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Teams from across the south of England battled it out in the 46th Queen Elizabeth’s School Sevens Tournament – the first running of the event since 2019.

The day brought overall victory in the U16 Cup to Trinity School, Croydon, while tournament newcomers Woodlands School were convincing winners in the Plate competition (for sides achieving second place in the group stages), beating Tonbridge School 36–7 in the final.

Although ultimately thwarted in their three matches, QE’s own U16 side battled hard, their playing punctuated by sparkling individual performances, especially from rising star Taro Niimura, of Year 11.

They were cheered on by a good turn-out of Old Elizabethans, their numbers swelled by 2001 leavers who took the opportunity to gather for a reunion.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was splendid to be able to host the tournament after a two-year break imposed by the pandemic, and to enjoy a super day of competition: there really was an abundance of skill, tenacity and physicality on display.

“My congratulations go to Trinity School on achieving overall victory in a close-fought final against Wellington College, and to Woodlands School on their triumphant debut.”

“Although we were disappointed that the U14 competition had to be cancelled because poor weather led to a reduction in the number of pitches available, we nonetheless look back on a successful day. My thanks go to the referees, St John Ambulance and the sponsors, Inspire Sports.”

QE’s Head of Rugby, James Clarke, said: “It was great to have the tournament back after Covid! There was plenty of excellent rugby on display, despite some challenging conditions.”

The home side faced a tough opening fixture against Wellingborough School. “Wellingborough showed a good turn of pace in finding any gaps in the QE defence and exerting significant pressure, resulting in our team struggling to retain possession for multiple phases,” said Mr Clarke.

“However, the match was lit up, from a QE perspective, by a brilliant solo try from Taro Niimura. Having been put through a gap by a well-timed pass inside the QE 22 metre zone, he ran the length of the pitch, beating at least three defenders on the way. One of the tries of the tournament! Whilst only a consolation in the context of the match, which was lost 29-7, it was a worthy moment for the home support to celebrate – including the OEs gathered on the touchline.”

The next QE game, against New Hall, brought “a skilful and spirited performance and a big improvement on the first match,” said Mr Clarke. “Momentum swung this way and that, with QE overhauling an early deficit to lead 14-12 at one stage. A clean break from New Hall had them charging, seemingly unstoppably, to the line, only for Taro to make another stand-out contribution, this time in defence. Sprinting back 70m or so, he made up ground to tackle his opponent just a few feet short of the try line – an incredible effort and demonstration of desire.

“Unfortunately, the supporting New Hall player was able to pick and go from the breakdown and get over the line for what proved to be the winning score. QE thought they may have won the game when an overlap put Year 11’s Dharun Thambiayah through to score, only for play to be brought back for a marginal forward pass. Whilst the boys were disappointed to lose a match that really could have gone either way, there was pride in the performance.”

After this narrow 19-14 defeat, in their final fixture, QE took on Dulwich College and put in “a resilient battling performance in which the rub of the green went against QE. The match got off to the worst possible start, with Dulwich reclaiming their own kick-off (think Mack Hansen for Ireland v France in this year’s Six Nations!) to score immediately. QE played themselves back into the game, crossing for a first-half try of their own. An unfortunate yellow card for a trip tackle saw QE down a man, but the two-minute period was well-handled, with no loss of score.

“In the second half, just one score behind, Niimura again seemed to be away down the wing with a clear 60m to the try line, only for play to be brought back for a QE penalty – the referee not realising the advantage was with QE in that moment. With QE pressing hard for a try, Dulwich managed to secure a third to kill off the match and win 17-5.”

Mr Clarke congratulated Year 10 boys on stepping up to compete alongside the Year 11s.

This year’s tournament featured a Coaches Corner for the first time, where there were stalls from a number of companies, including the sponsors, Inspire Sports.

The 2022 winners will receive tickets to a Premiership rugby match.

Among the supporters backing the tournament winners, Trinity, was USA Sevens’ Head Coach, Mike Friday. Former Sevens coach for England and Kenya, and a former professional player with London Wasps who captained the England Sevens, he has taken the USA to its current position as one of the very best teams in the world.

