Bank Holiday Weekend Success for Scimitar Storm.
On a sunny, hot day at Richmond Athletic Club in the Heart of London, A haze of purple is seen in the distance, That haze of purple is to become very well known throughout the day, as the Scimitar Storm Women’s 7s side. Fully loaded with International caps in both 7s and XV forms, they arrived ready to play rugby and take no prisoners in the process.
The day started in familiar fashion to 7s fans, with three pools of four teams. Top teams went into the Elite Cup with the best runner up also progressing, with second entering into the Vase knockout. Those who don’t qualify get an early shower.
A well run tournament with a game then ample rest time Between. First Up Hampstead Ladies, a challenge in which we don’t really know what to expect. 14 Mins later, the final whistle blows with Scimitar Storm winning 49-0, with the standard set for the day.
The next two games against Middlesex University and Kings College London go the same way, 72-0 and 64-0 victories respectively sealing our fate comfortably as top seeds in the group.
Our semi-final was to be against the best runner up over the 3 groups, seeing us again pitted against Kings College. Unfortunately, having taken a few injuries and concerned about player welfare against a stronger opposition. Kings College forfeited the game and Scimitar Storm progressed to the Elite Women’s Middlesex 7s Final.
The Final was moved to the Main Pitch at Richmond Athletic Ground and saw us play home favourites Middlesex County. Having seen them play early in the day, we knew this would be a difficult task to negotiate and one we couldn’t take lightly.
With the Crowd behind them and some strong running Middlesex certainly brought a challenge that we had not seen all day. Experience and Ability would be the pivotal factor in the final, as a Lizzie Adam Hat-trick in the space of 4 mins saw Storm go into half time with a 24-0 lead.
The second half continued in the same fashion, The biggest cheer of the day came when Middlesex Picked up a spilt ball and Raced away to score the only try we would concede all day.
More relentless pressure from ‘Storm’ saw another 3 second half tries.
Final Score: Middlesex County 5 – 42 Scimitar Storm, with Storm crowned Middlesex 7s Festival champions.
So that’s 1 from 1 for the ladies side, who look to keep momentum going at UR7s on 19th May. Winning the Middlesex 7s also books Storm Ladies a place at the 24/7s regional playoff in Ealing on June 30th, where we have the opportunity to qualify for the National Finals in Bath on July 28th.
