Next on the top Welsh school’s hit list are top ranked England side Sedbergh, who they meet in Cumbria on Tuesday afternoon (10 December), before they join Millfield and Harrow in heading to Abu Dhabi to take part in the World Schools Festival for the first time (14-21 December).
They will go into both challenges full of confidence after scoring 10 tries in a record-breaking final performance that made them only the fourth side in the 14-year history of the elite competition to secure back-to-back titles after Coleg Sir Gar, Cymoedd and Cardiff & Vale College.
“We’ve got a huge game and a massive challenge against one of the best English schools on Tuesday. I know they took a heavy loss to Millfield in their last game, but they will come fighting back after that,” said Llandovery’s outside half Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, who was named man of the match in the final for the second year in a row.
“They will have had a bit of a row from their coaches after that, but we’ll get back to training and try to get after them next week. We beat them last season and as silly as it sounds, Tuesday’s game is probably a bit bigger for the school than winning the title.”
Having reaffirmed themselves as the best team in Wales, beating Sedbergh would rank them among the best in the UK. Ten they get the chance to shoot for a world title in Abu Dhabi, where they will face teams from Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand.
“We have the majority of our players available to go to Abu Dhabi, although our captain, Gryff Watkins, can’t travel because he has been selected to play for Wales U19 against Scotland,” said Llandovery director of rugby, former Bath, Scarlets, Cardiff and Wales flanker Nathan Thomas.
“That’s fantastic for him. We’ve got a good all-round squad and there was great impact from our bench in the final last week.”
But as long as they have Leggatt-Jones in their side – he played for Wales U18 as a 16-year-old last season and still has another year to go at this age level – then anything seems possible. Having overcome glandular fever earlier in the term he put in a virtuoso performance against Cymoedd, scoring 18 points.
“He took the bull by the horns and everything he did turned to gold,” said Thomas of the player who converted six of his side’s 10 tries before being replaced and dropped two goals – one from 45 metres.
Leggatt-Jones is already in the academy at the Scarlets and being tipped for great things as his career progresses. His goalkicking, kicking out of hand and distribution were all spot on, with one spin pass behind his back setting up the try of the game.
“It was a bit of a surprise putting a score like that on them. We went into half-time with a comfortable lead, but it was exactly as their semi-final and we knew we couldn’t come out and slack,” said Leggatt-Jones.
“We could easily have sat back but the boys didn’t do that. Cymoedd had a good start and put us under some pressure, but full credit to the boys they were outstanding and stayed in the fight to the end.
“It didn’t go all our way like last year, when it seemed to be written in the stars that we would win. We lost a couple of games on the way to the final, but perhaps that was a better way to win it because we had to battle hard.
“I was on the front foot most of the time and while I got the accolades, I couldn’t have done it without the boys who allowed me to go forward. We applied a bit of scoreboard pressure with the two drop goals after our first try and that’s when the momentum started to build for us.
“We don’t get the chance to play at Principality Stadium very often, so it was great to get a feel for the place. It is a class place to play, and I felt very good out there.”
He could make it a hat-trick of titles next season if Llandovery College continue their dominance, although by then he might well have outgrown schoolboy rugby.
