This Sunday the Collegiate Rugby 7s Festival and the Collegiate Netball 7s Festival both take place, with both set to be incredibly competitive tournaments.
The main pitch for the rugby and the main court for the netball with both be streamed LIVE here on NextGenXV and are available to watch through the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and through the embedded video links later on in this preview.
Collegiate Rugby 7s Festival
Sixteen teams will be competing in the Rugby 7 at Collegiate, and you can watch all the action on the main pitch on the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and through the embedded video below, which will include the Cup, Plate, and Bowl finals.
The sixteen teams are divided into four pools of four teams each, with the group winners progressing to the Cup semi finals, second place to the Plate semi finals, third place to the Bowl semi finals, and those at the foot of each table progressing to the Trophy semi finals.
Malvern College claimed the Cup last year with a stunning 40-12 performance against Christ College Brecon in the final, and as a result they are drawn in Pool A. Alongside them in that pool are some highly competitive sides, not least Dean Close, who have some serious 7s talent in their squad. Joining those two are a pair of sides that ought to be very competitive as well, Exeter School and KES Bath.
Pool B contains the hosts, Collegiate, who went through the non-Cup part of their fifteen-a-side season unbeaten and will likely be among the favourites to contend for the Cup here on home turf. Challenging them at the pool stage are local rivals QEH, alongside a good Downside team, and an Abingdon side that heads across from Oxford with plenty of optimism as well.
There are two Welsh sides in the draw and one of them resides in Pool C, Cathedral School Llandaff, who performed well in their own 7s tournament prior to half term and will be keen to press on here at Collegiate. Similarly RGS Worcester will be eager to lay down a marker, as will Taunton School, who have had some good outings already. The challenge for all in this group though is Kingswood, fantastic in the regular season and now with their cohort of Bath U18s back with them after winning the Premiership Rugby U18 Academy League, they are going to be a side to watch.
Over in Pool D are the other Welsh side in the draw, Christ College Brecon, last year’s runners up. They will be among the challengers again, but have a tricky group that includes a confident Canford side, a King’s College Taunton side that will be itching to get themselves into the Cup, and a Bristol Grammar School side that has put in some excellent performances across the last year and will be a very tough nut to crack.
Collegiate Rugby 7s Draw:
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
| Dean Close | Abingdon | Cathedral School, Llandaff | Canford |
| Exeter School | Collegiate | Kingswood | Bristol Grammar School |
| KES Bath | Downside | RGS Worcester | Christ College, Brecon |
| Malvern College | QEH | Taunton School | King’s College, Taunton |
As in 2023, it looks like being an incredibly competitive tournament, and it kicks off in some style too. The first live game sees hosts Collegiate in a local derby against QEH, meanwhile reigning champions Malvern College get underway on Pitch 2 against Exeter School and will appear on the live stream at 11.50am against KES Bath.
The action all kicks off at 10.30am and will culminate with the final at 3.10pm. It is going to be a fantastic day of 7s at one of the great venues in all of schools rugby.
Collegiate Rugby 7s Schedule:
| Time | Pitch 3 (LIVE) | Pitch 1 | Pitch 2 | Pitch 4 |
| 10.30 | QEH v Collegiate (B) | Dean Close v KES Bath (A) | Exeter v Malvern (A) | Abingdon v Downside (B) |
| 10.50 | Canford v Christ College (D) | Kingswood v Taunton (C) | Llandaff v RGS Worcester (C) | Bristol GS v King’s Taunton (D) |
| 11.10 | Collegiate v Downside (B) | Malvern v Dean Close (A) | KES Bath v Exeter (A) | QEH v Abingdon (B) |
| 11.30 | King’s Taunton v Canford (D) | RGS Worcester v Kingswood (C) | Taunton v Llandaff (C) | Christ College v Bristol GS (D) |
| 11.50 | KES Bath v Malvern (A) | QEH v Downside (B) | Abingdon v Collegiate (B) | Dean Close v Exeter (A) |
| 12.10 | Taunton v RGS Worcester (C) | Christ College v King’s Taunton (D) | Canford v Bristol GS (D) | Kingswood v Llandaff (C) |
| 13.30 | Bowl SF 2 (3rd A v 3rd B) | Trophy SF 1 (4th C v 4th D) | Bowl SF 1 (3rd C v 3rd D) | Trophy SF 2 (4th A v 4th B) |
| 13.50 | Cup SF 2 (1st C v 1st D) | Plate SF 1 (2nd A v 2nd B) | Cup SF 1 (1st A v 1st B) | Plate SF 2 (2nd C v 2nd C) |
| 14.30 | Bowl Final | Trophy Final | ||
| 14.50 | Plate Final | |||
| 15.10 | Cup Final |
Collegiate Netball Festival
As in the rugby, every second of play on the main court for the Collegiate Netball Festival will be LIVE on the NextGenXV YouTube Channel as well as being available through the embedded video below, and it is certain to be a fantastic competition.
