Hills Road Sixth Form College sides prepare for Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens competition

Hills Road Sixth Form College’s Under-18 Girls have been busy stepping up their preparations for this month’s Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens competition.

The event, which is viewed by many as the pre-eminent sevens tournament for schools and colleges and age groups ranging from under-11 up to under-18, will take place between March 20-24. And as well as sending a boys team, Hills Road will also be sending a girls squad for the second year running after they made an impressive debut 12 months ago by reaching the semi-finals.

Last week they warmed up for the trip to Rosslyn Park with a series of matches against their Oundle School counterparts, who themselves did well last year on a run to the quarter-finals.

Two sevens encounters between the teams went the way of Hills Road, while the 10-a-side match ended in a draw.

Adrian Medd, who coaches the Hills Road players, said: “These games were all about getting some valuable game time for the players in this format of the game.

“It was also an opportunity to see which of the less experienced players in the squad were developing well and could be included in the squad to play at Rosslyn Park.

“Some of our girls are already playing for Cambridgeshire and Eastern Counties and two are in the Saracens and Wasps development squads.

“They reflect the ever-increasing focus on the development of girls and women’s sport.”

A total of 55 schools and colleges from across the United Kingdom will battle it out this year to win the under-18 girls trophy.