TOURNAMENTS AND COMPETITIONS

This has been a very busy season for the Tournaments and Competitions Department.

This year the Emirates Airline London Sevens was the penultimate tournament in the IRB World Sevens Series, with the final leg at Murrayfield for the first time. At Twickenham the New Zealand team beat Fiji 29–7 to take the Cup in an exciting final.

The England Counties XV played their first match against an Ireland Club XV at Donnybrook followed by their annual match against the France Amateurs at Blackheath RFC. A successful tour to Russia in June 2007, saw three fixtures from Siberia to Moscow where England Counties beat Russia 23–21 in a thrilling climax.

The England 16 Group hosted the inaugural Four Nations Tournament in the Midlands and defeated Wales, France and Italy. This makes the U16s the only representative team to remain unbeaten between two senior Rugby World Cups. The Millfield International Festival, in which the A Squad competes, attracted teams from Canada, France, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Wales and for the first time the USA.

The 18 Group kicked off their 6 Nations fixtures with a win when they played hosts to France at Henley RFC and went on to win two of their three matches played at the 6 Nations festival in Glasgow, beating Scotland and Ireland but losing to a well-organised Welsh side. The AER Squad failed to defend their title, finishing third at the European Championships in Biarritz, having fallen prey to a lively Irish side in the semi finals.

Season 2006/07 saw the introduction of a new RFU knockout cup structure, with the addition of the EDF Energy Senior Vase and the other junior cups realigned to base entry on league level. Seeding was introduced for the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup, Senior Vase and Junior Vase, with clubs from higher league levels entering in later rounds. These initiatives aim to reduce mismatches and increase participation. For the junior cups, a total of 963 ties were played an increase of 13% over the previous season. In the English Clubs Championship, 12,164 league matches were played, an increase of 5%. The RFU’s financial support for merit tables and junior leagues continued, with 182 leagues supported, catering for 1,824 teams. Eleven of these were new competitions and involved 143 teams.

The Daily Mail Schools competitions saw a record entry of 994 schools at Under 18 and Under 15. In a dramatic Twickenham Under 18 Cup final Warwick came back twice to beat Barnard Castle 24–23. In the Vase final, Ermysteds Grammar School from Skipton beat Wilmslow High School. At Under 15 level, Lymm High School overcame St Paul’s 20–15, with Woodhouse Grove beating Solihull School 22–3 to take the Vase.

At Twickenham, in the newly named Bill Beaumont Cup, Devon overcame Lancashire 27–6 to take the title; Warwickshire beat Somerset 22–8 in the County Championship Shield, Durham took the Plate with a 30–20 final score against Eastern Counties