The 15th Annual Modus Cup between old rivals RGS Worcester and King’s Worcester will take place in a new slot of Monday evening rather than the usual Thursday slot.
As last year though, NextGenXV will be live streaming the game live from Sixways Stadium, the former home of Worcester Warriors (whose Academy, it was announced today, will now be replaced by the new RFU Midlands Academy). You will be able to watch all the action on our YouTube Channel, on Tik Tok, or via the embedded video below.
An expected crowd of 4,000 is expected at Sixways for what is always one of the biggest events on the schools rugby calendar and both side are going to be giving it absolutely everything in the 7pm kick off.
Last year’s game was an epic occasion, with fans on both sides bringing real passion and the players on each side adding true quality to the play (see highlights below). King’s Worcester won that one 39-12 to take a 9-5 lead in the annual head to head. RGS Worcester will be hoping to reduce that to 9-6 on Monday evening.
Victory on Monday would give King’s Worcester three in a row, a feat not achieved since 2016. For RGS it would be a first Modus Cup victory since their 31-13 title in 2018.
King’s have one key advantage heading into this one though, that being a 29-5 victory over RGS Worcester back in September in the opening round of the U18 Schools Cup. A lot has happened since then, and that was at King’s rather than on neutral ground, but for King’s it ought to be a huge source of confidence ahead of Monday night’s encounter – although for RGS it ought to prove the ultimate motivational tool.
More pertinently for both sides though, Monday evening could be a real kick start to the season, both had tricky opening halves of term. That victory over RGS was King’s only victory, with tight defeats to Bloxham and Sir Thomas Rich’s, accompanied by defeats to Loughborough Grammar and then in the Cup to high flying Stowe, though they did also beat Hereford 6th form College in pre-season.
It is a similar tale for RGS, who have played 8 but one just one, their opening game 14-10 against Hereford 6thform College, though they were within a whisker against both Collegiate and Pate’s Grammar.
So both sides are going to want to use the occasion as a springboard for the rest of the season. However the reality is that this game is about much more than that, it is about making memories in front of friends and family in a wonderful stadium and in a game that means so much more to all that merely the result.
The likes of Loic Keasey, Andrew Boyce, and George de Cothi have graced this fixture and many more future pros will to – perhaps some will this year too, the news of the RFU stepping in to fill the academy void left by Worcester and Wasps will come as great news to a number of players on both sides this Monday night.
It should be an absolutely brilliant occasion, one that is simply not to be missed!
