This Wednesday Birkenhead School host their annual 7s, a key precursor to Sunday’s North of England Schools 7s.
Birkenhead School are one of three hosts to that North of England Schools 7s, which will be live streamed here on NextGenXV, along with St Anselm’s College and the knockout venue of Birkenhead Park FC. Before then though they, and fifteen other sides, cut their teeth at Wednesday’s Birkenhead School 7s.
The sixteen sides include three newcomers, Bishop Heber, Bolton, and St Mary’s College, replacing Coleg Llandrillo, King’s Macclesfield, and The Grange, for what is set to be a superb afternoon of school 7s.
The sixteen are split into four groups of four teams each. The top two sides in each pool head to the Cup quarter finals, in which the winners go to the Cup semis and losers to the Plate semis, while the bottom two from each pool head to the Shield quarter finals, where likewise the winners progress to the Shield semis and the losers to the Bowl semis.
Kirkham Grammar School are the reigning champions, though their challenge on Wednesday may be dampened by the fact that they have a Continental Tyres Schools Cup semi finals to focus on over the weekend, which will open the door to others, including last year’s runners up St Anselm’s College, beaten semi finalists Wirral Grammar, and Plate winners Stockport Grammar.
As hosts, Birkenhead are in Group 1, where they are joined by two newcomers, Bolton and Bishop Heber High School, who can count the Curry twins among their alumni before they moved to Oundle for sixth form. Completing the group is a strong Manchester Grammar side.
Group 2 looks strong too, featuring last year’s semi finalists Wirral Grammar, the Plate runners up Stonyhurst, a good Altrincham Grammar side, and a Scarisbrick Hall side that won the Plate at the recent Ellesmere College 7s.
Over in Group 3 are last year’s runners up, St Anselm’s College, who are another of Sunday’s North of England Schools 7s hosts. Joining them are newcomers St Mary’s College and St Mary’s local rivals Merchant Taylors’, as well as last year’s Plate winners Stockport Grammar, who will fancy their chances at having a real crack at the title this year.
Champions Kirkham Grammar lurk in Group 4, where the depth of their squad will be put to the test given the week’s other commitments. Alongside them in the group are three sides that have had some strong moments in AKS Lytham, Calday Grange Grammar, and Newcastle-Under-Lyme, it could be a really unpredictable group.
Overall it promises to be incredibly competitive, and any one of the sixteen sides will feel that they have a great chance of returning home with silverware
Birkenhead School 7s Draw:
Group 1: Birkenhead, Bishop Heber HS, Bolton, Manchester GS
Group 2: Altrincham GS, Scarisbrick Hall, Stonyhurst, Wirral GS
Group 3: Merchant Taylors’, St Anselm’s College, St Mary’s College, Stockport GS
Group 4: AKS Lytham, Calday Grange GS, Kirkham GS, Newcastle-Under-Lyme
