Seven for the Sevens - a great day
Seven for the Sevens – a great day.
Seven schools took part in the Rugby Sevens Secondary Schools Tournament, hosted by Mercury Bay Area School at Sports Park on Wednesday, 26 October; Hauraki Plains, Mercury Bay Area School, Paeroa, Thames, Te Aroha, Te Kauwhata, Thames, Whangamata.
This inter-school competition was organised by Scott Day, Rugby Manager for Thames Valley Union Rugby. Most of the schools presented more than one team, with nearly 200 players participating.
Leisa McCleery, Sports Director for MBAS, and Zoe Smith, senior student at MBAS, looked after administration on the day.
In terms of the results for the Sevens Rugby Tournament, there were two sections: Youth and Open.
Youth Girls were competing for the Ian Murphy Development Grade Cup and Youth Boys for TVSS 7’s Fourth Grade Cup. Open Girls were competing for the Hare Family Trophy and Open Boys for the Condors Cup. All the open teams were trying to qualify for the National finals. Condors is the national level Sevens Rugby Competition and only one team could qualify (see results below).
The Informer witnessed great organisation and so many young men and women giving their utmost to win. Every player must be able to run fast. But every single team member who didn’t win, showed a magnanimous spirit, and though teams had to mostly keep to themselves for preparation purposes, there was a lot of friendly exchange between players of the different schools. It was a very warm day and fatigue was noticeable.
Some players were bruised and had lost patches of skin in their game contact. They kept playing however, some competing in up to four games. One student required medical assistance which was provided by Gary Hinds in his capacity as a First Responder.
In the end
Youth Girls:
FINAL: Hauraki Plains College beat Mercury Bay Area School (score TBC)
Player of the Tournament: Ataahua Beckham (Hauraki Plains College)
Youth Boys:
FINAL: Paeroa College Gold beat Paeroa College Green 17-14.
3/4th PLAYOFF: Mercury Bay Area School beat Te Aroha College 24-14
Player of the Tournament: Brodie Robinson (Paeroa College)
Open Girls:
FINAL: Hauraki Plains College beat Mercury Bay Area School 24- 7
Player of the Tournament: Brooke Barker (Hauraki Plains College)
Open Boys:
FINAL: Mercury Bay Area School beat Whangamata Area School 17-5
Player of the Tournament: Colville Green (Mercury Bay Area School)
For enquiries – Scott Day, Rugby Manager email: scott@tvrfu.co.nz
Top middle: Stella Bahr, MBAS Open Girls, makes the touch down.