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

Druid Saracens took the major honours in the final major tournament of the UK Sevens season at Harpenden on Sunday.

With a side similar to the Saracens outfit that was seen at the Middlesex Sevens recently, they beat the White Hart Marauders 28-12 in a largely one-sided final. But perhaps the major talking point of the day was their semi final showdown with the Samurai Barracudas.

Despite the worry of players being unavailable being so close to the start of the UK 15-a-side season, 44 men’s sides took to the fields in Hertfordshire competing for the Elite and Barrel trophy, with some top players on display.

In the Elite competition, also fresh from their reputable performance at the Middlesex Sevens, the White Hart Marauders won Group A with a nail biting win against Apache 21-19. Both sides progressed to the knockouts.

They were joined in the Cup quarter finals by Group D winners Druid Saracens and Samurai Barracudas, with the latter showing some particularly dominant form with their young side. knockout spots were taken up the RAF Spitfires, International Marauders, Akuma Scorpions and the Castaways.

The quarter finals proved to be one sided affairs with Apache, White Hart Marauders, Barracudas and the Druids proving the class acts of the tournament.

In a rematch from the group stages the Marauders booked their place in the final for one more shot at glory this season with a solid 26-12 defeat of Apache but it was the other semi-final that perhaps sparked the biggest debate of the day.

Lost scorecard

With Saracens now based two miles away down the road at Old Albanians RFC, the Druids were well supported as they took on the Barracudas. They came storming out of the blocks in the first half scoring three unanswered tries to go up 21-0. Things went from bad to worse for the Samurai side when they had a man sent off for a late tackle followed by some chat back to the referee, in what looked a tough call.

Back came the Barracudas in the second period though, valiantly taking control of the game with six men. Playing some superb rugby they were rewarded with four tries of their own of which they converted just one for what they thought was the win at 22-21.

Yet as the game drew to a close the referee announced that he had lost his scorecard and when he blew his whistle a debate erupted on the final score of the match.

After a long period of deliberation where the touch judges proved not to know the score either, the referee announced that Saracens had scored four tries and had won the game 28-22. The tournament organisers accepted the score from the referee and the Druids were through to the final to face the Marauders, much to the obvious dismay of the Barracudas players and coaching staff.

The final took place in much quieter circumstances with the Saracens boys proving too well organised for a tired Marauders side with the final score being 28-12 in a professional and clinical display.

The White Hart Marauders were particularly disappointed to lose another final this season having already lost in the finals of Newquay and Manchester but they have much to be buoyed for going into 2010.

Storming to the Barrel

The Barrel competition was wide open from the start, with no side really being the stand out team in the group stages.

Billys won group A convincingly with some good wins which set them up nicely going into the quarter-finals where they took on a strong Harpenden British Legion side which contained the experienced Rupert Cooper.

The other side who were making headway in the tournament were the Stanbridge Stormers who had only conceded 3 tries in the group stages and looked strong in their quarter final win against local side Cross Keys in a 20-0 win.

With the Stormers and Billys through to the semi-finals they were joined by the Seven Dwarfs and the Crazy Dogs who also had solid victories in their quarter-finals. They were no match the former though with both running out convincing winners.

In the final it was the Stormers who were the fresher and they ran out to an early lead and were able to hang on to take the win 28-0. A fantastic performance by the Stormers in a strong competition where they only conceded 4 tries all day.

The Barrel Plate final was competed for by the Marauders Academy and The Shambles and akin to their older brothers the Marauders Academy came up empty handed once more. The Shambles were able to take the win through physicality 10-0. The Marauders Academy losing semi-finalists at Brighton, Bournemouth and Sunshine have shown they will be a force next season if they learn how to close a tournament out.

Congratulations must go to Harpenden RFC and the tournament organisers for once again a great event, with the National Pub 7s once again proving a special way to bring down the curtain on 2009.
UR7s will be announcing its 2009 awards winners in its review feature that will be published next week.