Exeter School's international success

Exeter School pupils have certainly made the most of their Easter holidays with six representing their country in sport from water polo to rounders.

Year 11 Ben Green is representing England U17s in cricket and is currently on tour in Sri Lanka. Ben has had good success in the one-day series and has previously just been selected for the three-day game which began on 24 April. At the end of the one-day series, he was the leading wicket taker on tour and the fourth highest run scorer.

Year 9 pupils Harriet Milner and Olivia Ziegler-Evans are part of the U14 England Rounders Squad. They recently took part in a training weekend in Cambridge on 29-30 March. They played on Sunday 20 April in a tournament involving both the England U16 and U14 performance and development teams. This was a fantastic experience playing competitive rounders at the highest level. Both girls will take part in an invitation tournament held in Shropshire on 5 May where they will play their first international game.

Upper Sixth Former Tom Poustie and Lower Sixth Former Harry Skinner travelled to Mannheim in Germany to play for England U18s against three European nations.

The opening game against Germany was their best performance with Harry calmly slotting the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper. Tom assisted the winning of a penalty corner with moments left to play. Harry’s drag flick was illegally stopped by a defender and the ensuing penalty stroke won the game.

They fared less well against both Holland and Belgium and faced the final match against Germany to decide the bronze medal. In the second half facing a 2 – 0 deficit, the team pressed hard, winning a penalty corner. Tom injected perfectly for Harry to score with his drag flick. The equaliser followed and Germany were hanging on. Unfortunately the full time whistle came too early and penalty shuffles decided the game. In true tradition, England were beaten by Germany.

Year 11 pupil Matt Marsh was invited to join the England Rugby’s U16 South West squad to play at the BMW International Tournament at Wellington College, Berkshire.

The first fixture for his England South West team was against Wales. A powerful Welsh side could not be contained by the regional team, but a good performance by Matt behind his scrum helped the South West score 12 points.

Three days later France East took to the field. A large number of the final international squad would almost certainly be selected from this team. England South West found the going tough losing heavily, but defending with great credit throughout.

The final fixture brought all the England players together and Matt was selected for the England Lions who would play against the Roses. Again a good performance by Matt influenced his side’s progress in a finely balanced game.