This Thursday Harrow and Ipswich go head to head in a huge Continental Tyres Schools Cup Quarter Final, kicking off LIVE here on NextGenXV at 2.15pm.
Both sides arrive unbeaten, and with a huge amount on the line. For Harrow this would complete an unbeaten term, to go along with the unbeaten regular season and their retention of the Daily Mail Trophy, it would also secure the NextGenXV Schools Rugby Table title, and, of course, send them through to the semi finals of the Continental Tyres Schools Cup.
For Ipswich there is plenty on the line too, they have one more game in the Daily Mail Trophy and could still climb above their current fourth place, it would also keep them right in the mix in the NextGenXV Schools Rugby Table, keep alive the possibility of an unbeaten season, and keep this superb Cup run going.
It’s all to play for and every second of the action will be LIVE on the NextGenXV Yoube Channel and available through the embedded video below as well.
It truly has been a magical season for both. On Saturday Harrow completed an unbeaten regular season with a 29-21 victory over Mill Hill – only the second time this season that they have not exceeded 35 points scored. Among their twelve victories are wins over the likes of Clifton College, Wellington College, and Tonbridge, whilst against Warwick, Berkhamsted, and Trinity (winners between them of three Schools Cups and a Daily Mail Trophy in the last seven years) they have scored fifty points.
In doing so Harrow made it back to back Daily Mail Trophy titles, a feat previously achieved only by Sedbergh and Wellington College. Their Cup run has been extraordinary to date, they eased in with a 25-10 victory over Newman College, before brilliant performances against RGS Guildford, 47-22, and Hurstpierpoint College, 46-5, to reach this stage.
It should come as no surprise in many ways, the current U6th were unbeaten as U14s and only lost once as the junior year in last year’s 1st XV, while the current L6th were unbeaten as Colts and lost just once as U15s, in an epic Cup game at RGS High Wycombe.
That is the scale of the task that now faces Ipswich in this first meeting between the two schools, defeat a side that institutionally, for those on the field on Thursday, just does not lose.
Yet Ipswich will arrive in confidence, they are having the greatest season they have maybe ever had. They have been unbeaten before, but never in the company the likes of which they have been in this year. The jewel in the crown being a stunning 32-29 victory over Sedbergh before half term (see below). They are bursting with confidence and rightly so.
This will actually be their five game in front of the live cameras this season, having faced, and beaten, Northampton School for Boys, Sedbergh, Rugby, and Stowe in front of the cameras already. This one will be on another level though, without doubt two of the top three or four in the country going head to head with unbeaten records.
Both may sense tiny chinks in the armour though, Harrow’s U6th will remember last year’s perfect term being spoiled at the last by Trinity at this very stage of the Cup, a game you can relieve below, while their L6th lost for the only time at a similar stage in that game at RGS High Wycombe as U15s in the Cup. Ipswich may look to exploit any lingering doubts that those games may have left, likewise Harrow will be looking to exploit that the Cup is the competition were Ipswich have come closest to breaking this season – drawing with Epsom College in their Regional Final but making it through on try count.
There is also the fact that Ipswich Head Coach Jacob Ford is returning to his old stomping ground. Back in 2014 and 2015 he was steering the ship from fly half for Harrow, now he returns competitively for the first time to lead Ipswich against his old side. On every level, this game simply draws you in. In Kepu Tuipulotu (Harrow) and Edoardo Todaro (Ipswich) each side has players that have been in the conversation for the best in the country this year, and that is just naming one per side, each has a cast of outstanding players around them.
There have been many ‘games of the season’ this season, such has been its unpredictability. However with so much on the line in terms of records and silverware, with such an abundance of talent on the field, and such excitement and anticipation for what could unfold, this is, without doubt, the game of the season.
Be sure to join us, it could be utterly magical.
Harrow v Ipswich – Continental Tyres Schools Cup Quarter Final – LIVE on NextGenXV, Thursday 7thDecember, 2.15pm KO
