National Club Sevens Day One summary

Melville, Eden, Massey and Suburbs unbeaten after opening day

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Host club Melville, Auckland clubs Eden and Suburbs and North Harbour’s Massey were the four unbeaten clubs on day one of the National Club Sevens tournament in Hamilton.

These four clubs will be joined in Sunday morning’s Cup quarterfinals by the four pool second place getters, Wellington’s the Upper Hutt Rams, Hawke’s Bay’s Napier Tech, Waikato’s the Hamilton Marist Ravens and Bay of Plenty’s Rangataua. The overall winner wins the Middlesex County Wavell Wakefield Cup.

The quarterfinals on Sunday are:

• 10.20am: Melville v Upper Hutt Rams 
• 10.40am: Eden v Napier Tech
• 11.00am: Massey v Hamilton Marist
• 11.20am: Suburbs v Rangataua

The bottom 8 quarterfinals are:

• 9.00am: Geraldine v Ardmore Marist
• 9.20am: Awanui v Tauranga Sports
• 9.40am: Marist Old Boys v Melville Invitational
• 10.00am: Ngamatapouri v Linton

Defending champions Melville enjoyed day one wins over South Island club Geraldine (35-0), Napier Technical (21-12) and Tauranga Sports (17-12).

Defence was the key to North Harbour champions Massey’s wins over Linton (24-5), Auckland’s Marist Old Boys (33-5) and Bay of Plenty champions Rangataua (24-7).

Last year’s Plate winners Suburbs beat Wanganui’s Ngamatapouri 28-5, Hamilton Marist 28-15 and the composite Melville Invitational side 54-0 in the highest score of the day.

The Upper Hutt Rams fell to Eden 12-28 in their first match of the day, after leading 12-0 at halftime on the back of two Salesi Rayasi tries.

Eden went on to defeat Ardmore Marist 21-0 and Awanui 21-12.

Mitchell Markov, Hayden Schrijvers and Colin Leilua-Toilolo scored tries in the Rams’ second 21-12 win over Northland’s Awanui, while Markov (2), Rayasi and Daniel Schrijvers scored Upper Hutt’s tries in their 26-12 victory over Ardmore Marist in their third game.

There were several close matches, including a 10-10 draw between Northland’s Awanui and Counties Manukau’s Ardmore Marist.

Following two earlier losses, Linton roared to a 17-7 halftime lead over Auckland Marist but were gunned down 17-19.

Day One results (unofficial)

Melville 35 - Geraldine 0
Napier Tech 21 - Tauranga Sports 19
Rangataua 24 - Marist Old Boys 14
Massey 24 – Linton 5
Eden 28 – Upper Hutt Rams 12
Awanui 10 - Ardmore Marist 10
Hamilton Marist 19 - Melville Invitational 0
Suburbs 28 – Ngamatapouri 5
Melville 21 - Napier Tech 12
Tauranga Sports 34 - Geraldine 5
Rangataua 31 - Linton Lions 12
Massey 33 – Marist Old Boys 5
Upper Hutt Rams 21 - Awanui 12
Eden 21 – Ardmore Marist 0
Suburbs 28 – Hamilton Marist 15
Melville Invitational 10 - Ngamatapouri 5
Napier Tech 22 – Geraldine 7
Melville 17 – 12 Tauranga Sports
Marist Old Boys 19 - Linton Lions 17
Massey 24 – Rangataua 17
Eden 21 – Awanui 12
Upper Hutt Rams 26 – Ardmore Marist 12
Suburbs 54 – Melville International 0
Hamilton Marist 33 – Ngamatapouri - 0