Leuchars v Islamabad 26-17

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Leuchars were fortunate enough to have their first pool match early in the morning and so the heat had not yet built up to the daily 30 degree high. They were pitched against the Islamabad RFC side, which was made up of Pakistani nationals and expats, based in Islamabad. In the early stages of the half they had to resort to typical 15’s play, the rugby league partnership of Tony Hetherington and Grant Smith putting in crash balls and plenty of hard tackles coming in from the rest of the team. Following a knock-on from Islamabad, Leuchars took the lead with Neil Clark scoring a try and conversion within the first 2 minutes in the corner. In the third minute, John Hall broke through the defensive line, and despite there being an Islamabad player in hot pursuit, scored another try. Neil Clark converted. Islamabad came back strongly from the kick-off, determined to score before the half-time whistle, and managed to force a gap in the centre to score.

The second half saw Leuchars score within the first minute, resulting from a superb run from Neil Clark who then converted. Islamabad, side stepped their way to another try, utilising the width of the pitch and a fast pair of feet on the wing! The final try of the match was a superb solo effort from John Hall, who after chipping the ball over the opposition, collected it off the bounce and scored. The conversion was unfortunately missed, resulting in the final score being an outstanding 26-17. Overall, this was a good opening match for Leuchars, but highlighted some key areas in which they could improve on in subsequent matches.

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Brize Norton v HMS Lancaster 47-0

The Royal Navy had entered a team courtesy of HMS Lancaster. Given the pre-tournament training, Brize should have been expected to win this fixture with some ease. Brize Norton started strongly and immediately took control of the game from the kick-off, regaining possession almost immediately. Within the first minute of the game an overlap allowed the ball to be passed out to Richie Gunning on the wing who scored in the corner and converted the try. It was obvious that the Brize Norton side were considerably fitter than their opponents and within another minute a swift dummy in the centre allowed Dai Carey to break through the centre and score. It was not long before the Brize side were knocking up more points, and a great run from Nathan Jones allowed him round the back of the Navy defence to score under the posts, the hard ground dissuading him from a flamboyant dive to a nonchalant touch-down.

Brize Norton continued their run of form in the second half and within the first minute of the second half a back-hand pass from Matt Pereira under extreme pressure from the scrum, went to Dai Carey, who then dummied the ball and strode out to score. Matt Pereira then completed a superb solo sprint from the half-way line to score under the posts, subsequently converting himself. After some concerted harassing in the centre of the pitch, it was now time for the Italian Stallion to let loose, and with typical style, Angelo Flammia created his own gap in the centre to break through and score. One more try followed before the final whistle. A supurb start to the tournament for the Brize squad who showed how it should be done. The pre-tournament training had certainly paid dividends, and they were playing like an experienced 7s team right from the get-go. The final score – 47-0.

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Leuchars v Tehran 38-5

Still feeling confident from their first pool match, Leuchars had to raise their game against a strong Tehran side. Lessons from the first match were carried forward and the team converted to a smoother and more effortless passing game. Tehran kicked off, but failed to make 10 yards, and so the ball was immediately turned over to Leuchars. This faux pas was soon to be punished following a pass from Neil Clark out of the scrum to Chris Pearson, who then outpaced the Tehran defence to score the first try of the match. Unfortunately the try was not converted, but 2 minutes later Leuchars followed up with another score, leaving the score at 12-0. Neil Clark rounded off the first half, scoring another try from a run starting inside the Leuchars ten-metre line.

Leuchars started the second half strongly with a great break from Neil Clark and within the first 3 minutes of the second half, he scored his hatrick try. From the kick-off, Tehran lost possession and Peter Crawshaw dummied the ball committing the defender, before passing to Tom Matthews, who then ran the ball in. In the final minute of the game, Tehran caught the Leuchars defence unawares and the RAF side unfortunately conceded a try from a quick penalty. Unconverted, this left the final score at an admirable 38-5. The Leuchars team showed they had still plenty in reserve, and had the capacity to take on board the lessons from the first match to develop their 7s play into a dynamic flowing game. This placed the team top of their pool group where they qualified for the knock-out quarter-finals of the trophy.

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Brize Norton v Vauxhall Motors 22-26

After some confusion as to the whereabouts of the opposition, it transpired that there had been an RTA on the link road to The Stadium and therefore several teams were delayed, however Vauxhall Motors did arrive and the match kicked off on time!! Receiving the kick off Brize swiftly came onto the attack, with some quick ball transfer across the park away from the point of contact. The ball was then brought back across the park where Nathan Jones crashed through a tackle before offloading to the ever present Matt Pereira to sprint in under the posts, unfortunately the drop kicked conversion was missed so 5 –0 after 5 mins and all looked well. Vauxhall then received the kick off and after some nifty footwork by one of the Fijian contingent whose’ elusive running saw him evade several tackles they scored under the posts and converted to go ahead 5-7. Receiving the ball once more, Brize Norton went on the attack, but sound defence from VM made life very difficult, the ball was exchanged between both sides in some ferocious tackling and contact areas before Matt Pereira pounced upon a loose ball following a bone crunching tackle from Dai (the only P Ed O in the village) Carey, making ground and then offloading to the tenacious Nathan Jones who romped in under the posts to make the score 10-7 with the conversion once again squandered! Vauxhall however, received the ball, handed it to aforementioned twinkle toed Fijian and Brize quite simply watched as he scored under the posts and added the conversion! 10-14 at Half time, and how critical would the missed conversions be?

