Sun, speed, must be sevens season!
You thought rugby season was over? in slides sevens! 7s teams from across Canterbury took to Ilam Fields last weekend, in a showcase of unbelievable speed and electric atmosphere.
With 11 Men’s Open, 7 Women’s Open and 4 Men’s Reserve teams playing across two days in glorious weather, the sidelines were absolutely bustling with support.
New comer to the tournament, Nikora Jarvis from Saracens praised the atmosphere on the day and highlighted the mixture of festival and sports with music and large groups of friends enjoying themselves, “we entered our colt’s team to go out there and have a run and it was big success. I’d encourage anyone to do the exact same if you’re sitting on the fence about registering”. Jarvis’ team finished second in the Men’s Reserve.
“We introduced the reserve men’s grade this year, to open up the opportunities for teams with different abilities to take part,” said Michael Sheat, Canterbury Community Rugby Manager, “It was so good to see lots of players getting involved in club sevens”. With clubs returning each year and more clubs taking up the opportunity, this is such an exciting event for Canterbury Rugby and a fantastic way to keep those connections within our community.
A special shoutout to the Sumner Crew of volunteers, led by Garry Mitchell and Andy Toy. Now in their 13th year, they continued the tradition of a barbecue brekkie featuring whitebait patties and glasses of bubbly to kick off the tournament.
A huge congratulations to the winners!
University of Canterbury Rugby Club - Men’s Open
High School Old Boy’s Rugby Club – Women’s Open
Lincoln Rugby Club – Men’s Reserve.
Next up will see four of our Secondary School teams taking part in the National Finals! Christchurch Boys High School and St Bedes have qualified for the boy’s grade, as well as Christchurch Girls High School and St Andrews qualifying in the girl’s grade. The teams will head to Mount Maunganui to compete at the Condor 7s tournament on 31st November and 1st December. Best of luck to all our Canterbury 7s players!
Words by Hannah Yates