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

Robin Heymann

The Sunshine Sevens. On the surface it could be a glamour filled ruck n roll beach-side rugby extravaganza in a glitzy location on a tropical island. Not quite. Actually the location for this three day event is East Grinstead RFC, near the delights of Gatwick Airport in the South East of England. Barbados it might not be but year on year some of the finest sevens wizards in the land descend on the Sunshine Sevens for the first ‘biggie' of the year.

Now running in its 52nd year, for many UK Sevens enthusiasts this is where the season really seems to kick off. With raising money for charity the name of the game for the tournament’s committee, lead by Vice Chairman Garry Gordon, who are looking to raising a whopping £10,000 for a selection of beneficiaries, a far cry from the inaugural event in 1958 where £50 was raised!

The fun kicks off on Friday lunchtime with a Primary Schools Tag Tournament attracting eight local schools. The Ladies take to the field on Saturday from 11am with sides from the host club East Grinstead, Lewes and Hove among the 16-strong teams slogging it out, before playing out their finals the following day for the Steve Cairns Trophy.

The chef d'œuvre is on the Sunday though with 32 teams, including some of the UK’s archetypal elite invitational sevens names taking to the paddock. Going away from the standard group stages or round robin style seen at the modern day tournaments, Sunshine incorporates a knockout style format often seen on the Scottish circuit and something that Garry Gordon believes in.

"It seems to work well for us - the Sunshine Sevens has been built over the years, often attracting the top sides with a lot the of old favourites who have supported us over the years still enjoying their sevens and a good day out. We normally have around 16 teams that we seed and this allows the sides that take it a bit more seriously to proceed into the main competition - but that’s not always the case! There are normally a few surprises on the way".

One problem Gordon et al can often encounter is the nightmare of teams dropping out at the last minute, which leads to a slightly mad rush in drafting in players from the rugby club itself to form a team to fill the gap.

Last year again saw another quality field, with the always well polished Ruck U Spartans falling just short against Wooden Spoon 15-12 with top whistle-blower Wayne Barnes calling the shots. Perhaps the performance of the day was the Spartans sensational semi-final performance against the British Army. Here they put away a perennial quality 7s side, sparkled with their usual array of Fijians, 31-14. The shining light last year was undoubtably 17 year old Sam Edgerley who lit up Saint Hill all day. The Wellington College youngster blazed in for a hat-trick with sensational feet and pace that has been groomed with London Irish’s Academy. He won’t be back this year though with the tournament clashing with England Under 18 commitments against Wales, but obviously a name to keep under close scrutiny.

With many of the squads looking to hit the ground running hard ahead of a busy season it would be fair the tournament always receives a fair amount of expectation with many of the players itching to relieve themselves of the burden of their 15-a-side duties.

‘With it always being held the Sunday before the May Bank holiday it gives a good opportunity for players to stretch their legs before some of the other big tournaments such as Kinsale.

‘I honestly think there are 7-8 teams that could go all the way this year. Last year’s winners Wooden Spoons side will be there or thereabouts and are keen to retain their title. Ruck u Spartans were so close last year and I know Tom Carling is back to win. Look out for Seru Rabeni’s side the Kaiviti Krusaders, who will have a very good bunch of Fijian boys. Howard Graham will also be back bringing a Marauders Academy side with Bunny Bunavaila who was Player of the Tournament two years ago,’ said Gordon.

The Plate Winners last year were Kamu Kamikaze and have already started their 09 campaign with a bang. They have dominated a number of smaller tournaments before again looking strong edging out Pink Indians (also present at Sunshine) to win at Winchester over Easter. They have recruited well for this season and are probably more battle hardened then many of the other sides. Rosslyn Park traditionally have a strong history at the tournament whilst sides like Apaches and Esher are quality sides who will definitely be backing themselves to make inroads on Sunday.

Yet, as with many of these types of tournaments there is plenty of activity around the rugby. Last year £8,500 was raised in the process for Wooden Spoon who help disadvantaged children in Sussex.

"We also gave a third of the annual proceeds to The Opportunity Playgroup who again look after children with special needs."

This year Gordon and the rest of the committee are looking to raise the bar even further and have set themselves big challenges in generating the necessary cash for charity and push that magical 10K mark.

‘We will hopefully be stopping the tournament on Sunday briefly and handing over a 15 person minibus to the Step by Step School for Autism - a local charity. This they have been in dire need of and will help getting the children out and about as part of their development and I think we will just have raised enough to do this. As in previous years we will still be supporting the Opportunity Playgroup and Wooden Spoon projects’.

Saturday night is usually a lively one with with a live band in the shape of UK 'rockers' Euphoria bringing the house down. The Women's tournament is on the Saturday, and it's hoped many of the women's teams will stay over on the Saturday night. Some of the elite teams also like to head down for the Saturday to settle in. Families and their kiddies will be catered for with a hive of activity descending on East Grinstead RFC. Even in amongst the dark financial climate, sponsors are still showing their support with United House, the club’s main backer, donning their sevens hat also. As always the winner of the prestigious player of the tournament award will be walking away with a £500 Tissot watch courtesy of a local jewelers, with kit sponsors Canterbury setting up shop selling the latest cutting edge stash.

Although the event sounds like a well oiled machine Gordon is not one to rest on his laurels and is keen to look ahead and keep improving proceedings to get this season kick-starter to the level he feels it can get too.

‘We have had 52 years at it and we do seem to get pretty good feedback on how it is organized, but we know it can always be better! We can’t wait for it all to kick off!’

We can't either Garry - it's showtime for the UK season.