In South Africa, the annual Craven Week schools rugby tournament is a magnet for scouts on the lookout for young talent poised to join the ranks of the Springboks.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, talent spotters gather at the Condor Sevens, the very event where rugby legends like Jonah Lomu and Beauden Barrett first made their mark as teenagers.
In England, the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens serves as the premier venue for identifying future rugby stars.
This week, more than 16,000 players, aged 11 to 18, will compete across 27 fields in southwest London. This year’s event has seen a surge of players sporting peroxide blonde hair, a trend inspired by Henry Pollock, who participated in the 2022 tournament before advancing to the England national team.
“You see young kids here doing the Pollock pulse celebration, and I’m all for it,” remarks Ben Foden, a former England star now coaching at Scarborough College.
Pupils from Stamford School celebrate winning the Under-18s Vase trophy back in 2024, after coming out on top in a field of 220 schools
Action from the Rosslyn Park Sevens earlier this week – the tournament is a one-stop shop for talent identification
The sidelines are bustling with scouts from clubs, unions, and universities, all eager to discover the next big name in rugby.
The Under-16 level is seen as the prime market for picking up the initial wave of talent, before players fall into various pathways at sixth form.
Welsh scouts roam en masse while the Irish hand out flyers featuring a QR code that invites players to register their eligibility to represent Ireland. If they pick up two or three players with professional potential, then it is seen as a successful trip.
Newcastle Red Bulls and Bristol are among the Premiership recruiters on site and there is a growing trend of rugby league representation, with talent spotters from Super League clubs travelling down on the lookout for code-switchers.
‘It’s an open market,’ says Mike Umaga – the brother of All Blacks coach, Tana – who is director of rugby at Bishop Burton College.
‘A few of the Super League clubs are here. The northern colleges have closer links to rugby league. All the clubs are here, universities are here, agents are here. They’ll have seen kids throughout the season and here they can see them in the shortened format that tests your speed and your skillset.
‘A lot of our kids haven’t played at anything as big as this. You get off the bus and it’s another world. We have the Condor Sevens in New Zealand which is similar, full of scouts from Super Rugby age groups.’
The tournament has traditionally been dominated by private schools who pump thousands of pounds into their rugby programmes. Some of them spend more than £10,000 for a marquee spot beside the main show pitch where they provide hospitality to parents and donors.
There is even a billboard for charter flights beside the pitch that will host Friday’s Under-18 final.
Northampton School for Boys have been leading the state school charge this year on the XVs circuit, disrupting the sport’s old order. Time will tell if they do the same in the world of sevens.
The tournament has traditionally been dominated by private schools, some of which spend more than £10,000 for a marquee spot beside the main show pitch where they provide hospitality to parents and donors
England international Henry Pollock showcasing his skills in the tournament back in 2022. Now the kids of 2026 are emulating his celebrations
England coaches Tom Harrison and Richard Wigglesworth (whose son plays for Kirkham Grammar School) have both paid a visit this week.
Alongside Foden, the likes of Ben Youngs, Geordan Murphy and Topsy Ojo are among the retired players in school coaching teams.
‘I’ve got guys coming up to me with cards saying: “What’s your No 4 doing next year?”’ adds Foden. ‘Sadly, there’s no Premiership team in Yorkshire but there are plenty of rugby-playing schools. Newcastle is the closest union team to Scarborough and that’s two-and-a-half hours away. Some of the league coaches here might see some potential in someone and give them a chance.
‘York have just gone up to the Super League and now we’re trying to work together to get guys into their academy pathway. If I can coach the guys union and they can pop over to York to do two or three sessions a week of rugby league, then great. The more they play, the more they train, the more they learn. They should be able to play two games a week at 16 or 17.
‘You’ve got academies starting at 14 years old so people are trying to pick up the kids as soon as possible. The private schools have been hit with the new VAT bill but the likes of Millfield, Harrow and Sedbergh take it so seriously that they’re basically academies in their own right. They have their own physios, they look at nutrition, they have massive gyms. It’s a great shop window. It’s good for the game.’
