A member of Bloxham School’s Second Form achieved a notable rugby success at the Midlands final of the Alred Trophy, organised by the School of Kicking.
The competition is run by Dave Alred, the man who coached Jonny Wilkinson and Jonny Sexton, and who is the leading kicking expert in the world. The competition is open to all U18 kickers and is organised into 6 regional finals and a national final. There are five different kicking challenges testing different scenarios and a goal-kicking contest at the end to determine who goes through to the national final.
As one of the youngest competitors in a field of 25 players from schools all over the region, including schools such as Stowe, Abingdon, RGS High Wycombe and Merchant Taylors’, Noah’who also plays rugby for Towcestrians R.F.C., managed to win the Hang Time challenge, which tests the ability to land five kicks in a 3 x 3 metre hoop with a minimum of three seconds’ hang time. He landed four of his five kicks in the zone and won the challenge by some distance. In the knockout final Noah lost out to some older and more powerful kickers but as he says, “my aim for the day was to make the regional finals and have some fun. Achieving that was mission accomplished for me and winning one of the challenges was a huge bonus.”
Noah was interviewed on film afterwards and commented on the growing importance of kicking in the game of rugby, both tactically and in terms of points-scoring. He concluded: “It was a great experience for me to compete against some of the best kickers in the region and I learnt a lot about the areas I can improve on.”
The school’s Rugby Professional, Richard Lovering, congratulating Noah, commented:‘”Noah is mature beyond his years, and what impresses me is not so much his talent ‘ that is beyond dispute ‘ but his attitude and his readiness to put the time into improving his game. His kicking success is a perfect example of this.”
Simon Batten, the school’s assistant 1st XV coach, congratulated Noah on the way he handled himself in the competition: “This is a very impressive achievement for such a young player, and Noah should be proud of himself. We look forward to seeing Noah in action for Bloxham School in future seasons.”
Watch Noah’s post competition interview with School of Kicking: www.twitter.com/SchoolofKicking/status/1381930766066679812‘