Newcastle Falcons 7's Report.

What can I say? Words can not give enough credit to the players who played for The Monks 7's Team today at the Newcastle Falcons 7's.  This was a scratch team, with a mixture of players who had never seen their team mates before today and of players who had never played 7's before.

To pull off what they acheived today was a massive acheivment, of that there is no doubt.

The day started in fine form - everyone turned up (and almost on time). It was an hours drive up to Newcastle for The Monks to take part in their first Tournament of what is promising to be a great 7's season.

After everyone got to meet everyone for the first time, the boys warmed ready for their first game against The Larrikins - a well drilled, experianced 7's team.

"Ring rusty" would be the best way to describe The Monks performance. After a slow start and going behind by 1 try The Monks slowly started to get into the game, they struck back with a well worked Ben Mendoza try, BM converted his own try to give The Monks a slender 2 point lead. Unfortunatley a double sucker punch by The Larrikins led to The Monks slipping to 17-7, however, despite this set back The Monks still kept going to pull back a try by Rob Kama and as the clock wound down The Monks came back into the game unfortunatley there was not enough time to get that vital converted try and lost the game 17-12.

The boys took the first game as a steep learning curve, and come the second game against Rough Hill the team started to gel and play some quality rugby. The introduction of Nick Ventruss helped steady the balance of play and creat more time and space. Again the oppostion scored 1st, but the boys kept there heads and started to get back into the game. A double quick score by Bassey saw The Monks take a 12-5 lead. With the forwards of Ed Richardson, Tom Rose and Rob Leggott doing the hard work it built a solid platform for the backs to exploit the gaps, but it was the big man Rob Leggott that scored the next try and conversion taking the score to 19-5. With a comfortable lead the substitutions were made, allowing Andrew Tucker to make his first appearence. Unfortunatley the whole sale changes disrupted the pattern of play and allowed Rough Hill back into it with a try. Rob Kama stepped up and with some fancy foot work beat the Rough Hill defence to score his 2nd try of the tournament to give The Monks a little more breathing space. Rough Hill did not give up and got back yet another try. The Monks defence held out strong for the last couple of minutes for The Monks to run out 24-15 winners!!!

The last group game was against Darlington Storm and with the way the Tournament was organised The Monks could only get into the Cup as best runner up - this would require a massive score against a strong Darlington outfit. tony Conway couldn't have timed it better, after being quiet for the first couple of games he came up trumps with a hatrick, with Rob Leggott  adding another try to his tally. The half time score was 21-0, The Monks had an outside chance of getting into the main cup competition. Tony completed his hatrick just after the restart, he made way for Guy Fearnie who not to be out done went and scored a hatrick of his own, with another Rob Kama try to take the score at full time to 54-0.

The Monks had done it - thanks to their cricket score in the last group game The Monks were through to the Cup Semi Finals.......

Up next were the Sausage Wallets, a very good, well drilled, experianced 7's team. With the Tournament organisers pushing for games to catch up with the programme The Monks were hurried into the next game.

The game was a very close nip and tuck affair, both teams trying to work out each others strengths and weaknesses. The Monks were dealt a massive blow when The Sausage Wallets broke The Monks defence and took the score to 7-0 just before half time.

The second half didn't start well either, The Sausage Wallets stole another converted try. The Monks kept attacking and with just a couple minutes to go struck back with a Gut Fearnie try. It was a very tense last couple of minutes and despite a huge attacking effort from The Monks they could not get the win that would have taken them to the final. The last game finished 14-5

Knocked out in the Semi Finals - unlucky? A little maybe. But there was a mountain of posotives to take away with us ready for next weekend.

Team from:- Rob Leggot, Tom Rose, Ed Richardson, Andrew Tucker, Guy Fearnie, Bassey, Rob Kama, Nick Ventruss, Mick Braddley, Ben Mendoza & Tony Conway. 

The Monks man of the match - Rob Leggot.

THANK YOU!!!

Scarborough 7's.

Well it was a huge ask to get the boys to play in such a massive tournament the day after the Rugby Club Dinner but a massive thank you must go to the boys who turned up / got dragged out of bed.

The Scarborough 7's is one of the best known 7's tournaments in the UK as we found out to our cost, it was a step too far in the development of a great 7's team.

With a couple of last minute withdrawals due to the night before The Monks set off for Scarborough. Leaving Guisborough slightly later than planned due to people not being able to hear their alarm clocks due to beer it was a rush job to get ready for the 1st game against a well drilled and sober Scarborough team. With the late arrivals comming in dribs and drabs a team was assembled.