The group of 2001 leavers not only enjoyed the rugby together, but also went on a tour of the School with the Headmaster and with Development Officer Sharla Worrall.

Also among the spectators were other staff and boys, while teams of helpers comprising senior boys and some Year 7s supported Mr Clarke and his colleagues in running the event.

• For full results, visit the tournament microsite.

QE’s First XV pulled on their navy and sky blue-hooped shirts for one last time as they took on rivals Habs at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium, 99 years after the fixture was first played between the two schools.

The evening got off to a great start, with resounding wins against Haberdashers’ Boys’ School by the Year 8 A and B teams, who racked up scores of 65-0 and 45-0 respectively.

And, with the First XV buoyant after two consecutive wins against St Ignatius College and Watford Grammar School, hopes were high that they could avenge their loss to Habs earlier in the season in the National Vase.

In the end, it was not to be – Habs overturned a half-time 10-0 deficit to emerge as narrow victors on the night – but Head of Rugby James Clarke had nothing but praise for his players: “It was a great game with a monumental defensive effort and a result that could have gone our way on a different night. The squad has come an awful long way from the early season struggles after a year of missed rugby due to COVID. I am extremely proud of the effort, attitude and commitment that the whole squad have shown this year.”

The games proved a big draw across the Elizabethan community. “It was lovely to see so many of our younger boys, parents, siblings and Old Elizabethans in attendance,  and our senior players were most grateful for the vocal support.”

The Year 8 games had been worthy curtain-raisers for the later First XV match, said Mr Clarke, with the convincing victories representing a major improvement by the A team in particular, who had lost 6 tries to 5 earlier in the season in the reverse fixture. The A team is coached by PE teacher Peter Pickford. Alvin Xu was named Player of the Match for the A team, while Faaiz Adil took the accolade for the B team.

In the main match, after repelling an early Habs onslaught, QE took the lead through Alex Diamond scoring in the far corner.

“After withstanding further pressure following the restart, QE eventually worked their way up the pitch via some intelligent kicking from scrumhalf Taro Niimura and were now within striking range of the same corner. The forwards took charge as they tried to drive over the try line from close range but were met with fierce resistance. After recycling possession multiple times and bringing in reinforcements, Aditya Narayan dived over for a well-earned score to stretch our lead to 10-0. We maintained this cushion until the relief of the half-time whistle after some, at times, heroic defending out wide, including a try-saving tackle from Saalif Jilani.

“The second half saw us playing against the elements and into an increasingly strong wind. Habs made full use of this advantage and pinned us deep within our half from the kick-off.  Despite us clearing our lines reasonably well, Habs threw the ball wide to create an overlap and break our defence to go over for the score.”

Habs scored an “excellent conversion”, leaving QE holding a narrow 10-7 lead. “After an injury stoppage, a typically strong QE scrum gave our backline a platform to play from, and the backs showed some excellent skills to move the ball wide behind several decoy runners and stretch and test Habs on the outside, but to no avail. Several penalties were conceded to cost us field position, and the pressure was starting to mount. Habs kicked a penalty in front of the posts to level the score at 10-10 and swing momentum in their favour. Following some initial strong defence, Habs’ again threatened out wide and their speedster slipped a tackle to score in the far corner. Advantage Habs’ with the score now 15-10 to them.

“For the final ten minutes of the match, QE had a sustained amount of possession and were ‘camped’ at the right end of the field. Habs were out on their feet, with players continuously going down with cramp and the game being stopped and started, which only added to the tension of a one-score game. After several penalties against Habs, QE had one final attempt, but couldn’t quite get the ball to stick and were thwarted in their attempts to overturn the early season result.”

“Special mentions must go to the leadership group of captain Alexandre Lee and his two vice-captains Conor Parker-Delves and Ronak Santilale,” said Mr Clarke. Player of the match was Alex Diamond.

