It has been a massive week of School Rugby with major 7s tournaments and huge games of knockout rugby, the season feels as though it is now truly building towards a major climax.
Our team were at KCS Wimbledon on Wednesday to live stream their U18 Schools Plate semi final against Caterham, highlights of which you can see below, while at the same time some of the most significant 7s tournaments of the season so far were taking place.
There is more live rugby this weekend too, with our live stream of the Colston’s 7s (see below), one of a number of huge 7s tournaments this weekend, including the Oakham 7s and the hugely prestigious North of England 7s, which we will also have a presence at.
There are also the U18 and U15 Schools Cup and Vase semi finals at Sixways Stadium, plus the England U18 international against France in Saint-Raphael on Saturday.
However, that is all ahead of us and is summarised in our weekend preview, here though we look back at what has been an epic week of Schools Rugby.
Tuesday
The action all started on Tuesday with the Norfolk County 7s. Eight teams gathered at Gresham’s School, who were in celebratory mood following the England U18 selection of George Loose. Three sides looked from the outset like the key contenders, Langley, Norwich, and the hosts, Gresham’s. That was how it was to play out, too, with Norwich School claiming the silverware, a welcome boost ahead of some fantastic tournaments to come.
There was also fifteen-a-side action on Tuesday, notably in the U15 Schools Plate, where The Oratory booked their place in the final at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium with a fantastic 29-5 victory at home against Reading Blue Coat. They would have to wait until Thursday to find out their opponent though.
Wednesday
Wednesday was a bumper day on both the 7s and the fifteen-a-side fronts, and on the 7s front it was the Ampleforth 7s at Ampleforth College that was one of the standouts of the day.
There were sixteen teams in attendance, in what was a really busy day for 7s in the North of England as preparations got seriously underway for Sunday’s North of England 7s, and at Ampleforth were some of the best, the likes of Woodhouse Grove, St Peter’s York, Sedbergh, Denstone College, and RGS Newcastle, to name just a few.
It was to be Sedbergh that claimed the title, an ominous warning for the 7s world as they claimed both the U18 and U15 titles on the same day, beating Woodhouse Grove in the U18 Cup final, Coleg Llandrillo meanwhile claimed the Plate, beating Giggleswick in the final.
Staying in the North, the was action up at Newcastle School for Boys as they hosted an eight-team tournament. The competition was strong, with KES Morpeth, Dame Allan’s, and the host, Newcastle School for Boys competing in the Cup round robin, KES Morpeth coming out on top. Yarm meanwhile claimed the Plate.
Across on the North West of the country was the Birkenhead 7s, Birkenhead School were the hosts and will be one of three venues for Sunday’s North of England 7s too. This then was a great warm up for that event as sixteen schools gathered in Birkenhead. The competition was fierce and the quality hugely impressive, but amidst the competition it was a familiar name that came out on top, Kirkham Grammar School. Despite having a Schools Cup semi final on Friday night, they are looking dominant on the 7s field too, and will have teams at both the North of England 7s and Colston’s 7s on Sunday. This could be a very special few days for them. There was also success for St Mary’s College, who sealed the Plate competition on what was a fantastic afternoon of rugby.
Over at KES Stratford came another of the days most vital 7s tournaments, the Shakespeare 7s. Sixteen teams thrown together in what looked like an ultra-competitive field, with a Cup, Plate, Bowl, and Shield all up for grabs.
It was hugely exciting 7s all day, and ultimately it was to be Bromsgrove that came out on top, beating Stourport High 19-12 in the final to claim the main silverware. Over in the Plate a 34-5 victory over Warwick gave the gong to Malvern College, while Magdalen College claimed the Bowl that to a 19-12 victory over Bablake & King Henry VIII in the final, over in the Shield it was Bishop Vesey’s Grammar that claimed the final piece of silverware, beating KES Birmingham 21-0 in that final.
There was also a small quadrangular at Whitgift School on Wednesday, with Whitgift coming out on top with three wins from three over Maidstone Grammar, Ravens Wood, and Gravesend Grammar. Maidstone claimed two wins from their three, while Ravens Wood claimed one.
Over at St Albans, meanwhile, the Hertfordshire 7s were taking place, and it was incredibly strong field. Ultimately though it was to be the Daily Mail Trophy champions that took the silverware, Berkhamsted, who were outstanding all day before going on to beat ACE side Oaklands College in the final.
