National Schools Rugby Sevens success

Queensland teams topped the 2012 National Schools Rugby Sevens tournament held last weekend winning the Cup Final in both the National Schoolgirls and Schoolboys competitions on the Gold Coast.

The tournament was held at The Southport School on the Gold Coast, with both Cup Finals taking place during the main intervals of Gold Coast Sevens Fever Pitch at Skilled Park on Saturday and Sunday.

Crowds at the Gold Coast Sevens were left stunned at the speed and agility of the schoolgirls and boys who competed in the high quality Finals.

It provided a great opportunity to bridge the gap between the next generation of stars and the current stars of the 2012/13 HSBC World Sevens Series.

This year’s National Schools Rugby Sevens included, for the very first time, a competition for Schoolgirls on Saturday, 13 October with the National Schoolgirls Rugby Sevens Cup and Plate up for grabs.

Queensland Red were the winners of the Cup Final against the NSW Blues.

At half-time the Queensland team were up by just two points however ran away with the match in the second half to win by 14-points, 29-15.

ACT took home the Plate Final defeating NSW White 19-17, despite NSW White being up 7-0 at half time.

The Schoolgirls tournament featured two pools of eight teams including NSW Blue, Qld White, South Australia, Northern Territory, Qld Red, NSW White, ACT and Western Australia.

The teams competed in a round robin format with the top ranked teams in each pool progressing through to the final knockout stages.

The teams were made up of schoolgirls who were identified and invited to attend State selection days.

The Schoolboys tournament took place the following day, on Sunday 14 October with teams vying for the 2012 National Schoolboys Cup, Plate and Bowl.

The Cup Final was won by Queensland’s Keebra Park State High School after defeating Western  Sydney’s St Gregory’s College, 24-19.

This is the third year in a row Keebra Park High School have become the Cup winners at the National Schoolboys Rugby Sevens.

Western Australia’s Aranmore Catholic College secured the Plate Final with a convincing win over Westfields Sports High, 32-5.

Winners of the Bowl Final were Brisbane State High School against Victoria University Secondary College.

Despite being up 17-0 at half-time, Victoria University Secondary College went down to a determined Brisbane State High School who made all the running in the second half keeping the Victorians scoreless to record an impressive 29-17 victory.

The schoolboys tournament featured three teams from Queensland, three teams from NSW, two from ACT, plus Northern Territory, South Australian and Western Australian teams.

Teams were identified and invited by State Unions through qualifying State tournaments. The teams were split into four pools and also competed in a round robin format through to the knockout finals.

The National Schools Rugby Sevens Tournament was developed by Australian Rugby Union as another means of providing school aged children with the chance to participate in the game of Rugby.

It also provides another opportunity to identify up and coming Rugby talent.

The core skills in the seven-a-side Rugby format provide a fitting introduction to younger players who may be keen to get involved in the game of Rugby.

As a faster and more free flowing game, Rugby Sevens appeals to a variety of players, young and old who have never played Rugby before or are looking to advance or sharpen their Rugby skills.

Detailed results from the 2012 National Schoolboys and Schoolgirls tournaments are below:
 

2012 National Rugby Sevens Schoolgirls tournament

Results:

2012 National Rugby Sevens Schoolboys tournament

Results: