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Top sides from South Africa and New Zealand set to be announced in biggest World Schools Festival ever
By Tom Parker
The World Schools Festival have announced the first entrants for the 2023, and with new competition categories added to increase the opportunity to schools and teams to be involved.
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The festival pits the very best rugby schools and academies from around the world against each other to see who is the greatest team on the planet.
The Pattana Sports Resort will once again play Host venue between the 11th – 18th December.
The overwhelming interest in 2022, with the WSF receiving over 28 million views across social media, has led to the Conference (boys) and Girls 10s competitions being added to the existing Champions Cup and Open competitions from 2022.
With the success and interest of the festival in Thailand, rumours are circulating that even more top schools will be taking part, making this the most competitive and elite version of the festival ever.
Each competition will have maximum of 8 teams in each competition leaving a race for spots.
The Champions Cup competition will remain invitation only, but any schools and teams can enter the other 3 competitions to enjoy the WSF Experience of meeting and playing teams from around the world in amazing Thailand.
The creation of a new Girl 10s tournament is a hugely exciting step for the festival.
The neutral venue and easy logistics proved hugely popular with all the teams.
The inaugural Champions Cup was won by the impressive Hamilton Boys’ High School from New Zealand, and confirmed themselves as the champion school of world rugby, and there will be huge interest on the 2023 line-up.
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The first 2 Teams have been announced with the National Champions of Wales and England confirmed.
Welsh Champions, Cardiff & Vale College will return having made a massive impact on the 2022. Having pushed Grey College from South Africa the absolute limit in the semi final, they will be hoping to go one step further in 2023.
Reigning English RFU ACE National Champions, Hartpury College has produced recent Internationals such as Jonny May, Alex Cuthbert, Ross Moriarty and Louis Rees-Zammit who was one of 5 schoolboy internationals who missed out being part of Hartpury’s squad for the WSF 2018.
The December date will give them the opportunity to have all the squad available for selection.
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Hartpury College are also the 1st team confirmed and announced in the new Girls 10s competition, and only enhances Hartpury’s reputation for developing the game from U18s through the senior level for both men and women.
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In the Open Trophy, holders, Odyssey XV will return to defend the Trophy they won in 2022. Once again the Squad is open for players from around the world to apply for selection. The Squad was brilliantly cultivated and blended together under Director of Rugby, Simon Lewis and the Coaching team of Wessel du Plessis and new England U20s Head Coach, Mark Mapletoft.
The 2023 is already shaping up, with announcements imminent in all the competitions, and promises to embody the true spirit of rugby, promoting the traditional values of the sport by gathering some of the most promising schoolboy talent the game has to offer.
What teams could be included in the World Schools Festival 2023?
Given the success of last year’s event, even more top schools from around the world have been rumoured to be included in the latest iteration.
From New Zealand, Kelston Boy’s are heavily linked to be making a trip to Thailand after their incredibly strong showing in 1st XV rugby in 2022. With stars like Xavier Tito Harris now dominating sevens rugby, will there be new stars to emerge?
From South Africa, many of the top sides have been rumoured to be included this year, with Grey College the forerunner alongside another of the big six schools. With Grey College playing so dominantly this year, many will be keen to see if they can get revenge on Hamilton Boys.
In England, many of the top schools have shown significant interest in being included this year. In 2022, Millfield, Trinity and Sedbergh battled it out against the very best schools in the world in Thailand.
There have been hints that Clifton College, Harrow School and others from England have expressed an interest to be involved in the tournament in all formats.
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For further information or any questions about the WSF, contact us at www.worldschoolsfestival.com
