Stowe made it two titles in 8 days as they added the Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s U18 Vase title to their U18 Schools Plate title from last week.

Over two days of intense competition Stowe were clearly the cream of the crop here at Rosslyn Park as they absolutely stormed to the Vase title.

Their closest challengers were probably actually Seaford College, who put together a fantastic run of performances over the two days, only to be unlucky enough to meet Stowe in the quarter finals. They gave it their best shot, but ultimately the Buckinghamshire side got the job done with a nail-biting 20-19 victory.

From there Stowe, who had earlier topped their morning Group B ahead of Grammar School at Leeds and Solihull, went on to face a Monmouth side that had been superb, getting past George Watson’s College and Abingdon, before beating Royal Hospital School in the quarter finals.

It felt like it could be a close game, but Stowe were on fire, with Archie McParland and Henry Pollock utterly outstanding, as they were all tournament, as they absolutely stormed to a 33-10 victory over the Welsh side, though in truth so many of this Stowe side deserve mention, not least Jamie Annand the fly half, skipper Charlie Maxwell-MacDonald, Wales’ Will Plessis, and the outstanding Ewan Baker.

It was a true team effort and so it was when they turned out in the final. They faced an Oakham side that had been magnificent all day, topping a pool containing local rivals Uppingham and Ealing Trailfinders affiliates Cardinal Newman, before beating Queen Ethelburga’s 41-12 in their quarter final.

Their crowning glory though was the semi final, a brilliantly hard fought victory over the U18 Schools Cup champions, Trinity.

That sent them into the final, but when they got there absolutely nothing was going to stop this Stowe machine. Oakham did little wrong, but Stowe, under the guidance of Grant Seely and Gavin Moffat, simply had too much as they soared to a stunning 33-5 victory on RE1.

Sometimes it feels an exaggeration to heap so much praise on a side, but on this occasion, it felt entirely justified, Stowe were truly magnificent. From minute one in this tournament they looked like the cream of the crop, only Seaford College really troubled them – and for that Seaford should take great credit – but even they found a way to victory. From there it was simply sensational stuff, what a team.

There was also action in the U18 Bowl, for the sides that lost yesterday’s elimination round games. Dollar Academy claimed the title, topping their Group ahead of St Albans and Bristol Grammar, before a series of incredible knockout performances. First they defeated the reigning Vase champions, Bromsgrove, 12-7, before coming from behind to defeat Gordon’s 31-14.

That set up a final against St Peter’s York, who had not conceded a point in their day 1 group and were formidable on Day 2, too, including knocking out Daily Mail Trophy champions Berkhamsted 15-7 in the semi final.

In the final though, Dollar Academy simply had too much as they found a way to win once again, winning 19-12 to secure the U18 Bowl, a title crossing the border back to Scotland, much as the Calcutta Cup had done in 2021. A magnificent effort from Dollar.

U18 Vase Champions: Stowe

Final

Stowe 33-5 Oakham

Semi Finals

Stowe 33-10 Monmouth, Trinity 7-12 Oakham

Quarter Finals

Seaford College 19-20 Stowe, Royal Hospital School 14-36 Monmouth, Trinity 31-5 Millfield 2^nd VII, Oakham 41-12 Queen Ethelburga’s

U18 Bowl Champions: Dollar Academy

Final

Dollar Academy 19-12 St Peter’s York

Semi Finals

Dollar Academy 31-14 Gordon’s, Berkhamsted 7-15 St Peter’s York

Quarter Finals

Bromsgrove 7-12 Dollar Academy, Gordon’s 14-7 Dean Close, Berkhamsted 47-7 St Edward’s Oxford, King’s Worcester 19-24 St Peter’s York

Vase & Bowl Final Day 2 Pool Standings:

Vase

Bowl

Colts

Over in the Colts competition on Day 3 at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s, the opening day of Colts action was an absolute cracker.

192 teams were involved and they put on a show right through the group stages. There were 48 groups in total and the group winners all went through to a show-down elimination round game.

