Hampton won their Founders’ Day 7s competition for the second year on the bounce yesterday.
Emerging top of a tough group that included former winners in John Fisher and Campion, the hosts then beat their reigning HSBC Rosslyn Park National School 7s champions, Cranleigh, 19-10 in the final.
Hampton were in sensational form all day, beating Campion 29-10 in their opening game of the day before rattling off impressive wins over John Fisher, 31-5, St Paul’s Catholic College, 41-15, and St Joseph’s College, 40-5, to seal their position as the finalists from Group 1 in superb style.
Group 2 meanwhile always looked like it would prove to be a battle between Cranleigh and Brighton College. So it turned out to be but not without a few twists and turns first.
Cranleigh sailed through to the final group game v Brighton with a 40-0 win over UCS, a 31-19 win over St Benedict’s, and a 31-7 victory against Hampton’s 2nd VII, but Brighton College suffered a bit of a shock, they beat Hampton’s 2nd VII and UCS in relative comfort but suffered a shock 31-28 defeat to St Benedict’s.
That meant that in order to reach the final, they had to beat Cranleigh in their final group game, and beat them well, while hoping that UCS did them a favour and beat St Benedict’s in the final game. UCS played their part, but once again Cranleigh and Brighton College were utterly inseparable. As happened at the St Joseph’s Festival final, these two sides could not break the deadlock, with the game ending in a 5-5 draw, sending Cranleigh to the final at Brighton College to the Plate final.
Brighton eventually lifted the Plate, as they did in 2015, beating AASE side St Paul’s Catholic College 26-24 in the final.
The main event of course was the Cup Final, where Hampton rounded of a sublime day with an excellent 19-10 win over Cranleigh. Despite teams having a number of players missing, this tournament was once again a roaring success, and for Hampton in particular. After so long without silverware at their home tournament, they have now picked up the Cup twice in succession, a brilliant achievement.
Hampton School Founders’ Day 7s Champions – Hampton
| 2017 Hampton School Founders’ Day 7s Results | |
| Cup Final – Hampton 19-10 Cranleigh | |
| Plate Final – St Paul’s Catholic College 24-26 Brighton College | |
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Campion 19-15 John Fisher | UCS 22-19 St Benedict’s |
| Hampton 40-5 St Joseph’s College | Cranleigh 5-5 Brighton College |
| St Paul’s CC 45-12 John Fisher | Hampton 2nd VII 5-42 St Benedict’s |
| Campion 15-34 St Joseph’s College | UCS 17-34 Brighton College |
| Hampton 41-15 St Paul’s CC | Cranleigh 31-7 Hampton 2nd VII |
| St Joseph’s College 45-5 John Fisher | Brighton College 28-31 St Benedict’s |
| Campion 19-21 St Paul’s CC | UCS 19-5 Hampton 2nd VII |
| Hampton 31-5 John Fisher | Cranleigh 31-19 St Benedict’s |
| St Paul’s CC 26-12 St Joseph’s College | Hampton 2nd 12-26 Brighton College |
| Hampton 29-10 Campion | Cranleigh 40-0 UCS |
| 2017 Hampton School Founders’ Day 7s – Final Group Standings | |
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Hampton | Cranleigh |
| St Paul’s Catholic College | Brighton College |
| St Joseph’s College | St Benedict’s |
| Campion | UCS |
| John Fisher | Hampton 2nd VII |
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