Uppingham host their annual U18 and U16 7s tournaments this Sunday on what is a busy week for the school, with a Continental Tyres U18 Schools Plate final coming up in midweek.
That actually means that, unusually, Uppingham do not have an U18 side entered in their tournament, but it’s normal service in the U16s.
Uppingham School U18 7s
The U18 tournament might be shorn of the hosts, but the ten sides competing are set to put on a real show. They are divided into two groups of five teams each, with each side playing their corresponding finisher from the other group, with Top playing Top for the title, second v second for third, and so on.
Among the runners and riders are last year’s Continental Tyres U18 Schools Cup semi finalists, Finborough, who are in Group A alongside another Suffolk heavyweight in the form of St Joseph’s College, who would love a big performance ahead of the Howden Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s. Joining those two are The Leys, who have such a strong relationship with Uppingham, as well as Uppingham’s great rivals Oundle and a Bedford Modern side that, like Oundle, had one of their best fifteen-a-side seasons for a long time.
Group B looks stacked, Stamford won last week’s Oakham 7s and would love to go back to back in Rutland, but they will have to be at their best in a group that includes one of the Continental Tyres U18 Schools Cup semi finalists and one of the strongest sides in the country, Bromsgrove. Bedford will also be a huge challenger in this group, as are Norfolk’s finest, Norwich School and Gresham’s, this is a seriously tough group.
Uppingham U18 7s Draw:
Group A: Bedford Modern, Finborough, Oundle, St Joseph’s College, The Leys
Group B: Bedford, Bromsgrove, Gresham’s, Norwich, Stamford
Uppingham School U16 7s
Uppingham are in the U16 draw, and the U16 competition is one in which they have had plenty of success in recent times, winning in 2018 and 2022. They are in Group A alongside great rivals Oundle and Stamford as well as the excellent Norwich School.
As in the U18s, Finborough, St Joseph’s College, and The Leys are all grouped together in what is going to be an almighty group, with Bromsgrove joining that trio just to add to the intensity.
With 8 teams in the U16s rather than the 10 in the U18s, the draw is two pools of four, from which the top 2 go to the Cup semi finals and the bottom two to the Plate semi finals.
Uppingham U16 7s Draw:
Top 2 Cup, next 2 Plate
Group A: Norwich, Oundle, Stamford, Uppingham
Group B: Bromsgrove, Finborough, St Joseph’s College, The Leys
