Also we will be at Leighton Buzzard - at Wrights Meadow, Leighton Road, Stanbridge, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 9HR. Directions from Junction 12 of M1:
Turn left towards Toddington. In Toddington at main village green turn right at Bell Public House towards Tebworth. Follow this road through Tebworth for 2.5 miles to a T junction. Turn left onto A5 towards Dunstable. Follow A5 to Roundabout. Turn Right onto A505 Leighton By Pass. Take second right off Bypass ( signposted Stanbridge Road Industrial Estate) LBRFC is half a mile up on right hand side.
And we are up against the biggest junior sevens field for the Nationals ever - 16 teams are in the competition, with four more wanting to take part but on a "waiting list". The line-up is...
- Aylestone St James U17
- Basford Girls (Basildon/Rochford)
- Cramberleigh U17 Girls
- Darlington Mowden Park U17
- Dorking U17
- Exeter Saracens U17
- Letchworth Garden City U17
- Paviors U17 Girls (Leicester Forest)
- Reading U17 Girls
- Tamworth/Burton U17 Girls
- Tylderloo Barbarians U17
- Tynedale Panthers U17 Girls
- Welwyn Warriors U17 Girls
- Westcliff Wildcats U17
- Wimborne U17 Girls
- Worcester U17 Girls
Of the rest...
Cramberleigh have a great U14 reputation, and in theory should make waves at U17s but haven't this season. They were due to in our pool for the National Cup, but withdrew due to shortage of players. This shortened form of the game may be what they have been looking for - and they do have some good players (Welwyn borrowed some them for the National Cup semi-finals, I believe). Unpredictable and potentially dangerous then.
Tamworth are combined with Burton, the latter having that holy grail of girls rugby an up-to-date website with scores and reports! A big win over MK is included around the time we played them, plus two wins over North Kesteven - who have a strong reputation and some high scoring performances (including one 82-0 win). Tamworth recently lost to Westcliff, other than that... not much around about them.
Tylderloo are another combination - Tyldersley and Waterloo - from Lancashire. Their U14 side reach the National Cup final for that age group and the U17s have six Lancashire county girls. Beyond that its a bit quiet out there, and North West (of which Lancashire are a part) were the weakest region this year at U17s. Likely that their main hope will be in the U14 competition.
Which leaves us with the North East duo, Darlington and Tynedale. The latter now seems to be the strongest side up there, but have not been to the Sevens for a few years (if at all?). Darlington on the other hand are regulars have always done well. I'd expect at least one of these sides to be semi-finalists at least (depending on draws, of course - the RFUW having never heard of "seeding"!).
So... what will be that last ever day of girls U17 (and U14) rugby should be interesting, and unpredictable. Worcester will obviously be favourites, but there are at least four other sides out there who I suspect are capable of beating them.
I'd expect at least one of these sides to be semi-finalists at least (depending on draws, of course - the RFUW having never heard of "seeding"!).
ReplyDeleteWhat sides would you seed out of the entries listed?
Having watched Tamworth v Westcliff
ReplyDeleteI dont see either as serious contenders.
In the U14 group I would expect Cramberleigh to be odds on favourites with H3, Spalding and Basford to be in the line up.
the Basford Spalding semi yesterday was some of the best rugby seen for a while at that age group.End to end and no quarter given from either side, and 1 score was always going to decide the outcome.
Seeds? IMHO the U17 seeds (based on previous competitions, and this season to date) should be:
ReplyDeleteTop seeds (alphabetically!): Darlington, Welwyn, Wimborne, Worcester
Second group: Basford, Letchworth, Paviors, Tynedale
Third group: Cramberliegh, Dorking, Tamworth, Westcliff
Fourth group: Exeter, Jimmies, Reading, Tylderloo
Obviously its never going to be an exact science - its a tough call between Paviors and Welwyn for a place in the top seeds (a close draw in the tens!), and between Letchworth and Tamworth in the second group (the former has gone further in tournaments this year).
Also - as holders - Basildon would be top seeds, but as Basford I'm not sure that their tourament results would justify it. Strong second seeds though!
But the main thing is that ANYTHING is better than last year's "random" draw which gave us (I think) Darlington v Worcester as the first group game - thus putting one of the previous season's finalists straught into the Plate! Madness!!!