It was a hard game, despite some good phases of play it was obvious the effects of the night before were slowing the boys down. A loss to Scarborough 24-0 may sound bad but after taking in to account the circumstances there were positives to take from the game.

Next up were the Salad dodgers - the team name may suggest a bunch of lard ass boys but they were in fact a Morpeth 2nd string team. Despite going down 7-0 in the first few minutes The Monks hit back with a well worked Tom Rose (who had just thrown up 5 minutes earlier due to the beer the night before), his try kicked started the Monks with Legs, Tucker and Ed rich making hard yards allowing Tony "Snowball" Conway to add to the score sheet. Along with Guy, Cookie and Matt Stepheny the Monks played some very smart 7's. One of the best tries of the Monks 7's season was scored by Ed Richardson - a 40 yard bullocking rund left oppostition sprawled in his wake. The team was later boosted by the unexpected arrival of super sub Jamie who helped boost the forwards who were struggling with the work load due to the lack of substitutes. A well deserved 34 - 21 win gave the Monks a fighting chance of making up the Cup competition.

The draw came through and the Monks had made it through to the higher teir Cup competition and faced Sandell.

It was an up hill struggle from the start. A well drilled Sandell team, obviously many leagues above the Monks standard showed off their skills and experiance to put the Monks to the sword. I can proudly say that all the boys despite being out classed by a far better team played with passion and comitment.

To add salt to the wound, the final of the Cup competition was Scarborough v Sandell, both of whom, as the previous week, we had played on their way to the Final - screwed again by the draw!!

So the Monks tournament came to end.......... well almost.

2 of The Monks not only became adopted South Africans but also Final winners. Guy Fearnie and Tony "rainbow kiss" Conway were both asked to play for the London South African 7's team who had made it to the Plate Semi Finals. Both lads said yes (in the hope of free stash no doubt) and played star rolls in both the Semi and Final. Guy Fearnie picking up the winning try of the Final to boot and that is what I love about 7's. Getting to meet people from all over the world and having a laugh whilst playing rugby.

So again, a massive thank you to all the boys, it was a big ask but you did the Monks proud.

Team from:- Legs, Tucker, Ed Rich, Cookie, Tom, Tony "Potty Mouth" Conway, Jamie, Matt Stepheny, Guy Fearnie & Bionic.

Monks man of the tournament:- Tony Conway.

Two members of The Monks 7's Team take on Leicester Tigers!!!

I'm proud to say that Rob Leggott and David Cook took to the 7's pitch this weekend as part of a select Ashby Bulls 7's team and took on the might Leicester Tigers. Not only did they take on the might of the Premiership but also went on to win the Plate Competition.

Both players were asked to run out for the newly formed Ashby Bulls 7's team. The promise of free kit and beer being to far a greater temptation for both players as they said yes and travelled down to Leicestershire to take part in one of the bigest tournaments (if not the biggest) in the Midlands.

Teams from all over the country had entered including the Leicester Tigers, Bath Bandits, Panthers, Ronin & Alumini.

Both players played massive rolls in helping the Bulls to the plate final, but I am sure that both of them would admit that the highlight would be running out against Leicester Tigers (photos to follow) and play against some of the best young talent in the country, one of the Tigers having played in the Guinness Premiership final the weekend before and would have been playing in the European Cup final had he been registered!! The game was played in front of 300 supporters and they were treated to a great spectical of a game - it had a bit of everything, skill, speed, guts, determination, spirit and best of all respect from all players to each other after the final whistle. Legs grafted hard from start to finish, making the hard yards and getting the vital off loads away, Cookie made a huge impact when he came on putting Bulls players away for 2 tries. Tigers won in probably one of the best games of the tournament 26-19.

Not to be put off, the Bulls went on to win the Plate competition and enjoy the winnings of another free keg of ale to go along with the Keg of ale the team manager had supplied for all the Bulls playrs. I don't think Legs or Cookie paid for a beer all night!! 

Newcastle Falcons Beach Rugby WINNERS

The KS Crusaders / The Monks, sponsored by Kingdom Sports, won the Newcastle Falcons beach rugby in "style" not only looking the best in customised playing shirts, designed with Fijian style and flair by Rob Kama, but by playing some breath taking touch rugby - described by other teams along the way as "professional" "smartest" & "sexiest" (that last one was mainly by a lady from Pocklington Ladies RFC who had taken a rather large shine to Ed Richardson!!)

