January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Bermuda Irish crush Teachers 36 to 5
A beautiful spring sunny day saw the festivities kick off with Teachers ladies taking on Mariners ladies in tag rugby. Some good ball handling skills were evident, showing that the sport is catching on locally amongst the fairer sex. In a tight see-saw affair Teachers ran out 3-2 winners over Mariners. Scoring for the Reds were Rachael Black and Sarah McHugh-Wheddon (2). In reply for the Greens were Maureen Higgins and Carolyn Bamford.
The Mens 7's tournament opened up with two-time and defending champions Bermuda Irish taking on the local constabulary Bermuda Police. The Irish were bolstered by Munster star John Lacey, Ireland 'A' winger Cronan Healy and Ulster, Ireland and Lions winger Tyrone Howe. Cronan Healy opened the scoring after being put into space from a lovely pass from Howe. Michael Kane converted. Tom Healy, showed his brother Cronan that he too had some family skills raced in from the base of the scrum to give the Irish a 14-0 half time lead. Tyrone Howe then showed some good football skills by chipping through a handling error and pouncing on the ball to open his account. Police defended well but Cronan Healy broke their back after some pressure created an opening up the middle which Healy scooted through to score. Cronan Healy was masterful in the game and was obviously out to show up his bigger brother- he stole another ball drew the entire Police team before releasing John Lacey out wide to score the easiest of tries. The Irish had served notice that they were out to win their third straight Bermuda International Sevens trophy with a dominating 40-0 win.
The second Men's match saw Mariners take on visiting West Midlands Police. The Greens were fielding several young future stars of local rugby and their enthusiasm and fitness overcame the wiser heads of the visiting Bobbies. Some fine interplay and support from Steve Husbands was finished off by Simon Bergl to open the scoring for Mariners. Mark Pomeroy converted. The West Midlands responded with two tries- Richard Marsh sold an outrageous dummy and stepped inside his man to score between the posts. Then Martin "Pig" Jones gave the coppers a surprise lead when good defense caused a turn over- releasing Jones out wide, who trotted 40 meters to score at the half time whistle 12-7. The second half saw the fitter Mariners take over and a nice pass by Luke Millward released winger Richard Brown who raced in. Millward scored a fine individual try by spinning out of a would-be tacklers grasp and scampered in to finish the scoring. Mariners won 21-12.
The inaugural game of full contact female 7's rugby saw Nova, visiting from New York take on the Bermuda Barbarian Ladies team. The local team made up of players from the all the clubs displayed tenacity and bravery in their first game of full contact rugby. Unfortunately the Nova girls showed that they were hardened journeymen and dismantled their naïve counterparts with a cynical and bruising display. Nova super star Beth Black dominated the entire female competition and put on a clinic. She had a hand in all of her sides tries and scored three of the seven tries that were run in. Dana Creager also displayed some fine rugby skills scoring twice in the rout. Finishing the scores for Nova were Katie "Yahoo" Miller and Kristen "Jail Bait" Campbell. The local ladies were well beaten 36-0 but learned some valuable lessons.
Renegades ladies then played Mariners ladies in a tense tag game. Both teams showed good teamwork, stringing together several passages of play. In the end Mariner tries by Maureen Higgins and Joanne Turner were cancelled out by Renegades tries from Claire Pritchard and Sue Rebello. A 10-10 draw was a fitting result to these evenly matched teams.
Bermuda Police then took on Renegades in an all local Men's affair with guest referee Sean Edwards- over from the West Midlands celebrating his stag weekend- ably refereeing the game. The Black and Whites proved too strong for the pesky Police side- tries from Jame Holburn, Richard Slater, Paul Walberger and two from John Thompson were answered by the lone try from Blues' Andrew Flint who stole the show with an impromptu celebratory gig. The final score of 34-5 was indicative of the Renegade's dominance.
