Wednesday 25 May 2011

The UR7s Social Team of the Year are entering the following tournaments in 2011; view the rest of the post »

Wednesday 07 July 2010

Olney proved a bridge too far for the Harpenden Praetorians, as a strong yet depleted squad competed for silverware at the home of the Mighty O’s. view the rest of the post »

Saturday 15 May 2010

So after a fantastic victory in the Woodford 7s, beating Saracens EPS 17-12 in the final, and a semi final loss in the Hertfordshire County 7s to the OAs, Harpenden Praetorians march onwards to the Bournemouth 7s over the May Bank Holiday. With le...

Wednesday 09 September 2009

This season has been an excellent one for the Harpenden Praetorians, who saw somewhat of a resurgence at the beginning of the year. view the rest of the post »

Thursday 23 July 2009

To the third tournament of the year for the new look Harpenden Praetorians and we welcomed a few new tourists, both players and supporters, to the fold. With tourists numbering 25 expectations were high on and off the field and even the weather forecast of heavy showers couldn’t dampen spirits.
The majority of the group got to Newquay at midday on Friday and the first beers were swiftly drunk in the local Walkabout. The weather then decided to clear up and the tents were erected despite Chloe and Anna’s best attempts to hinder the process. Once the ‘Arena’ had been set up the beer bong was discovered and by around 2pm the Praetorians had announced themselves to the other campers. As is becoming a habit the scribe cannot really recollect the rest of the evening (that bottle of Sam Sung Thai Whiskey was a really bad idea!) but dressed as schoolboys and schoolgirls the Praetorians drank their camp dry and then moved onto Barracuda’s, a busy night spot apparently. Incriminating photographs may show the Praetorians having frequented a gay night club.

And so to the Saturday, being woken up at 7am by a tannoy, moving over to the beer tent and watching some of the rugby. The level of debauchery escalated once Miss Bawden departed to see a university friend and her other half Mr Peck was let off his leash. Several beer bongs later and missing lots of rugby the tent was well and truly christened in the Praetorian way. This lead onto a lovely meal at Buzios (try the pepperoni pizza, amazing!) and then a few quick halves in Sailors with all tourists enjoying everything that Newquay has to offer: Northern birds, kebabs and 16 year old chavs.

The Praetorians woke up on the Sunday with sore heads and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the day’s rugby ahead. Praetorians had been drawn in a group with Too Sanders and Treforest Titans. Too Sanders were swiftly dispatched 38-0 with braces from Josh ‘Bear’ Sherrin and Joe Tennant with Taif and Muskett also crossing the whitewash. The second group game against Treforest Titans was just as one sided with Muskett, Ready (who for the first time in this scribe’s memory fought his natural inclination to throw himself into someone and took the outside), Joe, Charlie ‘Boyband’ Pattison and Bache all scoring.

Suddenly realising we had actually won our group the initial disappointment of not being able to drive home gave way to some self belief. Up next in the first ‘quarter final’ was Cullompton who were again dispatched for bagel, 28-0 to the Praetorians with Ready, Charlie, Muskett and Josh all adding to their try tallies. An excellent covering tackle and turnover by the Bear summed up the Praetorians commitment to the cause. Our initial excitement of having qualified for the semi finals was swiftly replaced with disbelief when the Captain’s Captain (Sue) informed us she’d got it wrong and it was actually the quarters up next. Not only that it was against the Flair Bears who we had heard good things about and who actually took pregame warm ups seriously. By this stage the hangovers had kicked in and the Praetorians had really given up the idea of warming up, strolling onto the pitch. In hindsight some form of warm up was probably a good idea as the Praetorians knew they were in a game from the off as some massive hits were put in by the Flair Bears. The rugby was ferocious and it was the first proper test the Praetorians had. Thankfully the Praetorians scored a few tries through a Muskett brace, Alan and Charlie all scoring, with Jonny Mac pulling strings and setting up some great team plays leading to the Praetorians triumphing 24-7.

Next step on the road to greatness was a semi final against local boys Newquay Colts. Looking at them one did question what they feed Colts in Cornwall as they looked a formidable unit. A truly brutal match ensued with the local boys putting up an almighty fight. Bear struck again with a huge tackle ending in a concussion... for himself and ridiculously a yellow card (local referee obviously). However, as has become customary for the Praetorians their heart shone through and tries from Josh, Bache, Taif and Alan meant the Praetorians won a thrilling game 24-12.

It suddenly hit the Praetorians at the final whistle that they actually had a very good chance of winning the whole competition (we are a slow bunch) and we did what every quality 7s team does as key preparation for a final... had some more Cornish pasties and a kip in the beer tent.
Finally our moment arrived, the Shield and Plate finals were completed and Praetorians were in another final, this one against Huddersfield, a really quality team with some big boys who liked the physicality. The lead changed a few times with Charlie and Taif crossing for the Praetorians. The Cup looked like slipping from Harpenden’s grasp but a few quick tries from Bache, Alan, someone else and Charlie ensured the Praetorians were crowned champions, with a lovely ‘cup’ (actually a plate but who is complaining?) and a nice cheque that will go towards the Praetorians Pub 7s beer kitty.
So the Praetorians were successful again, making it 2 trophies this season and all eyes turn to the home tournament, the Harpenden Pub 7s in August, with big things expected from the team.
Thank you to the Newquay organisers, we will see you all at our ground at the end of August. view the rest of the post »