The weather was amazing (sunburn to prove it), the sand pitches looked...... sandy, the atmosphere was all about fun, eye candy as far as you could see (big thanks to the 3 ladies sunbathing next to where we set up "base" that provided Arran & Tom a whole days worth of easy on the eye viewing), the team was perfectly balanced with youth, skill, experience, fun attitude and a will to win as soon as we set foot on the pitch!!

The game plan for our 5 pool games was to have no game plan, just to go out there and enjoy it............... and it worked dam well. The squad of 10 worked  really well, as the boys found out after the first game, running for 8 minutes non stop on sand can take it out of your legs, so by using all 10 players in each game allowed fresh legs to come on every couple of minutes. The only problem was with the female players, the rules stated that 2 female players must be on the pitch at all times, unfortunately  we only had to females in the whole squad which meant that Hannah & Jane Bourne (roped in by player / manager brother Ben Bourne) had to play every single minute of every single game!! They did fantastically well, although tired and playing an unfamiliar game they never once complained and gave 100% from start to finish. All the players played their part, working as a team and quickly adapting to the rules of touch rugby. Rob Kama & Dan French working plays from the middle, Arran and Tom were lively throughout making good brakes, Jane and Hannah provided options out wide and Legs, Tucker and Ed all made big impacts when called apon. The defence was spot on, only conceding 1 try in the whole tournament.

4 wins and 1 draw in our pool games (most wins and tries scored in all the tournament group games) saw the team through to the semi finals. The team curse for being drawn against the strongest team possible reared it's ugly head again. Our next opponents were previous winners & regular touch rugby experts Percy Park Pirates, there team containing an England Ladies Touch Rugby player no less. It was probably the game of the tournament, fast, frantic and a real nail bitter. The KS Crusaders grabbed the vital first try after some very hard work, and so it proved to be the winning try but not after 3 minutes of sustained pressure from the Pirates.

And so the KS Crusaders / The Monks made it through to their first final of the season, and although the 1 try to nil score line suggests a very tight game I think it would be fair to say that the KS Crusaders dominated the game with the oppositions frustration getting the better of them and having one of their players sent to the sin bin for getting over excited in the touch area and giving the ref non stop abuse. A 20m foot race break away try by Hannah Bourne saw the KS Crusaders win the Newcastle Falcons Beach Rugby Tournament.

And so the fun and banter began, after collecting the free stash (like the players don't get enough for playing anyway) at the presentation, followed the swimming in the sea, the stripping of Aaron and chasing him around Tynemouth beach by Tom (they make a lovely couple), Ed Richardson getting hit on by female admirers and spraying of Champagne. After much frolicking at the beach it was time for the trip back home but not after getting ice cream on the way back to the cars.

The fun in the sun had taken it out of the players and hunger and thirst had set in and Pizza Hut beckoned on the way back. Pizza and beer aplenty, the poor waitress had her work cut out, with enough free refills to sink a battle ship. Once bellies were full it was back to Guisborough.

Team from:- Tucker, Leggs, Ed Richardson, Tom, Aaron, Rob Kama, Dan French, Jane Bourne & Hannah Bourne.

Big thanks to our supporters:- Sarah Roberts who had travelled up from Cardiff with her boyfriend Dan French, Mrs Tucker, Daniel, Nathan & Charlie Bourne - all much appreciated.

Player of the Tournament:- Hannah Bourne.

***As well as the free stash we were presented on the day, the KS Crusaders / The Monks won free tickets for all the players to the first home game of the season at Newcastle Falcons where the trophies will be presented at half time during the game against Sale Sharks!! A mini bus is being planned to take all the players to the game and make a day and night of the occasion.***   

Corby 7's..............The one that got away.

With one of the strongest squads so far this 7's season (although lacking in a little depth due to late withdrawals) the KS Crusaders / Guisborough Monks could and maybe should have walked away tournament winners. It may sound like sour grapes but when you have strangers from the touch line and players from teams you have just beaten comming up to you and saying things like "the ref. has just robbed you there" it makes it less sour  grapes and more general opinion.

It was an early start for the boys, maybe a little to early for Tony Conway who only got out of bed at the second time of asking and with all the boys turning up on his doorstep and threatening to drag him out of his house!!

