Around 700 players at sevens
The 20th annual Stoke Rugby McDonalds Mike’s Sevens tournament turned out to be one of the busiest with around 700 young players converging on Greenmeadows on Saturday.
It was also one of the most competitive as all four grades went down to the wire with two of them decided by golden point and the other two requiring try countbacks to determine the finalists.
This year’s tournament involved 59 teams, including a record 13 from Marlborough.
In the under-7 grade, Marist Green and Waimea Red were locked up at 4-4 at fulltime before Marist scored the golden point try to secure the win.
Marlborough teams Harlequins and Renwick were tied with Riwaka on points at the end of the under-8 round robin competition. However, Harlequins (42) and Riwaka (41) edged Renwick (33) on a countback of tries to determine the finalists, with Harlequins beating Riwaka 5-4 for the title.
Wanderers Blue, Marist White, Takaka and Waimea White had also been tied on points after the under-9 round robin, with Wanderers Blue (41) and Marist (38) qualifying for the final on a try countback. Takaka finished with 36 tries and Waimea 31.
And in another tight contest, Wanderers beat Marist 7-5 to win the final.
The under-10 final proved just as tight, with Waimea Red eventually beating Riwaka 9-8 by golden point.