The draw for the 2017 HSBC Rosslyn Park National School 7s has been made.
Cranleigh last year secured their maiden Cup title, beating Harrow 27-19 in a pulsating game of rugby.
The holders, recently named our School Team of the Term, are also the reigning St Joseph’s Festival Champions. They are named in Group A, as is traditional for the holders, where they will face Brooksby Melton, Welsh College, Coleg Llandrillo, Tasker Milward, and Amercian side Utah Lions.
Harrow, the losing finalists last year are in the bottom group in the draw, Group N. A few tweaks to the draw have made this a slightly less tortuous group than it was, but it still looks tough with the dangerous St Joseph’s College lurking, along with Chislehurst and Sidcup and two Welsh schools in the form of Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg and Cardiff and Vale.
Following the Group stage, the winners will play an Elimination Round against another group winner, there will also be room for the two best runners up. Winners of those games will be in the Cup quarter finals, while the losers will be in the Plate quarter finals.
Stowe picked up last year’s Plate, beating Barnard Castle 24-12. The men in blue are not in this year’s draw though, they have dropped to the Vase, however Barnard Castle are. They are in Group E alongside former NatWest Cup finalists Old Swinford Hospital, Welsh side Cowbridge Comprehensive, Leicester Grammar, and former champions Wellington College, who will be pressing hard for the title here once again.
The U18 Cup draw also includes the two finalists from the U18 Vase last year, Tonbridge and Bedford. Both sides have stepped up from the second tier competition, as seems fitting, and they can expect to challenge strongly in the Top Tier competition.
Tonbridge won their duel last year in the Vase, winning the final 26-10, and then repeated the feat in fifteen-a-side format back in November to win the Champions Trophy.
Tonbridge are drawn in a tough looking Group I alongside three AASE sides, Moulton College, Oaklands College, and Worcester 6th form College, and the 2013 finalists, Woodhouse Grove.
Bedford, meanwhile are in Group K, where Scottish side Dollar Academy, AASE side Bishop Burton College, City of London Freemen’s, and the former NatWest Cup winners Warwick are their opposition.
Among the many other to look out for are Beechen Cliff in Group B, and former winners Whitgift in Group C, where they will face 2015 finalists, John Fisher, their nearest and bitterest of rivals. Group F contains Brighton College, whose fifteen-a-side fests suggest a top 7s side in the making, and AASE side Filton College. Group G includes former triple NatWest Cup champions Dulwich College as well as AASE side Myerscough College, and Scottish legends Merchiston Castle.
Millfield are among the most successful sides in Rosslyn Park history, and they are to be found in Group H, while AASE giants Hartpury College are in Group J where another legendary side of this competition resides, Sedbergh. It will be an incredibly tough group, with strong competition from Denstone College, St Paul’s Catholic College, and Oundle as well as those two giants of the school game.
Gorup M looks like a real firecracker. AASE champions Exeter College are there, as are Kirkham Grammar School, who have not lost for three years. Hampton are always a 7s threat, as are Welsh giants Coleg Sir Gar, while Bryanston carry plenty of history too.
All in all, it should be another superb week of rugby at the HSBC Rosslyn Park National School 7s!
HSBC Rosslyn Park National School 7s Cup Groups (70 Teams):
Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
Brooksby Melton | Beechen Cliff | Coleg y Cymoedd | Caterham |
Coleg Llandrillo | Coleg Gwent | John Fisher | Hurtpierpoint College |
Cranleigh | Peterborough Regional | Nottingham HS | Ivybridge Community |
Tasker Milward | Ryde School | QES Kirkby Lonsdale | Newport HS |
Utah Lions | St Benedict’s | Whitgift | Queen Ethelburga’s |
Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
Barnard Castle | Brighton College | Dulwich College | Canford |
Cowbridge Comprehensive | Haileybury | Giggleswick | Millfield |
Leicester Grammar | Rydal Penrhos | Merchiston Castle | St George’s College |
Old Swinford Hospital | SGS Filton College | Myerscough College | VIIs Barbarians |
Wellington College | St Ambrose College | Neath Port Talbot | Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf |
Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L |
Moulton College | Denstone College | Bedford | Harris City Academy |
Oaklands College | Hartpury College | Bishop Burton College | Llandovery College |
Tonbridge | Oundle | City of London Freemen’s | Sherborne |
Woodhouse Grove | Sedbergh | Dollar Academy | Henley College |
Worcester 6th form College | St Paul’s Catholic College | Warwick | Wimbledon College |
Group M | Group N |
Bryanston | Cardiff and Vale |
Coleg Sir Gar | Chislehurst & Sidcup |
Exeter College | Harrow |
Hampton | St Joseph’s College |
Kirkham Grammar | Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg |
To see the draws for the other competitions at Rosslyn Park, please click the following links:
HSBC Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s Schedule:
Monday 20 March
Junior Waterfall Tournament
Tuesday 21 March
Colts (U16) Tournament begins
Wednesday 22 March
Vase Tournament begins
Colts Finals
Thursday 23 March
Cup Tournament begins
U14 Tournament begins
Vase Finals
Friday 24 March
U18 Girls Tournament
U18 Girls AASE Tournament
Prep School Waterfall Tournament
U14 Finals
Cup Finals
2016 Winners:
U18 Cup
Cranleigh (bt Harrow 27-19)
U18 Plate
Stowe (bt Barnard Castle 24-12)
U18 Vase
Tonbridge (bt Bedford 26-10)
U18 Bowl
King’s Macclesfield (bt St Paul’s 14-12)
Colts
Brighton College (bt New Hall 20-19)
U14
Ivybridge Community College (bt Warwick 27-19)
U14 Plate
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni (bt City of London Freemen’s 26-14)
Prep
Caldicott (bt Bromsgrove 12-5)
Juniors
Wimbledon College (bt Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf 15-7)
Girls
Ysgol Dyffrin Amman (bt Christ’s Hospital 29-7)
Girls AASE
Hartpury College (bt Bishop Burton College 28-0)