Now, I thought I would mention it here and now before the piss taking starts at training - yes I crashed the car on the way to Corby. Luckily it was no more than half a dozen traffic cones that got smashed out the way but it was slightly amusing as I could see by the bunch of laughing hyenas (aka Tony, Ben & Tom) in the following car.

Anyways, we made good time and got to Corby where we met up with the rest of the players - Mike Swetman, John Roqara, Kali Sito and Sema. With the long journey down there we thought we might have been pushed for time but as was to be the pattern of the day is was a long wait for our first game, the tournament started late and we had been been given late games as the organisers had appreciated that we had travelled a long way.

We were in the luck postion of being able to see both the other teams in our group play each other and we were able to work out the best way to play against them.

Our first game was against Brackley - a local club with a well drilled young squad of players. Like most first games it was a slow start as the boys got to know each others styles of play and to start with the game looked close, but then the flood gates opened. Tom Rose & Mike Swetman ran the show from scrum and fly half postions letting the Fijian flyers hit the lines and run in unanswered tries. This was when Rob Leggott came in to his own. Restarts are one of the most important parts of 7's. If you can get the ball from the restart you should be looking to score the next try 80% of the time & Rob cleared up. He either plucked the ball out of the sky or put that much pressure on the oppostion he forced the knock on and won the ball back in the following scrum. As the game went on we had more and more of the ball and ran out comfortable winners 32-0.

Next up were Midlands 1 team Peterbrough who had entered 3 teams into the tournament. It is still questionable which team we played A, B or C but their style of play was very 15's based and all they wanted to do was bosh it up the middle and take the contact - at one stage I thought we were going to see the first try scored by a rolling maul in 7's!! Two quick scored tries settled the nerves as the KS Crusaders / Guisborough Monks tried to play a very free running style of game with the ball being spun out wide to the gas men Tony and Ben Mendoza. Peterbrough stuck to their game plan of popping the ball to the big guys and trundelled down the middle, and after 3 minutes of sustained pressure it paid off for them despite some very strong defence which included their "big" lad being put up 5ft in the air by a monster of a tackle by Kali Sito - although it brought a cheer from the crowd the ref didn't like it and awarded a penalty. As the game went on in the baking hot conditions Peterbrough tired and the tries rolled in with the more free style type of rugby produced by the KS Crusaders. Despite the obvious result Peterbrough still ran hard and if it were not for the likes of Tony Conway scragging down players 3 times his size Peterbrough could have made the score a lot closer. The game was also noticable for one more incident - possibly the shortest amount of time spent on a 7's pitch by one person!! Tom Rose, who came on as sub with just a few minutes to go was yellow carded after 20 seconds for a blatent off side. The ref had no choice but to show him the yellow card - luckily it seemed to help us as we scored another 2 tries whilst he was off the pitch. Winners 37-7.

So we were through to the Semi finals of the Cup, and after a rediculously long wait we were told we were to face Cardiff Thundercats, a specialist 7's team from Cardiff University. They were the only other team at the tournament that posed a threat, and after watching them in their pool games it looked as though we could have the better of them. The organisers should have made this game the final by playing the pool winners play off differently and keeping the 2 strongest teams on opposite sides of the draw.

The game didn't start well, the KS Crusaders / Guisborough Monks went 2 tries down in the first few minutes, due to silly errors, but even at 12-0 down the feeling was that we could still come back into the game and win it. By scoring the next try we gave our selves a great chance and really thought that the game was there for the taking, but then the killer blow came, just before half time John Roqara put in a massive hit that knocked his opposite number clean out the ball spilled forward and the ref raised his arm to award a scrum for the knock on for him only to change his mind and say "Play on" to the surprise of the players, the coaches and the crowd, from that play the Cardiff team went on and score on the stroke of half time to take the score to 19-7. It was a big ask and to be fair the the KS Crusaders / Guisborough Monks never gave up. The second half was a real nail biter and as the Cardiff team tried to waste time we tried to score tries. With some great defence and some fantastic attacking skills including a try worked from our own try line we ran out of time and lost 28-32. That one "try" before half time proving the killer blow!!

Gutted - it was a game there to be won, but it wasn't to be.

All the boys played really well and when it came to votes for man of the tournament just about every player on the team got nominated at least once.

Man of the tournament:- Ben Mendoza - for his 6 try haul during the tournament.

Team from:- Tony Conaway, Rob Leggott, Tom "20 Second" Rose, John Roqara, Kali Sito, Sema, Mike Swetman, Ben Mendoza & Ben Bourne.

