Cats bear their claws to claim national sevens title

CATS Sevens’ Emma Mundy hailed the unbelievable achievement of the Cheltenham-based side after they were crowned national champions at the England Rugby Sevens Series finals at Nottingham RFC.

The fourth edition of the annual tournament saw 16 men’s teams and five women’s teams from across England battle it out to secure the national crown.

Teams were invited to the competition’s finale after accruing ranking points at 31 regional events, including 18 women’s qualifiers and Cats lined up as one of the five women’s teams, a dramatic late score securing a 26-22 victory in the final over The Mayans.

Mundy, 26, described the win as the perfect way to cap off a great summer for her and her teammates.

She said: “We all feel fantastic and it’s unbelievable to be able to say we’re national champions. We knew we had to bring it to the Mayans in the final because they’d beaten us quite comprehensively earlier in the competition, but we gave it our all and stuck to our principles.

“We really came together well in the final and tweaked any issues we’d had in our other games. This is our first time at this tournament and we knew the standard was going to be high.

“We don’t get a chance to train together, but we all work hard at our respective clubs and over the past couple of years we’ve got to know each other and today reflects that. Lewis Pratten – the coach – built this club from nothing so it’s great to be able to win this title for him.”

The England Rugby Sevens Series is open to all club and invitational sides and is the ultimate competition for men’s and women’s amateur stars.

This year’s competition culminated in Nottingham for the first time and while Cats took the women’s trophy, Skeat Sevens – based in Loughborough – were crowned men’s champions.

Mundy added: “It’s been a beautiful setup here and it’s been brilliant to be a part of. It’s great to have people of all ages – men and women – competing and coming along to watch and I think events like this are just going to grow and grow.

“Sevens is a great way to come together, keep your fitness up during the summer and have lots of fun.

“We’re really dotted around some of us are from Cheltenham but there are girls in places such as Brighton and Milton Keynes – so it’s great to be able to get together and enjoy our rugby.”

The England Rugby Sevens Series is England Rugby’s premier competition for amateur men’s and women’s sevens teams. For more information, visit www.englandrugby.com/sevens-series