St John’s Leatherhead claimed the 2017 Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s U18 Vase final after a thrilling final against Cheltenham College.
St John’s had been magnificent all tournament, topping a tough group on day one before beating The Perse 42-0 in their elimination round game yesterday afternoon.
In today’s quarter final groups they topped a monstrously hard pool ahead of QEGS Wakefield and Blundell’s, sending them into semi final group two.
There they met Eastbourne College, a favourite among many spectators, and Oakham, the NatWest Champions Trophy semi finalists, both of whom they beat.
Cheltenham College, meanwhile, had come through some tricky groups of their own, beating Monmouth and Stowe to top quarter final group B, before seeing off the challenge of two very strong semi final pool competitiors in St Peter’s York and Bromsgrove.
Heading into the final, a close a tense game was expected, and so it proved, but not initially. St John’s absolutely flew out of the traps, and for a while it looked as though the men who performed so well in the Surrey 7s might run away with this final.
They took a 19-0 lead, and Cheltenham looked in dire straights. This is 7s though, and the game can turn on a sixpence. The men in red and black pulled one back to make it 19-7, though St John’s replied almost instantly to stretch the lead back out to 26-7 at the half time break.
Whatever was said at half time must have worked for Cheltenham though, they came flying out of the traps, scoring a quick couple of tries and holding onto the ball for almost the entire duration of the half as they closed it to 26-19.
With the game entering the final play they piled on the pressure again, creating a chance. Despite the onslaught though, St John’s kept their heads, forcing Cheltenham wide so that when they eventually did breach the defence it was in the corner with a tough conversion.
That was exactly as it played out, and with the wind picking up it really was a near impossible conversion, a smart bit of defensive work from St John’s.
It was a brave and exciting comeback from Cheltenham College, but ultimately for their play over the day and their outstanding rugby in the first half of this fantastic final, the Vase ended up in the right hands, but what a way to decide it, this was a final that will live long in the memory.
Over in the Bowl competition, for those that lost in the Vase elimination round, Epsom College picked up the trophy. The South West Londonders topped their quarter final group before ousting Pocklington and Millfield 2nd VII in their semi final pool to set up a final against Stockport Grammar School, who had seen off the challenge of Wallington County Grammar and Bloxham in their semi final group.
In the final Epsom were just too good and too powerful in the end, starting fast and only accelerating from there to take a quite brilliant 31-0 win, walking home with the Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s Bowl title.
Walking away with the Vase after a stunning day of play though were St John’s Leatherhead, whose rise over the last year or so has been truly impressive.
Overall, the plate was a real success, with perhaps the real highlight being the number of genuine ‘Vase’ teams that made it towards the latter stages of the competition, adding some real romance and excitement to the comepetition.
Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s Vase Results:
U18 Vase Final
St John’s, Leatherhead 26-24 Cheltenham College
U18 Bowl Final
Epsom College 31-0 Stockport Grammar School
U18 Vase Semi Final Groups (Final Standings, 1-3):
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Cheltenham College | St John’s, Leatherhead |
| St Peter’s, York | Eastbourne College |
| Bromsgrove | Oakham |
U18 Bowl Semi Final Groups (Final Standings, 1-3):
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Epsom College | Stockport GS |
| Millfield B | Wallington CGS |
| Pocklington | Bloxham |
U18 Vase Quarter Final Groups:
| Vase A | Vase B | Vase C |
| St Peter’s, York | Cheltenham College | Bromsgrove |
| Felsted | Monmouth | Reed’s |
| Berkhamsted | Stowe | St Pauls |
| Vase D | Vase E | Vase F |
| St John’s, Leatherhead | Eastbourne College | Oakham |
| QEGS Wakefield | Eltham College | Queen Ethelburga’s |
| Blundell’s | King’s Worcester | Ysgol Y Preseli |
U18 Bowl Quarter Final Groups:
| Bowl A | Bowl B | Bowl C |
| Millfield B | Pocklington | Epsom College |