The QE First XV squad
1. Ronak Santilale – vice-captain (Year 13); 2. Manav Khindri (Year 13); 3. Victor Angelov (Year 12); 4. Jayden Savage (Year 13); 5. Nnanna Okore (Year 13); 6. Aditya Narayan (Year 13); 7. Alexandre Lee – captain (Year 13); 8. Kelvin Aye (Year 12); 9. Taro Niimura (Year 11); 10. Danny Adey (Year 12); 11. Shadman Rahman (Year 13); 12. Keir Parker-Delves (Year 11); 13. Harvey Lamb (Year 13); 14. Alex Diamond (Year 13); 15. Saalif Jilani (Year 13).

Replacements: 16. Ryan Jayaraj (Year 12); 17. Ishraq Zamee (Year 13); 18. Dilan Patel (Year 12); 19. Aadarsh Khimasia (Year 13); 20. Alex Woodcock (Year 13).

Sixty teams from leading schools across the country made the journey to Barnet for the 43rd annual Queen Elizabeth’s School Rugby Sevens.

Wimbledon College took the U16 Cup and Whitgift School won the U14 Cup, while Eton College were the first team in the tournament’s history to win the Plate at both U14 and U16 level, after seeing off the challenge of Warwick School in both Plate finals.

Players had to contend with a full range of weather conditions, including blustery, gale-force winds, heavy rain, a little sunshine and even some sleet or snow towards the end of the day.

QE’s Head of Rugby, James Clarke (OE 1999–2004), who was the main organiser, thanked all the visitors for a good day’s rugby, adding: “It is a real QE community day, with staff, student helpers from Years 12 and Year 7, Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s and former staff all out in force to ensure that it runs smoothly.

“So far as QE’s players are concerned, we had a tough draw. Our U16A team found themselves in what could in retrospect be considered the ‘group of death’, pitted against both the eventual Cup winners, Wimbledon, and the Plate winners, Eton. They nevertheless managed a 12-5 victory against the other member of the group, Woodbridge School, in their opening game. The U14s also had a tough day, but battled well throughout.”

The tournament was established in 1976 by Dave Maughan, who was QE’s Head of PE/Games from 1974–2003. He returned to the School once again this year to support the running of competition.

The first tournaments, from 1977–1981, were played at the Old Elizabethans RFC at Gypsy Corner and were mainly for schools from Hertfordshire, featuring A & B teams from both age groups. In 1982, the tournament relocated to the School pitches, and the Byng Road pitches of Barnet RFC (now the Barnet Elizabethans RFC, following a merger between the two clubs in 1997).

By then, the event was becoming popular with schools across a wider area. 1983 saw it reach its present size of 32 teams in each age group, with participants from across England and Wales, including QE’s A & B sides at U14 and U16 level.

Eight of the nine pitches used are on clay soils, so conditions can frequently get muddy. The finals are played on pitches 1 and 2 at the front of the School.

In the tournament’s history, notable achievements have included:

• Two occasions on which schools ‘did the double’, winning both the U14 and U16 events – Eltham College in 1986 and Wellington College in 2017
• Consecutive wins – a feat achieved only once, when St Paul’s School took the U14 trophy in both 2003 and 2004
• Victories by schools to take the U14 title and then later the U16 Cup. QE achieved this in 1977 and 1979. Others who have followed suit include Wellington College, who did in twice (2000 & 2002; 2015 & 2017); London Oratory School (1998 & 2000); Wimbledon College (2005 & 2007), and Gowerton School, Wales (2012 & 2014).

Sixth-formers took on Old Elizabethan opposition to debate one of the biggest questions of our era – whether there is a future for democracy.

More than 170 guests, including Old Elizabethans, Year 12 pupils and staff, attended the 54th Elizabethan Union Annual Dinner Debate, at which OE Nikhil Patel (OE 2007–2014) gave the after-dinner address.

At the start of the evening, an indicative vote on the motion, This House believes democracy has had its day, revealed that a large majority – around an 80:20 split – opposed it. However, some deft debating by the School team successfully shook the faith in democracy of some 15-20 people, who had swung to their side of the argument by the final vote, thus technically giving the School victory in the debate. Nevertheless, a majority – albeit now reduced to 70:30 – remained opposed to the motion.

