The Howden Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s is a fantastic tournament: it’s great to follow the school you support, but if they are not playing at a particular time or you are just a neutral, there can be some challenges to be addressed and choices to be made in catching the most attractive games, especially given the distances between pitches. If you are watching a 12.00 kick-off on one of the Asda pitches, there is no point in hoping to see a 12.20 game on the Merton pitches. So, a bit of planning can enhance the spectating experience.
We’re taking a look at the draw for the Boys’ Vase/Bowl, Colts, and Cup/Plate tournaments and mapped out a potentially attractive schedule for each of those. The focus of this is primarily on the first round of Group games of each tournament as the knockout or later Group games will often be on nearby pitches, so it will be relatively simple to make decisions on the hoof. These are just one set of options, and many will have their reasons for wanting to see other games. Our main criteria in choosing what to see have been, more or less in order of importance:
- Will the game be competitive and meaningful to the overall tournament outcome? Knockout games (quarter-finals, semi-finals &c) will generally take precedence over group games.
- At the group stage, a likely group decider will catch the eye: a “group of death” may be worth following throughout.
- The chance to see sides that are strongly fancied on paper and to pick out some key players.
- Unusual match-ups, say a Northern School playing a side from the South-East that it would not usually encounter at 15 a side.
Sometimes there will be a clash of two must-see games: if they are on nearby pitches, it may just be necessary to watch a half of each or at least monitor how close each is looking. Of course, deciding which is likely to be the strongest side is not an exact science, and therein lies much of the fun, especially in the Colts tournament where some real upsets can occur. Earlier Sevens tournaments can be a guide, as can 15 a side form, but the beauty of Sevens is its unpredictability.
For the Vase tournament, our day on Monday will look something like this:
| Ko Time | Match between | Stage / Group | Pitch | Comments | ||
| 10.00 | City of London Freemen’s vs Eastbourne | Y | M6 | CLFS Plate semi-finalists at Surrey 7s | ||
| 10.20 | St Albans School vs St Andrew’s Catholic | BB | M5 | Will any of St Albans’ England U18 squad members be playing? | ||
| 10.40 | Mill Hill vs King Edward VI Stratford | EE | M6 | Mill Hill strong in 15 a side. King Edward semi-finalists at Solihull 7s | ||
| 11.00 | Merchiston Castle vs RGS Guildford | GG | M3 | RGSG group winners and gave Wellington a close game in Surrey 7s | ||
| 11.20 | St Edwards, Oxford vs Stephen Perse | P | RE4 | Teddies were Plate runners-up at Oakham 7s | ||
| 11.40 | Cheltenham vs Samuel Whitbread | BBB | W2 | Over the bridge across the Brook: Cheltenham Bowl finalists at St Joes | ||
| 12.00 | Bedford Modern vs Haileybury | A | RE3 | Haileybury winners at Hertfordshire 7s, then maybe 2nd half of… | ||
| JESS vs Solihull | B | RE6 | JESS semi-finalists in 2023, Solihull strong at their 7s and in DM Trophy | |||
| 12.20 | Haberdashers Monmouth vs Whitchurch | DDD | W2 | Monmouth had a good run in National U18 Cup + move towards Asda… | ||
| 12.40 | Uppingham vs Wellington College 2nd VII | PP | A5 | U18 Plate runners up. Welly’s 2nds should be useful too, maybe also see… | ||
| Ivybridge vs Wellingborough | OO | A4 | …on the adjoining pitch, U18 Vase runners up, then back over to… | |||
| 13.00 | Durham vs Christ College | K | RE5 | U18 National Vase semi-finalists vs West of England 7s Plate finalists | ||
| 13.20 | Cardinal Newman vs Hereford 6th Form | NN | M1 | Newman National U18 Plate winners | ||
| 13.40 | Kingswood vs St Ambrose | MM | M6 | Group Winners at West of England 7s vs U18 Vase quarter-finalists | ||
| 14.00 | ||||||
| King’s Taunton vs Llanishen HS | U | RE1 | King’s have an impressive record in this competition | |||
| 14.20 | KCS Wimbledon vs Sherborne | AA | M1 | Two schools with good records in National competitions | ||
| 14.40 | St Paul’s vs Langley | G | RE6 | St Paul’s Plate winners at Surrey 7s | ||
| 15.00 | St John’s Leatherhead vs Monkton Combe | WW | W3 | St John’s beat Millfield at Hampton 7s. Maybe switch for the 2nd half to… | ||
| Dunottar School vs Felsted | SS | A6 | How quickly can National U18 Vase Champions adjust to 7s? | |||
| 15.20 | Stamford vs Thomas Hardye | YY | W2 | Stamford winners of Oakham 7s | ||
| 15.40 | Peter Symonds vs Richard Hale | Q | RE4 | U18 National Bowl winners | ||
| 16.00 | Dauntsey’s vs Colfe’s | S | RE2 | Dauntsey’s Group winners at South Coast 7s |
The above games will be followed by the Elimination round, where Group winners will play each other (A vs B, C vs D etc), i.e. 28 games with the winners to go through to Day 2. Timings and allocation of pitches are yet to be announced: some may overlap with the above timings, but we are looking out for A vs B (potentially Haileybury vs JESS or Solihull), AA vs BB (potentially Sherborne vs St Albans), MM vs NN (potentially Kingswood or St Ambrose vs Cardinal Newman) and EE vs FF (Mill Hill vs Marlborough).
Looking ahead to Wednesday, the Boys’ U16 tournament gets underway, with the knockout stages of the Boys’ U14 tournament also taking place, and Thursday will see the Group first round stages of the Boys’ Cup alongside the Colts’ knockout and final stages. We aim to provide some similar schedules for those two days, so watch out for those. For Friday, the primary focus is on the Cup, with everything concentrated on the Richardson Evans pitches, so a lot less walking will be required!
You may see some alternative mappings: this is only one of many scenarios. Let us know what else you may – as a neutral – be targeting.
Enjoy!
By Peter Crawshaw