The winners of that elimination round game would go through to Thursday’s Pools, eight pools of three with the winners heading to the quarter finals, while the losers were heading home. The stakes were enormous.

St Peter’s York were the reigning champions from back in 2019, but they went down in the eliminator to Eton College, who had been outstanding in their Pool and claimed a 40-12 victory. Joining Eton in Thursday’s Group A are St Paul’s and Clifton College after St Paul’s won a nail-biter against Epsom College and Clifton College stormed to a 26-7 victory over Reed’s.

Group B on Thursday sees one of the perennial favourites, Sedbergh, joined by QEGS Wakefield and Rugby. Sedbergh’s eliminator saw them beat Berkhamsted 33-12, while QEGS beat Blundell’s 17-5 and Rugby were on fire in a 29-7 defeat of Woodhouse Grove.

There is Scottish representation in Group C after a 31-14 victory over Scrasibrick Hall sent George Watson’s College into Day 2 of the Colts, they are joined by two heavyweights in Whitgift, who won a thriller against Haileybury 28-21, and Warwick, who were sensational in their 35-0 defeat of Garth Olwg.

Group D sees Oundle, St Ambrose College, and St John’s Leatherhead all together. Oundle won an epic against RGS Newcastle 26-24, and it was a similar type of game for St John’s, 24-19 against Sevenoaks, but St Ambrose were flying, beating Shiplake College 43-14.

Group E looks pretty tasty, Harrow could be among the favourites after winning their group and getting past Hurstpierpoint College 26-12 in their eliminator. So too Kirkham Grammar School, who bested Magdalen College 27-7. Bedford Modern complete the group, the won a thriller against Norwich 22-21.

Group F features the U16 side to Wednesday’s U18 Vase winners, Stowe. Their U16s are looking good too, beating Durham 26-17 in their eliminator. They are joined by the ever-impressive Wellington College, who won their eliminator 22-7 against Wellingborough, but it was the performance in the eliminator of King’s College Taunton that particularly caught the eye, beating Wallington County Grammar 40-5.

Over in Group G Stamford looked particularly exciting on Wednesday, they beat Felsted by a stunning 42-12 margin in their eliminator and are joined by King’s Macclesfield and Trent College, King’s Macclesfield won a cracking game against Tonbridge 28-21 while Trent won a tight one against Whitchurch High, 17-14.

The final group in the Colts competition on Thursday is Group H, which features one of the Rosslyn Park greats, Millfield. They topped their group before beating Bromsgrove with an impressive performance 33-12. Joining them are a strong Trinity side, who beat Mount St Mary’s College 38-5, and St Peter’s Gloucester, who were brilliant in their eliminator, beating Cwm Rhymni 33-0.

It all makes for an exciting day of action on Thursday, with the eight group winners progressing to the quarter finals of the Rosslyn Park HSBC National School 7s Colts competition.

Colts Day 2 Pools:

Elimination Round Results:

St Peter’s York 12-40 Eton College

Epsom College 5-12 St Paul’s

Clifton College 26-7 Reed’s

Rugby 29-7 Woodhouse Grove

QEGS Wakefield 17-5 Blundell’s

Berkhamsted 12-33 Sedbergh

Scarisbrick Hall 14-31 George Watson’s College

Warwick 35-0 Garth Olwg

Whitgift 28-21 Haileybury

Sevenoaks 19-24 St John’s, Leatherhead

RGS Newcastle 24-26 Oundle

Shiplake College 14-43 St Ambrose College

Harrow 26-12 Hurstpierpoint College

Kirkham Grammar 27-7 Magdalen College

Bedford Modern 22-21 Norwich

Wallington CGS 5-40 King’s College, Taunton

Durham 17-26 Stowe

Wellington College 22-7 Wellingborough

Whitchurch High 14-17 Trent College

Felsted 12-42 Stamford

Tonbridge 21-28 King’s Macclesfield

Cwm Rhymni 0-33 St Peter’s, Gloucester

Trinity 38-5 Mount St Mary’s College

Bromsgrove 12-33 Millfield

Final Group Standings