A surprising Mariners team then faced off against the much fancied Teachers side sporting fluorescent pink and white gear. Mariners opened the scoring with a good possession- throwing the ball around until a gap finally appeared for Steve Husbands to surge through to score between the posts. Mark Pomeroy converted to give an early 7-0 lead. Teachers settled down and some good interplay between Chris Naylor, Harry Andrews and Bobby Hurdle finally created some room for young Andrew Hook to sprint through to tie the score. The second half saw Teachers gain in confidence and tries from Fredrick "Frenchie" Royer, Dave Porter and Bobby Hurdle extinguished any hopes of a Mariners upset. The Reds eventually ran out comfortable 26 to 7 victors.
The eagerly anticipated game of visiting women's 7 rugby teams saw Empire City Blues take on New York state arch rivals Nova. In a thoroughly entertaining game the ladies showed excellent angles of running and committed tackling. Both teams are well coached and the local girls were shown the high standard that is to be expected in international women's sevens. In a closely fought game Empire City took an early lead with an unconverted try from Maura Weitman. Then Nova player Beth Black sliced thorough some weak defending to tie the score. Stout defending kept Empire City at bay and with no hope of breaching the Nova line- they then inched ahead with a penalty kick from Katlyn Lamin. With time running out Beth Black once again showed her superior skills and took on the entire Empire City Blues out wide and won the sprint to the line to score the crucial 10-8 winning try.
In the final tag rugby game of the day Teachers completely overwhelmed Renegades with a four try trouncing. Tries from Teacher players Sasha Bearden, Kristie Koza and two from Rachael Black finished off the 'Gades ladies 20-0. The win secured the Ladies Tag Rugby Trophy for Teachers.
The penultimate pool game witnessed Bermuda Irish romp all over Renegades 31-12. John Lacey scored two very quick tries after good work by Tyrone Howe put him into space. Darragh O'Donohugh converted both for a 14-0 half time lead. The restart saw the Bermuda Irish put together some fine side line to side line passage of play that released British and Irish Lion Howe down the tram lines to score another converted try. Renegades to their credit did not give up and Greg Garside replied with a try after some strong midfield play to cut the lead to 21-7. Conor McGlynn and John Lacey combined on a nice switch move to create space for an off load to O'Donohugh who pranced through the middle to put the game beyond reach 26-7. James Holburn scored from a quick tap penalty to give Renegades some pride 26-12. Howe then created a turn over with a crushing tackle- Tom Healy niftily picked the ball up one handed and breezed over to finish the scoring 31-12.
In the last pool game of the day, the West Midlands Police took on Teachers in a bone crunching affair. Chris "Pinhead" Davies powered over from close to open the scoring for the West Midlands 5-0. Teachers responded and in a very physical game turned the ball over with some power rucking- Chris Naylor touched down and converted to give his side the slimmest of leads7-5. Even the spectators had to be wary as some big hits were put in causing bodies to fly in the stands. An inspired Bobby Hurdle showed his West Indies pedigree when he "shaked and baked" his way to a 70 meters run that open the gap to 14-5. Harry Andrews finished off the scoring for his side when he deftly stepped inside his man and scored. With a 21-5 lead Teachers relaxed a bit which allowed Matt Martin to finish off the game with a consolation try for the West Midlands Police: final score 21-10.
The final pool game of the ladies sevens saw a powerful Empire City Blues side take on a quickly improving Bermuda Barbarians squad. The Baa Baa's surprised their much more experience opponents with a fantastic try off the opening kick off. The ball went through no less then 5 set of hands before Julia Mansfield rounded her man and sprinted in from 60 meters out to the rapturous applause of the enthusiastic crowd. The Blues responded immediately and showed no mercy whilst running in tries from Annie Collier, Laura Weitman and two from powerhouse Laura Vivilo to close the game out 24-5. The loss knocked the Bermuda team out of the competition but the grit and bravery showed by them augers well for the future of full contact local ladies rugby.
