A long and exciting fifteens rugby season draws to a close over the next fortnight or so.
But the rugby never stops, with several college, club and representative Sevens tournaments to look forward to in Wellington and further afield between now and February.
On the club scene, there are several tournaments coming up in Wellington and further afield this month and in November, January and February.
Local college Sevens is in full swing throughout October, leading up to the annual National Condor Sevens in Auckland on 2 December.
In representative Sevens, the top two sides from the American Ambassador's tournament will earn tickets to compete in the Middlesex Sevens, the National club Sevens championships, in the Bay of Plenty in February, while the Wellington Men's team and the Northern United Women's side cross the ditch for a tournament later this month.
The club Sevens season starts next Saturday with the WRFU Invitational Open 7s Tournament at Naenae College.? As its name suggests, this is open to any club team that wishes to enter and players don't have to be registered with that club team throughout the season. Last year this was won by the Fiji Warriors team, a composite side of mostly Tawa and Wests Roosters players. This tournament is being held at Naenae College, where the Condor College Sevens will be played the following week.
Entries for the WRFU Invitational tournament close this Friday. Applications can be made to Michael Langley at the WRFU, by email at Michael.langley@wrfu.co.nz
This is followed a fortnight later on Saturday 1 November by the WRFU American Ambassador's Sevens tournament, the official Wellington club Sevens championship. This year the American Ambassador's tournament is being held at Evans Bay Park and the adjoining St Pat's College Artificial.
The second annual Piri Weepu Sevens is hosted by the Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club at William Jones Park on Saturday 29 November, which will likely feature entries from club and representative sides from further afield such as Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Horowhenua Kapiti, and Wairarapa Bush.
A new club Sevens tournament to look forward to in the New Year is the inaugural Tawa 7s at Lyndhurst Park, while other established tournaments such as the long-standing Shannon and Hawke's Bay Sevens are also in the New Year. Of note, the annual Greytown event won't be played this year.
The Sevens stars of tomorrow are on show over the next few weeks in the College Sevens programme, which continues this Saturday with another series of warm-up games ahead of the Condor tournament on Labour Day Monday.?
Games this Saturday at Naenae College start at 9.00 am, with all sides looking to find combinations and form ahead of the main event on Labour Day. This year two boys and one girls team from Wellington and the Wairarapa will be found to compete in the National Condor finals in Rotorua in early December.
Ten Boys teams will be in action on Saturday, with Division 1 comprising heavyweights Wellington College, St Pat's Silverstream and St Pat's Town joined by Rongotai, St Bernard's and Porirua, and Division 2 made up of Tawa, Taita, and St Pat's Town and Rongotai's second teams.
The Girls section has seven teams, with defending Wellington Condor champs Wellington East joined by Premier 1 winners St Catherine's and runners up Porirua, Wainuiomata, St Mary's, Taita, and newcomers St Oran's.
The Wellington Men's team and the Northern United Women's teams cross the ditch in a fortnight to compete in the Central Coast event on Australia's Central Coast just north of Sydney. This tournament on 25 and 26 October features leading club and representative teams from around Australia and the world.
The Wellington Men's team will be defending its national provincial crown in Rotorua on the weekend of 17 and 18 January.
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