The Headmaster said: “This was an enjoyable occasion, with some adroitly made arguments on both sides and contributions in the floor debate that were both enthusiastic and well-considered. I am grateful to the visiting alumni, including our guest speaker, Nikhil. The debate is valuable in helping sixth-formers prepare for similar formal occasions at university and, later, in their professional lives.”

The School team of Chris Hall and Aryan Jain explained that democracy was failing to solve the big questions and, furthermore, was wrongly identifying what those big questions were. They gave as examples the fact that large amounts of effort were being spent in the UK on Europe and Brexit, but correspondingly less on issues such as climate change, education and welfare. The pair argued that the electorate’s greatest concerns were not always based upon real evidence – a problem they blamed on media distortion.

Instead they put forward a form of technocratic government under which the experts could get on with running the country and implementing the right policies, noting that we already entrust large and important sections of government, such as the legal system, to independent non-elected institutions – in this case, the judiciary.

“It was perhaps an idealised vision of how such a government might operate, but Chris Hall grounded it all strongly in logic,” said the Headmaster.

The motion was opposed by Ashwin Sharma (OE 2008–2015) and by Year 12 boy Alex Beard (replacing old boy Jason Thomas [OE 2010–2015], who was unable to attend).

“Ashwin and Alex worked very well together to argue a compelling case, with Alex stepping in very well to complete the opposition and contributing significantly to the very high standard of debating across all the speakers,” said the Headmaster.

They argued that democracy is the best system we have. Moreover, the rise of the internet and other new technologies are increasing democratic opportunities around the world, including in countries not typically classed as democracies. Democracy is more than just elections, they pointed out, stating that the very fact that the Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate was taking place was itself evidence of a functioning democracy.

In his speech, Nikhil Patel recalled his own School days. He heeded the advice given on his very first day by the then-Headmaster Dr John Marincowitz to “get stuck in”, throwing himself into School life and later becoming School Captain (in 2013), as well as playing in the First XI cricket squad, captaining the Second XV rugby team and playing the saxophone in several ensembles.

He advised the assembled sixth-formers similarly: “Always endeavour to challenge yourself, push the boundaries of what you previously thought and attempt new things, whether that be a language, a sport or an activity.”

They should pursue things about which they are “truly passionate”, he said, before espousing the power and value of friendship: “…always remember your roots and who was with you on this journey when it all started.

After leaving QE, Nikhil studied Geography and Management at Cambridge University where he was President of the India Society and captain of the Fitzwilliam College cricket team when they were twice winners of the Cuppers inter-collegiate competition. After university he took a gap year and now works as a Management Consultant for EY and an advisor to WOAW, a content marketing firm. He was accompanied at the dinner by his partner, Aparna Joshi.

Nikhil finished his address with a toast to the Elizabethan Union. Current School Captain Bhiramah Rammanohar proposed a toast to ‘The Visitors’, while there were also the customary toasts to ‘Her Majesty, the Queen’ and to ‘The Pious Memory of Queen Elizabeth I’. Year 12 pupil Viraj Mehta chaired the debate.

The diners enjoyed spicy parsnip soup followed by confit of lamb (or pulled vegetables) and chocolate cake.

With some 60 of last year’s leavers returning recently to contribute to the Year 12 Universities Convention, this event has become one of the biggest examples of OEs’ engagement with the School, writes the Headmaster.

Given their new experience of university life and fresh memories of the university application process, the visitors were able to give some really useful first-hand advice to current sixth-formers.

Staff always enjoy the opportunity to hear how these, the newest of our alumni, are getting on – even if it can sometimes be hard to recognise some, with their ‘civilian’ clothes, beards and new, non-QE-approved hairstyles!

An invitation

After the success of the Universities Convention, the Dinner Debate and Rugby Sevens, I would like to invite all our alumni to our next major calendar event, Founder’s Day, on Saturday 15th June 2019. It is an excellent a great opportunity for OEs to catch up with old friends in a relaxed atmosphere.

