HEREFORD Sixth Form College will get a second bite at the Twickenham cherry when they compete in the Daily Mail Under 18 Schools Rugby Vase against Bedstone.

The vase gives Midlands schools a second shot at getting to HQ after losing out in the Daily Mail Under 18 Schools Rugby Cup.

King Henry VIII, Coventry will open their defence of the trophy they won last season on a memorable day at Twickenham when they tackle Queen Mary Grammar School, Walsall in the next couple of weeks.

King Henry's came away from Twickenham with a 14-5 win over Stowe school and in doing so maintained a strong Midland success rate in this tier of the Daily Mail Schools competition.

John Cleveland School (1996), Bromsgrove School (1997) and Bablake School (1999) are all previous winners to produce a four-out-of six success rate. As King Henry's will testify, however, the switch of the final from the England School head administrative head-quarters at Castlecroft, Wolverhampton gave the Vase a major boost.

Now, disappointment at going out of the Daily Mail Cup in the first couple of rounds has been transformed by the organisers and the sponsors into a much more realistic chance of a Twickenham outing for clubs in the middle ground of schools rugby.

While every effort has been made down the years to create as level a playing field as possible in a schools structure which at one end of the spectrum embraces international excellence and at the other fledgling schools seeking to get established in the game, the reality is that, as with knockout competitions in every sport, the cream generally rises to the top.

By opening up the Vase to first and second round losers, however, the competition offers a much more realistic chance of progress for a much wider base and with the final transferred to Twickenham, the prize is just as enticing for the lads involved as it is for the cup campaigners.

Almost 200 schools are involved in the recently completed draw for the Daily Mail Under 18 Vase and while there are a handful of highly reputable names - probably victims of difficult draws and below-par performances on the day - who are involved, it would take a very wise man to predict which school will emerge from the varied field this year.

No doubt King Henry's will be looking at another outing on the Twickenham turf, but there are 40 schools from the Midlands determined to wreck those hopes before the rest of the country come into the equation.

Midlands

Round One (to be played between Nov 4/11): Campion v Harlington Upper, Fakenham Coll v King's, Peterborough, Thomas Beckett CUS v Deacons, Wooton Upper v Northampton School for Boys, Beauchamp Coll v KES, Melton Mowbray, Shrewsbury 6th FC v Newcastle School, Hereford 6th FC v Bedstone, Prince Henry's, Evesham v Cardinal Newman.

Round Two (to be played between Nov 4/11): Queensbury v Campion/Harlington Upper, Fakenham Coll/King's, Peterborough v Thomas Beckett/Deacons, Wooton Upper/Northampton School for Boys v Northampton Grammar, Hinchingbrooke v Roade, Highfield v Carlton-le-Willows, Hayfield v John Leggott Coll, Beauchamp/KES, Melton Mowbray v QEGS, Ashbourne, De Aston v Magnus.