Results: BRFU Rugby Sevens First Round
The first round of the BRFU rugby sevens kicked off on Friday night [Nov 23] at the National Sports Centre in Devonshire.
After an impressive showing from the Bermuda High Schools 7′s team beforehand, Teachers and Mariners were first up. A slimmer looking Mariners 7′s team than in previous seasons put up a stubborn fight against an impressive and fast looking Teachers outfit.
However the Seamen would have no answer for Teachers raw pace, with the reds running out eventual winner 31-0, with Stephen Edwards looking impressive on his senior rugby debut.
Next up Renegades took on the Police. After stretching into a 12-0 lead with tries from Bennet Gibson and Ndavyah Williams, with an Ian Henderson conversion thrown in, the boys in blue responded just before and after the half time interval and looked like winning the game 14-12.
That is until with the last play of the game and from their own dead ball area, Henderson and Quigley worked the ball up to the half way line, where Jahan Cedenio managed to out pace fellow prop Roedolf Van der Westhuizen, with Cedenio just about having the legs to make it. Henderson knocked over the extras to give the black and whites a 19-14 win.
There was no rest for Renegades as they had to double up against Mariners in the next game. However Renegades experience with Henderson and Quigley in particular directing play told early on as they raced into a three try lead before the half time whistle.
Renegades took this opportunity to rest some of their more experienced players and the youngsters shored up well in the second half, running out 33-0 winners. Injuries took their toll on Mariners, with Alun Thomas leaving the field with a nasty looking derrière injury and we wish him well for a speedy recovery.
Police and Teachers were next up, and again the boys in blue put up a valiant effort against their old foes, continually chasing every ball and break away not allowing Teachers to have it their own way. However Teachers youthfulness and pace told in the end as they ran out 21-0 winners to remain unbeaten.
Mariners and Police played out their final games of the day as Police won 31-5. However special mention must go to. The number of youth players who played this game and the previous games for the Seamen. They stuck in well and showed that the future of Bermuda is indeed bright.
The final game of the days saw the evenings two unbeaten teams go head to head, Teachers and Renegades. Renegades won the toss and opted to play into the wind first half. From the kick off, Renegades looked after the ball, not allowing Teachers danger men to get their hands on the ball.
After working the ball upfield, quick hands from Gibson put Williams over in the corner. Almost traitor from the restart, the ageless Greg Garside made a break between two Teachers players to score under the posts. Henderson was again on target with extras to give the black and whites a 12-0 half time lead.
To Teachers credit, they came out fighting in the second half, and were rewarded with breakaway scores from Andre Landy and Patrick Richardson. However the second half and the evening ultimately belonged to Renegades, as the
impressive Henderson added two further scores, the first scoring the Teachers pacemen on the right flank and these cod sneaking over from a 5m scrum.
Renegades controlled the pace of the game and possession through MVP Henderson, running out eventual winners 24-12 to end the day unbeaten and take an early lead in this season sevens series.
League action resumes next weekend, with defending league champions taking on Teachers and Police taking on Renegades.
