A plug here for my old school, Nelson College. On Friday March 24 & Saturday March 25 they will be competing in a Rugby Sevens tournament hosted by Rugby School in England. The tournament is part of the celebrations surrounding Rugby School's 450th year.
Check out the draw here: http://www.rugbyschoolinternational7s.co.uk/Competition.asp?TSID=3851
Twelve teams will take part. They're split into two groups, the top two in each group go through to compete for the top prize after the group round robin. Nelson College face Clifton College (England), Llandovery College (Wales), Michaelhouse (South Africa), Royal Belfast Academy (Northern Ireland) and Shawnigan Lake School (Canada).
I have no idea of the respective strengths of each school, though Rugby Union teams from England, Wales and South Africa are usually tough. The South Africans will be big and fast, all their teams are.
The Nelson College team is made up of 1st XV players from the longer version of the game. They play in the Crusader region 1st XV competition. Nelson won this competition once in 2007. The standard of Rugby played in the Crusaders region is pretty high, so Nelson will be able to compete, maybe even win in England, wouldn't that be great.
A very old Rugby competition Nelson College competes in is the annual Quadrangular tournament, played between Wanganui Collegiate, Wellington College, Nelson College and Christ's College (Christchurch). These four are the 'old school' in NZ, Wanganui and Christ's being private, while Wellington and Nelson are state schools and publicly funded.
Nelson College played the first game of Rugby Union in New Zealand, against a team from the town, Nelson Football Club. The game caught on and spread throughout NZ, becoming a passion for many. The man credited with introducing the game to NZ was Charles Monro, a former pupil of Nelson College who learnt the game in England. The story goes that he returned to Nelson to find the Nelson Football Club playing a game more akin to Australian Rules Football. He changed them over to Rugby School rules and organised that first game against his old school up the road.
If you are in England and looking to see some attractive Rugby then head along to the games next week at Rugby School. Tickets are only 5 pounds.
(How to find the school: https://www.rugbyschool.co.uk/rugby-Live/assets/File/8132%20Rugby%20how%20to%20find%20us%20flyer%20update%20v1.pdf)
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