This was a successful tournament.
The key was that everything was organised well, beforehand. The games started on time and finished on time.
The tournament started at 3pm (not 12pm as I was previously advised) and finished bang on 9pm when it was meant to finish. The Rats were excellent hosts to the St Augustine's and the visitor schools and there was a coffee cart, canteen, steak sandwiches and a bar a various times of the afternoon and evening. The time keeping, linesmen and running of the tournament was done by St Augustine's teachers, staff and rugby committee parents.
There were some changes to the draw; Freshwater pulled out at the last minute and St Greggs of Campbell quickly put together a second team. Oakhill, Newington, Knox and St Augs all entered two teams. There were two Indigenous teams; Redfern High and Lloyd MacLeod (Western suburbs area).
After the main round of games the teams were broken off into Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield.
Apparently not all 7s tournaments have the Bowl (Div 3) and Shield (Div 4) but they did last night which was great for the teams that traveled a long way to get there - it made it worth their while as they all got a minimum of four games.
Teams that punched above their weight: Redfield.
Teams that didn't: Knox 2 and Redlands.
Knox had had a busy morning with trials, and the 1st and 16s played visitors Collingwood School from Vancouver. Apparently the 16s won 60-0 and the 1st 105-0. I wonder if occurred to Knox to pull a couple of players off once the score blew out.
Next year I hope to see Collingwood School play Knox Grammar in NHL and NFL. That should even things up.....
Results: I can only comment on finals of Cup (Div 1) and Bowl (Div 3). Hopefully someone else can comment on Plate and Shield.
The Cup semis were between Knox 1, New 1, St Augs 1 and Oakhill 1. St Augs 1 had a great afternoon demolishing all the other teams in their pool.
The in the Cup semis St Augs 1 beat New 1. Yes Tyrone was playing and he was magnificent but on the day St Augs won, after being down at halftime.
The other Cup semi Oakhill 1 won. The Cup final went Oakhill's way, Harrison G was playing and was excellent. It was a close game. The ISA 15s season coming will be a tough contest between these two schools,as it always is.
The Bowl was won by St Greggs v St Augs 2 (two players that were meant to be in the St Augs 2 team did not play at the last minute as their league duties took precedent) in the final. St Augs led right to the end but took their foot off the accelerator sadly. Well done St Greggs.
Overall a great afternoon and evening. The weather was good and the atmosphere great.
I would say a win here for Augustines would set the tone for their season.