On Friday 1^st March Ipswich School will host their inaugural U18 Floodlit 7s at Grasshoppers RFC in West London, and it is set to be a blockbuster tournament.

All of the action from the main pitch will be LIVE here on NextGenXV and will be available to watch through the NextGenXV YouTube channel and through the embedded video below – and, given the quality of the draw, not a second is to be missed!

It is a ten-team tournament that features some of the greats of the school game. Ipswich themselves have proved to be one of the best in the business this year and have started the short-format season off in style too, collecting the major silverware at both the Seaford Southern 10s and the Hurstpierpoint 7s.

The draw also includes school rugby legends and 7s superstars Millfield and Wellington College, who between them have conjured as many great moments on the 7s field in the last ten years than almost anyone else combined.

The unstoppable ACE force that is Hartpury College are also in the mix, once again ACE champions and perhaps keen to explore a strong run on the 7s field now as well. Dulwich College have had some of the strongest sides in schools rugby history, likewise Whitgift, and who can look past the exploits of the likes of Berkhamsted and Trinity in recent years?

Clifton College likewise have been magnificent in the last five years or so, this is one of the strongest fields assembled for a ten-team tournament, and join them are late entrants RGS Guildford, who have enjoyed a couple of the best seasons in their recent history back to back.

The significance of a field of this calibre is that it is going to give a real sense as to where teams stand ahead of the challenges later in the month, just five days later most of these sides will be back in action at the Edwin Doran Surrey Schools Senior 7s in Richmond, and then at the end of the month all eyes turn to the big one and the Rosslyn Park National School 7s. A strong showing at the Ipswich School Floodlit 7s, and it bodes very well ahead of those two monumental challenges.

Ipswich School U18 Floodlit 7s Draw:

The top two sides from each group go through to the Cup semi-finals, while third and fourth go to the Plate semi-finals, and the bottom placed side from each group meet in a 9^th place play off.

Ipswich’s Group A looks challenging, they will be among the favourites but any group with Millfield in it leaves everyone knowing that they are in for an evening where they will have to work their socks off. Dulwich College are going to be a side to watch too, they didn’t have the fifteen-a-side season that they were after, however a brilliant performance at the Seaford Southern 10s suggests that they are in great shape for the short-format. Alongside those two Berkhamsted and Trinity both have exceptional players and will be confident that they can make a huge impact on this group.

Group B looks, if anything, possibly even more challenging. It is a fearsome collection of five sides. Hartpury College have the potential for brilliance if they adapt their near unbeatable ACE formula to a 7s formula, meanwhile Clifton College has real magic in their side and possess some of the most exciting 7s players in the country. Wellington College’s 7s pedigree needs no introduction, nor, frankly, does Whitgift’s, meanwhile RGS Guildford, as mentioned, have been on a superb run in recent years and are going to arrive with huge confidence. It is a group that could produce real magic.

Ipswich School Floodlit 7s Schedule