Heineken 7s slippery when wet!

(CRFU): Cayman rugby action continued at the South Sound ground on 6 October under heavy rain and on a water logged pitch. Whilst the day started with glorious sunshine no-one would have predicted the deluge which followed and threatened to halt some very fun and exciting Rugby 7’s. The Heineken 7’s, the longest running beer sponsored sporting event on the planet kicked off with a new 2 pool format and features a re-vamped women’s league. In Pool A of the Men’s division The Peter O’Neill Wolfhounds joined the Queensgate Pigs Trotters and team Maples whilst Pool B saw the likes of the Café Patron Barbarians, the CML Ama Tsotsi and the Cayman Pal Thunder. (Photos Caroline Deegan)

With much interest on whether the Pigs Trotters would continue their run of form from the ARScott 10’s into the 7’s it was the Patron Barbarians who got the action under way against the Cayman Pal Thunder in the opening game. The Thunder looked likely to take out the Barbarians, a team with a spread of age and ability but the Thunder struggled to contain even the likes of Ron Arscott and Grizz Adams who, whilst not the archetypal 7’s players, recorded the opening points of the tournament and helped secure a win over the Thunder. The Wolfhounds got the action fired up with a huge 53 point win over team Maples as the Likes of Jon Murphy and Alistair Lum were simply too fast for the Maples boys who could not stop the points from piling on.

The Women’s league, playing in a round robin format between the GCM Cayman Storm, the GCM Pigs Trotters and the GCM Iguaccaneers (a joint venture of the Iguanas and the Buccaneers) started with a close match between the Pigs Trotters and the Iguacaneers. Whilst there are sprinklings of experience throughout the women’s league the vast majority of players are new to the sport of Rugby but nevertheless impressed with hard tackling and strong running in front of an appreciative local crowd. The Iguacaneers opened the scoring but were outdone late in the 2nd half to lose 7-5

The Men’s games continued with the Ama Tsotsi taking on the Barbarians who looked to build on their win over the Thunder but the younger more rounded Ama Tostsi were victors before the Wolfhounds faced off against the Pigs Trotters in a nail biting game which ended in a draw!

Back on for the Women the Cayman Storm took on the Pigs Trotters and impressed with strong running up the middle of the park to see off the Pigs who rounded off the day with one win under their belt. In the final round of women’s games the Iguacaneers succumbed to the strong running ofthe Storm team who rounded off the day with 2 wins in the bag.

In the 5th place final for the men’s division Maples earned a hard fought victory over the Cayman Pal Thunder, The Pigs Trotters dispatched the Patron Barbarians to take third place whilst the Wolfhounds won the tournament with a wet finish against the Ama Tsotsi. The Wolfhounds played the closing stages of the game with only 6 players but managed to hand on for a well-earned win.