Coach Lee hails NSB's Twickenham heroes

NSB celebrated at Twickenham on Wednesday (picture: Stewart Johnson)

NSB saw off St Ambrose College from Altrincham to win the NatWest Schools Cup Under-18 Vase final.

Tries from Callum Inwood and Josh Arimoro, allied with points from the boots of Tom Holliday, Jake Johnson and Connor Tupai, earned a 17-12 success.

And Lee said: “All 23 members of our squad are heroes and they thoroughly deserve it.

“They have worked relentlessly all year, training up to five times a week.

“We have an uncanny knack of never doing it the easy way!

“We had to come back twice from being behind but it’s testament to this team that they can always find a way to win.

“Eleven of the starting 15 are not in the senior year group so for such a young team to win a major national title is extremely pleasing.

“Connor Tupai and Jake Johnson are both under 16 but they played with a maturity far beyond their years.

“Tupai dropped the first goal of his life and he did it in a national final at Twickenham!

“The whole squad were great but Callum Inwood and Henry Timm both had their best games in an NSB shirt.

“It was a great day and we’d like to say thank-you to all the supporters that travelled down and a huge thanks to Qube Modular Buildings, who generously sponsored the team strip for the final.

“It was also our captain Matthias Farmer’s 18th birthday on the day - and what a present for him to lift the trophy!”

The victory was a fitting tribute to Zac Forskitt, who passed away on Sunday following a long battle with cancer.

Forskitt represented NSB in the Daily Mail Cup final at Twickenham in 2013, and there was a minute’s silence before this year’s showpiece to remember him.

“I was delighted that the RFU allowed us to hold a minute’s silence in memory of former pupil Zac Forskitt, who lost his incredibly brave battle against cancer on Sunday night,” Lee said.

“I would also like to personally thank the staff and boys from St Ambrose for agreeing to take part in the silence.

“Zac played in the NSB team that played in the Daily Mail Cup final at Twickenham in 2013 so it was an emotional and poignant mark of respect.”