THE New Year cannot come quickly enough for ambitious schoolboy Rugby League players in the capital.
Much of the focus in mid-to-late January will be on London & South-East National Champion Schools finals, with five scheduled – all at Chiswick RUFC, which is the home of London Broncos Women.
Rick Jones, chair of the London Rugby League Foundation, said: “Nearly 1,500 boys players from nearly 50 schools across the region took part in regional qualifying competitions in order to progress to the London Festivals, where the best half-dozen teams from each age group competed for a place in the London finals.
“The London festivals all took place over the last few weeks at St James’ Boys School in Ashford, West London, when some great Rugby League was played and some fantastic talent was on display.
“St James’ Boys were the most successful school so far, reaching the final of both the Year 11 and Year 10 competitions, following on from their strong showing in the National knockout rounds of these competitions last year.
“South London teams reached four of the five finals, however, nine different schools reached the London finals overall across the Year 7 to Year 11 age groups, showing the breadth and depth of the competition across the region.”
Jones continued: “The winners of these matches will proceed to the ’round of 16’ in the National Champion Schools Competition and, given the strength of the South-East schools, we look forward to them providing strong competition to those from the heartlands.
As evidence, he stated: “Langley Park progressed to the national quarter-final in the Year 7 competition last year, only losing to the eventual winners from St Helens, while St James Boys and Dorothy Stringer lost tight matches in Cumbria and Hull, and Hemel Hempstead school lost to a side from Warrington.
“As usual, the Boys Year 7 Stephen Mullaney Memorial final will take place at Wembley Stadium before the Betfred Challenge Cup final on Saturday, May 30, while the Year 8, 9 and 10 finals will be during the week of June 29 and the Year 11 final will be on Wednesday, April 22.”
The London finals schedule is:
Thursday 15 January
Year 7 – John Fisher (South London) v Kings (Sussex) – noon.
Year 11 – St James Boys (Spelthorne) v Turing House (Richmond) – 1.30pm.
Thursday 29 January
Year 8 – Teddington School (Richmond) v Langley Park (South London) – 11.00am.
Year 9 – Dorothy Stringer (Sussex) v Kingsdale (South London) – 12.30pm.
Year 10 – St James Boys (Spelthorne) v Graveney (South London) – 2.00pm.