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This weekend will see old rivalries renewed up and down the country as the UK School Sevens season begins. With all eyes on the renowned National Schools at the end of the month, many questions linger on who will be challenging for the major prizes.

The perennial success stories will surely be once again out to prove their dominance but who can rise to challenge to match them?

The first few match-ups of the season in most sports don't reveal much, but this weekend three major tournaments are taking place across the country with over 100 of the top Sevens playing schools out to show that this could be their year.

The North of England Schools Invitation Sevens will as always be showcasing some of the best school boy rugby out there, as it has done for the past 22 years in Birkenhead. This year is even more special as we will see an inaugural girls’ tournament take place with eight teams set to compete.The addition of the girl’s event takes the number of participating teams to over 50 across all the competitions.

Women’s Sevens is growing at a great rate and 2009 saw their inaugural World Cup in Dubai. It really will be interesting to see which schools will become the girls Sevens powerhouses. Answers on a post card!?

Kirkham are the reigning champions of the boy’s tournament and were somewhat dominant in the region last year, winning Fylde, Birkenhead as well as the North of England. They are once again under the tutelage of Aled Trenhaille who will be looking to gain momentum over the coming weeks before heading down the M1 for National Schools. Kirkham will be looking to improve on their second day performance from Rosslyn Park this year.

The North of England tournament is somewhat unique in that day one is played over multiple venues. This year three venues are being used; Birkenhead Park RFC, Birkenhead School and The Ridings. This means that teams may not see opponents group stage matches and go into games 'blind' which surly will add to the excitement to the knock out stages.

Kirkham will have to produce attacking rugby akin to last year to retain their title, as all of the major players in the North have entered teams. Recent Daily Mail Cup semi-finalists RGS Newcastle will be joined by Sedbergh, Barnard Castle, Stonyhurst, Durham and Kings Worcester to name but a few. The successes that these sides have seen in recent years will surely lead to a fiercely competitive tournament.

Teams in the North that are serious about contending at National Schools will be looking to make an early impact in the season with a good showing this Sunday before heading onto Fylde next weekend to get more game time in a high pressured environment.

Down South

In the South, there is almost an embarrassment of riches this weekend. Portsmouth Grammar School hosts the South Coast Sevens and Christ’s Hospital the Sussex Open. Across the two tournaments all of the major schools with sevens programmes will be looking to start their season with a bang.

Both tournaments are very ambitious and have recently relaunched in new forms to showcase this. The Sussex Open (formerly Sussex Schools) is in its third year in its current guise, but has actually been running for over 60 years. The tournament has a strong grounding in support charity, akin to many other tournaments on the Sevens circuit worldwide. The tournament is hosted by Christ’s Hospital, which as a school supports children from disadvantaged background. This really comes to the fore for the event itself and has helped in building relationships with sponsors.

This year’s tournament will see over 40 schools competing for the title, Tournament Director Sean Davey is expecting to see some quality sides taking to the field. This could see the like of Cranleigh, Epsom College and reigning champions Whitgift all featuring in the latter stages of the tournament.

“Strong schools tend to have strong Sevens teams. Filton College and Bridgend College are coming and will be contenders,” said Davey.

Davey is keen to make a real impact with this year’s tournament; “The intention is to make it, after the Rosslyn Park’s Nationals, the best event in the schools sevens calendar”.

Akin to his Northern counterparts in Birkenhead, the Sussex Open is also championing Women’s Rugby by hosting a girl’s tournament for the first time.

The tournament will see 10 teams compete for the title with some coming from traditional rugby powerhouses such as Pangbourne College and Cranbrook. They will also be joined by Suttons Valence and Eastbourne, showing once again the growth in the girl’s game over recent years.

Down the coast in Portsmouth, equally ambitious Tournament Director Simon Baker will welcome 16 schools to Portsmouth Grammar School. This on paper is likely to be the most keenly contested tournament of the weekend.

Similarly to Sussex, PGS has been running a tournament for 30 years but has just recently expanded. Rather than just taking entries from local sides the tournament has grown in reach seeing sides travelling from Wales.

Baker is also keen to make sure that some of the smaller schools are also competing for a trophy.

“I wanted to allow schools of varying abilities to be able to play more than just group games hence a Cup, Shield, Plate and Bowl competition,” says Baker.

This should mean that the Sevens played is intense throughout the tournament with sides looking to test themselves against tough opposition early in the season.

Baker is all aware of the strength of his tournament and with schools such as Colstons, Coleg Sir Gar, Ivybridge joining thoroughbreds Wellington College and Millfield.

Baker is hoping the level of competition will benefit his home side to test themselves against some of the very best.

“It allows my own 1st VII the opportunity to pit themselves against current school boy internationals but also the lower years at PGS have the chance to witness players who they may wish to emulate in future years.”

When asked about his aims for the tournaments, Baker is as forthright as his Sussex neighbours.

“Our aim is to be the South of England version of the tournament in Birkenhead this weekend, I invite most of the leading schools across the South, London, South West and Wales. Next year we will not clash with the Northern Schools or Sussex and will hopefully be an even stronger field.”

England Coach Ben Ryan

England Sevens coach Ben Ryan comes from a Schools Sevens background and is in great support of all the tournaments this weekend; he is expected to join Baker at the South Coast Sevens whilst also writing a note of support for the programme at the Sussex Open.

The Schools Sevens circuit is a great opportunity for school leavers to showcase their talent on the Sevens field with Commonwealth Games and ultimately Olympics on the horizon.

At the recent USA Sevens in Las Vegas (part of the IRB Sevens World Series) we saw Christian Wade and Ollie Lindsay-Hague take to the field only 12 months after they had last pulled on a school shirt. In 2008 Epsom College flyer George Lowe was named Player of the Tournament and he can now be seen impressing for Harlequins in the Premiership.

Due to the way that schools 15s is played it can be hard to see that diamond in the rough but this weekend there is every chance that whether you go to Birkenhead, Portsmouth or Horsham you will see some future stars in action. Aside from the great rugby bask in a fantastic environment alongside adoring parents, screaming classmates, brooding coaches, agents, scouts and teachers. The Schools Sevens season is here and it's going to as exciting as ever.

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