A massive thank you to everyone.

Next tournament is East Retford on Sunday 19th August, it is a chance to put this result right, improve last years Semi Final finishing and play in memory of Carl who unfortuatley is no longer with us. 

Please contact me and let me know if you are available.

Guisborough Monks win East Retford 7's in memory of Carl.

On a day all about the enjoyment of rugby & bringing together of players who only wanted to play rugby it was fitting that the Guisborough Monks won the East Retford 7's in a style that summed up rugby!!

On an overcast Sunday morning the Monks gathered at East Retford RFC ready to put alot of things right, not only to make up for the disappointing result at Corby but also the fact we had lost in the Semis and quarters at East Retford in the past 2 years and of course for Carl.

With the player fit and ready to go we gathered round, took a knee and took a minute to remeber Carl who was a rugby fan through and through!! The players took it to heart and played some great rugby, putting Dinnington (Yorkshire 1 no less) to the test and running out winners 19 - 12. It was a great result for a team that always starts slowly and the teamed showed glimpses of what they could acheive during the day. Credit has to go to Tom Rose who despite getting rather hot under the collar and doing his best to tell the ref how to do his job managed to stay on longer than the 20 seconds he managed at Corby the week before.

Next up was our other pool match against the North Derbyshire Panthers,  a team firmly set on winning the plate competition. With a number of friends in the Panthers team, the game turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games, with a number of humourous incidents that raised a laugh from both the crowd, the players and even the ref!! Including a 40 meter sprint to the try line by Ben Bourne only for him not to back him self as he was chased down by probably one of the slowest players on the opposition and offload to a supporting Monks player, John Roqara, who had a 5 meter run in!! Yep, the Dick of the Day t-shirt was awarded for not scoring the try!!! The monks ran out comfortable winners 45-0

Now through to the knock out stages the Monks faced the Rugby League outfit Nottingham Outlaws. It had the potential to be a bannana skin for the Monks, but we needn't of worried as The Monks took control of the game. With good running lines, gas to burn on the outside with Arron and Ben and with Maika, Rocky & Legs working hard up the middle The Monks ran out comfortable winners 35-5.

In the semi finals we were drawn against our pool rivals Dinnington. Again it proved another hard fought game, with Dinnington taking an early lead it was only through had work and commitment that The Monks fought back to gain the lead and run out winners 17-5. Ben Mendoza having played well through out the tournament not only scored a length of the field try but also pulled of a try saving tackle and held the would be try scorer up over the line.

And so through to the Final, only Paviours stood in the way of The Monks and the winners cup. And it couldn't have got off to a worse start, the Monks quickly going down 10-0. This could have gone horribly wrong but as shown by The Monks all tournament, grit and determination coupled with skill and speed, helped The Monks claw their way back into the game. A score just before half time helped the Monks to make the score 10-5 but it was all left to do as they started the second half. The game was tight in the opening minutes of the second half with the Monks looking for a score to get back into the game and Paviours looking for a score to finish the game. Then against the run of play Paviours scored a try out wide to take the score to 15-5. Time was now running out and it was now all or nothing, through a well worked move Maika was put into a gap leaving him with half a pitch to run and score under the posts and getting the all important conversion to take the score to 15-12, with time running out it was truley next score wins. The Monks set off looking for the try, with play makes Samu & Sitiveni working all the lines and Paviours were looking for the whistle. The Monks Mr Reliable Rob Leggott secured the all important ball and the ball was spun wide by Joe Temo to Ben Mendoza who found space out side to run 3/4's of the pitch, an ankle tap 5 meters from the line could have spelt disatster but Ben kept possesion of the ball and managed to find his feet and flop over the line. Monks winners 17-15.............. or was it? The conversion attempt although unsuccesful was the last play of the game but the referee after blowing his whistle awarded the game to Paviours!!!! Despite very vocal arguments from Tom, Ben & Arran the referee refused to check his score card, it was only after touch judges and club chairman pointed out the Refs mistake that his mistake was noted and the game was awarded to The Monks.

At last the East Retford title was ours and it was the best fitting tribute the boys could have made for Carl. This one was for him!!

Team from:- Rob Leggott, John Roqara, Ben Mendoza, Maika Veitogarvi, Tom Rose, Arran Motson, Guy Fearnie, Ben Bourne, Joe Temo, Samu Cataki, Sitiveni Pareti.

