Finals Day a huge success in U13 Redrow Homes 7s

After 12 teams took to the hallowed Franklin's Gardens turf on Wednesday, Northampton Saints head of community Connor Fleming was delighted with another successful Redrow Homes 7s Finals Day. 

Finals Day in the under-13 boys category saw qualifiers from six regional tournaments across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk lock horns in Northampton for a day of fast-paced 7s rugby.

Colchester RGS, St Joseph’s College, The Perse, Wellingborough School, Bishop Stopford School, Buckingham School, Warwick School, Bedford School, Lincroft Academy, Cotswold School and Magdalen College all took to the turf at Franklin's Gardens hoping to take home one of the three trophies on offer.

And after the initial pool stages had taken place, the action moved to the main pitch as the sides competed for the Plate, Bowl and Cup.

First up was a hotly contested clash between Lincroft and Cotswold, with Cotswold coming out eventual 30-20 winners to claim the Plate title for this year. The following affair was even tighter, with The Perse and Warwick locking horns for the Bowl - The Perse just topping Warwick with a 20-15 win.

And finally, Wellingborough took on St Joseph's in the Cup final; another nail-biter ensued but as the final whistle blew the scoreboard showed 20-15 in Wellingborough's favour.

Head of community Fleming said: "First of all congratulations must go to the winners in Cotswold, The Perse and Wellingborough but we must also say thank you to all the sides who took part, the standard definitely seems to go up year on year, and congratulations must go to every school taking part for reaching the final stages of the competition.

“Playing on the Northampton Saints pitch is a brilliant prospect for all the schools involved, and we hope that it helps to inspire this next generation of rugby players.

“We must also extend a huge thank you to Redrow for their backing in making this tournament happen – with their support we’re developing our provision and making rugby more accessible to young people across six counties."