Round 2 of the reshaped and rejuvenated RFU ACE College league continues this Wednesday, with some monster ties in the northern tiers, while the incredibly strong southern tiers continue to find form. The First round provided a few unexpected results. Will the second differ? Let’s run through the fixtures and try to find out.
North Area Pool 1
Oaklands College v Bishop Burton
A narrow home defeat, albeit a high-scoring one, in round 1 for Bishop Burton. Now on the road to Oaklands, it will be another difficult but winnable game for them in round 2. Oaklands were beaten by a stacked Gosforth side, but put in an admirable performance. This game will be tight, but both teams need to be winning games like this if they are serious about making it into the champions pool come October.
Stourport High v Myerscough
One win on the board already for Stourport, they will be favourites at home to Myerscough, who suffered a sizeable defeat at the hands of Loughborough last week. Myerscough may be in a relegation battle already if they can’t turn things around, as the first few rounds of the new and improved ACE league constitute a devilishly short block of fixtures.
Gosforth Academy v Loughborough
Now this is a proper fixture. The historic Northern powerhouse Gosforth, who have again put together an outstanding age group of talented young players, face the new kids on the block who have started the season like a house on fire. This game is really too close to call. Leighborough’s first game was a massive win, while Gosforth were well contained by Oaklands on their way to victory. Whoever comes out on top will be regarded as the early favourite to take the northern title.
South Area Pool 1
Gordon’s v Bishop Wand
Gordon’s gathered a win on the road by the barest of margins last week, but will still fancy a victory here after their brothers-in-quins colours Bishop Wand were comfortably beaten by Bath’s Beechen Cliff. Indeed, last year’s champions are still searching for their real leaders after losing a handful of talented players, including their captain and fly-half. Bishop Wand will hope for a victory here to get their season back on track.
Hartpury College v Truro College
Hartpury were in fine form in their opening fixture of the ACE season when they took down Newman College by a big scoreline. Truro head to the 4ED stadium looking for their first win of the season. They may need to wait a while longer unless they can pull off an almighty performance. Gloucester lead the Academy league after the first few rounds, with Hartpury’s stars leading the way. Another big win may well be on the cards for the early ACE favourites.
Newman College v Beechen Cliff
A win on the road for Beechen Cliff in round one will have set them up well for a trip to the south coast. Newman are looking for a response after a defeat to Hartpury, but the Acorns are a side of such quality that one would be foolish to write off the Harlequin-backed Hove locals so soon in the season. This will be another big test for Beechen Cliff, who may well be Hartpury’s closest competitors at the precipice of Tier 1 in the South.
North Area Pool 2
Moulton College v Bede Academy
Moulton is in action for the first time this season in Tier 2. They are the only side with ACE Experience, even if they were at the bottom of the barrel last year. Bede got off to a winning start against Wath in tier 2’s battle of the academies, but this will likely be a much sterner test.
Wath Academy v Ashton on Mersey
The two teams on the wrong side of 50-plus point scorelines last week need to sure up defensively if they hope to grab their first victory in this format. It will likely be a big day for one of these sides, who will claim the first win of the school’s history in the RFU ACE league.
South Area Pool 2
Peter Symonds v Exeter College
After SGS’s big win against PeterSymonds’s college last week, nothing but a similar scoreline will satisfy Exeter as they chase promotion back to the top of the southern tier. Exeter put 77 points on Richard Huish, who are no slouches at all, and Exeter will be confident of taking a full 5 points back home with them tomorrow. For Peter Symonds, they are still feeling their way in the ACE League, but this southern tier 2 is brutal.
Richard Huish v City of Oxford
Richard Huish return to the West Country after a tough defeat to an excellent Exeter side, with the City of Oxford coming to town. Oxford are the third relegated side in this division, and will be hoping for a shot at promotion back to the top tier, but, starting their campaign a week later than their rivals Exeter and SGS, they are very much chasing the field. They will be keen to lay down a hefty marker here, just as their promotion rivals did in round 1!
You can find the full fixture list and last week’s results via the NextGenLive Instagram, or via the RFU website, found through this Link: https://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/search-results?competition=1664&season=2025-2026&division=66041#fixtures
