Been quiet on this blog over the last month as we have been
travelling the country to sevens festivals and running the RugbyRocks events in
London and in Yorkshire.
Now back in London and reflecting on the first two events,
with Edinburgh and what I have seen along the way so thought I would update on
all the sport that we have experienced at RugbyRocks.
LONDON
It was the sunny weekend of the year and over 150 teams came down to the Richmond Athletic Ground. In the Elite Sevens the British Army bulldozed their way through all teams including the Kirk Petro Physics Pyrenees in the final, with the Irish Lightning overcoming the Wooden Spoon to topple the charity side in their first ever loss at a RugbyRocks event. The Optimum Nutrition Open tournaments were won by Newitts Centurions and Saracens Women – who win a year’s supply of product.
The 40 team netball tournament took place on Saturday with Scrumalicious and Cumberland winning the Open and Social respectively. The Men’s Tens was won by the Bootleggers for the 2nd year running, with the Vets Tens won by the Inglorious Berlin B*sterds.
The social sevens was a great tournament with the Thundercats Academy eventually overcoming the Old Tonbridge Sticky Bandits in the final, and the Misfits won the Social touch rugby.
YORKSHIRE
Our first venture up North was a great success as RugbyRocks landed in Yorkshire with a bang. The event ran at Bradford & Bingley RFC and the site looked picturesque. The crowds piled in and weren’t disappointed with the level of sport on offer.
In the Men’s Open, the early pacesetters were the Prostate Cancer Charity, a scratch side made up of players from around Yorkshire. In the other half of the draw, it was Esher who were making waves. However both sides were undone in the semi-finals when the home side Bees pulled together to sneak a win against Esher and Newitts who have looked immense on the circuit this summer overpowered a young Prostate Cancer Charity team. The sun came out and the DJ marquee was jumping for the final, and a half time there was nothing to choose between the sides. However, in their first ever sevens tournament the Bees couldn’t hold out against Newitts who went on to lift their second Optimum Nutrition Men’s Open of the summer.
In the netball, sides from as far north as Durham and as far south as London came together to compete for the right to be crowned NetballRocks champions of Yorkshire. After a hard day’s play the university of Northumbria side overcame local rivals the Durham Dodgers to lift the trophy.
The social sevens saw the culmination of a top weekend with a number of club sides from Yorkshire and several hungover teams from Saturday battle it out. The Yorkshire legends featuring Henry & Robbie Paul, as well as a number of former premiership players from the county put in some big scores and some bigger hits on their way to the final. They were surprised in the final however by the Puma Social team who were representing RugbyRocks senior partner. The young guns ran in a few late tries to clinch the trophy.
See you all in Edinburgh, can’t wait…
Andy
