Buchan School reached the National Schools' Tag Rugby finals

Buchan School finished 18th at the UK National Schools' Tag Rugby finals held at Rugby School in Warwickshire.

More than 2,000 teams from across the UK entered the competition, making housemaster Anton Maree all the more proud of the school's achievement.

"We matched every team we played and only lost to the defending champions by one try in the last minute," said Maree, who travelled with the team.

"They were a tribute to the island and should feel very proud."

The competition saw over 15,000 boys and girls battle it out in local and regional heats for the right to be one of the 24 teams to reach the national finals.

Buchan pupils earned the right to represent the Isle of Man after winning the Manx final, which was held at the NSC in May.

The Buchan tag rugby squad comprised of eight boys and four girls who proudly wore their national colours during a very wet and blustery competition.

The two finalists, Holy Trinity School from Kent and Grange Park School from London, now have the honour of battling it out against each other in front of a crowd of 85,000 at Twickenham, the home of English rugby.

They will play their final before next season's England v Scotland Calcutta Cup match in the RBS Six Nations Championship.

Ian Williams, the Isle of Man rugby development officer, attended the final at Rugby School and was delighted with the performance of the young squad.

He said: "The Buchan pupils were able to compete against the best tag rugby teams in the country, and have proved that the standard of tag rugby on the island is very good indeed."