The 2017 Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s tournament kicked off in style today with the Junior Waterfall Tournament.

Eight schools went through the entire day without defeat in what was a long and intense day of rugby, which saw almost all four season’s worth of weather occur in just one day.

There was some outstanding rugby played throughout the day, with 132 teams competing. Some of the rugby would have been fit for the U18s later in the week, one particular passage that caught our eye was between Yarm and Gordano, which saw just about every player on the pitch gain possession of the ball at least twice before a wonderful try was scored. Sevens at its most pure and at its very best.

Though the Junior Tournament has no winners this year, in accordance with the England Rugby Age-Grade Rugby reforms, the winners of the initial groups were placed in 11 ‘A Group’ second phase groups, second place went into ‘B Group’ second phase groups, third into ‘C Group’, and fourth into ‘D Group’.

So there was sense therefore of who the schools at the upper end were. There for the winners of those 11 ‘A Groups’ can consider themselves among the very best around, Whitgift, Dubai College, Rodillian Academy, Royal Hospital School, Judd, QEH, Torquay Boys Grammar, Solihull, KES Bath, Devonport High School, and RGS Lancaster.

Of those eleven schools, eight came away with perfect records from the day, and were exceptional throughout.

Whitgift topped Group C and then went off to head QEGS Wakefield and Halliford in A1, over in A2, Dubai College were also unbeaten, having gone through Group D in style.

Royal Hospital School also ran through the day unbeaten topping Group K before beating Cardiff High and Stockport Grammar to secure A4, Judd, meanwhile were unbeaten in A5 after seeing off the competition in Group M, with QEH in A6 another unbeaten side. They saw off New Hall and Dartford Grammar, having secured top spot in Group P.

Over in Group A8, Solihull added Hampton and Bedford Modern to list of schools they had beaten, which included all of Group V in Phase 1.

KES Bath were top of the pile in A9, having also topped Group Z, while Devonport High, the Group BB Winners were also unbeaten in A10.

There was plenty of other excitement throughout the day, not just in the top groups, but there was also some fascinating action away from the pitches. In the HSBC hub, former England 7s star Chris Cracknell spoke engagingly about his experiences in being part of the coaching team that took Fiji to Olympic Gold back in the summer, as we saw an emotional and insightful video about their journey to that gold medal.

You can see that video below – while the videos of Chris’ Q&A with the audience are available on our Facebook Page after we recorded them on Facebook Live.

Tomorrow sees the Colts tournament begin, you can see the draw for that competition here: Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s Colts Draw.

All in all, a wonderful start to this year’s Rosslyn Park 7s!

Do make sure to stay in touch throughout the week – on Twitter @FifteenRugbyXV Facebook (www.facebook.com/FifteenRugby), instagram @fifteenrugbyXV and on email, writers@fifteenrugby.com

HSBC Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s Junior Waterfall Tournament:

Phase 2 Groups – Final Standings (Top to Bottm)

A Groups (Winners of Phase 1 Groups)

Whitgift, Royal Hospital School, QEH, Solihull, KES Bath, Devonport, Judd, Dubai College

B Groups (2^nd in Phase 1 Groups)

C Groups (3rd in Phase 1 Groups)

D Groups (4^th in Phase 1 Groups)

Phase 1 Groups – Final Standings (Top to Bottom)