Second half saw one change in the pack with Ross “Pingu” Billing replacing Liam Lions. After some words of guidance from Bob McKay about how to deal with the dancing man on the opposite side, Brize promptly stood from the kick off and watched him receive and dance his way through and score once again converted under the posts! 10-21!! At this stage Bob had no voice, no hair and little time for the comments from the VM bench!! Urged on however by the whole of the side line, Brize once again got stuck in, and in some physical exchanges started to gain the upper hand, before Angelo Flammia burst through in typical strong fashion to score under the posts, this time he took the conversion and slotted it, 17-21 and all to play for. Vauxhall scored quickly through the “dancing man” in the middle but this time unconverted, and with three mins to go it could have been all over at 17-26, but “Pingu” screamed for the ball some 50 yards out, raging as he received it, he bounced the first tackler, handed off the second and pinned his ears back heading for the line!! The opposition cover came chasing hard and in a desperate footrace, Pingu realised he had gone to early and the line appeared to be getting further away! Undaunted his head went into “max wobble” shaking violently as he strove for the line, the cover going nowhere near his madly shaking ”bouf” he crossed the line to score in the corner, the conversion missed 22-26 and one minute to go! The dream ended though, sadly, as VM had the sense and ability to run down the clock, maintaining possession till the final whistle final score 22-26 and what price the two missed conversions?!!

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Brize Norton v Pyrenees 7’s 7-31

The Pyrenees 7s team is drawn from all across the south of France, and features all of the region’s top 7s players, who normally play for first division French sides. This was always going to be a tough match. From the start you could tell that the French team meant business; accompanied by their traditional brass band thumping out verse after verse of La Marseillaise, they soon forced a gap in the centre to score, rousing the singing French still further. A second try followed a minute later, but the Brize boys kept their heads and threw in tackle after tackle, forcing the French back down the pitch. Unfortunately, the referee was to make quite a mark on this game, and a misinterpretation of the rules on her part resulted in Bardgett being sin-binned, taking the team down to 6 men just before half-time. Her troubles were not over there, and when she got in the way of a Brize pass, the subsequent scrum was awarded to the Pyrenees.

Following half time the referee couldn’t bear to keep out of the action and caught the next ball, intended for a French player, and then awarded the scrum to Brize. After regaining control, David Carey had a good run before going to ground and the subsequent turnover ball allowed the opposition in to score at the corner. The comedy continued, when having converted the tricky kick from the edge of the pitch, the French kicker was forced to take it again for a Brize player being off the line. Some consolation for the Brize team followed, when the Italian Stallion, Angelo Flammia broke through for a try under the posts.

This was always going to be a very challenging match, and notwithstanding the referee’s participation, the Brize team were going to face an uphill struggle from the onset. However, there were some excellent individual performances, and the team did enough to secure a place in the trophy quarter-finals on account of points difference, finishing second in their pool.

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Leuchars v Pie and Pint Pilgrims 17-22

Leuchars now faced an established 7s team, the Pie and Pint Pilgrims from the UK. This side have been playing in the Dubai 7s for several years and are an established team on the UK 7s circuit. However, Leuchars were optimistic of success building on their previous performances. At the start of play some great defensive work was shown by tackles from Grant Smith, Chris Pearson and Neil Clark, but the Pilgrims found a gap in the centre and went on to score the first try of the match. From the kick-off Leuchars regained possession, but a loose ball followed by a high tackle from Tony Hetherington, led to a turnover and the Pilgrims grabbed this opportunity and scored for the second time. Heads were now low, and with the half-time whistle approaching, the Pilgrims sneaked through for a third try.

Realising a change in attitude was required, captain, Chris Pearson, raised spirits during the half-time chat, and the lads from Leuchars took to the field with a new determination to turn the game around. From the kick-off they retained possession, and through gritty determination broke through the Pilgrim defence to score under the posts. This spurred the team on and soon John Hall was sent through a gap by Steve Thomas, running from his own try line, scoring under the posts. A kick from Tremblers, and a good break from Chris Pearson, allowed the Leuchars lads through the centre again and now the score was tied at 17-17, with only two minutes left on the clock. Leuchars now needed one last surge, and Jon Hall made a magnificent kick ahead, meeting the sweeper with the ball and tackling him in the process. Unfortunately, he was then harshly penalised for not allowing the tackled player off the ground quickly enough and the subsequent quick penalty was handed off to the Pilgrim winger who forced his way around the Leuchars line to clinch the win, 22-17.

One of the best come-backs of the tournament, the Leuchars boys had no reason to feel ashamed of their efforts. Having won all their pool matches against recognised gulf region sides, they finally succumbed in dramatic fashion to the Pilgrims who were significantly more experienced at the 7s game.

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Brize Norton v Atlantic Invitational 0-52

This was always to be a very tough challenge against last seasons SA U19s who had stepped up a group!! However, some rousing and inspirational talk before the match saw the Brize side take to the field in determined spirit with a “boys vs. men” attitude and determined to “bully” the younger side!! After what can only be described as some of the best 7s Rugby seen by an RAF Side and the score at 0-0 after 3 long minutes, the heroic tackling and committed defence of the Brize Team was finally overcome by a fit, strong, and very physical Atlantic Team who proceeded to dispossess Brize at every opportunity and regardless of the attempted physical domination of the lads, scored freely to win what was a very tough game for Brize by 52-0. Atlantic subsequently went on to win the whole tournament.