St Albans School head of rugby Tom Smith said he was gutted to miss out on the under-15s Continental Tyres Schools Vase Final after a 29-26 defeat to Beechen Cliff School.

Trailing by three points at half-time, Smith’s team took the lead thanks to a second-half Jacob Chapman score before tries for Hector Dalby-Welsh and Harry Osbourne finished the contest.

Smith said: “I am gutted, obviously.

“It was such a close game; I feel like we could have won it. There were definitely moments in there that you think if you had executed differently, it would have been a different result. But we are just proud. 

“When you rock up at a semi-final, anything can happen. We don’t really know anything about the opposition, we knew they were going to be physical, but I think the boys did themselves so proud. 

“To be up by 12 points having been down, when it could have gone their way from the start, I think we did really, really well. 

“We did some excellent things. It is a great experience for them, it will be a tough memory, but a good one eventually.”

Continental Tyres and the RFU are working together to grow rugby through school-linked activities and 171,404 age grade players have registered to play this season, almost 3,000 more than the overall figure last year.

Former England player James Haskell and current squad member Charlie Ewels were at Aylesbury and helped out the schools’ coaches with warm ups, ran on the drinks and interacted with fans.

Haskell knows just how valuable this competition is. He won the under-15s Cup with Wellington College in 2000 and admits the competition helped him fall in love with rugby.

"My very first experience of playing rugby involving a bit of jeopardy in intensity was the Continental Tyres Schools Cup," Haskell said

"It kind of made me fall in love with rugby, these boys will love the opportunity to play in a final at StoneX Stadium.

"For me it was addictive and you can see the emotion of the kids today, for some it is heartbreak and for some others elation.

"For some it's the opportunity to become legends, and for some it's to treasure, then want to go on and do more 

"For some, this is the peak, this is the greatest summit they'll ever reach. And that's it.”

The Continental Tyres Schools Cup is an important part of the age-grade rugby landscape in England, with schools’ rugby often where players fall in love with the game for the first time. For more information visit the Continental Tyres Schools Cup section of the England Rugby Website