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Tom Burwell

Hosting a tournament for the first time, with no prize money, a farmer’s field, a venue change, and team no shows all on a weekend straight after one of the biggest rugby tournament in Europe down the coast in Bournemouth... One would be well within their right to think that Brighton Ruck Over Rugby 7s (ROR 7s) was up against it from the outset to pull off a successful 7s weekend in what’s becoming an increasingly competitive and difficult marketplace.

Yet despite facing many bumps in the road, Kevin Betts and his team managed to provide a unique 7s experience, helped by some baking hot Brighton sunshine. With a diverse range of teams spread far and wide across the UK plus a touring side from Fiji all turning out at Hove RFC, the local community were treated to a feast of rugby that will be remembered for a long time.

The Brighton ROR 7s is a charity event, with the tournament marketing itself as an event that is as much about the social as it is the rugby itself. Betts said from the outset that he was looking for teams to be 'competitive but very, very, very social' and what better place to host an event with this mantra - Brighton the home of the stag & hen party!

Taking this into account then, you would think that of the 20 teams taking part they would primarily be local rugby clubs rather than the invitational 7s teams that can be seen strutting their stuff in their tight stash right across Europe. Yet it seemed that Brighton 7s came up trumps, attracting the likes of The Jedi, Marauders Academy, Akuma Scorpions, Olorun Identity and the big coup Uprising Beach Resort from Fiji.
Uprising were in the UK for the IRB London Sevens last weekend and were looking for an event to warm up for the Rome 7s next weekend and couldn’t think of a better place than Brighton.

Mixed in with some of the bigger names on the circuit were the more social sides such as Tregaron Titans, Hove RFC, Hartpury Freshers and The Rifles, with an underlying feel from all of the sides that they were determined to have a good time in amongst the glorious weather.

As to be expected, the first day saw some fairly one sided results with the invitational sides getting the better of some of the more traditionally social teams.

Jedi, Olorun Identity, Uprising Beach Resort and Marauders Academy threw the gauntlet down by topping the groups on the first day and it was obvious that, although it was a very social weekend, the competitive nature of these teams meant that the trophy was one that meant a great deal to them.

Any Given Sunday

The following day with the sides crawling/checking in from 9am onwards, it became plainly obvious some were in better shape than others. The Fijians were spritely from not having gone out but Betts' memory of the weekend came from the Titans as they 'arrived in their going out gear, still totally smashed, ready to suit up and play against Identity in the first game of the day at 10am - fair play boys'.

The quarter finals of the Cup saw some of the big teams facing one another with Akuma losing out to the Jedi, Uprising winning again, Olorun looking sharp in a big win against the Southern Crusaders and Marauders winning handsomely against the home team, Hove RFC.

Moving into the closing stages of the tournament, the rugby went up a notch and began to match the weather in the temperature stakes. The Jedi and Olorun Identity know each other well, with friends on both sides of the ball, after enjoying a night out together on the Saturday. In what turned out to be a cracking game of rugby, ID ran out 24-10 winners with a good performance from the returning Stewart Turton, touching down late in the game to seal the win. In the other semi-final a late 2nd half comeback from Uprising saw the Marauders fall at the semi-final stage for the 3rd time this season.

With both sides impressing throughout the weekend an ID/Uprising final was almost too tough to call. Although the first half proved to be a very tight affair it was the more spritely Uprising who seemingly ran away with the game in the 2nd half, with the ID just running out of steam. This was a fantastic performance from the touring side setting themselves up for Roma 7s this coming weekend. Following the final whistle another wonderful image of the weekend took place with the Uprising team singing a traditional Fijian song in the huddle on the field as the opposition waited to clap them off.

Charity is the name of the game

Alongside the social events and the rugby, of course, was the charity element of the weekend. The 2 charities meant a great deal to the organising committee, with Passington a Brighton based charity conceived by James Macdonald and Matt Lambert a few years ago. It is completely voluntarily run in their spare time and has a main focus of helping to fund education projects and schools in poor African countries. Their main event is the Heroes Run (www.heroesrun.org.uk), a fun run held in Brighton on the sea front.

People dressed as their favourite Super Hero run a 5k or 10k course. This year they broke the Guinness World Record for the most heroes in one place at one time with a total of 1,500 entrants.

The 2nd charity is one that strikes close to home to many people across the world but especially for tournament director Betts, Breakthrough Breast Cancer (www.breakthrough.org.uk).

‘Breakthrough are this year's guest charity. We intend to have one guest charity each year to donate the other 50% to,’ said Betts.

Betts ran the London Marathon this year in memory of his girlfriend's mum, who passed away last year. The tournament was a part of his fund raising efforts, committing to raise and donate £3,000 to the cause.

'They're a brilliant charity and have been supportive in every way possible' added Betts after the tournament.

As the weekend concluded Betts was asked whether the tournament met his expectations.

'Yes, and more! I had reservations as to whether people would turn up, and how they would judge me on my organisation and so forth. As I was a newcomer, and I knew a lot of the teams had been to Bournemouth the week before, I thought I'd be constantly moaned at. What I came to realise was that we are stand alone and unique and all the teams (and spectators) took us at face value which is fantastic!!'

So what now for the Brighton ROR 7s? Well after some time out Betts is getting straight back to work:

'Let’s count the money from the pots and have a chat with the charities and the rugby club. I want to grow the tournament and will be looking for feedback from all the teams. I also want to try to attract some sponsorship and set us out as a standalone tournament’.

Next year I envisage two tournaments - a social on the Saturday and an 'elite' on the Sunday'

So with Brighton 7s on the radar, Betts wanted to make sure thank yous went to the right people as everyone is aware these events are run by numerous people and groups and without them the success of the event would not be the case. These included the charities, the teams, Hove RFC, volunteers, and Concorde 2 for laying on music and donating tickets.

So if you and your team are looking for a fantastic weekend in the sun that is well priced and for some great causes then Brighton – the home of the weekend away - should be in your thinking. The rugby and partying blended fantastically and the tournament is run by a dedicated team wanting to give you an experience to remember for many summers to come.

*The tournament has been on UR7s since beta stage back in January and Betts hastened to add:

'I want to extend my genuine gratitude to UR7s, the website is where we gained the vast majority of the teams that answers.

'UR7s has been a fantastic source of information. With it being my first tournament it was a bit of a baptism of fire, but your advice and encouragement has been fantastic. You guys helped an awful lot and made the weekend stand out to us - so thank you!'