Friday night sees Ipswich School and Northampton School for Boys go head to head LIVE at Bury St Edmunds RFC, with the 1st XVs kicking off at 8pm.
It is actually a 1st XV and 2nd XV double header in Suffolk, with NextGenXV live streaming both games which can be seen on the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and also on the embedded video below, both games will be on the same video, the 1st XV at 8pm following the 2nd XV game at 6.30pm.
It will be the first game of the season for either Ipswich side after their games at Uppingham last week were cancelled due to the medical services having covid. Northampton School for Boys (NSB) meanwhile had both sides out against Wellington College last weekend, the 1st XV losing a cracker of a game 38-25 and the 2ndXV going down 50-31 before bouncing back in midweek with a 19-12 victory over Moulton College.
Still while not much has been played yet this season, both sides have some decent form to contend with, Ipswich looked good in pre season, while NSB enjoyed a successful tour with both sides of South Africa this summer.
It is from last year though where the story of this year’s head to head is really built. These two have not been playing long, Ipswich’s rugby has grown dramatically under Jacob Ford’s stewardship in the last 2 years, while NSB under Phil Beaumont have added consistency to what had been occasional forays into the upper echelons.
They met for the first time in 2021 where just the 1st XVs met, Ipswich winning that won comfortably, but in 2022 the fixture exploded into life. At 2nd XV level Ipswich won 59-10, their side showing the quality that led to a Played 11 Won 9 season, but at 1st XV level it was a different story.
An epic contest played out, a game that featured a bit of everything, literally, and really could have gone either way. The NextGenXV cameras were there to pick it up live and you can watch it again below, and what a treat is was to do so because it was a stunning game. NSB took it in the end, 24-19, but another five minutes and Ipswich might have had it, and five more NSB might have had it again. If we get half the game on Friday night as we did last year, we are in for a treat on NSB skipper Luca Williams’ 18th birthday.
Both sides would go on to great things at different age groups, a few weeks later Ipswich won the Merchiston Festival, probably the biggest moment in the school’s rugby history. Meanwhile NSB won the Continental Tyres U15 Schools Cup, unquestionably the greatest in theirs, and expect a few of their players from that side to make appearances on Friday night.
It’s set to be a brilliant evening.
Ipswich v Northampton School for Boys – at Bury St Edmunds RFC, Live on NextGenXV
1st XV: 8pm KO
2nd XV: 6.30pm KO