| Shawnigan Lawe B | Loughborough | Sir William Borlase |
| Simon Langton GS | Kingswood | Malvern College |
| Bowl D | Bowl E | Bowl F |
| Bloxham | Stockport GS | Wallington CGS |
| The Perse | Ipswich | Marlborough College |
| Seaford College | Tiffin | Bradford GS |
U18 Vase Elimination Round Results:
Berkhamsted (A) 29-24 Shawnigan Lake (B)
St Peter’s York (C) 19-14 Simon Langton GS (D)
Millfield B (E) 5-19 Felsted (F)
Kingswood (G) 14-29 Stowe (H)
Cheltenham College (I) 47-0 (Z) Loughborough
Pocklington (J) 10-14 Monmouth (K)
Malvern College (L) 7-29 St Paul’s (M)
Epsom College (N) 19-22 (O) Reed’s
Bromsgrove (P) 33-26 (Q) Sir William Borlase’s
QEGS Wakefield (R) 31-19 Seaford College (S)
Blundell’s (T) 42-12 Bloxham (U)
The Perse (V) 0-42 St John’s Leatherhead (W)
King’s Worcester (X) 28-26 Ipswich (Y)
Eastbourne College (AA) 25-12 Tiffin (BB)
Bradford Grammar (CC) 21-35 Ysgol Y Preseli (DD)
Marlborough College (EE) 19-24 (FF) Oakham
Stockport GS (GG) 20-26 Eltham College (Runner Up 1)
Queen Ethelburga’s (HH) 21-12 Wallington CGS (Runner Up 2)
HSBC Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s Vase Final Group Standings (1-5) 170 Teams:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Berkhamsted | Shawnigan Lake | St Peter’s York | Simon Langton Grammar |
| Nelson College | Christ College Brecon | Langley | Radley College |
| UCS | Loretto | Hayes | RGS Guildford |
| King’s Macclesfield | Churcher’s College | Shawinigan Lake 2nd VII | Ysgol Bro Dinefwr |
| Colston’s | AKS Arnold | Hymers College | Bishop Gore |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Millfield B | Felsted | Kingswood | Stowe |
| Welbeck | RGS Newcastle | Wallington CGS | Royal Hospital School |
| RGS Worcester | Worksop College | Emanuel | Brynteg Comprehensive |
| Ysgol Gyfun Bryn Tawe | RGS Lancaster | Royal Alexandra & Albert | Richard Huish |
| Torquay BGS | Prior Park College | Birdgewater College | Michaelhouse A |
| Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L |
| Cheltenham College | Pocklington | Monmouth | Malvern College |
| Merchant Taylors’ | Portsmouth GS | Durham | KCS Wimbledon |
| Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr | Dean Close | Bede’s | New Hall |
| King’s Bruton | Gower College | Esher College | King’s Canterbury |
| Mount Kelly | Lord Wandsworth College | Michaelhouse B | Wycliffe College |
| Group M | Group N | Group O | Group P |
| St Paul’s | Epsom College | Reed’s | Bromsgrove |
| Downside | Abingdon | King’s College Taunton | Judd |
| Cokethorpe | Shore Sydney CoE | Gravesend GS | Trinity |
| Ampleforth College | KES Bath | St David’s | Cabot Learning Federation |
| Coleg Gwent | St Olave’s GS | Llandaf | Manchester GS |
| Group Q | Group R | Group S | Group T |
| Sir William Borlase’s | QEGS Wakefield | Seaford College | Blundell’s |
| Pangbourne College | Hill House | Eton College | Taunton |
| Wellington | Ysgol Sir Thomas Picton | Birkdale | Bristol Grammar |
| KES Stratford | Sir Joseph Williamson’s | Duke of York’s RMS | Mount St Mary’s College |
| Gunnersbury | Gordon’s | Greenhill | Hereford Cathedral |
| Group U | Group V | Group W | Group X |
| Bloxham | The Perse | St John’s Leatherhead | King’s Worcester |
| Campion | Shiplake College | Christ’s Hospital | Wirral GS |
| Cardinal Newman | The Oratory | Yarm | Worth |
| Wrekin College | Sutton Valence | Bedford Modern | Bishop Heber High School |
| St Dunstan’s College | King John | Clayesmore | Ardingly College |
| Group Y | Group Z | Group AA | Group BB |
| Ipswich | Loughborough | Eastbourne College | Tiffin |
| The Leys | Uppingham | Whitchurch | Maidstone GS |
| Queen’s College Taunton | Truro | Plymouth College | Shrewsbury |
| Dauntsey’s | St Peter’s Gloucester | Cooper’s Coborn | Liverpool College |
| Steyning GS | QEH | Harrodian | Latymer Upper |
| Group CC | Group DD | Group EE | Group FF |
| Bradford GS | Ysgol Y Preseli | Marlborough College | Oakham |
| Milton Abbey | St Edward’s Oxford | Wisbech Grammar School | Pembrokeshire College |
| Bablake | Stonyhurst College | Melksham Oak | Ellesmere College |
| Treorchy Comprehensive | Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg | QES Barnet | Sevenoaks |
| Ibstock Place | Rutlish | Akeley Wood | QES Kirkby |
| Group GG | Group HH |
| Stockport GS | Queen Ethelburga’s |
| Eltham College | Brentwood |
| Weston College | Ashville College |
| Coleg Sir Gar B | Windsor Boys’ |
| Stockport GS | Bassaleg |