The Champion Schools Tournament is now underway, with schools across the region competing in the world’s biggest Rugby League knockout competition for a chance to play in the curtain raiser at next year’s Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.
This week the qualifiers for Year 10 Boys North, Year 10 Boys South, Year 10 Girls, Year 9 Boys North and Year 9 Boys South all took part. The Festivals were held at David Young Community Academy, Abbey Grange School, Bruntcliffe Academy and Farnley Academy and we would like to thank all those schools for their support in hosting the qualifiers.
Here is a roundup of this week’s tournament
Y10 Boys Tuesday 22nd September
North/East Partnership Rally at David Young Community Academy
Teams entered; John Smeaton Academy, David Young Community Academy, Brigshaw School, Temple Moor High School, Mount St Mary’s
Results
Pool 1
John Smeaton Academy 8 David Young Community Academy 8
DYCA 4 Corpus Christi Catholic College 20
John Smeaton Academy 0 Corpus Christi 12
Pool 2
Brigshaw School 16 Temple Moor 4
Brigshaw School 4 Mount St Marys 12
Temple Moor 12 Mount St Marys 16
The festival showcased close and competitive games between the schools in the North/East of Leeds, so much so that the qualifiers were decided on points difference in pool 1. In pool 2 Temple Moor were unlucky to lose out as they put in a real good performance against Mount St Mary’s which was the game that decided which team would qualify and they only lost out by one try.
In pool 1 the final game between John Smeaton had to be called early due to a bad injury suffered by Corpus Christi Catholic Colleges Ciaran Edwards. Ciaran was on a strong run and broke John Smeaton Academys line and gave a fantastic offload which resulted in Corpus Christi scoring, however whilst tackled Ciaran suffered a double break to his ankle meaning the game was called early. However John Smeaton did enough in their final game and sneaked through beating David Young Community Academy on point’s difference.
Leeds North/East Qualifiers:
1st- Corpus Christi Catholic College
2nd- Mount St Marys
3rd- Brigshaw School
4th- John Smeaton Academy
South/West Partnership Rally at Bruntcliffe Academy
Teams Entered; South Leeds Academy, Crawshaw Academy, Woodkirk Acadmey, Leeds West Academy, Morley Academy, Bruntcliffe Academy
Results
Pool 1
South Leeds Academy 36 Crawshaw Academy 0
Crawshaw Academy 12 Woodkirk Academy 24
South Leeds Academy 16 Woodkirk Academy 4
Pool 2
Leeds West Academy 8 Morley Academy 20
Leeds West Academy 4 Bruntcliffe Academy 40
Morley Academy 8 Bruntcliffe Academy 24
The festival at Bruntcliffe Academy saw some real tough games and a good standard of rugby league. South Leeds Academy and Bruntcliffe Academy were real stand out teams on the night scoring plenty of points but also displaying great effort and attitude in defence.
Leeds South/West Qualifiers:
1st- Bruntcliffe Academy
2nd- South Leeds Academy
3rd- Woodkirk Academy
4th- Morley Academy
Y10 Girls Wednesday 23rd September
Brigshaw School and Cockburn played off to seal their fate for the Girls Regional Champion Schools Competition. They played to see where they would be seeded for the next round of the competition first or second. The game was fast flowing with some excellent rugby which showed the progress lots of the girls have made in the past year since joining their local community clubs; West Leeds, East Leeds and Kippax Kangaroo’s. Cockburn kept them self in it in the first half with some good tries from Brooke Davey, however Brigshaw edged ahead in the first half with some strong runs from Mia Clarke resulting in a try and the conversions made by Faye Stockwell. The second half saw Brigshaw run away with the game with tries from Lauryn Hall on her debut. The game finished 46-8 to Brigshaw School.
1st- Brigshaw School
2nd- Cockburn School
Y9 Boys Champ Schools
North/East Partnership at Abbey Grange School
Teams Entered; John Smeaton Academy, Corpus Christi Catholic College, Brigshaw School, Abbey Grange School, Mount St Marys
Results
John Smeaton Academy 0 Corpus Christi Catholic College 20
John Smeaton Academy 8 Mount St Marys 4
Brigshaw School 4 Mount St Marys 12
Corpus Christi 4 Mount St Marys 12
Abbey Grange 0 Mount St Marys 28
Brigshaw School 28 Abbey Grange 0
Corpus Christi 16 Abbey Grange 0
John Smeaton Academy 12 Abbey Grange 0
John Smeaton Academy 0 Brigshaw School 16
Corpus Christi 4 Brigshaw 0
The festival was very close with some tough games from all the schools taking part. The teams that qualify will take part in the Leeds Champion Schools Finals in October. They will play the qualifiers from the other side of the city and where they finish in the local qualifiers decides who they will come up against in the finals, so the schools were keen to finish top and put themselves in the best position possible. The qualifiers table was tight with the top two teams finishing level on 10 points and third, fourth place finishing on 8 points therefore the final positioning was decided on point’s difference.
Leeds North/East Qualifiers:
1st- Mount St Marys
2nd- Corpus Christi Catholic College
3rd- Brigshaw School
4th- John Smeaton Academy
South/West Partnership at Farnley Academy
Teams Entered; Leeds West Academy, Priesthorpe School, Cockburn School, Farnley Academy
Results:
Leeds West Academy 28 Priesthorpe 4
Leeds West Academy 12 Cockburn 8
Leeds West Academy 16 Farnley Academy 8
Cockburn 8 Farnley Academy 8
Priesthorpe 0 Farnley Academy 16
Priesthorpe 0 Cockburn 32
The four team all qualified to the finals however they will be battling to receive the best qualifying position for the Y9 Finals in October at Boddington Hall.
Leeds South/West Qualifiers:
1st- Leeds West Academy
2nd- Cockburn School
3rd- Farnley Academy
4th- Priesthorpe School
Y10 Boys Leeds Champion Schools Finals: Thursday 8th October at Boddington Hall
Y9 Boys Leeds Champion Schools Finals: Tuesday 13th October at Boddington Hall