Season of sevens rugby underway this weekend

The fifteens season is drawing to a close, but the sevens circuit is just getting underway.

The rugby continues unabated throughout the warmer months with a host of short format tournaments, both locally and elsewhere, and it all starts this coming Saturday at Porirua Park (upper and lower fields), at Naenae College and at the Rugby Institute in Palmerston North.

The first of the WRFU club tournaments is being played on the top fields of Porirua Park all day Saturday. This is the all-new Satellite Sevens tournament, an invitation club tournament where players don’t have to be registered for the club they’re playing for.

The two other tournaments in Wellington this Saturday are the secondary school Hutt Cup Sevens (Hutt Valley schools) and the Derek Wotton Memorial Sevens (Western Suburbs schools).

The third annual Hurricanes Youth Council Sevens tournament is being played in at the Rugby Institute in Palmerston North on the same day, featuring Wellington teams from St Pat’s Town, St Pat’s Silverstream and Scots College.

These events are leading up to the Wellington and Wairarapa Secondary Schools Condor qualifying tournament at Naenae College on Labour Day Monday 24 October.

The next senior tournament after that is the Village Kings 10-a-side tournament, hosted by the Wellington Samoa Rugby Union at Wise Park, Wainuiomata on Saturday 29 October.

Also on 29 October is the Wellington U15s Sevens tournament at Naenae College.

Peeking into November, the annual American Ambassador’s WRFU Club Sevens Championship is being held on Saturday 5 November at Mary Crowther Park, Wainuiomata.

Other tournaments and dates to note down are the Piri Weepu Sevens hosted by Wainuiomata RFC on 26 November, the National Provincial Central Region qualifiers in Levin in early December and then a bunch of tournaments in the New year.

Draws for this coming weekend:

We will preview these tournaments later this week, with confirmed entries, times and draws.

Tournaments coming up in October and November at a glance:

• 15 October: WRFU Satellite Sevens, Porirua Park 3 & 4
• 15 October: Derek Wootton Memorial Sevens, Porirua Park 1 & 2
• 15 October: Hutt Cup Sevens, Naenae College
• 24 October: Condor Sevens Qualifying Tournament, Naenae College
• 29 October: U15 Sevens, Naenae College
• 29 October: Village Kings 10s, Wise Park, Wainuiomata
• 5 November: WRFU American Ambassador’s Sevens, Mary Crowther Park, Wainuiomata
• 26 November: Piri Weepu Invitational 7s, William Jones Park, Wainuiomata