The ‘waterfall’ style tournaments at this level of competition mean that there was no overall winner at either competition which provided the boys with the perfect platform for a valuable learning experience. In their six matches at Berkhamsted, Claires Court had a record of four wins, a draw and a defeat. The boys won all three matches in their original group, scoring against Queens’ School from Watford 15-5,  Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni from Caerphilly 15-10 and St. Ambrose College from Manchester 15-10.

Claires Court were ‘waterfalled’ into a group with three other group winners at the tournament, which consisted of 64 teams from England and Wales. After a thrilling 20-20 draw with New Hall from Chelmsford and a disappointing 30-10 defeat to Manchester Grammar School, Claires Court finished the day on a high, with their largest victory of the festival - a 35-5 win over Robert Clack School from Dagenham.

A week later the same squad travelled to Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens in arctic conditions to compete in the biggest school boys sevens tournament in the world, with 132 U13 teams making the journey to take part in the festival.

Once again Claires Court put in a very commendable performance coming away with a record of four wins and one defeat from their five matches. Good victories against King’s School from Worcester 15-0, Mary Immaculate High School from Cardiff 20-5 and Llangatwg Community School from Neath in their opening three matches set up an exciting clash with their third Welsh opponents of the festival Ysgol Dyffryn Taf School from Carmarthenshire who had also reached their fourth fixture unbeaten. It was the Welsh outfit who took the spoils with a narrow 20-15 victory. Claires Court bounced back quickly with a 25-10 win in their final match against Red House School from Stockton-on-Tees.

With training sessions taking place each Monday after school this term, this sevens season has been a valuable learning experience for all the boys involved and should stand them in good stead in the future when competitions take on a more competitive edge.