Cranleigh were named Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools 7s Cup Champions for the second year running with a 28-7 victory over Brighton College in the final.

In the final, Cranleigh took an early 14-0 lead, but Brighton College scored before half-time to make it 14-7.  After the break, Cranleigh scored again to make it 21-7, but Brighton weren’t finished and tested the Cranleigh defence with wave after wave of attacks. With time running out, an adventurous pass was intercepted and Cranleigh made sure of the result with a final try.

To win back-to-back Cups is an incredible achievement; a feat last achieved by Millfield some 7 years ago.

Watch the final in full here on Youtube »

On the way to the final, Cranleigh came through a number of tough encounters including an extra-time win over Beechen Cliff and a close victory over eventual finalists Brighton College, which was sealed with the last play of the game to secure first place in their quarter-final pool group. Their semi-final against Bedford was also a hard-fought affair with Cranleigh emerging 15-12 winners.

Brighton College still progressed from that group and secured their place in the final with a 24-17 victory over Cardiff and Vale.  Over the 2 days of competition, they had also seen off both Filton College and Wellington College. 

The Plate

In the Plate final, Wellington College, who had been knocked out of the Cup by eventual winners Brighton, met Woodhouse Grove.  Woodhouse Grove came from behind to win a tense final 19-14.