St Joseph’s College, Dulwich, Bedford and Millfield all went unbeaten to top their respective groups on Day One of the 2013 St Joseph’s Festival.
Those results mean that they qualify for the trophy competition alongside RGS High Wycombe, Solihull, Brighton College and John Fisher, who all finished in second place in their groups.
The remaining teams will play in the Plate competition, with Stamford looking like the favourites for that as we prepare for Day 2.
The main draw sees Saturday’s Group One and Two winners paired with the runners up from Three and Four in Group A, with Group B made up of the winners from Three and Four and the runners up from One and Two.
This means that Group A compromises of St Joseph’s, Dulwich, Brighton and John Fisher, whilst Group B is made up of RGS High Wycombe, Solihull, Bedford, and Millfield.
The plate sees the bottom two from each group redrawn into two groups, W and X. Group W consists of Whitchurch High, Portsmouth Grammar, Merchiston Castle and Abingdon, and Group X includes Old Swinford Hospital, Belfast Royal Academy, RGS Newcastle and Stamford.
Millfield went into the tournament as the favourites and left Day One with that reputation firmly in tact, they scored twenty points or more in every game they played and saving their most impressive total, a 27 point haul, for arguably their most formidable opponent, John Fisher.
Their full back, Tom Whiteley, threw in an early contender for the try of the tournament though with both Bedford and St Joseph’s College also displaying some tremendously exciting back play it would be no surprise to see a big contender for that gong emerge from one of those two schools.
Indeed the hosts have emerged as the most likely challengers to Millfield’s crown at the moment, their exciting back line coupled with the punishingly aggressive defence of their forward pack is making them look rather formidable.
Of the four unbeaten sides Dulwich probably found getting to that landmark the most difficult, but as anyone would agree, it is not how you get there that counts but whether you get there or not. The fact is that is the opposition 22 there is possibly no more clinical side in the tournament.
Having said that, Millfield and John Fisher might disagree, they played off in the final game of the day in a Group Four decider and it was a true lesson in points taking. During the entire first half neither side visiting the 22 without taking points, in fact Millfield barely even visited, twice scoring straight from kick offs.
Stamford will probably feel the most aggrieved of the third placed teams, only a late John Fisher penalty denied them victory and what would have been a place in the main draw.
Whitchurch were also impressive, they were a relatively unknown quantity coming into the tournament but have played some great stuff.
It certainly should be an exciting day on Day Two, both groups in the main draw look highly competitive and the Plate competition includes some top teams who have been playing exciting rugby, making it well worth watching.
St Joseph’s Festival 2013 Day Two Main Draw (Predicted finalists in bold) | |
Group A | Group B |
St Joseph’s | Bedford |
Dulwich | Millfield |
Brighton | RGS High Wycombe |
John Fisher | Solihull |
St Joseph’s Festival 2013 Day Two Plate Draw (Predicted finalists in bold) | |
Group W | Group X |
Whitchurch | RGS Newcastle |
Portsmouth GS | Stamford |
Merchiston Castle | Old Swinford Hospital |
Abingdon | Belfast Royal Academy |
Day 2 Order of Play | |
Trophy | Plate |
0915 St Joseph’s v John Fisher | 0845 Whitchurch v Abingdon |
0915 Dulwich v Brighton | 0845 Portsmouth v Merchiston |
1015 Bedford v Solihull | 0945 RGS N v Belfast |
1015 Millfield v RGSHW | 0945 Stamford v OSH |
1115 St Joseph’s v Brighton | 1045 Whitchurch v Merchiston |
1115 Dulwich v John Fisher | 1045 Portsmouth v Abingdon |
1215 Bedford v RGSHW | 1145 RGS N v OSH |
1215 Millfield v Solihull | 1145 Stamford v Belfast |
1315 St Joseph’s v Dulwich | 1245 Whitchurch v Portsmouth |
1315 Brighton v John Fisher | 1245 Merchiston v Abingdon |
1415 Bedford v Millfield | 1345 RGS N v Stamford |
1415 RGSHW v Solihull | 1345 OSH v Belfast |
15.45 FINAL | 1500 FINAL |
Photos of from Day One are available on our Facebook Page, photos of Day Two will follow in due course.