Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby's great schools
LANCASHIRE might not quite be the rugby hotspot at senior level it once was but the Red Rose county remains a powerhouse at schools level and Kirkham GS have been one of the schools to sustain that tradition.
Kirkham, situated midway between Preston and Blackpool, switched to rugby from football relatively late in 1924 and for a while it would be fair to say they operated in the shadow of other schools in the north west – the likes of Blackpool GS, RGS Lancaster, Cowley and St Edwards.
They had their moments – Stephen Wilcock just missed out on an England Schools cap in 1961 and in the 1972-73 season both Keith Aitchison and Clive Hughes won England 19 group caps.
The turning point came soon after the school went independent and co-educational in 1979, a move which many feared might reduce their competitiveness on account of reduced numbers. That was always a possibility but, as is often the case, an exceptional coach stepped forward to breathe life into the rugby programme.
That man was Brian Gornall, a future England Schools coach, who saw the big picture and the need for a long-term plan. As he was to serve as head of rugby for 28 years, he had plenty of time. The improvement did not happen overnight but gradually Kirkham became a force to be reckoned with.
Success at the Preston Grasshoppers tournament –a highly prestigious event in its day – offered early encouragement while KGS set their sights high with a successful world tour in 1987. Heading into the 90s they had become one of the teams to beat and then came an exceptional group, led by brothers Pat and Alex Sanderson, that raised the bar even higher.
Both were capped by England Schools and Alex Sanderson proved an outstanding member of the England Schools party that conquered all in Australia the following year. He also proved an exceptional England Schools captain in 1998 and again at U21 level and was just establishing himself in the senior team when he was forced to retire with a serious back injury.
After a long spell as assistant coach at Saracens Alex is now back in the northwest coaching Sale. Pat also won full England honours in the back row, captaining the side in 2006.
In an ideal world the Sandersons' era would have resulted in a Daily Mail Cup triumph for Kirkham but their pre-eminence coincided with Colston's College putting together their all-singing, all-dancing squad of scholarship players and their invincible run between 1995 and 2000.
That said the Lancastrians, skippered by Robert Porteous at centre, gave Colston's a run for their money. After beating a strong Campion side 25-15 in an exhilarating semi-final they went down all guns blazing at Twickenham, eventually losing 23-12 to Colston's.
Alex Sander- son played No.8 that day while the Col- ston's hooker was Lee Mears –a few weeks later they were teaming up together with the successful England Schools team in Australia.
Thereafter, although not always entering the Daily Mail competition, Kirkham were a school to be feared and reeled off a number of unbeaten seasons, not least in 2000-2001. One of their star products during this period was Richard Wigglesworth who was to win England U21 honours soon after leaving school before his stellar career really took off with a first Premier- ship title with Sale.
Full England honours and a hatful of Premier- ship and European titles were to follow during his long spell at Saracens and Wig-glesworth – who has frequently called in at the school to help with coaching sessions – is still doing his stuff with Leicester Tigers having made more appearances than any player in Premiership history – 292 and counting.
England Schools representatives Matt Parr, now the strength and conditioning coach at Leicester, and Jonathan Roddam, now the head of boys sport back at his old school, were other star performers while another graduate of this era was Adam Newton, who was to play international rugby at lock and No.8 for Spain, followed soon after.
In recent years it has been a case of consistent high achievement but frustratingly, missing out on the ultimate honours.
Regular winners on the northern Sevens circuit, they have been involved at the sharp end at Rosslyn Park more often than not but reached just the one final in 2009. On that occasion they had dug so deep in beating Colston's in the semifinal that they had nothing left for the final itself when they got blown away 36-0 by a brilliant Millfield seven.
During one memorable purple patch they went unbeaten in regular season games between 2014 and 2017 but that triumphant run wasn't reflected in the Daily Mail trophy when, under the formula used to calculate the placings, their slightly ‘weaker' fixture list saw them unable to claim the trophy itself. Frustratingly those unbeaten seasons only earned 3rd, 2nd and fifth place finishes. Nor during this period did they secure an invitation to the St Joseph's XVs tournament but that all changed in 2019 when they made an instant impact on their tournament debut with a hugely impressive opening day when they accounted for Hampton (7-3), Dulwich College (15-0) and QEGS Wakefield (12-3). Impressive stuff, but there was more to come with a crushing 22-0 victory over the hosts St Joseph's, followed by an epic 8-7 win over Whitchurch with Elliot Gourlay nerveless slotting over a last minute penalty.
A 10-0 win over Denstone saw Kirkham power their way into the final but there an excellent Wellington College deservedly won 19-5. To complete a successful but frustrating season, Kirkham also battled hard to reach the final of the Sedbergh tens that year, before losing to the hosts. Close but no cigar.
Since 2010, KGS have spawned England prop Kieran Brookes and Ireland international scrum-half Kieran Marmion while on the international Sevens circuit KGS has two current England players in Richard de Carpentier and Daniel Bibby. Other notable players have been Kieran Wilkinson, Arron Reed, Connor Doherty, Ethan Caine, Elliot Gourlay and Dan Kelly who represented Ireland U20 last season after moving from Sale to Leicester Tigers.
Tom Carlton – son of England Grand Slam winner John – was another notable performer at wing or full-back and is now playing for Fylde while his younger brother Sam is another fine prospect.
The connection with Sale and the Sharks Academy grows apace and head of rugby Aled Trenhaile is optimistic about the future.As their school motto says Ingredere Ut Proficias.
Enter in order to profit – or to use the vernacular. You have to be in it to win it.
