Defending champions, Coleg Sir Gar, remain on course to retain their Open title, but they didn’t have it all their own way on the penultimate day of the 2013 Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens.

The Llanelli-based college arrived in southwest London for the world’s largest schools sevens tournament with their sights fully set on retaining the Open silverware they won by beating Whitgift in the 2012 final.

And they started like a team possessed as they opened up with victories over Nottingham High School, East Norfolk XI Form College and Isleworth and Syon Boys’ School.

But in their fourth and final group game, Sir Gar were held to a 19-19 draw by Bicton College, who then went on to top the group on points scored.

This meant Sir Gar had to rely on one of the two best runner-up spots for Friday’s elimination rounds, but despite the slight wobble, captain William Boyd believes confidence is still high in the camp.

“Bicton College have a really strong team and I think our draw was probably a fair result in the end, even if we were a bit frustrated to only draw,” said the 18-year-old.

“It meant that we had to go through as one of the best runners up but the important thing is that we are still in the competition.

“There is a lot of pressure on us being the defending champions but we don’t want to live on our reputation, we want to set new standards and keep on improving.

“This was a tester and we seem to have done well so far and I think that if we keep improving and keep playing to our potential then we could follow up on last year and win it again.”

While Sir Gar made the long trip from Wales to defend their title, one team have travelled even further to try and wrestle it off them.

The team of USA High School All American consists of teenagers from all across North America and the visitors were clearly in no mood to let the long journey go to waste.

The side, appearing in their second-successive Rosslyn Park Sevens tournament, won all four of their group games in the Open competition, scoring 116 points in the process while conceding just 24 at the other end to take them through to day two.

And coach Salty Thompson, who hails from Ulster, believes they are only just getting started.

“We arrived on Sunday morning so it has been a bit of a struggle to get the boys to adapt to the English weather but we came together quickly,” Thompson said.

“The kids are from all over and from different schools, so the challenge is to get them to gel as a team and quickly.

“Last year we lost on the second day and it is always an adventure with the American boys because bringing them together to create a team is tough.

“They are all good in their own back yards so the challenge is to get the best out of ourselves and I thought that we saw glimpses of it so far.

“This is a new level and a new environment and on day two, the level goes up and so will ours.”

Tomorrow is the final day of the 2013 Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens which sees the conclusion of the Open Tournament and the Girls Tournament.