Quins Win London Floodlit Sevens, Rosslyn Park, 3 May 2012
By DOK
May 9 2012
I managed to miss the Floodlit 7s last year, the year Harlequins won. However I have attended these games a number of times (post-university I rented a flat in Barnes!). I know the score though. You turn up around 19:30 to find Harlequins have already played their pool games. You discover the Harlequins team is made up of a dozen people who you’ve never seen in even the A team games, and they can’t play sevens rugby. There’s never enough food and it always runs out early. The only bar available is in the club house and its always a crush in there.
Well what an eye opener this year’s game was. For a start I arrived in time for the first game Harlequins vs Loughborough Students. The Harlequins team was full of names I recognised as being good players, and Captained by Will Skinner. The Jolly Hog was doing the catering and had provided a pig of sufficient size. The large tent at the West end of the ground was open to the public and had two bars in it selling real ale! Things were looking up.
The team was
- Chris York
- Seb Stegman
- Will Skinner
- Ollie Lindsay-Hague
- Charlie Walker
- Henry Taylor
- Joe Trayfoot
- Luke Wallace
- Benjamin Urdapilleta
- Louis Grimoldby
- Jordan Burns
- Ross Chisholm
So how was the rugby? Well in a word it was very good. Harlequins were comfortable winners against Loughborough Students 43-5. The students however were a scratch team due to playing the Barbarians mid week, so I wasn’t sure how much I could depend on that. Saracens, Bath and Wasps all looked good and all put their respective teams to the sword. Then we played Marauders.
I wasn’t sure what we were going to see playing Marauders. Past luminaries who played for them reads like a who’s who of English 7s rugby. However it was quickly apparent they were a scratch side too. So two wins meant we’d won our pool, but it still wasn’t a good indicator of how we’d perform against stiffer opposition.
All the usual suspects got through to the semi finals, with Harlequins vs Saracens and Bath vs Wasps. Now of all the other teams, Saracens were the best looking team apart from Harlequins, so this was going to be a real game. And so it transpired. Harlequins taking an early lead, then being pegged back by Saracens to go in evens at half time 10-10. In the second half though we finally got our game going and Saracens just couldn’t live with us.
The Bath vs Wasps game was a scrappy affair which Bath won, but frankly both teams looked worse than Saracens.
So – on to the final against Bath. Harlequins were 22-0 up by half time and the game was practically over then. The second half brought no respite for Bath and though we only scored one more try, they never looked like getting back into the game.
Charlie Walker deservedly got the player of the tournament award. Ross Chisolm pushed him hard having made a number of super sub appearances. A special mention for Will Skinner who Captained and controlled the team all night, to great effect.
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Seems early this year, but looking back, last years was on the 5th May!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:04:28:09:58:43 by GrahamJ.
Chris York
Seb Stegman
Will Skinner
Ollie Lindsay-Hague
Charlie Walker
Henry Taylor
Joe Trayfoot
Luke Wallace
Benjamin Urdapilleta
Louis Grimoldby
Jordan Burns
Ross Chisholm
Surely some mistake, I recognise some of those players' names!
[www.quins.co.uk]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:03:15:22:47 by DOK.
Tickets cost £15 for adults and £5 for U16s and can be purchased on the gates.
Come On You Quins!
We met Saracens in the semi final, and though we were 10-10 at half time we flooded past them in the second half.
Bath played Wasps in the other semi, eventually beating Wasps in a scrappy game.
The final was supposed to be 10 minutes a side, but bizarrely the ref played 7 minutes a side. It didn't matter because as you see, we won comfortably 29-0.
Charlie Walker picked up the man of the tournament award, the boy has rockets on his feet.
Ross Chisolm was super-sub! Every time he came on he scored a try within a minute.
Will Skinner captained and kept everything moving. Very mature performance as you'd expect.
The food was provided by the Jolly Hog! The beer was OK. Managed to find an excellent parking spot. Great night out all in all!
I only caught the very last pool match and the semis and final, but it was clear that Quins and Sarries were a cut above. Both teams were ferocious in defence - Quins turned the ball over after sustained pressure on their own tryline several times, and held up a Bath try over the line - and were able to maintain a strong defensive line and not descend into the usual sevens chaos.
It was very impressive. I went last season, too, where winning this event was a precursor to Amlin success. Here's hoping for a similar pattern this year.
Quote:DOK
Sorry - think the network round Rosslyn Park was overloaded. Great performance by Harlequins who looked consistently the best team there. We stomped Loughborough Students (but they had a scratch team due to playing the Barbarians next Wednesday). We beat Marauders comfortably, which surprised me.
We met Saracens in the semi final, and though we were 10-10 at half time we flooded past them in the second half.
Bath played Wasps in the other semi, eventually beating Wasps in a scrappy game.
The final was supposed to be 10 minutes a side, but bizarrely the ref played 7 minutes a side. It didn't matter because as you see, we won comfortably 29-0.
Charlie Walker picked up the man of the tournament award, the boy has rockets on his feet.
Ross Chisolm was super-sub! Every time he came on he scored a try within a minute.
Will Skinner captained and kept everything moving. Very mature performance as you'd expect.
The food was provided by the Jolly Hog! The beer was OK. Managed to find an excellent parking spot. Great night out all in all!
Agree word for word, very enjoyable evening with non of the "baggage" that seems to go with Sevens tournaments these days. Young Charlie Walker has some gas!!
During the final I asked one of the assistant refs about why they hadn't played the full 10 minutes of the first half and he said it was only 7 each way, so it sounds like the announcer got it wrong.
Good to see some silverware!
Quote:The duration of the matches, except the final, shall be seven minutes each way. The final shall be ten minutes each way...
Confused hell out of me when the ref blew for half time!
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