Rosslyn Park Diaries (Day 5), 24 March

As the competition drew to a close today, it seemed that the weather gods were also disappointed to see everyone go, throwing everything they had at the players and spectators: rain, hail, sunshine, strong crosswinds and ankle-deep mud: those parental washing machines will be on overtime this weekend, and every player and referee carried an extra kg or two around on their boots today! The final day saw the conclusion of the main U18 competitions, as well as ‘waterfall’ competitions for U11 and U13 junior sides, so over the 5 days every single secondary year-group has been represented

Today’s competitions

U18 Boys Cup Round 2

U18 Girls Cup Round 2

Junior Schools U13 (refereed by school staff) (102 teams)

U11 Festival (refereed by school staff (36 teams)

Matches refereed

Theo: (U18 boys) Norwich v Millfield, Oaklands Saracens Academy vs South Glos College, Denstone v Hampton (livestreamed here at 4h38m)

Julian: (U18 girls) Coleg Gwent v Bishop Wordsworth, (U18 boys) Kirkham Grammar v Myerscough Coll, Norwich v Wellington

Highlights

Again, getting to referee some of the best names in schools rugby, and watching the best of those battle with the conditions (and beat them!), and watching some top level community referees in action too.

Signing Off

We both agreed that this was the best tournament organisation that we’ve ever experienced: from IT to ground staff, from referee allocation to referee support and mentoring: the tournament has it all. If you even have just one spare day next year, put the third week in March in your diaries: you’ll emerge at the end of the week fitter, better educated about 7s, and having seen the best that schools rugby can offer.

From SW15, that’s all folks!