UPDATED: Open Invitational 7s Tournament Saturday

UPDATED FRIDAY:

POOLS: 

Men’s
Pool A: Norths A, Tawa, Upper Hutt Rams A, Wellington, MSP B
Pool B: Wainuiomata, Petone, Old Boys University, Avalon B, Ories B
Pool C: Paremata-Plimmerton, Norths B, HOBM A, Ories A, Upper Hutt Rams B
Pool D: Johnsonville, Avalon A, MSP A, HOBM b, NZIS

Women’s
Ories, Avalon Wainuiomata, HOBM, MSP, NZIS

SCHEDULE:

9.00am - 4.46pm - Pool Play (Fields 3 and 4 at Porirua Park).

4.46pm: Men's Plate Semi-finals 

5.03pm: Men's Cup Semi-Finals

5.20pm: Women's Cup Final and Men's Plate Final

5.37pm: Men's Cup Final

The club Sevens rugby season gets underway in Wellington this Saturday at Porirua Park with the first of two official Wellington Rugby Football Union tournaments played over consecutive weekends.

Twenty six teams representing 13 Wellington clubs and the New Institute of Sport (NZIS) are set to be at the starter’s block on Saturday morning for the Open 7s Tournament that is being played on the top fields at Porirua Park (fields 3 and 4).

There will be a Senior Men’s division consisting of 20 teams representing 14 clubs and a Senior Women’s section of six teams.

The WRFU previously stated that numbers of Colts entries for Saturday were on the low side, meaning the Colts grade won’t be contested at this tournament. However, with six of the 13 Men’s clubs entering two teams, many of these squads on Saturday will be filled by the clubs’ up and coming players.

As well as being the first time that many club players have worn their club jerseys since mid-July, these club Sevens tournaments are a chance for school leavers to make their first appearances for their new clubs. Similarly, this tournament on Saturday is by name an invitational one so teams are allowed to field players not registered to the clubs they’ll be representing.

That said, many established club players will be turning out on Saturday, eager to find their form ahead of next weekend’s official American Ambassador’s Wellington Club Sevens tournament at Trentham Memorial Park which is run on strict club rules and is now one of the more coveted trophies on the calander, not least because its big and looks good in trophy cabinets.

Some representative players are expected to play at Porirua this Saturday, including some members of the Wellington squad that competed at the Central Coast tournament in Australia last weekend.

For example the Upper Hutt Rams have indicated that their side this Saturday will feature Jordan Simpson-Hefft and Max Pearson, while Murphy Taramai (head knock, playing for the NZ Development team) and Hayden Schrijvers (rested) won’t play this weekend.

Similarly, Hutt Old Boys Marist will be captained this week by Wellington Lions centre Tomasi Alosio, while others such as Sheridan Rangihuna and Lise Soloa (both Wellington 7s), Brandyn Laursen (Horowhenua-Kapiti) and Jonny Bentley and Joe Apikatoa (Wellington Lions) are expected back next week.

Long-time Eagles 7s coaches Dan Pavihi and Dan Vulu have stepped aside this year to concentrate on the Eagles 15s programme after their promotion to Premier coaches in 2016. Senior players, Alosio and Rangihuna are stepping in to the player/coach role for the upcoming two tournaments, with Colts coach John Perreira assisting and Scott Ashton managing.

Defending National champions Wainuiomata will be hosting the National Club Sevens in the New Year, and are expected to be strong contenders this Saturday and next week at Trentham.

Other men’s clubs that should be strong this weekend include Marist St Pat’s, Oriental-Rongotai and Tawa, whilst Jubilee Cup champions Old Boys University, Poneke, Wellington, Petone, Johnsonville, Avalon, Northern United and Paremata-Plimmerton will all press their claims.

HOBM, MSP, Norths, Ories, Tawa and the Upper Hutt Rams are the six clubs entering two teams in this Saturday’s tournament.

Seven of this year’s nine 15-a-side competition Women’s clubs plus MSP are entered this weekend at Porirua.

Four Wellington Pride players are not involved in this weekend’s event because they will be in Taupo playing in the second annual Women’s Sevens Series. These players are Lizzie Goulden (Ories), Georgia Daals (OBU), Kat Whata-Simpkins (Avalon) and Aimee Sutorius (Norths). They have been selected in the Kowhai team in the five-team tournament that sees each side play two matches a day in a round-robin before finals day on Sunday 15 November. A fifth player, Amanda Rasch (Ories), is expected back for the second leg in a fortnight, while the Kowhai team is also represented by Co-coach Charles Aliva and Pride manager Michaela Tahere.

The Pride management have indicated that there will be a number of Wellington players involved in this weekend’s tournament and will be watching the transition from 15s to 7s of several key Pride players such as Jackie Patea (Wainuiomata) and Joanah Ngan Woo (Ories), as well as other young players such as Ayesha Leti Iiga (Ories) and Tina Paulo (Norths) who played for their school sides at the Condor 7s on Monday.

Saturday’s Open Invitational Sevens Tournament is expected to run all day at Porirua. The weather forecast is for fine weather.