Old Abingdonians

The Old Abingdonian Club hosted the second annual rugby 7s tournament for old boys on Sunday 15 March 2009.

Three teams organised by Abingdon alumni, and a combined team of Abingdon alumni and Common Room, competed against 6 other schools' alumni teams in a series of 14 minute matches followed by finals. The tournament was a great success with fine weather and enjoyable company. The winners were the impressive Westcliff Kamikaze side who were presented with the OA Griffen Rugby 7s Cup by Abingdon's Headmaster Mark Turner.

The weather was much better than last year – blue sky and sunshine. The pitches, well prepared by the school groundsmen, were firm and fast and the rugby was skilful and played with much commitment. 10 teams were represented (double the number of last year) and grouped into two pools for the round robin stage.

Last year’s Cup holders, Scott Milne’s VII, made up of OAs and members of Abingdon's Common Room, got off to a good start by winning their first 2 matches, against Old Waynfletes and Old Radleians, before losing to QEH Stallions, but then winning their final league match against the OA/University of the West of England team organised by Lewis Simpson. OA/UWE did not fare well, but battled to the only draw of the day in a very even game against Old Waynfletes, who also overcame Old Radleians.

In the Red Pool a mainly OA team organised by Tom Dyson was called the Dan James Owls. The Dan James Trust is named after a promising young Nuneaton player who was rendered tetraplegic after a training accident, and has been set up to support Spinal Research at the University of Bristol. The top team in this pool was Westcliff Kamikaze, who won all their games. St Edward's Martyrs were powerful runners up.

The Shield semi-finals resulted in an unexpected and close win by Dan James Owls over Old Radleians, although another try would have been scored if the Owls had not passed forward with the try line beckoning. In the second semi final, between two OA teams, OA/UWE were comfortable victors over Matt Watkins side.

The winners of the Shield were Dan James Owls, who, having lost all their pool matches were obviously fit enough to raise their game in the knockout stages. In the semi finals of the Cup competition Scott Milne’s VII were overwhelmed by Westcliff Kamikaze. A valiant St Edward's Martyrs team conceded a 14 point lead to tie 19-19 at full time in the second semi final. The sudden death extra time saw play moving from end to end, until a kick gave QEH Stallions possession from which they scored in the corner to win through to the final.

The final resulted in a win for Westcliff Kamikaze, who came from 3 tries behind to eventually win comfortably by 33 points to 24. Special mention must be made of the 3 referees, who managed the games with assurance and good humour, and allowed play to flow well. We thank them all for their time and professionalism.

David Brice, former President of the Old Abingdonian Club, gave the votes of thanks, and the Cup and Shield were presented by the Headmaster, Mark Turner. We are indebted to the Headmaster and to the School with their continued support in holding this tournament this year and into the future. It was good to see so many supporters, and I think players and spectators alike enjoyed a day of very skilful and committed rugby. We hope to see you all again next year.

Richard Bampton