This weekend sees the Merchiston Castle Festival take place as sixteen sides gather at the home of arguably the most well-known school side in Scotland.

The Festival has expanded rapidly since its inception in 2019, growing to become one of the key events on the calendar in both Scotland and England, having grown from 8 teams to 16 teams.

Those sixteen teams include two Scottish schools, nine English schools, two Scottish Districts, and three Scottish clubs. Five new sides join the fray this year, with Scottish Districts Edinburgh Reivers and Glasgow Caledonians joining, along with Scottish school Dollar Academy, and English schools Dame Allan’s and Durham.

The sixteen sides are split into four groups of four teams each, with the top two in each pool progressing to the Cup quarter finals, the bottom two progress to the Bowl quarter finals. Losing Cup quarter finalists head to the Plate semi finals and those falling at the same stage in the Bowl head to the Shield semi finals. Across the Cup, Plate, Bowl, and Shield, losing semi finalists play a 3^rd place play off in each of those categories.

What that means is that every team will finish the Festival with a final ranking, 1-16. Hosts Merchiston Castle arrive with the highest placing from last year, having reached the final against an outstanding Ipswich side, who unfortunately cannot attend this year.

Merchiston sit in Group 1, and alongside them sit fourteenth and fifteenth from last year, St Benedict’s of England and Ayr RFC of Scotland, plus newcomers Durham. Such has been Durham’s form this year that they could well be among their favourites at the tournament this year.

Group 2 meanwhile features last year’s third place finishers, Mount St Mary’s College, who could also be strong contenders this year. Joining them are last year’s 7^th placed finishers Barnard Castle, another very strong side, Peebles RFC, who finished 11^th, and newcomers Dollar Academy, who are another side that are sure to be looking to challenge at the top.

Over in Group 3 are last year’s Plate winners and the 2021 champions, Seaford College. They are playing some glorious rugby right now and will be among the favourites. Alongside them are last year’s Bowl runners up and the 2021 Plate winners, Collegiate, as well as two newcomers, Dame Allan’s and Glasgow Caledonians.

The final group, Group 4, sees last year’s Plate runners up, Norwich join up with the 4^th ranked side, Boroughmuir RFC, who were last year’s best performing club side by some distance. Alongside those two are Wycliffe College, who lifted the Shield last year, and the final newcomer Edinburgh Reivers.

After a tough start to life that saw the original 2019 tournament washed out and the 2020 tournament lost to Covid, the Merchiston Castle Festival has quickly established a reputation not just of quality and competitiveness, but of off-field camaraderie as well. With so many sides having travelled great distances that off-field has often been highlighted as a key factor in why, and a key aim for the tournament to sustain.

On the field the action has been red hot, for in Seaford College and Ipswich they have had superb sides claim victory so far, establishing it as a key title in the school season, and with this year’s teams that on field quality looks set to remain.

Of course for the hosts, and their compatriots, one major aim for those on the field will surely be to claim a first Festival title for a Scottish side. Since this tournament began Scotland have dominated England internationally, could they start to do so on the school fields this weekend?

The challenge will be big, there are some strong English sides travelling north, but the Scottish contingent is strong too and in Merchiston Castle and Dollar Academy there are two of the finest Scottish schools rugby institutions around.

Whichever way it pans out on the field, the guarantee is two days of fantastic schools rugby action, and off it two days, and indeed Friday night, of all that makes this game so special and sixteen groups of players and staff enjoy all of Merchiston Castle’s superb hospitality. No doubt plenty of travelling parents will be enjoying themselves as well.

It promises to be one of the great weekend’s on the schools rugby calendar.

Merchiston Festival Day 1 Groups

2022 Final Standings

1 Ipswich – Cup Champions

2 Merchiston Castle

3 Mount St Mary’s College

4 Boroughmuir RFC

5 Seaford College – Plate Winners

6 Norwich

7 Barnard Castle

8 Canford

9 Bedford – Bowl Winners

10 Collegiate

11 Peebles RFC

12 Uppingham

13 Wycliffe College – Shield Winners

14 St Benedict’s

15 Ayr RFC

16 George Watson’s College