The first semi finals saw Bermuda Irish continue their domination with a 28-0 win over a competitive Mariners squad. The Irish put on a 7's clinic in possession rugby- frustrating the Mariners who consistently lost shape in defense. Tom Healy opened the account after some good work from Colin Keane put him into space. Dave Rorke fought off some would-be tacklers before releasing to Tyrone Howe who straighten up through the gap created to score a converted try before the half. On the restart Cronan Healy and John Lacey then both weaved their way through long runs to touch down between the posts- taking the final score to 28-0.
The second semi final saw the closest of games between Teachers and Renegades. Some strong running and sensible play saw 'Gades open up a surprising 10-0 lead with tries from Pete Dunkerly and Scott Slater. 'Gades could have put the game out of reach before the break but a fierce tackle by Bobby Hurdle snuffed out a sure try opportunity for Dunkerly. On the restart Bobby Hurdle continued his inspired play and single handedly won the game with two fine individualist tries. The first came off a penalty move that involved 3 switches which bamboozled the defence and allowed Hurdle to canter in from 60 meters out for a converted try10-7. In the dieing seconds of the game Hurdle stole a lineout ball and powered over in the corner to secure a last gasp but memorable 12-10 victory and a place in the finals.
The ladies rugby final saw the two experienced sides of Nova and Empire City Blues fight it out for the Trophy and a thousand dollars in prize money. The caliber of play was breath taking with both side putting in tackles that even their male counter parts would be proud of. Once again the lines of running by Nova appeared to be too good for their determined foes- two early tries from Dana Creager put the girls in purple up 14-0. On the restart play was dictated by Nova's outstanding player Beth Black who orchestrated tries for Katie Miller and CJ Hilbreth to give Nova a commanding 26-0 lead. Empire City played until the end and some good pressure finally resulted in a late consolation try by Katlyn Lamin. Nova deservedly ran out 26-7 winners and took home the inaugural Women's 7s Rugby Trophy and $1000 prize money.
The much anticipated men's final of Bermuda Irish and Teachers proved to be a bit anticlimactic as the Irish just proved to be too organized and in a class apart. The opening try came from an interception by Cronan Healy who out ran the covering Bobby Hurdle to touch down. The restart saw the Irish apply great pressure in defence and a shivering tackle by Tyrone Howe turned the ball over to Cronan Heally who drew two men before slipping the ball outside to a grateful Darragh O'Donohugh who waltzed in untouched for 12-0 lead. The ruthless Bermuda Irish did not take their foot of the pedal and once again Cronan Healy jinxed his was past a flatfooted Hurdle to extend the lead 17-0. On the restart Irish stole the ensuing lineout and threw the ball about with elegant flair. Tyrone Howes' long pass out to Cronan Healy saw the Cork Constitution man dip inside before outrageously passing behind his back to a looping O'Donohugh who once again danced his way over untouched. 24-0 and the fat lady was warming the vocal cords up. Munster play maker John Lacey was not going to be left off the score sheet and after some fine interplay with Tom Healy cruised 70 meters to extend the lead to 29-0 and the Irish supporters were singing. With 5 minutes left and a large lead the Bermuda Irish brought on some substitutes and this allowed Teachers some breathing room. West Indies Sevens captain Bobby Hurdle determined running was only stopped by three tacklers- his off load to Dave Porter allowed the diminutive scrumhalf to dive into the corner for a consolation try. But it was the Bermuda Irish who had the last Gaelic laugh when Eoghan "Squire" O'Dwyer showed his sprightly pace after being released down the line by player of the tournament Cronan Healy for the nail in the coffin score. Michael Kane converted to make the final tally 36-5. The Bermuda Irish won their third straight Bermuda International Sevens title and took home the grand prize money of $2500.
It was brilliant day of rugby that the Bermuda Rugby Union and their sponsors- Bank of Bermuda and Bacardi- can quiet rightly be proud of. Hopefully the event will continue to grow and draw more rugby enthusiasts to our fine island.
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