Canterbury 7's 2004
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Canterbury, Kent, the West Indies Exiles won
their second ever piece of silverware, the Plate Competition at the 40th
Annual Spitfire 7's.
The day started slowly enough, turning up to register at 11am, only to find
out that the organisers weren't quite ready for the teams. In fact, what we
discovered later was that they were in fact working out how to gain passage
to the final for their beloved Canterbury team.
17 teams in all showed up, 3 groups of 4, and 1 group of 5. The Exiles were
seeded second in their group, behind the Apaches, along with four time
winners Betteshanger and Old Elthamians making up the numbers.
As it turned out the two top seeds played one another first, and this proved
the undoing of the Exiles side have barely congregated from their long trips
all round the country. Outscored 4 tries to 3 they were never ahead as they
went down 26-17 to an organised, if not superior Apaches team.
Disappointed by defeat Kurt 'Magic' Johnson let fly with his now customary
hairdryer treatment, as he let the rest of the team know what he thought of
their lacklustre defensive display. It appeared to do the trick.
Game two saw Betteshanger outscored 5 tries to nil, as they were put to the
sword 29-0 by an Exiles team teetering on the brink of good thinks.
And by game three a now rampant Exiles team destroyed Old Elthamians 52-5
scoring 8 tries to boot, leaving Elthamians thankful that the final whistle
saved them from a cricket score.
By now the Exiles were flying, but alas it was too late. Despite having
scored the 3rd most tries in the group stages, the tournament organisers
thought it in the best interests of Canterbury to only allow the top side
from each group straight through to the main competition, with the four
runners up fighting it out for the glory of the Plate.
Normally groups 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 play off against one another, but that
would have meant Canterbury playing the favourites Samurai in the Semis, so
that too was changed, so Groups 1 and 4, and 2 and 3 played one another.
So in the Semi final of the Plate the Exiles faced a useful Blackheath side,
still smarting from promotion back to the National 2. And with their best
display yet, against their toughest opponents to date, the well-oiled Exile
machine won the hard-fought semi final 21-10, the final scoreline not really
doing justice to "The Club".
And so to the final. Despite the hardest efforts of both teams to reduce the
game from 10 to 7 mins each way, as with everything else during the day,
their pleas fell upon deaf ears. In the end it mattered not as Banbury were
swept aside in a one-sided final 38-12 by a determined and clinical display
of 7's rugby by the Exiles, whose goal at the Amsterdam 7's must surely now
to improve upon last year's second round exit.
So, with £500 worth of kit voucher's and individual medals under their
belts, the Exiles departed Kent's hazy sunshine with thoughts of what might
have been. Nevermind, there's always next year.
A big shout out must go to everyone involved for giving up their bank
holiday sunday so willingly. To the team for putting in such a tremendous
effort and surpassing all pre-tournament expectations. To the girls for
their endless sideline encouragement, and for providing us with stacks of
food to keep us going throughout the day. And of course last but not least
to the team manager, the Dr., for getting everything organised in the first
place, and also being the only player to score a try in every single game.
Congratumalations my good man.
To all you Windians and adopted Windians out there your support as ever is
appreciated, and I look forward to seeing those of you who can make it in
the Dam in little over 2 weeks time. We still need to take at least one
forward and one back with us, so if you're keen, or know of anyone who might
be, keep us posted. At the moment we're frantically trying to look for more
Uk tournaments to enter to improve our trophy cabinet and exposure, so if
anyone knows of any just let me, the Dr., or JC know.
Thanks for listening,
Keep safe,
KJ.
Henley Sevens 2003
It is true what they say, great things do come from humble beginnings.
Little over 15 months ago the two guys at the top of this message header and
myself had a dream, to start a West Indian Rugby Club outside of the
islands. With the disappointment of an empty Rugby West Indies Sevens season
behind us it was time to put up or shut up. We thought we could use our
extensive rugby contacts out in the big wide world to try and put a team
together, and we did.
Yesterday was our first little piece of history, our first trophy, we won
the Shield Competition at the 2003 Henley International Sevens. And with it
came the spoils of war, a cheque for £200. It may not be much, but it was
£200 we didn't have yesterday.
With much of the squad still on Caribbean time we didn't have the best of
starts. With only seven available players for the first game and most of the
team playing out of position we threw away a 12-5 lead over a very keen
Ugandan side on their first trip abroad to eventually lose 31-12.
Out of the main competition but with a chance still to impress we took on a
London Nigerian side in the first round of the Plate competition. Despite
the fact we were back to a full squad the Nigerians proved too powerful for
us, and once again we gave away the lead to go down a very respectable
24-10.
By now the 30+ degrees Henley sunshine had started to take it's toll on the
squad who had begun to pick up a few injuries on the hard ground, but
fortunately a change in the rules came to our aid. Rolling substitutions
were introduced for the final few matches so that teams could combat the
extreme heat.
With one chance left it was to be now or never for the Exiles squad. Staring
at an unthinkable three defeats on the bounce, and the ignominy of the
wooden spoon accolade around the corner we took the field for one final
fling against London Visigoths. By now the team had started to gel, and put
in its best performance of the day to record a resounding 28-0 win. However,
the rules stated that the two teams with the highest points scored of the
four shield semi finals would qualify for the final. So we had to sit and
wait for our fate to be decided.
The second semi final saw Uganda win narrowly 26-24 over Young England.
Uganda's 26pt haul was not enough to displace us from a Shield final berth,
but there were still two games to go. Game three saw a very impressive China
side destroy a lacklustre Scorpions side 35-7, so it was all to play four in
the fourth and final semi between Loughborough Students and Skyrunners.
After Loughborough raced out to a 19-0 lead in the first 5 mins it seemed
like the Exiles were headed for an early bath, but the Skyrunner's managing
to hold on 19-7 at the break there was all to play for in the second half.
And with increasing Skyrunner support coming from the West Indies crowd the
Skyrunners responded well with another try, only to be hit by another
sucker-punch by Loughborough who at 26-14 were 3 points away from booking
there place in the final with 4 minutes to go. And with 2 mins of stoppage
time played there had been one final score, and miraculously it had gone to
the Skyrunners whose awesome display of defence and tenacity had catapulted
the Windies into the final.
The final itself didn't start well. China raced out to a 7-0 lead following
a penalty try, only for the Exiles to respond in kind. At 7 a-piece mistakes
started to choke a nervous Windies side who went in 19-14 down at the break.
But 10 minutes is a long time in Sevens, and a formidable second half
performance saw the Exiles outscore China by 3 tries to 1 to take the Shield
in front of an appreciative Henley crowd. The feeling as we walked around
the pitch to rapturous applause is not one we are likely to forget in a
hurry.
And as coach, team captain, manager and water-boy can I just take this
opportunity to thank everyone who turned up yesterday. For Franka and the
girls and their tremendous vocal support, and for all the boys who came
along to give up their free time on a Sunday. Thank you every last one.
Thanks also go to ex-WIRU Development Officer Mark Hewitt, without whose
intervention we would have been struggling for a team in the first game. I
don't think anyone there would disagree with me in naming 17-year-old Stefan
Armitage as our player of the tournament. Please pass on my apologies and
forward on my thanks to anyone not on this email, it doesn't mean that they
are forgotten, just that I do not have their address.
So, hopefully the first but not the last piece of silverware in the West
Indies Exiles trophy room. I hope that everyone on this email can also be
apart of the next one.
It just goes to show what you can do with the powers of dreams. This is you
captain signing off, so until next time stay strong, take care and keep safe
and I hope to see you all real soon!
KJ
