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As expected an exceptionally strong field turned out at Bury St Edmunds RFC for the ULR-sponsored Premier Invitational 7s at the weekend, with the Northampton Saints taking the major prize. Sixteen of the country's top seven-a-side teams competed on the day, with a crowd of 800-plus enthralled.

The Saints, unbeaten in their five games leading to the final, were aided by some quality performances from England Sevens veteran Nills Mordt, John Brake, and Chris Ashton who up to the final had blown away their opposition. In the final they defeated a very physical Samurai International side 28-15 to lift the trophy, presented by England 7s coach Ben Ryan.

Ryan himself had also brought a young England side (dubbed Samurai St.George) to the Haberden ground, which comprised of a mix of current and developmental players. They were edged out in the semis by Samurai in a pulsating tie ending in a 26-19 win for the finalists. Ryan’s charges had also been pushed hard in their Quarter-Final clash with Blackheath winning through 15-14. Ben Jones, David Smith and Jake Abbot were St. Georges major protagonists.

The Welsh Warriors - coached by the team that took a side to the Rugby Sevens World Cup in Dubai – had their afternoon curtailed early losing out to Samurai in the last eight. They had also lost out to a competitive and talented Cambridge University team in the pool stages. The Students were well marshalled by James Greenwood and Sandy Reid throughout the day but ultimately ran out of steam against the Saints in the Cup last four.

In the Plate Competition Final, two strong invitational sides Apache and Elite ID met with the former comfortably taking the title 50-10 against an injury ravaged ID. The Apache impressed throughout the day facing a tough draw against the Public School Wanderers and St. George, but looked thoroughly organised having registered various tournaments under their belts already. Elite ID won a thrilling plate semi-final against the Porksworders – carrying a heavy antipeoden influence - in the last phase of the game thanks to a Simon Frewin try.

Following the prize-giving, tournament organiser Mike Robinson said that the club were committed to repeating the tournament on the same Bank Holiday weekend in 2010.

"It has been hard work first time around to get everything organised, but we hope this will now be an annual fixture in the club's diary," he confirmed.

"It has been a fantastic event with high-quality rugby entertaining everyone. We have achieved what we set out to do - to make it a great family day out”

Also watching the action was former England and British Lions hooker Phil Greening, who captained the English Sevens team before injury forced retirement from the game.

"We were very pleased to have two national sides taking part and it gave the crowd the opportunity to taste the sort of action normally seen at major tournaments including the one staged in Hong Kong," said Robinson.

Teams: Northampton Saints, Akuma Scorpions, Blackheath, Presidents 7, St George, PSW, Apache, Bury Gents, Welsh Warriors, Marauders, Sworders, Cambridge Uni, Samurai, Elite ID, Southend, Suffolk.

Cup Quarter Finals: Northampton Saints 32, PSW 5; Camb Uni 22, Southend 7; Samurai 26, Welsh Warriors 17; St George 15, Blackheath 14.

Semi-finals: Saints 29, Cambridge University 5; Samurai 26, St George 19.

Final: Northampton Saints 28, Samurai 15.

Plate final: Apache 50, Elite ID 10.