Spoon Rugby 49
as Sale and Saracens in the mix. Once more the Mens team fell at the Quarter Final hurdle; however the Women’s team were undoubtedly the team of the tournament, casually thrashing England 22-0 in the group stages before meeting them again in a tense final in front of the packed Richmond crowd, winning 14-7.
1 WEEKEND, 2 TOURNAMENTS, 3 TROPHIES
June was a busy month for Wooden Spoon as shortly after Rugby Rocks the teams were once more on the trophy trail competing in two different tournaments across the country on the same day and bringing back silverware from both.
The Womens team travelled down to Bath for the West Country 7s as defending champions. In a tough tournament, with several international teams competing Wooden Spoon once again came up against England in the final in a repeat of the Rugby Rocks finale two weeks previously. In a fiercely competed match Wooden Spoon were once again victorious, defeating England and retaining their West Country 7s title in the process.
Back in London Wooden Spoon had three teams competing in the Church 7s at Grasshoppers RFC. The Wooden Spoon Men were joined by the Wooden Spoon Legends and second Wooden Spoon Women’s team. The Men’s team set an early marker for the tournament beating a strong Samurai side in their first group match. Perhaps the underachievement in tournaments such as Rugby Rocks and Kinsale had added some much needed steel to the side, but there was an element of controlled aggression that had been lacking during the early stages of the season. Building momentum on a foundation of, at times, ferocious defence, the Spoon Men progressed through the group stages relatively unscathed where they came up against a Fijian side that had knocked 10 bells out of every side they’d played so far.
The encounter was nothing short of brutal, there were big hits from both sides and towards the end of the first half tempers were
Wooden Spoon Ambassador and former All Black Zinzan Brooke at the J P Morgan Premiership 7s
clearly starting to fray with tackles increasingly approaching the cheeky side of high. However, such is the spirit of our great sport that at full time, both sides battered, bloodied and bruised, shook hands and Wooden Spoon progressed to the final to face Samurai.
The final itself proved to be far easier than either the Semi-Final or the first group match with Spoon running in several unanswered tries in the first half. Samurai did get a consolation try towards the end of the match but it was Wooden Spoon who came away with the trophy.
The Wooden Spoon Women were also at Church 7s and despite being considered by some to be a weaker team than the Women’s side playing in the West Country they still came away winning the tournament. Underdogs throughout the day they played with a never-say- die spirit, growing in confidence throughout the tournament and beating some very good sides in the process.
Elsewhere the Wooden Spoon Legends proved you can teach old dogs (just a figure of speech chaps!) new tricks as they tried their hand at 7s as opposed to their usual 10s format. Unfortunately the Legends found themselves
playing against sides that definitely had far more sprightly youth on their side, and while times’ winged chariot may not be drawing near for the Legends, they just didn’t have the legs on the young guns and unfortunately they were unable to progress past the group stages despite not losing a single match.
MIDDLESEX 7S AND THE WOODEN SPOON VILLAGE As June moved to July so Wooden Spoon moved from Grasshoppers to Twickenham competing in the Middlesex 7s at Rugby HQ. Wooden Spoon were the beneficiary charity of the event and hosted the Wooden Spoon Village to mark the occasion, providing entertainment with music and games for the younger fans and a well stocked bar for the more seasoned supporters. The tournament also hosted the first ever
Middlesex Womens event that was played at the Wooden Spoon Village with the final being played in the main Twickenham stadium. As usual the Wooden Spoon Women cruised through the group stages before playing Wasps Ladies in the final were they secured a comprehensive victory beating Wasps by more than 40 points.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE As the final straight approaches there is still much to look forward to in 2011. Wooden Spoon will once again be the beneficiary charity of the JP Morgan Premiership 7s and then of course there is Dubai. Much has been made of Wooden Spoon’s visit to the Middle East in December this year, with the Men returning to Dubai as defending champions and the Women’s team being touted as early contenders based on their form so far this year. One thing is certain though and that is that 2012 will have a lot to live up to for Spoon Rugby.
The victorious Wooden Spoon Men’s team captained by Angus Martyn at the Church 7s
For more info:
www.woodenspoon.com/rugby Tel: 01276 410 180
www.woodenspoon.com Autumn 2011 Spoonews
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