Condor 7s on Labour Day

Sevens Rugby | 24 October 2014 | Scott MacLean

After hosting the WRFU club 7s event last week, Naenae College will again be the venue for 7s action on Labour Day Monday with the final act of the 2014 College Rugby season; the regional qualifying tournament for the national Condor Sevens tournament in Auckland at the end of next month.

Twenty teams will be in action this year. Eight teams will again contest the Girls competition, with 12 in the Boys. The latter number is a drop on last year with Hutt International Boys (who made the semi-finals) the notable absentee this time around. It is also for some players the last time they will pull on their school colours.

Can anyone stop Scots College making it three on the trot? The National XV’s joint-champions have not only won the past two local titles, but also performed highly credibly at the National tournament, beaten only by two-time defending Condor champions Kelston Boys at the quarter-final stage in 2012 and again in both pool play and the championship match last year; a game that they came within a whisker of winning. This year they will field a highly talented team with TJ Va’a, Malo Tuitama and Alex Fidow – all NZ Schools selections, twins Peter and Thomas Umaga-Jensen (who were also selected but chose to withdraw), Patrick Fenika, Jarimar Schuster and Connor Garden-Bachop all featuring.?

The other 11 other sides will have their own claims to make however, and over the abbreviated format anything can happen.

There is also another considerable incentive – the boys section of the National tournament has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams. Wellington benefits from that and gains a second spot; meaning both finalists will progress.

That change looks most likely to benefit the two St Patrick’s Colleges – Silverstream and Town – who are seeded on the opposite side of the draw from Scots. Silverstream come in having won the Colts section of the WRFU event at the same venue last Saturday and will have the added motivation of seeking a bit of payback for the Premier 1 final loss. They will field at least two of their NZ Schools squad members in Losi Filipo and Lui Luamanu, with Jarrod Adams also a possibility, plus the considerable power of Joe Apikatoa and the workrate of Daniel Schrijvers. Town won’t have the ‘name’ players on show like their brother school, but showed enough at the WRFU tournament to suggest they’ll be a contender.

Wellington College look to have the toughest road to national qualification from the four top-seeded teams. Like Stream and Town they competed in the WRFU tournament last weekend, bowing out to Norths at the semi-final stage, but are drawn on same side as Scots and will in all probability have to beat them at some stage of the day to go through. They are drawn in Pool D with Mana and Tawa, and while the former shouldn’t cause them many issues, the Premier 2 and Co-ed XV’s champions might do if they field the likes of Jonty Boyd, Dre Melvin and Folau Vea.

St Pat’s Town heads up Pool C alongside Naenae, who will surely look to put on a good show on home turf, and Bishop Viard. The Premier 3 school took out the Porirua-Kapiti area Derek Wootton 7s at Ascot Park last month and their will fancy their chances of claiming at least one scalp and progressing to the main part of the afternoon.

Pool B comprises Silverstream, St Bernard’s, and Taita, where the latter two sides’ mid-morning matchup will likely determine who goes through, while Porirua and Rongotai are the two sides in Pool A with Scots and face a similar crunch meeting.

Unlike the boys, the girls’ tournament at the Nationals remains at 16 so only the winner will go onto that stage. That spot will be keenly contested however; as the main contenders look fairly even on paper and picking a winner looks a difficult task.

St Catherine’s will wear the favourites tag, having won the local competition and then gave a good account of themselves at regional level against Feilding High School in a rare 15-a-side outing. They’ll look to playmakers Ana Aufia and Tina Hamlin-Auvaa and forward Alicia Print to lead the way.

The challengers are likely to come from Porirua, who only narrowly lost the final to St Cath’s and have perhaps the best combination of power and speed in any of the squads; Aotea, who were the only side to beat St Cath’s during the local season, and Wellington East who are the defending titleholders and have solid ballplayers in the likes of Georgia Broughton.

St Caths are in Pool E alongside Easts, joined by Wainuiomata and newcomers St Orans. Pool F comprises Porirua and Aotea, alongside home school Naenae and near neighbours Taita.

The format for the day has the pool matches from 9am and the knockout stages from 1.20pm. In the Boys the top two from each pool will proceed to the Cup knockout, with the bottom sides playing off for the Bowl and the losing quarterfinalists into the Plate. In the Girls the top two from the two pools also go through to the Cup, with the bottom two into the Plate.

Pool A: Scots, Rongotai, Porirua.

Pool B: St Pats Silverstream, St Bernards, Taita

Pool C: St Pats Wellington, Naenae, Bishop Viard

Pool D: Wellington College, Tawa, Mana

Pool E: St Catherine’s, Wellington East, Wainuiomata, St Orans

Pool F: Porirua, Aotea, Naenae, Taita