Development Men's and Women's NTS Round 2 preview

The Development Men’s and Women’s National Touch Series moves on to Round 2 in Burton tomorrow with over seven hours of action. James Warrener has your preview.

There is a broad spread of geography in competing clubs with Crewe, Leeds and Exeter all being represented in Staffordshire.

Field 1 will be live streamed with the important pool games, key knockout matches and finals being shown here.

CLICK HERE to see the full schedule

Get yourself along to Burton to see the action if you can as there are plenty of other activities going on around the club over the weekend to partake in. Have a look at our England Touch social media for more details. 

Mens

The four men’s pools look really competitive with four in each and competitive action guaranteed.

Pool A sees PFT, London Vipers, Revolution and the Yorkshire Thorns compete to get in to the playoffs. The match between the Thorns and Revolution will be on pitch 1 and live streamed at half 12 for you to enjoy with lunch!

PFT took home the Cup title from Round 1, but with the Vipers having won the Plate and Yorkshire among the north’s leading clubs this is going to be a competitive group.

Pool B really stretches that geographical reach I mentioned with Chester Cheetahs meeting Thames Valley Vikings, Exeter Eagle Owls and Cambridge. 

Chester pushed PFT all the way in the Cup final last time out, while Exeter have become a very competitive outfit in a short period of time.

We see similar coverage in Pool C with Bristol Jets tapping off against Oxford, Crewe & Nantwich and Wigan.

This pool is very close to call, with all four clubs having plenty of strength in depth to call upon.

The final group in the mens, Pool D sees a local derby between London Eagles and Galaxy London, with Cheltenham Tigers and Nottingham making up the four.

Eagles, Galaxy and Nottingham are three of the traditional powerhouses of the sport, while Cheltenham have come on in leaps and bounds to challenge regularly.

Pool A - PFT, London Vipers, Revolution, Yorkshire Thorns

Pool B - Chester Cheetahs, Thames Valley Vikings, Exeter Eagles Owls, Cambridge

Pool C - Bristol Jets, Oxford, Crewe & Nantwich, Wigan Warriors

Pool D - London Eagles, Cheltenham Tigers, Galaxy London, Nottingham

Womens

Pool A looks competitive with Revolution and Cheltenham joined by London Eagles and Yorkshire Thorns. Revolution came out on top in a thrilling Cup final against Oxford in Round 1, which went down to 3-v-3 extra time for minute after minute. But they will have their work cut out against the other three clubs, who have built up plenty of strength in depth in their Women’s teams.

Pool B sees Oxford match up with Wigan Warriors, London Vipers and Exeter Eagle Owls. This pool promises to be competitive, as does Pool C, which sees Bristol Jets, Thames Valley Vikings, Nottingham and Chester Cheetahs go head-to-head

Pool A - Revolution, Cheltenham Tigers, London Eagles, Yorkshire Thorns 

Pool B - Oxford, Wigan Warriors, London Vipers, Exeter Eagle Owls 

Pool C -  Bristol Jets, Thames Valley Vikings, Nottingham, Chester Cheetahs