A Successful Week for Head Boy, Toby!

Over the Easter holidays, Head Boy, Toby, attended the Six Nations Festival in Dublin, having been selected for the U18 England Rugby squad. Until a few months ago, however, Toby had been undergoing rehabilitation after injury and had not played rugby since August 10. Despite this, he was selected for England based on only 55 minutes of rugby over the past few months. What a wonderful achievement and comeback. 

As if playing Rugby for England and gaining 3 caps was not a big enough achievement in one week, Toby also signed his first professional Premiership contract for the Bristol Bears Senior Academy in the same week he made his England debut. 

We caught up with Toby this week on the back of two such incredible achievements; he said it was ‘pretty surreal for them both to happen, let alone one, especially in the same week.’ He was really excited to be given the opportunity to represent his country and to have a potential future in a sport he loves. 

Toby went on to talk about his progression through the school, having been at St Peter’s since he was 3: “Growing up through 8-13, Mr Savage and Mr Humphries were amazing in developing me as a rugby player and keeping it fun and challenging for us. As I moved through the school, Mr Slingsby and Mr Stephen accelerated my play and during the hard times of Covid really kept rugby going for all of us, and obviously Mr Williams and Mr Paterson have supported me through the last years at school.” 

It is clear that Toby’s story has inspired a lot of athletes throughout the school. He said his one piece of advice to younger players at the school is ‘make sure it’s what you want to do and be prepared to work hard for it, but also remember to have fun along the way.’ Toby described his fondest sporting memories at school as being “the many sevens tournaments we experienced during 8-13, as they were fun trips away from home and really developed bonds between teammates.” 

Toby has been an incredible asset to St Peter’s throughout his time here, and will be missed greatly by pupils and members of staff alike. Toby said that he will ‘miss just being around the environment of St Peter’s and among my friends which has made my time at school really enjoyable.’ We are so proud of Toby whose perseverance and determination has been truly remarkable, setting a great example to other pupils in his role of Head Boy. We can’t wait to follow his journey playing for the England squad and Bristol Bears.