Navy retain Western Province Open 7’s

The Sevens rugby season kicked off with the Open 7’s tournament organised by the Western Province Rugby Football Union on 27 May at Havelock Park. 

The competition saw the participation of 28 teams comprising leading ‘A’ Division clubs as well as development clubs in the province and was played in three segments in order to ensure an equal level of competition among them.

In the Segment One tournament which featured the elite teams, defending champions Navy pipped a gutsy CR &FC outfit 12-10 in an absorbing final to retain the trophy they won last year. Navy and CR & FC qualified for the finals by beating each other’s second string teams. Navy got the better of the CR Bees 17-0 while CR ‘A’ comfortably overcame Navy Sea Horse 43-0. The CR Bees however had the consolation of annexing the Plate title, beating the Navy Sea Horse team 22-7. In the Bowl final Air Force got the better of Police 14-12 in a close game.

The Segment Two category featured some of the second and third string teams of ‘A’ Division clubs. The CH Kabaragoyas beat the Air Force Katunayake side 12-10 in a thrilling final to clinch the Cup in this segment. In the plate final of this segment the Navy Waive Raiders beat the Air Force Chipmunks 19-14 to annex the trophy.

The third segment of the tournament was played exclusively among the development teams in the Western Province and saw the participation of 12 teams in this category. After a keenly contested round robin phase, Black Hawks, Old Bens, Old Mudaliyans and Old Kannagara qualified for the semis. 

Black Hawks and Old Mudaliyans qualified for the finals beating Old Bens and Old Kannnagara 19-5 and 17-5 respectively. Black Hawks went on to win the final of the Development Segment, beating Old Mudaliyans 12-5 in a close final. Old Bens won the consolation Plate final beating Old Kannangara 28-5 in a one-sided game.

This tournament kicked off the Sevens calendar listed out by Sri Lanka Rugby which includes the Inter-Club 7’s tournament, the Mercantile 7’s, Sri Lankan International 7’s and the culminating Asian 7’s Series.