This Wednesday Shiplake College and Aylesbury Grammar School meet for the first time in 19 years, LIVE on NextGenXV in a 2.30pm Kick Off.
It should be a hugely exciting fixture, particularly with it being new to the calendar, and you will be able to catch it LIVE on the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and through the embedded video below.
Nineteen years ago it was a Cup game that brought the two together, a tight and tense affair that Aylesbury just edged 7-5.
This year, one suspects, there will be more points. It has been a rare day this season for these sides to feature in game in which there are not many points.
Both arrive at this final game of the opening half of term with their season records in the balance. Shiplake have won 2, drawn 1, and lost three of their six games, though the draw also reads as a win for it came in Round 2 of the Continental Tyres Schools Vase and saw Shiplake progress. When Shiplake have won outright they have tended to win big, 52-7 v Reddam House and 60-0 v Windsor Boys.
They have lost their last couple on the bounce though, most recently a tough one at home to St George’s Weybridge, so they will be determined to put in a performance to remember here on Wednesday afternoon to send them into half term with a skip in their step.
Up against them, Aylesbury Grammar have also had an even season, winning three and losing three of their six games, with victories over King Alfred’s, John Hampden, and Windsor Boys. Like Shiplake they also reached the third round of the Vase, though that was where their run ended as St Edward’s Oxford got the better of them.
Like Shiplake, they also come in off the back of a couple of defeats and will be looking for a big moment with which to head into the half term break.
So it looks as though we are set for a fairly even game, both sides have certainly had very similar seasons up to this point. Perhaps the one indicator might be their one common opponent, Windsor Boys’ School. They both played them within a week of each other, Shiplake winning 60-0 at home on the 23rd September, Ayesbury Grammar winning 29-0 on the 30th.
That suggest a slight advantage to Shiplake, though with them being at home and Aylesbury away against Windsor that narrows that advantage, so too the likely scenario that Windsor were determined to turn things around from one week to the next.
So it looks as though we have a serious game on our hands. More importantly, we have a new fixture on the list. New friendships and rivalries to be made. It should be a fantastic afternoon.
Shiplake College v Aylesbury Grammar – Wednesday, 2.30pm KO – Live on NextGenXV
