental Tyres Schools Cup final was undoubtedly the highlight of his side’s season, writes Ben Hart.

The Taunton school lost 26-17 to Richard Hale in the under-18s Bowl final in a thriller at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium.

Leaker remained enormously proud of his team despite defeat and believes they will have learnt a great deal from the experience.

“This Cup run has made our season,” he said. “We did really well to get through to the quarters and all the talk was if we can get through to the semi-final after Christmas that will extend our season.

“The StoneX was the prize at the end, so it was great to keep that buzz about the place and extend the season.

“It’s a massive proud moment for the College, they’ve really got behind it massively. They’ll look back on this and be proud of what they did.”

Tries from Nathan Golding, flanker Kieran Hill and prop Jan Davison proved in vain in north London, but Leaker was pleased his side stuck to their guns by playing running rugby.

For more information visit the Continental Tyres Schools Cup section of the England Rugby Website

“We try to play on feet as much as we can and attack both sides of the pitch,” he said.

“We did score a driving maul and we’ve got that as a weapon but maybe if your discipline isn’t great and the game is a bit stutter, we couldn’t get any flow to get us on the front foot.

“Discipline let us down in the first half. We knew that and we talked about that at half time. At times we didn’t have enough ball, gave away too many penalties and maybe the occasion put pressure on them.

“We were better in the second half, got into the last third a bit more and scored some points but we’re disappointed we didn’t show what we can do. But that’s what pressure does.

“They played well, to be fair. They played the pressure game and were really physical, kicked to corners, had a great set piece and if you give sides that like penalties you’re going to be under pressure.

The Continental Tyres Schools Cup is an important part of the age-grade rugby landscape in England, with schools’ rugby often where players fall in love with the game for the first time.