Rugby Sevens is perhaps the ultimate display of rugby. It is an exciting, fast paced and less attritional version of the full game and requires just 7 players to form a team and they play two seven minute periods. It is now an Olympic Sport and it has been a Commonwealth sport for some time. Teams like Samoa, India, Namibia and other lower ranked rugby countries have the opportunity to mix it with the Kiwis and the Aussies. Rugby sevens is set to grow, and one day will probably outstrip fifteens.
The Whitney Sevens revival started with the Somersfield Sevens in December 2010 and the second leg was held on March 10th at Sandy’s Secondary School thanks to the drive and efforts of Chris Naylor, and the support from Dr. Jackson and his team at Sandy’s. This was the first time they hosted a schools rugby tournament and they did a wonderful job.
Chris started his rugby career at the ripe old age of 11 playing for Trojans RFC, Southampton, England. He has played for his county, captained Teachers Rugby Club, played for Bermuda from 2003-2010 including captain in 2006, is a qualified coach and is still playing the game 27 year later! But if you ask Chris what’s the best part about the game he would admit it’s introducing the game to many young Bermudians especially his kids at Sandy’s Secondary School. Many have had the honor of wearing the Bermuda jersey over the years including Shauntino Simons and Kai Edwards who are current Bermuda senior Internationals.
The Sevens tournament had participation from the following schools at two age groups (U12, U14) – Sandy’s, Saltus, Warwick, Somersfield/Whitney Institute. The event was well attended by parents, friends, students, coaches and school teachers and the core values of rugby union (teamwork, discipline, enjoyment, respect and sportsmanship) were on display throughout the tournament. The games were both competitive and played in a good spirit with all players taking pride in representing their schools. Schools Sevens are now established on the schools calendar and the hope is that it gets expanded next year.
The many notable memories of the day include… - The first rugby competition for a number of the Whitney Institute boys at the U14 age group level. They played with a lot of heart and a skill which was remarkable given it was their first outing. Hope to see them more regularly at training. - Warwick, coached by Keith Hodgkins, made their entry into the sevens tournament arena and won the U12 tournament after a great tussle with Somersfield with a try in the last play of regulation time to tie the game and winning in extra time with a great team try. - Sandy’s U14 which always field two strong teams won again after coming from behind late in the final against Somersfield and came through in extra time. - Great support from the Sandy’s school throughout the tournament - Referees for the day were Chris Naylor and Keith Hodgkins – thank you! - The games were fast and furious and played with a lot of commitment and special thank to Sue Crofts who became the on-site medic on her birthday! - Saltus, one of the strongholds of Bermuda rugby impressed everyone with their team’s performance and input from coach Phil Heap. - Somersfield/Whitney coached by Dave Crofts and Patrick Topley had a great turnout with 30 kids playing the tournament - Ollie McKittrick, original founder of the Whitney Sevens 40 years ago, was in attendance to see his grandson Sam contribute to Warwick’s come from behind victory at U12 - Overall, a beautiful Bermuda day in Sandy’s and a very entertaining and exciting day of rugby and thank you to Sandy’s for hosting a great event
Friday, March 11, 2011
Warwick Win Sandy’s Seven’s Tournament
The Warwick Academy Under 12 started the tournament very well with a very convincing win against the Somersfield B Team. Strong tackling by Jacob Robb, Johnny Page and Jonathan Hodgkins resulted in frequent turnovers by the other team that was capitalized on by our outside backs Logan Ball and Sam Mckittrick.
In the second game against the Somersfield A Team the Warwick Academy Under 12 boys fell behind in the first half by a score of three Try’s to 1, however by coming out in the second half and pressuring the Somersfield players into mistakes resulted in three unanswered tries and a confidence building 20 to 15 win.
Sandys Under 12’s were up next for Warwick Academy Under 12. From the very first kickoff Jacob Robb challenged the Sandy’s receiver who spilled the ball which Page picked up and quickly scored, the lead was soon doubled when a nice passing interchange between Marco McGavick and Britten Mosley resulting in a debut try for the latter. Following a momentary loss of concentration by Warwick Academy Under 12 one of the Sandys speedsters ran around a staggered Warwick defense to score in the corner. Warwick went into halftime with a 10 to 5 lead. The courage and determination award must go out to Page. During the first half he was accidently stepped on by a player with metal cleats, although visibly shaken he refused to come off at half time. Instead, he lead the Warwick team into the second half where the they again put the defensive pressure on the opposition with notable performances by Andrew Blee and Caleb Hamilton. Warwick scored two more tries and Sandy’s scored one for a final result of 20 to 10.
For the finals Warwick found themselves facing the Somersfield team they came from behind to beat during the round robin. The match took on a familiar sequence with a solid start by Somersfield producing two tries taking them into a 10-0 lead at half time. Following the restart Warwick applied pressure to the Somersfield team and were rewarded with an early try. Warwick continued to attack but the Somersfield defense was resilient until the last play of regular time when the Warwick team passed the ball down the line to Mathew Meszoly who was on the wing. He was immediately gang tackled by three Somersfield players and even under intense pressure had the presence of mind to throw the ball in field before stepping out of bounds, knowing full well that time was up. His pass was caught by Jacob Robb who in turn passed to Caleb Hamilton who passed to Sam Mckittrick who then sprinted for the corner and just before he was tackled passed to Logan Ball who dove over the line to tie the game. The momentum had definitely shifted to the Warwick team and sudden death over time was in order. Warwick kicked off to Somersfield and immediately pinned them back near the goal line. After a series of attacking plays the Warwick team passed the ball down the line into the hands of McGavick who dove over the try line to win the tournament for the Warwick U12 team.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Primary School Tag Write Up
Research has found that participating in sports can have a healthy developmental impact on young children. These activities can promote co-operative play, teamwork and good sportsmanship.
