Rugby Sevens a Primary Pathway to Gold

The new Olympic Sport of Rugby Sevens has again proven popular with huge numbers participating at Primary School Rugby Sevens competitions in Sydney this week.

On Tuesday 43 teams from 11 local Primary Schools participated at the 2012 Warringah Sevens Gala Day held at North Narrabeen Reserve.

Teams were broken up into Division 1, Experienced and Division 2, Beginner levels across grades 3/4 and 5/6. Each team played a minimum of three games each in a round robin format before the finals in the afternoon. 

St Augustine’s College A team took out the top spot in Grade 5/6 Division 1 after defeating Elanora Heights Public School’s A team in the final. Wakehurst Public School won Division 2 defeating Manly West Public School’s B team.

In Grades 3/4 Manly West Public School’s A team won Division 1 against the Elanora Heights Public School’s A team, whilst Balgowlah North Public School’s A team were the winners in Division 2 after defeating Manly West Public School’s B team.     

On Thursday this week the 2012 Gordon Sevens Primary School Gala Day was held at Cliff Oval in Wahroonga with 49 teams across 14 local Primary Schools.

The winners of Grade 5/6 Division 1 were Sacred Heart Catholic School Mosman, who defeated Willoughby Public School’s A team. Willoughby Public School’s B team were able to take the top spot in Division 2 against West Pymble’s B team.

Willoughby Public School’s A team were successful in the 3/4 Grades winning  Division 1 against Holy Family Lindfield’s A team whilst their C team successfully defeated Castle Cove Public School’s C team in Division 2.  

Both Gala Days saw increased numbers of registrations with around 400 – 500 children at each day, up from last year’s 300 - 350 figure for each day. The number of teams competing at each of the Gala Days also saw a big increase from last year’s figure of 32 teams registered for each of the Gala Days in 2011.

The Gala Days have been held annually for the last three years, however this is the first year they have aligned with Try Rugby’s Sevens Pathway to Gold Program, a national youth talent development and selection program from grassroots through to high performance Rugby coordinated by Australian Rugby Union.

The Randwick Juniors Club Primary Schools Rugby 10s was also held on Tuesday this week. Sixteen teams across ten schools from the local Sydney area participated across four divisions with each team playing four games.

Willoughby Public School were the overall winners in Division 1 on the day taking the top spot as the best Primary School 10s side in the area.

The tournament is run by Randwick Rugby Development staff in conjunction with Australian Rugby Union Development staff with the aim to increase player participation numbers.

Last week hundreds of students across several local secondary schools participated in the Sydney North Boys and Girls Under 14 and Under 16’s Rugby Sevens Gala days held at St Ives and Willoughby.

Rugby Sevens is a fun, fast and exciting game providing an enjoyable and easy introduction to Rugby for school-age children.

The inclusion of the game of Rugby Sevens in the Olympic Games has increased the significance of the Rugby Sevens program, providing up and coming Rugby talent with the opportunity to join the pathway to Olympic Gold.

Men’s and Women’s Rugby Sevens will debut at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

Results of all this week’s Primary School Rugby Sevens days are detailed below: