Day 2 saw the U18 Vase tournament take over proceedings
By Angus Savage | XV Rugby
Some brilliant rugby took place with 180 sides playing across 36 different groups. From there, the winners of each group played a winner of one of the others in an elimination round.
That left us with the eighteen winners of that elimination round in tomorrow’s U18 Vase quarter final pools and the losers in the U18 Bowl quarter final pools. There are six quarter final pools in each competition; the winners of those six pools then split into two semi final pools of three teams each.
The winners of the two Vase semi final pools will play in the Vase Final, while the winners of the two Bowl semi final pools play in the Bowl Final.
Vase Quarter Finals
Vase quarter final Group A features Scottish side George Watson’s College, who won an exciting Group B after victory over Uppingham gave them top spot before beating last year’s finalists, St Peter’s York, in the elimination round after St Peter’s had topped Group A ahead of Caterham.
Vase A also includes Eton College who came out on top in a brilliant Group F ahead of St Paul’s before their 26-7 defeat of Eastbourne College, who had played some wonderful rugby on their way to the top of Group E.
This Vase Group A also includes an exceptional Epsom College side, a side who were utterly superb on the way to winning this year’s Edwin Doran Surrey Schools Senior 7s title. They headed Group C before a superb 27-0 victory over St Edward’s Oxford in the elimination round. With George Watson’s and Eton for company on Day 2, hopefully it should be a competitive group.
Over in Vase quarter final Group B we have arguably the strongest group of the lot. Cheltenham College have been fantastic all day, topping Group G before a thrilling eliminator against Campion, also fantastic today, which finished 22-17 in their favour.
They are joined by Scottish giants Merchiston Castle, whose day began with them securing top spot in a competitive Group I and finished in the very last game on the live stream where they beat Royal Hospital School 35-12 in the elimination round. Tonbridge complete the group, they came through one of the tightest groups in the competition, beating Portsmouth Grammar School on points difference. They then secured a 38-7 victory over Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar to head into this quarter final Cup Group, along the way securing the Try of the Day award.
Vase Group C should be an absolute cracker too, with Wimbledon College, Rugby School, and RGS Guildford all includes. Wimbledon College headed up Group L before a brilliant 34-5 win over Berkhamsted in their eliminator, meanwhile RGS Guildford stunned Mount St Mary’s College in their eliminator with a 36-0 victory after finishing up on top of Group Q.
Rugby were also superb; their eliminator was a 29-0 victory over RGS Newcastle, a side that have already proved their rugby playing pedigree this season by wining the St Joseph’s Festival. Rugby have been fantastic all year too though and topped a tricky Group N ahead of Abingdon.
Bromsgrove will be among those in Vase quarter final Group D after they secured top spot in Group V. A 38-5 victory over Ysgol y Preseli sent them into this quarter final pool, where Norwich and Cathedral School Llandaff will join them.. Norwich were the pool winners in Group U before their 38-5 win over Pangbourne College in the eliminator, whilst Cathedral School’s elimination win was 22-7 over Sir Willima Borlase’s after having finished out on top in Group R.
Vase Group E sees the unusual scenario of a 2nd VII in the quarter finals after Millfield’s 2nd VII sailed through Group AA and then put in an excellent elimination round performance to beat St George’s Weybridge 33-10.
Joining them are Durham, who were in fine form to come through on top of Group Y before they then saw off Feslted, another that had performed well, 35-19 in the eliminator. Seevic College round off the group, they headed up Group CC before beating Isle of Man Schools 24-5 in the elimination round.
Oakham had been in stunning form to reach tomorrow’s Vase quarter final Group F, heading up Group JJ before a brilliant 43-5 victory over Wallington County Grammar School in their eliminator game.
Joining them in the Group are Gower College, who secured their spot with a 31-21 victory over Taunton School having previously finished on top in Group FF. Downside complete Vase QF Group F, their 33-5 victory over Exeter School in the eliminator capping a fine day that saw them finish out on top in Group HH.
Bowl Quarter Finals
The Bowl quarter final pools see the losers of those elimination round games pooled in equivalent terms to the Vase quarter final pools.
Therefore Pool A see St Peter’s York, St Edward’s Oxford, and Eastbourne College all together after losing to George Watson’s, Epsom, and Eton respectively.
Bowl Group B sees Campion, Royal Hospital School, and Chislehurst & Sidcup all together, while Berkhamsted, RGS Newcastle, and Mount St Mary’s all together in Bowl Group C.
Bowl Group D has Sir William Borlase’s, Pangbourne College, and Ysgol Y Preseli all together, while over in Bowl Group E it will be Felsted, St George’s College Weybridge, and Isle of Man Schools fighting for that semi final place.
The final group is Bowl Group F, which sees Taunton School, Exeter School, and Wallington County Grammar School all scrapping for their place in the semi final pools.
Live Streams and Scores
Tomorrow, sees the conclusion of the Vase and Bowl – you can see all the action on the showcase pitches with our live streams from 10am with commentary from Nick Heath.
Watch live coverage of DAY 3 and full DAY 2 coverage on our video page »
For more on today’s play, check out XV Rugby’s comprehensive report »