Man of the Tournament (as voted for by the players):- Ben Mendoza

Last tournament of the season:- Harpenden 7's, Sunday 2nd Sep. Please let me know ASAP if you are available and would like to play.

Harpenden 7's Tournament Report.

After a long hard summer, it was the last 7's Tournament of our first full season.

Our preperations had started the evening before with our compulsory stop over in Chesterfield and a couple of quite beers. Now it's quite some acheivment to win the "Dick of the Day" t-shirt before the game but that is what Arron managed to do in style!! After just one pint he managed to throw up in some back street - one pint wonder!!!!

After an early start the players slowly started to gather at one of the biggest 7's tournaments in the UK, as normal the team was made up of a majority of Guisborough lads, Tom, Arron, Ben M & 7's virgin Young Gough, other players had come from Loughborough Uni, Rotheram Accademy, Newport, Reading, Glamorgan Wonderers & Cambridge. It was to be fair one of the stongest squads we have had all season, although a little short on forwards the back line was looking sharp. 

First up was Team Bombardier, the boys played well considering it was the first game and most of the players had not played together before. Sully & Ryan worked well together making gaps and always posing a threat. Mendozas threat of pace on the outside always kept the oppostion on their toes. After a slow start the team started to gel and ran out 33-5 winners. Legetty, the Fijian from Newport, was making some great runs and covering back to put in some good cover tackles. The only down side to the game was Tom Rose damaged his thumb that ruled him out for the rest of the tournament, not they way he wanted to end his 7's season after playing every tournament this summer!

Up next were The Golden Rule Dagnall, a more experianced 7's team that knew how to make the gaps and keep possesion. It was a hard fought game with both teams trying to work each other out. A bit of Fijian magic came in the form of the most outrageous dummy I think I have ever seen, think along the lines of Matt Dawson dummying the South Africans with his over head pass fo the Lions and then times that by 5. Not only were the oppostion sold the dummy, most of the spectators were still looking for the ball by the time Semo had run the ball in under the posts from his own 22. As the game went the KS Crusaders played the game to their tempo and ground out the 17-5 win.

Our last pool game was against The Cock Inn, a team that had played them selves down as a social team that were there just for the beer & social. It worked out to be nothing more than mind games, and it almost worked. The KS Crusaders struggled in the first half as the "Social Team" proved they were more than capable of playing 7's!! They had good gas and worked well in defence, and they had managed to suck the KS Crusaders into a false sense of securtity. After ringing the changes at half time the KS Crusaders stepped up a gear and saw off the oppostion with another 21-0 win.

With the pool satges out of the way it was onto the 1/4 finals. All the players had played quality rugby in the pool stages, with the Daz Staley leading from the front with big hits and bullocking runs, Young Gough was making his mark on the 7's scene and chased down and covered well, Motson and Mendoza were their usual busy selves with Motson showing good strength in the contact to win good turn over ball.

Our 1/4 final oppostion was the Larkhill based Army team The Pirates. With a number of Fijian 7's players within their team they were a well drilled team that had obviously trained and played together all season. After playing some great 7's in the pool stages it was a shame that the KS Crusaders conceded a couple of tries that we had never looked like giving away all tournament. The loss of Sully with a cut eye lid that required a visit to Luton A&E, did not help the team. Being 3 to 1 tries down made it impossible for the KS Crusaders to get back in to the game with the Pirates showing their skill by keeping the ball and winding down the clock, losing the game 24-5.

Another great day, even if the result didn't go our way.

Team from:- Tom Rose, Ben Mendoza, Arron Motson, Semo, John Roqara, Barney, Young Gough, Legetty, Daz Staley, Sully, Ryan & Matt.

Player of the Tournament (as voted by the players):- Legetty.

Massive thanks to Arwyn Morgan for helping manage the team for the day and his hospitality in Ches Vagas - sorry about Arron Chesterfield.

Also to the Georgina and Pablo our most fashionable supporters!!

Links & photos from the day:-

http://hrfc.com/sevens/index.php

http://www.flickr.com/gp/97808130@N00/1f31uY

Thanks to everyone.

Ben.

Guisborough KS Crusaders collect Beach Rugby Trophy.

After winning the Newcastle Falcons beach rugby back in July, the Guisborough based KS Crusaders were invited by Newcastle Falcons to come and watch the opening game of the season. With the promise of free tickets and a shiney trophy to collect the KS Crusaders set off from Guisborough on Sunday morning.

