This Sunday sees the West of England Schools 7s take place, with Boys tournaments at U18, U16, and U14 level taking place, and a Girls U18 tournament, across four different venues.
Wellington School will host the 8 team Girls competition, with Queen’s College Taunton hosting the 16 team U16 tournament, and King’s College Taunton hosting the 16 team U14 tournament. Taunton School will meanwhile host the sixteen team U18 Boys tournament, which will be streamed live here on NextGenXV through the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and through the embedded video below.
That live stream will take in all the action through the day on the main pitch at Taunton School, with the group stages running from 10am to 2pm ahead of the knockout rounds from mid afternoon.
West of England U18 Boys Schools 7s
The sixteen teams in the draw are divided into four pools of four teams each, with every side guaranteed a knockout game. The top side from each pool will progress to the Cup semi finals, with those in second progressing to the Plate semi finals, third to the Bowl semi finals, and 4th to the Shield semis, meaning that every side is guaranteed four games and those in finals will play five.
All bar three of those competing last year are competing again this year, with Whitchurch High School, Sherborne, Bristol Grammar School, and Christ College Brecon coming in to replace those three and filling the vacant spot from 2023.
Glantaf are the back to back reigning champions, and as such they find themselves drawn in Group A. Alongside them in that lead group are fellow Welshmen Whitchurch High School and last year’s Plate winners Monmouth, two very strong sides, and Exeter School from Devon, who won last year’s Bowl competition. Having already won the Christ College 7s though, Glantaf will be full of confidence as they aim to make it a hat-trick of West of England 7s titles.
Over in Group B are the side that Glantaf beat in that tense final last year, Clifton College, who have a strong side once again this year. They will have to be sharp though, alongside them are a very strong Cheltenham College side that will have real ambition at this competition, as well as a very good Bryanston side and the U14s hosts, King’s College Taunton.
Back in 2022 Blundell’s reached the final, and after a good showing at the Edwin Doran Surrey Schools Senior 7s on Wednesday and a run to the Continental Tyres U18 Schools Cup semi finals, they will be feeling good about the prospect of another big challenge on Sunday. As with the other groups though, the competition will be fierce. Kingswood have been one of the strongest sides in the country this year and will be a real seven-a-side threat, while Sherborne and Collegiate are two schools rugby giants that will be serious Cup contenders as well. It is a seriously tough group,
Group D meanwhile contains the hosts, Taunton School, and they certainly have not given themselves an easy ride on the draw with newcomers and Welsh heavyweight Christ College for company, not to mention schools rugby legends and perennial challengers in any tournament they enter, Millfield, the Ipswich Floodlit 7s champions. Completing the group are a strong Bristol Grammar School side in what really does feel like the ‘group of death’.
It’s set to be an intense day of action, kicking off at 10am LIVE with an all Welsh derby between the reigning champions, Glantaf, and Whitchurch High School. Host school Taunton will appear LIVE for their first game as well, at 11am against another Welsh side, Christ College Brecon.
West of England 7s Draw:
Group A: Exeter School, Monmouth, Whitchurch High, Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf
Group B: Bryanston, Cheltenham College, Clifton College, King’s College Taunton
Group C: Blundell’s, Collegiate, Kingswood, Sherborne
Group D: Bristol GS, Christ College, Millfield, Taunton
Live Stream Schedule – Pitch 1:
10.00 Whitchurch HS v Glantaf
10.20 Cheltenham College v Clifton College
10.40 Blundell’s v Kingswood
11.00 Christ College v Taunton
11.20 Exeter v Glantaf
11.40 Clifton College v King’s Taunton
12.00 Blundell’s v Sherborne
12.20 Taunton v Bristol GS
12.40 Monmouth v Glantaf
13.00 Clifton College v Bryanston
13.20 Blundell’s v Collegiate
13.40 Taunton v Millfield
14.20 Bowl SF 1 – 4th Pool A v 4th Pool C
14.40 Shield SF 1 – 3rd Pool A v 3rd Pool C
15.00 Plate SF 1 – 2nd Pool A v 2nd Pool C
15.20 Cup SF 1 – 1st Pool A v 1st Pool C
15.40 Shield Final
16.00 Cup Final
Non-Live Schedule – Pitch 2:
10.00 Exeter v Monmouth
10.20 Bryanston v King’s Taunton
10.40 Collegiate v Sherborne
11.00 Bristol GS v Millfield
11.20 Monmouth v Whitchurch HS
11.40 Bryanston v Cheltenham College
12.00 Collegiate v Kingswood
12.20 Chris College v Millfield
12.40 Exeter v Whitchurch HS
13.00 King’s Taunton v Cheltenham College
13.20 Kingswood v Sherborne
13.40 Bristol Grammar v Christ College
14.20 Bowl SF 2 – 4th Pool B v 4th Pool D
14.40 Shield SF 2 – 3rd Pool B v 3rd Pool D
15.00 Plate SF 2 – 2nd Pool B v 2nd Pool D
15.20 Cup SF 2 – 1st Pool B v 1st Pool D
15.40 Bowl Final
16.00 Plate Final
Girls, U16s, and U14s
The West of England 7s is not just limited to the Boys U18 competition though, with the Girls U18s, Boys U16s, and Boys U14s all taking place as well.
Girls U18s
Wellington School will host the Girls U18 competition, with eight sides competing across two groups of four. Hosts Wellington are in Group A alongside Bishop Wordsworth’s, Blundell’s, and Clifton College, while in Group B Canford, King’s College Taunton, Millfield, and Taunton School will be competing
Group A: Bishop Wordsworth’s, Blundell’s, Clifton College, Wellington
Group B: Canford, King’s Taunton, Millfield, Taunton School
Boys U16s
The Boys U16 tournament takes place at Queen’s College Taunton, and its structure mirrors the U18s. Queen’s Taunton are in Group B alongside Bishop Wordsworth’s, Monmouth, and Collegiate, while local rivals and U14 hosts King’s Taunton are in Group A with Clifton College, Exeter School, and Whitchurch High School.
U18 hosts Taunton School are in Group C alongside Blundell’s, Bristol Grammar School, and Cheltenham College, while U18 Girls hosts Wellington School are in Group D, with Kingswood, Millfield, and Prior Park College for company.
Group A: Clifton College, Exeter School, King’s Taunton, Whitchurch High
Group B: Bishop Wordsworth’s, Collegiate, Monmouth, Queen’s Taunton
Group C: Blundell’s, Bristol Grammar, Cheltenham College, Taunton
Group D: Kingswood, Millfield, Prior Park College, Wellington
Boys U14s
Like the U16s, the Boys U14 tournament mirrors the Boys U18 tournament, with sixteen sides split into four groups of four, and Cup, Plate, Bowl, Shield. Hosts King’s Taunton are drawn in Group B alongside Bristol Grammar, Monmouth, and QEH, while in Group A are U18 Boys hosts, Taunton School, who have Millfield, Plymouth College, and Glantaf for company.
Over in Group C Clifton College, Kingswood, Sherborne, and Whitchurch High are competing, while Girls U18 hosts Wellington School are in Group D with Blundell’s, Bryanston, and Cheltenham College.
Group A: Millfield, Plymouth College, Taunton, Glantaf
Group B: Bristol GS, Monmouth, King’s Taunton, QEH
Group C: Clifton College, Kingswood, Sherborne, Whitchurch High
Group D: Blundell’s, Bryanston, Cheltenham College, Wellington School
