2023 is a very special year for both Rugby School and the game of Rugby Football itself as the game celebrates its 200th anniversary.
Rugby School has celebrations planned throughout the year, almost all of which will be brought to you live here on NextGenXV, including tournaments in April at U14, U9, U11, and Vets levels.
Before that though will be the International U18 Sevens Tournament on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th March 2023, following hot on the tails of the Rosslyn Park National School 7s, with schoold from Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa joining sides from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
NextGenXV will be live streaming the whole tournament, which follows on from the tournament in 2017 that celebrated Rugby School’s 450th anniversary, details of how and where to watch will be announced in due course.
20 teams will be competing in total, split into four pools of five teams each, with a mix of nations in each pool.
At the end of the first day’s action the teams will be drawn into fresh pools for day 2, with the top three from each Day 1 Pool going into four Championship Play Off Pools of 3 teams each, while the remaining two sides from each of the Day 1 Pools will go into two Bowl Pools of four teams each.
From there, the top two teams in each Championship Pool will qualify for the quarter finals, with the bottom finishers playing off for 9th-12th places, meanwhile in the Bowl each side will face a final game against their counterpart finisher from the other Bowl pool.
The Pools
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
| Rugby School (Eng) | Clifton College (Eng) | Marlborough College (Eng) | Uppingham (Eng) |
| Fettes College (Sco) | RBAI (N.Ire) | Campbell College (N.Ire) | Blackrock College (Ire) |
| Monmouth (Wales) | Merchiston Castle (Sco) | Strathallan (Sco) | Llandovery College (Wal) |
| St Kevin’s College (Aus) | Whitchurch High (Wal) | Nelson College (N.Z.) | Michaelhouse (S.A.) |
| The Grange (Chile) | Shawnigan Lake (Can) | Mount St Mary’s College (Eng) | Waseda High (Japan) |
Every Pool features at least one English School and two other schools from the rest of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with Pools B and C having an extra.
Hosts Rugby School are in Pool A along with Scottish side Fettes College, Wales’ Monmouth, The Grange of Chile, and St Kevin’s College of Australia.
Pool B meanwhile sees Canada’s Shawnigan Lake in amongst a sea of United Kingdom schools, with Clifton College of England, RBAI of Northern Ireland, Merchiston Castle of Scotland, and Whitchurch High of Wales for company.
It’s a similar story in Pool C for the famous Nelson College of New Zealand, with English pair Marlborough College and Mount St Mary’s College for company alongside Campbell College of Northern Ireland and Strathallan of Scotland.
Pool D features one of the most hotly anticipated competitors, Waseda High School of Japan, they are joined by South African side Michaelhouse, England’s Uppingham, and two of the most famous rugby schools in each of their respective nations, Llandovery College of Wales and Blackrock College of Ireland.
On the field and off the field it looks set to be a spectacular weekend celebrating the game of rugby on the most famous rugby field of them all. Tickets are available here: www.rugbyschoo.news/intsevens23 and if you can’t be there, then do join us on the live stream!
