Two years ago today (Thursday), Isle of Man Rugby Sevens under-18s made their debut appearance in a national competition at Rosslyn Park, London.

On what was a lovely hot day, the Manx boys succeeded in what seemed unimaginable for a debuting team, winning their group and progressing to day two.

They again gave a fantastic account of themselves and even managed to get a stream back to the island schools for everyone to watch.

Unfortunately the 2020 event was cancelled because of the pandemic, as has this year’s. But, Rosslyn Park’s National Sevens has linked up with NextGenXV to produce a virtual 2021 competition.

The u18s competition begins tomorrow morning (Friday) at 10am and the Isle of Man team has been drawn in Group DD against Lancaster Royal Grammar School, Wirral Grammar and St James’s Senior Boys.

Lancaster RGS narrowly defeated the Isle of Man team last March in the quarter-finals of the North of England Sevens competition. The IoM also faced Wirral Grammar the same day.

There are no fewer than 233 entrants in the u18s virtual competition and, as already stated, voting begins at 10am sharp for the group stages. Simply head over to @rpns7 on Twitter.

If the Isle of Man team get through the group stages (winners only) there will be a second group stage at 11am to vote on. The last-16 ties are to be voted on at 1pm, quarter-finals at 2pm, semis at 3pm before the final at 4pm.

Follow the team’s progress on Twitter by following @isleofman7s