On Thursday 17th March, three Chingford Under 17 players were involved in one of the most impressive wins of this year’s London Youth Games. Playing in a team created and coached by Chingford member James Hankey; Calum Cox, Josh Oranu and Myles Chrisostomou were all instrumental in a memorable victory for Waltham Forest.
With the borough having finished bottom of last year’s Rugby seven’s tournament and there being no team to speak of with less than two months to go, very little if anything was expected of Waltham Forest. Week by week, additions were made and a philosophy instilled until, as time progressed, some talented individual players started to look like a functional team.
Despite a silent belief in their own ability and game plan, no-one involved could have predicted what was to follow. Facing the holders in the first game, the boys went out and tore them apart, running in 57 unanswered points and scoring some excellent team tries in the process. Throughout the rest of the group stage, the boys produced some breath-taking Rugby, winning the other two games 47-5 and 22-14 respectively.
After winning the group, the team went on to win 29-5 in the quarter final, 45-7 in the semi-final and an emphatic 40-5 in the final.
Below are some short summaries of how the boys individually contributed to the team.
Calum Cox: Calum was excellent all round. He made all of his tackles, turned over countless balls at the ruck and caused havoc when hunting the ball down from kick off. Calum stood out in the team for his intelligent support lines and a world class hand-off/offload round the corner to finish off one of the best team moves of the tournament.
Josh Oranu: Josh is a strong player in every sense. His tournament highlights were an immaculately timed line to burst through and score in the group decider. Then in the same game , with the score at 22-14, he chased back all the way across the pitch to pull off a remarkable try saving tackle on the line; then got straight up, turned the ball over and ran it back at the opposition.
Myles Chrisostomou: Myles was the secret weapon. His pace and craving for tries proved devastating game after game when he came on. Highlights included a length of the pitch try in the group stage and a quick sprint through a well found gap to score in the final.

Winning an Under 19’s tournament with so many top quality players on display is a huge achievement, so please do congratulate the boys when you see them!