It turned out to be what many players and spectators said was the most perfect afternoon and night in the tournament’s 42 year history. 25′ degrees, clear skies and a gentle breeze… And that set the scene for some fantastic rugby.
The tournament kicked off on schedule at 14h00 with Reddam Constantia taking on one of the new kids on the block – The American International School of Cape Town on the A Field. Reddam won 26-5.
Drakenstein U/19 Youth Club called to advise that they were stuck in traffic on the N1, so they couldn’t play in their 14h00 tie on the B Field. The 14h20 game was pulled forward and Rondebosch B beat DF Malan 24-0.
At 14:20 on the A and C Fields respectively, Wynberg B beat the Jag Barbarians 32-0, and Jag Academy lost 50-5 to Durbanville High.
Drakenstein still hadn’t arrived by 14h40 so their opponents chose to proceed to the Plate Section. When Drakenstein arrived, their first match was on the A Field at 16h20 in the Trophy tournament.
The 14h40 matches on the A,B and C Field saw Bergvliet beat Milnerton 43-17, Groote Schuur go down to a ‘fired-up’ Lagunya side 43-0 and Rondebosch A beat Plumstead 44-5.
The action continued at 15h00 with Bishops A beating Temperance 56-5, SACS A beating Reddam Atlantic 52-0 and a tightly contested A Field game between Fish Hoek and Voortrekker which saw Voortrekker win 21-19. A very entertaining game.
At 15h20, Wynberg A despatched Tableview B 48-0, Jan Van Riebeeck beat Tableview A 22-0 and new kids on the block Tygerberg High School (who looked determined, motivated and focused from the very beginning) beat Bishops B 37-27.
The final Round 1 matches saw Jag Excelsior beat Langa 26-0, and SACS B beat Zwaanswyk 24-12.
Round 2 was underway at 16h00, and SACS A beat Rondebosch B 27-0, Lagunya beat Bergvliet 43-28 in another very entertaining game and Fish Hoek beat Durbanville High 27-12.
At 16h20 Drakenstein had their first game and beat Rondebosch A 31-14.
The draw took place for the Plate with the first 16 schools who were knocked out of Round 1.
Reddam Atlantic played Milnerton and went down 38-5, and Voortrekker lost to a very strong Temperance side by 40 points till nil.
16h40 on the field, saw Wynberg A play SACS B. Wynberg A won 40-5.
Two more plate matches on the B and C Field at 16h40, had the Jag Barbarians send Groote Schuur home 41-12, and Westerford bid farewell to the American Intl. School by beating them 22-10.
By 17h00 the grounds started to full up with spectators, and the music and support created the soundtrack… for an atmosphere full of want and promise for the teams who had made it this far.
Tygerberg continued their tournament domination by beating Jan van Riebeeck 47-0 in the Trophy Tournament whilst Jag Academy beat Tableview B 33-5, and an on-form Langa beat Plumstead 31-10 in the Plate Section.
17h20 on the A Field saw Bishops narrowly beat Jag Excelsior 12-7 to continue to play for the Trophy. In the plate, Bishops B beat Tablewview A 47-0 and DF Malan beat Zwaanswyk 22-10.
At 17h40, SACS A finally stopped Lagunya’s hot-streak in the Quarter-finals of the Trophy… in one of the games of the evening by narrowly piping them to the post in an electrifying 15-12 win. The cheering and support from the crowds drowned out everything else on the A Field for the 7 minute second half.
Whilst on the B and C Fields Temperance beat Minerton 24-5 and Westerford beat the Jag Barbarians 25-7.
Wynberg A confirmed their spot in the Trophy Semi-Final at 18h00 by beating Fish Hoek 43-0, as did Langa and Bishops B in the plate as they beat Jag Academy 33-12 and DF Malan 35-21 respectively.
18h20 saw Bishops A make it to the semis by beating Wynberg B 43-7. On the B Field, Temperance confirmed their spot in the plate final by easily beating Westerford 28-5.
The previous weeekend’s 7’s tournament in Bredasdorp, had set the stage for what promised to be a ‘fire-cracker’ Quarter-Final at 18h40 between Tygerberg High School, who had lost 22-24 to Drakenstein in that tournaments final. However, it ended up in a very easy win for Tygerberg who won the match 36-7. They would play Wynberg A in the 2nd semi-final at 19h20.
Bishops B won the very tight 2nd plate semi-final to secure their place in the final against Temperance, by beating Langa 14-10 (half time score was 7-5 in favour of Bishops B).
As 19h00 rolled in, the most exciting game of the evening got under-way as Bishops A played SACS A in a battle on the field, and a battle of school-boy spirit and cheering in the stands. SACS A won the semi-final match 15-14 to secure their place in the final. They would be playing Tygerberg, who beat Wynberg A 26-12 in their 19h20 semi-final.
Temperance won the plate section for the first time in 42 years, after their final round battle against Bishops B, 26-12.
It was the first time Tygerberg High, had ever been to the Villager Sevens… And their first win, as they beat SACS A 29-5 in the final.
The finalists in both sections were presented with PUMA T-Shirts, branded with a message from tournament founds Dave Stewart, who was there to hand out awards and take a photo with the winning team.
Temperance were awarded Bronze medals for winning the Plate, as well the Villager Sevens Plate. SACS A received silver runners-up medals. Tygerberg received gold winners medals, the Villager Sevens Trophy and on behalf of “Living your Brandâ€, a training session with Paul Treu and the Springbok Sevens Team.
All in all, a hugely successful event, well supported by schools and spectators alike. And, thank-you to mother nature who took the Sevens Committee’s phone-call on Thursday night… Love what you did with the weather!