The draw for the 2023 St Joseph’s Festival has been made, ahead of next weekend’s kick off for the two day extravaganza of school rugby.
As ever sixteen teams will compete across the two days, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd October, with the whole weekend broadcast LIVE here on NextGenXV.
Links, team by team guides, and a full preview of the weekend will be published early next week as excitement for the competition ramps up to the max. It truly is one of the great schools rugby events anywhere in the world.
The Draw
As ever, the draw is absolutely fearsome, such is the quality of the 16-team strong field that St Joseph’s College have assembled in Suffolk.
There are two newcomers to the draw this year, Blundell’s from Devon and Cheltenham College from Gloucestershire, replacing Hurstpierpoint College and Marlborough College.
The reward for both is a challenging draw. Blundell’s are drawn in Group 3 alongside 2017 champions and one of the favourites for this year’s title, Brighton College, while alongside those two are Scottish giants Strathallan, the only school so far this season to have stopped the runaway train that is George Watson’s. Completing the group are 2015 Plate winners Denstone College, who came within a whisker of defeating the eventual champions Millfield in the De la Salle trophy semi finals, how they would like to go a step further this year.
Cheltenham College’s draw is no easier, alongside them are the 2019 champions and 2022 Plate winners Wellington College, another of the big contenders this year, as well as the side that lost to Wellington College in each of those respective finals, Kirkham Grammar School, and likewise they are expected to be among the toughest competitors. Every competition has its group of death though, and Group 2 might just be it because completing the group are RGS High Wycombe, 1999 champions and multiple finalists, who are enjoying arguably their greatest season since those heady days.
Group 1 looks pretty tasty as well, with two former champions and last year’s finalists. Trinity reached the final last year on their Festival debut, and had fly half Josh Bellamy named as player of the tournament too. They would love another crack at to title but first they must get past 2015 champions Hampton, who will fancy their chances, as well as the 1997 champions QEGS Wakefield, both of whom have won the Plate in the last seven years as well, and last year’s Shield winners and Welsh giants, Whitchurch High School.
The hosts, St Joseph’s College, lurk in Group 4. They finished in 11th last year but a very strong start to the season sees them surely eyeing up the possibility of a crack at earning a first title since 2013. The skipper that day, Lewis Ludlam, is in the England squad for the World Cup, how they would love to use that as motivation. They are going to have to be sharp though because this is a group of champions, featuring 2011 winners Dulwich College, who are having one of their best seasons for a while, 2018 champions RGS Newcastle, and the tournament’s most dominant side, Millfield. The Somerset side have won the last two in a row and are among the favourites this year, should they make it three in a row they would be just the second side to do so in tournament history. Colston’s (Collegiate) achieved the feat in 2003, the same school that Millfield have surpassed as the most successful side in the tournament’s history. Their back to back titles leave them on 8 to Colston’s 6.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
| Hampton | Cheltenham College | Blundell’s | Dulwich College |
| QEGS Wakefield | Kirkham Grammar | Brighton College | Millfield |
| Trinity | RGS High Wycombe | Denstone College | RGS Newcastle |
| Whitchurch High | Wellington College | Strathallan | St Joseph’s College |
The Format
The Group stage is merely the Saturday appetizer to Sunday’s blockbuster knockouts. On Sunday the top two from each group will progress to the De La Salle Trophy quarter finals. The bottom two to the Bowl quarter finals.
Winners of those quarter finals will qualify for their respective semi finals, while losers in the Trophy quarters will head to Plate semi finals and losers in the Bowl quarters to Shield semi finals.
Winners of the semi finals in each of those four competitions will reach the finals, while losers will meet in the third place play offs in each of the four competitions, giving every side in the competition a final ranking from 1 to 16.
Live Streaming
You will be able to watch every minute of the action here on NextGenXV, links will be provided in the coming days along with our detailed preview and team by team guides! In the meantime, do check out the 2022 Highlights!
