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The Yokohama Country and Athletic Club joined two of the greats of Japan rugby when it became just the third side to do a three-peat at the 52nd YC&AC Japan Sevens on Sunday.

A try by Jimmy Maher after the final whistle, converted by Waisale Serevi, saw the club that introduced rugby to Japan beat a brave and determined Tokai University 21-14 in an enthralling final.

"We made hard work of it in the first half and Tokai worked so hard," said Maher, named the tournament's MVP.

"So it's really magical to win it three years in a row."

Nippon Steel won seven straight trophies from 1964-1970, and Toshiba did the hat-trick from 1992-94, though neither were probably pushed as hard as the YC&AC in this year's tournament.

The hosts, for whom Kane Hancy was once again outstanding, opened up well enough, scoring 26 points in the first half before holding off Takushoku University for a 26-19 win.

The YC&AC's second game was a far better performance as they ran in five converted tries against the Top East's Kurita, winning 35-5.

Noah Pflaum was among the try scorers, the 19-year-old doing more than enough to impress the coaches of Waseda University, which he will join from September.

YC&AC defeated the Top League's Ricoh Black Rams 24-21 in the semifinals, taking an early 14-0 lead thanks to tries by the impressive Hendrik Meyer and Serevi, who also added two conversions.

The Black Rams fought back, however, and a try and conversion by one of the bow-legged Yokoyama twins Kenichi looked to have won it for the top-flight team.

But superb work by Meyerwho had gathered a large fan club by the end of the afternoonput Pflaum away and the youngster crossed for his third try of the day as the bell rang for time.

Serevi showed there was no match for experience by knocking over the conversion to force sudden death injury time.

He then broke Ricoh hearts by slotting over a 30-meter drop-goal penalty to seal the win. The Ricoh players may have been upset by the way the game was decided but going for goal was the only sensible option. While YC&AC were making hard work of reaching the final, Tokai was waltzing through.

The Seagales opened with a 24-7 win over Ryutsu Keizai University before smashing Mitsubishi DynaBoars 28-0.
The semi-final was even easier as Tokai ran in five tries in a 31-0 rout of Kanto Gakuin University. In the final, a try by Mike Griffin, converted by Serevi, and a great try-saving tackle by Hancy saw YC&AC take an early 7-0 lead.

But Syohei Toyoshima scored just before the break, with Shingo Yoshida's conversion drawing the sides level.

The second half saw tremendous tackling from both sides before Takuya Miyata crossed three minutes before time, Yoshida again adding the extras.

The YC&AC then drew on all their combined experience to put Charlie Wyllie away for the equalizing try, before Maher sealed a famous victory.

"To come this close and then lose to such a great team is hard to take," said Tokai captain Ryo Tsuruda.