UCS school in Hampstead were coached by the USA sevens boss, Mike Friday, as they took part in the largest school tournament in the world – the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens.

UCS’s head of rugby Ian Thomas entered a competition organised by NextGen7S and won the prize – Friday’s expertise at the event, which featured 182 teams.

Mr Thomas said: “It was a great experience for the boys and they were all very excited and keen to impress such a world-class coach.

“Having Mike Friday on the touchline certainly caught the attention of a few other schools!”

Aaron Hamilton, 16, said: “[It was] extremely beneficial to my defensive play as he taught me to work as hard off the ball as I do on it.

“I liked his approach to coaching as he was very hands-on and getting involved with the quick exercise, mimicking the forthcoming games. It resulted in a new game plan and focus for the team.”

The UCS Under-18 side consisted of Finn Bennett, Julius Raschke, Aaron Hamilton, Jonny Gunning, Ale Kosak, Julian Plehn, Sam Chait, Sam Kay and Benedict White.

They battled in a pool with four other sides and won their first three matches – against Prior Park (38-7), Pangbourne College (31-19), and Steyning Grammar (38-14) – before narrowly missing out against Gunnersbury (14-28).

Meanwhile, UCS’s Under-16s won all their pool games to reach the last 32 in the national competition before losing out to Loughborough Grammar.