RUGBY coach Damien Cuk insists Cirencester College are more than ready to upset the odds when they take to the field for next week’s Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens, writes Josh Murray.

Cirencester College will be one of 650 teams who will gather in west London on Monday for the five-day annual Rosslyn Park Sevens event.

In total, 7,500 boys and girls aged between 13 and 18 will strut their stuff in various different competitions at the world’s largest school Sevens tournament with teams coming from not only across the UK but as far away as Dubai, Lebanon, America, Sweden and Singapore.

The main prize on offer at the world’s largest schools Sevens tournament is a chance for the Open competition finalists to run out at Twickenham during the ninth and final round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in May.

That won’t apply to Cirencester College who will instead bid for success in the boys' U18 Festival competition.

And while drawn against some stiff opposition, Cuk is confident they possess more than enough talent among their ranks to come out on the right side of results.

“We have a number of first-year students taking to the field and they are all really excited about competing at this year’s Sevens event,” he said.

“We entered the Open competition last year and it would be best to say that things did not necessarily go to plan. It was somewhat of a learning curve for us, but as a result we feel better prepared.

“We’ve learnt from that experience and we go into the Festival event this year with a greater sense of confidence that we can go out there and perform to our best.

“The main aim for the players is to go out there and enjoy the game. The enjoyment factor is what creates such a great atmosphere among the team. Some of the players will not have played at such an elite level of competition and it will be great from them to test themselves against some quality opposition.”

HSBC is proud to sponsor the world's largest schools rugby tournament. All HSBC’s rugby sponsorships aim to help develop and grow the sport and ensure even more youngsters get involved with rugby.