With the end of the school rugby term fast approaching, the Daily Mail Cup at both Under 18 and Under 15 level is beginning to take shape with eight of the sixteen area finals across both age groups already finalised.
The Under 18’s had a big day yesterday with King’s School Worcester, Whitgift, King’s School Macclesfield and Warwick all sealing their places in the last sixteen with strong victories.
Sherborne will today be looking to set up a fixture with rivals and schoolboy pacesetters Marlborough when they take on Bishop’s Wordsworth this afternoon. The form guide would suggest that Sherborne ought to win but Bishop’s Wordsworth are more than capable of pulling out a surprise result if Sherborne fail to perform to their best.
Durham v RGS Newcastle and RGS High Wycombe v Sir Thomas Rich’s were meant to take this place but bad weather has seen them both postponed.
Durham v RGS Newcastle will be a particularly interesting contest with Durham one of the top school sides this year facing a motivated and historically proud RGS Newcastle side who will want to show that they can still be top dogs in the North.
The only other fifth round fixture to be played are Wirral Grammar School for Boys v QEGS Wakefield and Truro College v Blundell’s.
Guessing who might win the competition is a tough business with the number of quality sides left fighting it out in the last sixteen but if we were to hazard a guess it would be that it will be one of Dulwich, Durham and Marlborough.
With such quality in the competition though, it will really come down to who plays best on the day and how each side copes with the increase in travelling that the quarter finals and beyond bring. Indeed it is perfectly conceivable that each of the three sides mentioned might fail even to win their Area Final.
Fixtures for the final area rounds of the U18 & U15 Daily Mail Cup (Predicted area winners in italics):
U18 Daily Mail Cup
London & South East A
KCS Wimbledon v Dulwich
London & South East B
Whitgift v Hampton School
Midlands A
King’s School Worcester v Northampton School for Boys
Midlands B
Warwick v Stamford
North A
Wilmslow High v Durham or RGS Newcastle
North B
Wirral GS for Boys or QEGS Wakefield v King’s School Macclesfield
South West A
Truro College v Blundells
RGS High Wycombe v Sir Thomas Rich’s
South West B
Sherborne or Bishop Wordsworth’s v Marlborough
U15 Daily Mail Cup
London & South East A
London Oratory v Maidstone
London & South East B
Whitgift or Dulwich v St Paul’s
Midlands A
Stowe or Bedford v Warwick
Midlands B
Bromsgrove v Berkhamsted
North A
Bishop Heber v Bradford Grammar
North B
King’s Grantham v Crossley Heath
QEGS Wakefield v Altrincham
South West A
Blundell’s v RGS High Wycombe
South West B
Wellington v King’s Taunton or Thomas Hardye
Let the debate begin!
