SEDBERGH captain James Christie insists his side can hold their heads high despite coming up short in the final of the Open Plate competition at this year’s Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens.

Christie’s team were one of three entered by Sedbergh for the 75th anniversary of the prestigious tournament as the school looked to defend last year’s Open title.

Things started well with 17-year-old Christie leading Sedbergh out the group unbeaten before coming unstuck in qualification for the knockout stage, defeated 20-5 by Millfield School.

All was not lost and placed in the Plate competition they navigated another group stage unbeaten before beating Whitgift School 28-15 in the semi-finals to set up a showdown with Woodhouse Grove.

This marked a repeat of the Open Cup final from 12 months ago and while narrowly losing 24-21 this time around, skipper Christie remained proud of his team’s efforts.

“Obviously we won it last year so it’s disappointing not to do that again but it’s always great to go and compete in such an amazing tournament,” he said.

“We didn’t really want it to finish that way but I’m really proud of my boys for getting there. We played them in last year’s final and managed to win so there is a bit of a rivalry there.

“I’m sure they’ll be happy to get revenge but we had a good tournament and have to keep our heads up.

“It’s the biggest schools tournament around so the fact we’re disappointed shows how driven we all are.”

Sedbergh also fielded teams in the Colts and Preparatory competition, failing to progress to the knockout stage in the latter after a second-place finish in the group following two wins and a defeat.

The Colts team enjoyed slightly more success, topping their group before seeing their run ended at the quarter-final stage with a 12-7 loss to St Peter’s School, York.

“All schools know getting through to the second day is a massive thing and the boys knew that,” said captain James Botham.

“We knew we had to go there and put up a good fight. There were loads of schools there and we went out in the top lot. We had it in us but we couldn’t match them.

“All I can say is a few mistakes in sevens and you never know what’s going to happen. It didn’t turn our way obviously but I’m still proud of the boys.”

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