Clubs primed for Satellite 7s tomorrow

The club Sevens rugby season gets underway in Wellington tomorrow on the top fields of Porirua Park with the first of two official Wellington Rugby Football Union tournaments being played.

Nineteen teams representing 10 of Wellington’s clubs are set to orbit the Satellite 7s tournament headquarters tomorrow, down on the 26 teams that competed in this corresponding tournament last season at the same venue.

There will be a Senior Men’s division consisting of 13 teams, including two sides each from the Upper Hutt Rams, Marist St Pat’s and the Wellington Axemen, and a Senior Women’s section of six teams.

This Satellite 7s tournament is an open tournament, meaning players don’t have to be affiliated with the clubs they are playing for, so several players from other clubs not entered tomorrow are expected to slip on their foe’s colours for the day.

Clubs absent tomorrow include Jubilee Cup champions Tawa, 2015 national club 7s champions Wainuiomata, as well as Petone and Paremata-Plimmerton.

Many established men’s and women’s club players will be turning out tomorrow, eager to test their sevens legs and showcase their skills ahead of the official WRFU American Ambassador’s Wellington Club Sevens Championship tournament in Wainuiomata on 5 November.

The Upper Hutt Rams (men’s division) and Oriental-Rongotai (women’s) are the defending champions of this tournament. Both went on to win the American Ambassadors tournament last year.

Saturday’s Open Invitational Sevens Tournament is expected to run all day at Porirua. The weather forecast is for showers in the morning, clearing later on. But the rugby is expected to keep things hot.

POOLS: 
Men’s
Pool A: Marist St Pat’s A, Northern United, Poneke, Wellington B
Pool B: Hutt Old Boys Marist, Avalon, Upper Hutt Rams B
Pool C: Upper Hutt Rams A, Old Boys University, Marist St Pat’s B
Pool D: Wellington A, Oriental-Rongotai, Johnsonville

Women’s
Pool A: Marist St Pat’s, Northern United, Old Boys University
Pool B: Oriental-Rongotai, Hutt Old Boys Marist, Avalon

SCHEDULE:
9.00am – 2.40pm - Pool Play (Fields 3 and 4 at Porirua Park).
2.06pm – Women’s Bowl Final
2.23pm – Women’s Plate Final
2.40pm – Women’s Cup Final
3.31pm – Men’s Bowl semi-finals
3.48pm – Men’s Plate semi-finals
4.05pm – Men’s Cup semi-finals
4.22pm – Men’s Bowl Final
4.39pm – Men’s Plate Final
4.46pm – Men’s Cup Final