Sunday 08 August 2010

The Colin Hillman Samurai Memorial 7 (CHSM7) came close to giving the watching crowd the result everyone wanted at the 2010 Cwmtawe 7s

Despite a strong line-up at the prestigious Welsh tournament, all eyes were on the guest side playing in memory of the legendary Welsh Sevens coach, who died last year following a two year battle against pancreatic cancer.

Captained by Nick Wakely and coached by Gareth Williams, who were both part of the Welsh team under Hillman, the Memorial side narrowly missed out on a place in the final losing to a strong Tonmawr (Welsh Wizards) team.

Earlier in the day they had turned over Fijian outfit, the Covenant Brothers, before stunning a Young Ospreys team with a four try blitz in the opening five minutes of their quarter final meeting.

Team manager Marcus Copeland, who selected the squad alongside Samurai International boss Terry Sands, was full of praise for the team who had been assembled at very short notice.

"Some of the boys got a call less than 48 hours before the tournament and met for the first time just hours before our first match. But the prestige and emotion involved with playing in a team to honour this great man carried them through.

“Colin Hillman was one of the most respected sevens coaches in the world and was instrumental in developing many young Welsh players. A hugely popular character among players and coaches alike, his knowledge of the game was simply unbelievable. It has been a real honour and a privilege to be involved with a team assembled in his memory."

Terry sands, founder of the Samurai International Sevens team, said: “Colin was my closest friend and helped me with the Samurai team for many many years. Without him the team would never have achieved the success that they have. "Despite his illness, his unbelievable knowledge of the game was utilised by Wales right up to and including the Rugby World Cup in Dubai. He continues to be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

CHSM7 coach Gareth Williams, who is also assistant coach to current Welsh Sevens coach, Paul Johns, was exposed to Colin for the first time a 19 year-old.

"Col introduced himself by phone on the Thursday and I was flying with him and the Welsh team to Wellington for an IRB tournament on the Saturday.

"All coaches have a strength in certain aspects of running a team, but it is true to say that Colin had world class knowledge of the 7s game, a natural aura in his deliveries, and a huge personal quality that had empathy for the players aligned with a firm discipline of the environment he presided over.

"In such a fickle environment as rugby, not once have I heard a bad word against Colin, and everyone who came across him in rugby and in life appreciated the genuine individual they were dealing with.

"I owe a huge amount to Colin in the way he handled me as a developing player, and then aided me in my career as a 7s coach. I will forever be indebted to him and hope I can come out of rugby with as close to a reputation as he holds as possible".

Skipper Nick Wakely added "Colin was a big part in my rugby career. He started coaching me at Cardiff Youth and then when the opportunity came for him to get into coaching Wales at 7s he grabbed it! Luckily for me he took me to my first 7s tournament in Dubai as an 18 year-old.

"Colin was one of those instantly likeable coaches. He always liked a laugh but knew when it came down to business he was 100% focused on playing good 7s! My first memories of playing for Wales under Colin was getting to Dubai and being told by Col that he had organised four 7 minute halves against New Zealand - the best 7s team in the world at the time. NZ boasted the likes of Eric Rush, Karl Tanana Craig De Goldi, Amasio Valence - that was a baptism of fire but that's how Colin thought. Get thrown into the deep end and you find a lot about your character when you're up against it!

"Thats why I believe Colin had such a massive influence on young Welsh players like Mike Phillips and Jonathon Thomas. He developed so many young players throughout Wales.

"I think people forget that Colin was a great player of the game of 7s as well as a coach, and an image of Colin sticks in my head of turning up to the Hilton, in Newport - a training camp before we went away - and seeing him in the gym fully clad in his water proofs running on a tread mill in middle of summer! He loved everything about 7s and he was always trying to get fitter and join in in some of the aerobic games!

"It was through Samurai International and Terry that I got to know Colin better. He was a bit more relaxed on the Samurai trips than on Wales duty but he always believed to get a good invitational team together you had to bond and have fun and that in turn would make you want to play for each other. But if you weren't up the next morning bright eyed you would be in trouble. Party hard and play hard - that was Colin's way.

Colin Hillman Samurai Memorial 7: Marcus Copeland (manager); Gareth Williams (coach); Nick Wakely (captain); Tim Stevenson, Tomi Jones, Jaike Carter, Luke Allen, James Farrell, Jonathan Hooper, Tom Edwards, Ricky Thomas, Owen Broad, Wyn Roberts, Dan Porter and Gareth Holgate