A Sunday roast was in order to start the day and after polishing it off along with several pints of beer we made our way around the corner to Kingston Park (Well done Arron for not throwing up this time). Free tickets in hand we took our place in the crowd ready to watch the game.

The game was enjoyable to watch with Newcastle taking an early lead. Towards half time The KS Crusaders made their way to the players tunnel on the half way line to get ready to collect the Beach Rugby Trophey. Leggott and Tom getting a little nervous about stepping out in front of the 6000+ crowd were lead on to the pitch by Charlie Bourne - at 5 years old had no fear of the onlooking crowd. After photos and presintation of the trophy by Newcastle & South Africa number 8 Russle Winter it was back to the stands to watch the rest of the game.

The Falcons ran out comfortable winners, the KS Crusaders left the ground happy - all that was left to do was to have one last drink for the road and it was back to Guisborough.

A perfect way to end a great summer 7's season.

Big thanks to all the players over the summer. Hope to see you next summer.

Couple of photos from the day:-

www.flickr.com/photos/13689118@N04/

Touch Rugby, Hot Tubs & Cheerleaders.........

A head line from the Sun news paper maybe. But I can asure you it wasn't as seedy as it sounds (honest)!!

Well the KS Crusaders, with a strong Guisborough player base went up to Newcastle Falcons to play in their Touch Rugby Tournament - well it's a change from getting your head kicked in on a Saturday afternoon.

In the past all the rugby Tournaments  organised by Falcons have had a rather social feel to them, with teams entering for a bit of a laugh and some free tickets into the game afterwards.........well not today!! The only teams entered (6 in total) were all hard core touch rugby players (by that I mean they play touch rugby all the time and not that they were going to give us a smacking - they would have been playing XV's if that were the case).

So our band of merry men & woman took to the pitch not really undrstanding how this level of touch rugby works, but credit to the players, Treds, Plug and Frankie all from the Army and the 3 Guis colts, Josh, Joe and John and our female contingent of Cath and Jane lead by the now Vetern of the team, Tucker. All the players stuck to their guns and more then held their own.

As the games went on we quickly worked out the best pattern of play and after a 3-1 loss in the first game we came back and drew the next game 2-2, lost the next 2-1, won the following game 2-1 and draw the last game 1-1. It was enjoyable and as it became clear we weren't going to make the final the players seemed to enjoy it more and started playing more care free rugby that helped to produce better rugby.

Well, all that was left was to enjoy the Newcastle v Gwent Dragons game........ apart from 4 players who, thanks to a random bid on e-bay, had the opportunity to watch the game from the Hot Tub with the Falcons Cheerleaders, 2 Falcons players and some random American woman that had also won a seat in the hot tub. It worked out as a case of elimination, those married, too young, had not brought their swimming shorts or have a peg leg and didn't want to spend almost 2 hours in a hot tub on a cold Newcastle night meant that the 4 lucky lads left were.... Treds (whos Army bosses were also at the game had told him he had no choice but to get in the hot tub), and the 3 Guisborough Colts. The lucky boys were treated to the Hot Tub with free beer brought to them through out the game while they watched the match. The boys enjoyed them selves and as I have not received any complaints from the Falcons Cheerleaders I can only assume they must have behaved them selves - give it nine months is all I'm saying.

Well, the Falcons won, the 3 Colts don't need to bath for a week now and another interesting and enjoyable day was had by all.

Please feel free to drop me a line if you ever fancy taking a step away from the normal rugby grind and fancy trying some thing different.

Thanks to all the players and Newcastle Falcons.

Photos to follow.......... including the ones from the Hot Tub!!    

The KS Crusaders / Guisborough Monks first 7's Tournament of the season is being planned.

It looks like our first Tournament will be Pocklington 7's on Good Friday 21st March. Squad already looking good. All welcome, please just drop me a line if you want to play. It will also be one of our more local Tournaments so any support would be most welcome. It is a good day out and Pocklington RFC do make a big day of it with a huge beer tent!!!!

Thanks,

Ben

The Guisborough Monks / KS Crusaders have been entered into their 2nd tournament this Summer........ The Ashby 7's.

Sat. 17th May.

Accomodation has been sorted for players, players will receive free stash and a couple of free beers.

All welcome, please drop me a line if you wish to play.

Thanks,

Ben.

benbourne@kingdomsports.co.uk

Pocklington Good Friday 7's.