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Chris Kibble, Esher Coach
On finishing runners-up at RugbyRocks
"Well, we're probably about thirty seconds away from winning, to be fair. We had a great opportunity right at the death, whereas against the Army where we came back from 21-0 down at one point, we just didn't quite have the legs to finish them (Samurai) off.
"I am so pleased. It was quite a mix of players and I was very happy with the performance of the team, and the progress we made through the tournament. Sevens is a very special game. Today has been brilliant and all the boys have thoroughly enjoyed themselves."
Simon Hunt, Player of the Tournament, Samurai
On Samurai’s mental strength to win the final
"The thing about Samurai is that you know the guy next to you will run his socks off so you don’t want to let him down. That gets you through the close games. We back ourselves and that helped us to come back in that final.
"Every game today was really close and tight. It was just a great advert for sevens. To win that first tournament sets us up and we are delighted to win."
Alex Taylor, Olorun ID Manager
On an exhausting win in the Plate Final
"I think the ten minute halfs is a bit much after 3 or 4 games, but you have got to get on with it and I think the boys were brilliant. The final was the best rugby we've played, I'm really proud of 'em. I wish we would played a bit like that earlier. We showed heart. Bring on the West Country next week!"
Hugh Hogan, Irish Raiders Captain
On the experience of being an invited team in the National Series
"Yeah, we had it tough playing Samurai earlier, and we gave them a ten point start which was too much to come back from. Then we played a good Apache side that probably deserved to beat us, so we came away from that and set our target to win the plate final, so to come so close was a bit disappointing."
It is great to be part of this for the one tournament. The atmosphere at RugbyRocks has been phenomenal. It’s great to have the three tournaments run side by side, and I have to thank our sponsors for getting us here!
John Voss, Army Rugby Manager
On reasons for losing to Esher in the Cup semi-finals
"It’s a challenging competition and we’ve had a hard fought season already. I think we looked a bit tired and Esher deserved to win. Our heads went down and we let them in. Simple as that. We’re not arrogant to think we should win this but we know we can do a lot better."
Simon Amor, former England Sevens international
On the party atmosphere at RugbyRocks
"It’s been fantastic so far. I'm really impressed with the quality of the sevens, and you’ve sorted the weather out too which always helps. There is a great atmosphere around the pitch, a really good feel.
"With the stage and with the band and the music, it is what sevens is all about. I have my family down here and they love being part of it. A great day out."
James Stephenson, Esher
On his side's shock run to the final
"We knew we had the ability to get far, it was just the application we needed to work on.
"We knew it was going to be a tough tournament coming into the event as an invited team as we know all the big names are here and the players form the core sides. We worked hard and it has paid off."
Phil Greening
National Sevens Series Development Manager
"The sun has come out and the start of the Series has been a real success. Some of the rugby has been really impressive and what a shock in that semi-final with Esher beating the British Army."
Geoff Griffiths, Samurai
On scoring the winner against Apache.
"We shot ourselves in the foot really, they didn’t create much and we gave them three easy tries, but I was happy to dive over late on! Every tournament we play, people want to take us down and see us as a major scalp. That’s become pretty standard."
Drew Locke, Marauders
On National Sevens Series and the Marauders’ hopes entering the knockouts
"It's a great day, and I'm really enjoying it. With the cameras and the fans, it almost feels like a Guinness Premiership or IRB World Series event.
“Our game against the Army was always going to be a toughie, but we are confident wabout the rest of the day and I reckon we could be there at the final. Personally, I think that the Army and The Wailers are the teams to watch."
Mark Laycock, Player/Coach HFW Wailers
On opening 24-19 win against Olorun ID
"Yeah we started pretty slowly, and went two tries down. But we came back even if we were living on a knife edge at times, but we knew we had the ability. We scored some good tries.
"All the boys were pretty nervous starting out in our first game of the new National Series. It is all about getting that first game out the way. There has been some really interesting match-ups already so let’s see how we progress."
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