As the current Under 18 Hertfordshire Seven-a-side Schools' Rugby champions, the College were invited to represent the county in this year's Cambridge Invitation Under 18 Seven's Tournament, played at Cambridge Rugby Club on Wednesday 14th March. Thankfully, the weather was fine as twenty four Schools and Clubs attended this well-organised and prestigious tournament.

There were a number of top school sides present, including Haileybury, Warwick, Stowe and Trent, as well as top Academy sides from Saracen's and Northampton. Matches were played in four pools with the winners advancing to the knockout finals.

Despite being without three of their first choice players, the College put on an excellent display in winning all three of their Pool matches. They made short work of local rivals, Felsted, in their first match, winning by 35 points to 5. In their second game, they found themselves drawn against the pre-tournament favourites, Oaklands, which is the Saracen's R.F.C. Academy side. Superb tackling by Chris Clayton-Smith, Oliver Forrest and Alec Banner-Eve kept the College in touch with their powerful opponents and three fine tries by Mark Rea (2)and Joe Foster saw the College secure a fine victory by 17 points to 12. In their final Pool match, against Wymondham School, the College were able to field other members of their squad and the players seized their opportunity to win by 36 points to nil. Josh Ramus and Eric Berthould both managed to score with their first touches of the ball as the College team progressed to the semi-final.

A tough game awaited in the semi-final as the College took on Trent College from Nottingham, a side that had won the Northampton Seven's only a few days earlier. It was a high scoring match with some fine long-range tries and some ferocious tackling. Alec Banner-Eve had a particularly memorable match, putting in one especially big tackle before outpacing the Trent defence to run sixty yards and score under the posts. Forward Ross Murphy also showed great defensive qualities and the powerful running of Mark Rea proved too much for a tiring Trent side. The College reached the final, an outstanding achievement, winning the match by 28 points to 17.

The final drew the College against Wisbech School, a strong team with no less than two England 18 group players in their side. The final could have gone either way with the lead swinging backwards and forwards. The College scored two fine converted tries through Nick Briggs and Mark Rea, but were always struggling to cope with the elusive running skills of the Wisbech centre. In the end, it was his try that settled the match, with Wisbech winning narrowly by 22 points to the College's 14.

The afternoon was a great success for the College's rugby team who continue their fine tradition of reaching at least one Seven-a-side final in every year since 1987.

Bishops Stortford College Seven's team: M.Rea, J.Foster, C.Clayton-Smith, O.Forrest, N.Briggs, T.Smith, A.Banner-Eve, R.Murphy, P.Kisenyi, J.Ramus
Res: E.Berthould, C.Arrowsmith, E.Reardon, P.Round