• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

Fijians lead the charge at 'Pock'

The 51st Guinness Pocklington Sevens got a bumper weekend of exciting UK Sevens underway at rain-filled Percy Road. The ‘Pock Sevens’ has been played annually on Good Friday since 1959 and has grown into a real cosmopolitan carnival with teams and players travelling from far and wide. And it was in fact one of the newcomers, Fiji Covenant Brothers, who raced away with the established title, beating 2007 winners 3 Yorkshire Regiment 26-12 in a high quality final.

The event produced another vibrant day of rugby with almost 3,000 players and spectators and a full compliment of 24 teams present.

The Covenant Brothers are one of Fiji's top Sevens sides, based in Fiji's capital, Suva, and a number of their old boys who are currently based in England and France have come together to form a European branch of the club. However, they did not have it all their own way, edging out Beverley 14-10 in the quarter final thanks to two conversions after both sides had scored two tries, then going even closer in their semi-final with Derbyshire Panthers, where they needed a sudden death score to win it 26-19 with the sides locked at 19-19 at full-time.

Malton & Norton's young side was the most successful local outfit, reaching the other semi-final with good victories over the Cambridge students of St Johns College and over host club Pocklington. But they then fell to the 3 Yorkshire Regiment, another side packed with South Sea Islanders, who often enjoy a firm presence at the event.

KS Crusaders from Guisborough had too much pace and power for Selby, lifting the MB Herring Plate Final 46-0.

Salcombe Sunshine as Ben 7s prove too tough

The South West of the UK enjoyed glorious weather none more so than at the annual Sevens hosted by Salcombe RFC. Last year’s tournament spectacle was marred by a serious injury to a member of the ‘Young Guns’ in the final against Ben 7s. The match was stopped with both sides returning this year determined to claim the title outright.

Ben 7s, the nucleus of whom represent Westcombe Park in English National 2 League, again looked strong, playing a physical brand of Sevens and comfortably making it through to the Semi-finals in this 12-team tournament. The biggest shock of the day was seeing the Stumblers surprise the dangerous and pacey Young Guns 19-12 in the group stages. That meant a semi-final against Ben 7s, where again the Stumbler’s urgency and agility were impressive, holding the favorites at 12-12 before essentially running out of steam against an organized and disciplined defense.

In the other half of the draw the Bristol Rhinos, perennial visitors to Salcombe, impressed in depositing of the dangerous ‘Stade Frenchay’, a team full of Millfield School alumni in the group stages. They met the Pistol Knights in the second Cup Semi Final, a hard-fought, gritty contest, with the robust Knights enjoying the majority of possession but ultimately failing to take their chance. The Rhinos' precision and courageous defense was enough for them to run out 19-7. The final proved a step too far the Rhinos though, with the superior strength and sevens nous of Ben 7s proving the difference with the latter running out comfortable 45-5 winners to lift the trophy once again.