Last year was about as tight as it can get, with Dean Close winning the closest of Cup finals just 9-8 against KES Bath, a fantastic culmination to what had been an outstanding day of action.
This year twelve schools are involved, split into two Pools of six, with the top two from each pool going to the Cup semi finals, third and fourth to the Plate semi finals, and fifth and sixth to the Shield semi finals.
Hosts Collegiate are in Pool A, and it looks like a cracking pool. Like their rugby counterparts, the netball hosts are in with local rivals QEH, as well as Downside. Alongside those three are King’s College Taunton and Malvern College, as well as last year’s finalist, KES Bath. A tough and exciting group for sure.
Pool B meanwhile contains the reigning champions, Dean Close. Competing against the champions are Welsh side Christ College Brecon, Somerset duo Kingswood and Taunton School, plus Worcestershire’s RGS Worcester, and another of those sides that is only making a short hop from their home base, Bristol Grammar School. It is another highly competitive pool.
Collegiate Netball Festival Draw:
| Pool A | Pool B |
| QEH | RGS Worcester |
| Collegiate | Dean Close |
| KES Bath | Bristol Grammar |
| Malvern College | Taunton School |
| King’s College, Taunton | Kingswood |
| Downside | Christ College, Brecon |
The action gets underway at 9.30am and, as in the rugby, it’s a derby game to get things started as hosts Collegiate take on QEH on the live stream. After that it’s the reigning champions, Dean Close, taking on RGS Worcester at 9.50am, before Collegiate take on last year’s runners up at 10.10am.
The live action culminates with back to back finals, the Plate final at 2.20pm and the Cup final at 2.40pm. It is set to be a busy, and hugely competitive, day of netball at Collegiate.
Collegiate Netball 7s Schedule:
| Time | Court 1 (Live) | Court 2 | Court 3 |
| 09.30 | QEH v Collegiate (A) | KES Bath v Malvern College (A) | King’s Taunton v Downside (A) |
| 09.50 | RGS Worcester v Dean Close (B) | Kingswood v Christ College (B) | Bristol GS v Taunton (B) |
| 10.10 | Collegiate v KES Bath (A) | Malvern College v King’s Taunton (A) | QEH v Downside (A) |
| 10.30 | Dean Close v Bristol GS (B) | Kingswood v Taunton (B) | RGS Worcester v Christ College (B) |
| 10.50 | Collegiate v King’s Taunton (A) | QEH v KES Bath (A) | Malvern College v Downside (A) |
| 11.10 | RGS Worcester v Bristol GS (B) | Dean Close v Kingswood (B) | Christ College v Taunton (B) |
| 11.30 | Collegiate v Downside (A) | KES Bath v King’s Taunton (A) | QEH v Malvern College (A) |
| 11.50 | Dean Close v Christ College (B) | Bristol GS v Kingswood (B) | RGS Worcester v Taunton (B) |
| 12.10 | Collegiate v Malvern College (A) | QEH v King’s Taunton (A) | KES Bath v Downside (A) |
| 12.30 | RGS Worcester v Kingswood (B) | Dean Close v Taunton (B) | Bristol GS v Christ College (B) |
| 13.30 | Cup SF 1 (1st A v 2nd B) | Plate SF 1 (3rd A v 4th B) | Shield SF 1 (5th A v 6th B) |
| 13.50 | Cup SF 2 (1st B v 2nd A) | Plate SF 2 (3rd B v 4th A) | Shield SF 2 (5th B v 6th A) |
| 14.20 | Plate Final | Shield Final | |
| 14.40 | Cup Final |