Tag Rugby, also known in the USA as flag rugby league or simply flag rugby, is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it. The mode of play is has many similarities to touch rugby.
Attacking players attempt to dodge, evade and pass a rugby ball while defenders attempt to prevent them scoring by "tagging" - pulling a velcro attached tag from the ball carrier, rather than a full contact tackle. Tag rugby is used in development and training by the rugby union community as a development game / training alternative. Tag Rugby has the highest participation levels in Ireland and Australia.
The Annual Bermuda Schools Sports Federation Primary School Tag Rugby Tournament was held on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at Shelly Bay with seven schools and 16 teams including 6 girls teams participating on a beautiful sunny day. This was an excellent turnout for this popular tournament and Manny Faria the organizer noted it was the best turnout to date. The schools represented were Saltus, East End, Somersfield, St. David’s, Purvis, St. George’s Prep., and Francis Patton.
The children really seemed to be enjoying the game and playing with their friends and for the pride of their schools. Many of the schools have recently only started their rugby programs and full credit to their coaches and the players for the excellent performances.
Francis Patton One won the Girls Division Francis Patton One finished on top with a record of three wins and one tie, Saltus One and Saltus Two finished tied for second with a record of 2 wins a tie and a loss.
Saltus won the Boys B Division. Saltus defeated St. David's Primary 8 - 2 in one Semi-Final, while St. George's Prep defeated Francis Patton 3 - 2 in the other.
The final was a well fought battle with the teams ending 2 - 2 after regulation time. Saltus got tries from Kaden Hopkins and Sam Fox, while St. George's got their tries from Finn Smith and Giovanni Debraga. The game was finally settled after Daniel Exell broke free for Saltus and scored the winner after a lengthy Sudden Death period.
Saltus also won the A Division after defeating East End Primary 10 - 3 in the final. The score was 3 - 3 at the half, but Saltus scored 7 unanswered second half tries to win. East End got tries from Jerriko Gibbons, Shani Simmons and Blaiz Hall, while Saltus were led with four tries from San-tze Burgess, two apiece from Liam Page and Brandon O'Connor and single scores from Neil Figureido and Matteo Dill. Saltus had defeated Purvis 4 - 2 in their Semi-Final match while East End needed a Sudden Death period to defeat Francis Patton 3 - 2 in the other.
Special thanks to all the teachers who trained their teams for the tournament and the parents who came out to watch the tournament. Well done to Manny Faria and his team in organizing a very popular event. There was a lot of talented players who don’t don’t play in the Bermuda Rugby Program and the hope is that many of the kids move onto to develop their rugby skills in the various BRFU programs which currently run on Sundays at Saltus at 11am. See the following website for further details http://bermudarfu.com/MiniRugby.aspx.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Primary School Tag Round Up
Francis Patton Girls in action
BSSF
SEE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF SALTUS & FRANCIS PATTON BELOW
Francis Patton One won the Girls Division of the Primary School’s Tag Rugby Tournament at Shelly Bay. Francis Patton One finished on top with a record of three wins and one tie, Saltus One and Saltus Two finished tied for second with a record of 2 wins a tie and a loss.
Saltus won the Boys B Division. Saltus defeated St. David's Primary 8 - 2 in one Semi-Final, while St. George's Prep defeated Francis Patton 3 - 2 in the other.
The final was a well fought battle with the teams ending 2 - 2 after regulation time. Saltus got tries from Kaden Hopkins and Sam Fox, while St. George's got their tries from Finn Smith and Giovanni Debraga. The game was finally settled after Daniel Exell broke free for Saltus and scored the winner after a lengthy Sudden Death period.
Saltus also won the A Division after defeating East End Primary 10 - 3 in the final. The score was 3 - 3 at the half, but Saltus scored 7 unanswered second half tries to win. East End got tries from Jerriko Gibbons, Shani Simmons and Blaiz Hall, while Saltus were led with four tries from San-tze Burgess, two apiece from Liam Page and Brandon O'Connor and single scores from Neil Figureido and Matteo Dill. Saltus had defeated Purvis 4 - 2 in their Semi-Final match while East End needed a Sudden Death period to defeat Francis Patton 3 - 2 in the other.
Monday, December 13, 2010
School's Rugby Sevens Round Up
Who recalls the Whitney Sevens Rugby tournament for all the island schools back in the 60’s and thru to the 90’s? There was a revival of this entertaining rugby format at Somersfield Academy on December 9th 2010. The idea was the brain child of Garth Lorimer-Turner ably assisted by Patrick Topley and his Mariners colleagues and Dave Crofts.
The Sevens tournament had participation from the following schools at three age groups (U12, U14 and U16) – Sandy’s, Saltus, BHS, Somersfield with Whitney Institute and Bermuda Institute also having players represented on the teams above. The event was well attended by parents, friends, students, coaches and school teachers and the core values of rugby union (teamwork, discipline, enjoyment, respect and sportsmanship) were on display throughout the tournament. The games were both competitive and played in a good spirit with all players taking pride in representing their schools.
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