The day begins with the Founder’s Day Service in St John the Baptist Parish Church at 11am. We can seat a small number of Old Elizabethans at the service on request.

The afternoon’s events start with a buffet lunch open to all Old Elizabethans at approximately 1pm, immediately after the traditional reading of the School Chronicle in front of the Main Building. And, of course, there are attractions to suit all interests at the Founder’s Day Fête on Stapylton Field.

Of particular interest to many alumni is our annual Past XI v Present XI match (the Stanley Busby Memorial Cricket Match), which will be played on the Third Field. Relaunched a few years ago, this fixture now draws many cricket fans from among our alumni.

If any old boys would like to play in that match, do get in touch – we would love to hear from you. In fact, as we plan our welcome, it would be helpful if any former pupils who expect to be at Founder’s Day could let me know by email in advance, especially if you would like to attend the church service or lunch. Finally, if any old boys would like to make contact with particular members of staff, present or past, at Founder’s Day, do please email  and we will do our best to make it happen.

Neil Enright

Universities Convention

The School welcomed back a large group from the newest cohort of OEs for the Universities Convention, who are viewed as a trusted and valuable source of information for the sixth-formers.

The annual Year 12 convention is part of QE’s University admissions Support Programme (or USP), which is designed to ensure boys receive the best advice, guidance and assistance in preparing university applications.

The returning alumni had the opportunity to catch up both with each other and with their former teachers in a buffet lunch held for them on the day of the convention in the Main Hall, which was provided with assistance from the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s.

At the convention itself, the Year 12 boys were encouraged to be quite specific with their questions to the alumni, asking, for example whether there was anything the students wished someone had told them before they applied.

The current pupils also quizzed the OEs on topics such as the cost of accommodation in university cities.

The Universities Convention and USP sit alongside the School’s broader careers provision, through which boys can look at the jobs, professions and industries they might wish to pursue after university, or what other paths they might want to take upon leaving the School.

• Some of the students at the convention had also been in to the School the previous week in order to speak to Year 13 on similar issues: Abbas Adejonwo, Rehaan Bapoo, Dhruv Kanabar, Yashwanth Matta and Oliver Robinson gave advice based upon their experiences as first-year undergraduates at Cambridge, Oxford and Warwick.

Festive traditions taking in church, charity and Christmas lunch helped bring the Autumn Term to a suitably seasonal end.

The Service of Nine Lessons & Carols at Chipping Barnet Parish featured Christmas music spanning the centuries. Boys and staff raised money for local charities seeking to help the disadvantaged. And the penultimate day of term brought the ever-popular full Christmas lunch in the Dining Hall.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We had a busy, enjoyable end to the term, with boys also taking time among all the festivities to remember those less fortunate than themselves. As we begin the holidays, I extend my very best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.”

At the Carol Service, the congregational singing began with Once in royal David’s city and ended with Hark! The herald angels sing. Interspersed were musical offerings from the Chamber Choir and the School Choir, including their respective renditions of the modern A Child is born in Bethlehem by Malcolm Archer and John Rutter’s Christmas Lullaby, as well as an introit by 16th-century Renaissance composer Palestrina, performed by the Chamber Choir.

The ‘nine lessons’ (Bible readings) were read by a boy from each year, including School Captain Aashish Khimasia, and by staff, culminating in the Headmaster’s traditional Christmas contribution from the opening chapter of St John’s Gospel.

The service was preceded by a short reception for staff past and present, and for governors, members of The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s and alumni. The reception was held close to the parish church in Tudor Hall, Wood Street, the historic home of the School until it moved to its present location in 1932.

While charity work takes place throughout the year at QE, a special effort is made at Christmas, the traditional season of goodwill. This year, there was a collection for the local food bank and for a local homelessness charity. Boys and members of staff contributed over a week-long period, and a large volume of donations was made.

These charity efforts were organised by Head of Extra-Curricular Enrichment, Rebecca Grundy, with the assistance of prefects.

In addition, in line with recent QE tradition, boys from the School Choir went out carol-singing in aid of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care in Barnet.