Over on the fifteen-a-side fields the key action was the knockout action. The U18 Schools Plate semi finals were top of the list, and Stowe absolutely stormed through to the final at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium with a stunning 41-0 victory over Stockport Grammar, it is going to take something very special to stop them.
Very special is what KCS Wimbledon have been all season long though and in front of our live cameras they put in a pretty clinical performance in the mud against Caterham, who put up a stiff fight but simply could not resist the KCS play. It finished up with KCS taking a 28-10 victory, and booking their place to take on Stowe in the final. Check out the highlights of the game at the top of this article!
Over in the U18 Schools Bowl both semi finals also took place. Eastbourne College were in sensational form to beat a spirted Glyn side 23-8 to book their place in the final. They will be taking on Nottingham High School, who took on an RGS Colchester side that has been brilliant this year, winning 22-12 despite only finding out relatively late that they would be in this semi final after Hills Road 6th form College were disqualified. That disqualification is another decision, like Henley College’s in the Plate, that the RFU in their ‘wisdom’ opted not to make the reasoning for public, allowing rumour and innuendo to build, but more worryingly allowed a platform for online bullying to fester without any ability for anyone to stem the tide for stating the facts and calming things, due to said facts being unavailable. The competition organisers are failing in their duty of care and need to adapt to the modern age, withholding information is no longer good enough when rumour and counter-rumour can spread so fast online. Only openness and communication can counter that and the RFU need to change, fast. It is simply not good enough.
In more fun matters, there was also County Cup action in Lancashire on Wednesday as Lancaster RGS andManchester Grammar School went head to head in a cracking game of rugby. It was a real test for both, but in the end it was LRGS that came away with the title thanks to an excellent 20-10 victory. Elsewhere there were victories for Harrodian and Box Hill, sealing narrow wins against Ibstock Place and Wilson’srespectively.
There was also U15 Bowl action on Wednesday, with Hill House booking their place in the final thanks to an impressive 17-3 victory over Haberdashers’ Aske’s. They will have to wait until late on Friday to find out their opponent though, with Dr Challoner’s Grammar and Poole Grammar going head to head in that semi final.
Thursday
After the hectic Wednesday schedule, Thursday was a quieter day with just one key fixture on the list, the second of the U15 Schools Plate semi finals as The Perse and Stamford went head to head to see who would head to StoneX to take on The Oratory after their victory against Reading Blue Coat on Tuesday.
The game turned out to be one of those absolute Cup classics, it could so easily have gone either way, and heading into the finish it was The Perse that had the lead, however a late rally for Stamford saw them claim the most dramatic of victories 19-17 to send them through to the final.
If you have any photos, video, reports, or any other content from the week’s rugby then please do send it in via our social media channels or admin@nextgenxv.com and if you are interested in us live streaming one of your games or an event then please do get in touch!
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Midweek 7s and 15s Restults:
Tuesday
Norfolk County 7s: Champions – Norwich
The Oratory 29-5 Reading Blue Coat – U15 Schools Plate semi final
Wednesday
7s
Ampleforth 7s: Champions – Sedbergh, Plate – Coleg Llandrillo, U15 – Sedbergh
Birkenhead 7s: Champions – Kirkham Grammar, Plate – St Mary’s College
Hertfordshire 7s: Champions – Berkhamsted
Newcastle School for Boys 7: Champions – KES Morpeth, Plate – Yarm
Shakespeare 7s: Champions – Bromsgrove, Plate – Malvern College, Bowl – Magdalen College, Shield – Bishop Vesey’s Grammar
Whitgift Quadrangular – Whitgift 3/3, Maidstone 2/3, Ravens Wood 1/3, Gravesend 0/3
15s
Eastbourne College 23-8 Glyn – Schools Bowl Semi Final
Harrodian 10-8 Ibstock Place
Hill House 17-3 Haberdashers’ Aske’s – U15 Schools Bowl Semi Final
KCS Wimbledon 28-10 Caterham – Schools Plate Semi Final: See Highlights here
Lancaster RGS 20-10 Manchester Grammar – Lancashire County Cup Final
Nottingham High 22-12 RGS Colchester – Schools Bowl Semi Final
Stowe 41-0 Stockport Grammar – Schools Plate Semi Final
Wilson’s 10-12 Box Hill
Thursday
The Perse 17-19 Stamford – U15 Schools Plate Semi Final
