We are pleased to announce that we will be opening the entries for the 2023 Tournament on Tuesday 7th June 2022.

This is slightly later than previous years as we have been working on both the online process and the tournament formats.

Registration Enhancements

With the online process we are taking a phased approach across the year for improvements, but initially we have a system that will send out an auto-response to you accompanied by an invoice which can now be paid online by card as well as via the usual methods.

As with last year, you can enter multiple teams at the same time. And as always, please check your spam and junk inboxes as schools often filter out auto-responses.

Before the start of the next academic year, we’re aiming for each school to have a dedicated login where you’ll be able to access important tournament information, view competitions entered, check your invoices/payments, and keep your contact details up to date.

2023 Tournament Dates and Running Order Changes

Tournament dates will be from Monday 20th March to Friday 24th March 2023. Before you register, please look at the below timetable as we have made some significant changes to the running order of the week.

Monday 20th March

U18 Vase Boys commences
U16 Girls – one-day competition

Tuesday 21st March

U18 Vase Boys finishes, U14 Boys commences
U14 Girls – one-day competition
U14 Boys commences

Wednesday 22nd March

U14 Boys finishes
U16 Colts Boys commences

Thursday 23rd March

U16 Colts Boys finishes,
U18 Girls (combined) commences
U13 Preparatory Festival Boys – one-day competition
U18 Cup Boys commences

Friday 24th March

U18 Girls (combined) finishes
U18 Cup Boys finishes
U11 Mixed Gender Festival – one-day competition
U13 Junior Festival Boys – one-day competition

Girls U18 Competition

We are now looking to combine the two U18 female competitions and hold it over a two-day period. We feel that as the female game is expanding it is right for us to trial this.

There may be potential concerns around safety and enjoyment, but we are trying to create a competition structure whereby, whilst there will likely be a stronger side in each group, the progression after will see a greater involvement for the teams. In addition we are exploring ways to mitigate against any safety concerns and further details will follow.

U18 Vase Boys

Many of you will be aware that there have been regular frustrations in the U18 Vase Boys competition regarding teams that are deemed to eligible for the U18 Cup competition and that their participation devalues the Vase. We are very keen to support and promote the Vase as a development competition and as such we will be actively moving teams that the committee believe should be placed in the Cup. We will do this with consultations from our school rugby specialists, current and aggregate form, and consultation with the specific teams.

HSBC World Sevens Series

We would like to extend our best wishes to the four teams competing at Twickenham this Sunday; Wellington College, Millfield School, Hartpury College & Exeter College will be playing on the hallowed turf during the HSBC World Sevens Series and we hope they all have an incredible experience.