seven of one

A sunny spring day and where better to be than The Greenyards for the Melrose Sevens or the Melrose Sports as the old men would call the tournament, harking back to when seven-a-side rugby was only part of the day’s events alongside kicking competitions, sprints and races. Now, this, the oldest sevens tournament in the world, the begetter of all others up to and including the Sevens World Cup, is great social event with fancy dress, Easter bonnets, a carnival atmosphere and literally, gallons of hospitality. It is still the Blue Riband event though, the one tournament every great player wants to win or at least play in. Waisale Serevi, probably the greatest exponent of the short game and playmaker of world champions Fiji was there for the swan song of his career and was reportedly happy just to have been involved despite his side being well beaten in the first round. My old home side suffered the same fate.
Sevens is a game for sheer blistering speed. There is no place to hide with only half the number of players on a full sized rugby pitch. Miss a tackle or throw a stray pass and like as not the other side are in under the posts. Seven and a half minutes doesn’t sound like much but it is a long time to keep running especially on a warm spring afternoon, then turn round and do it again and, if you win, you do it again and again, all afternoon. My only sevens medal came from a wet, dank afternoon on a muddy pitch in a junior tournament. The next week, on a sunny day and a dry pitch, my lack of pace was exposed, we went out in the first round and I was dropped.
I’ve always enjoyed sevens as a spectator sport having watched the great club sevens of the past when the perfect combination of backs and forwards were playing for one team at just the right time. Melrose themselves, Hawick, Kelso, Gala and the great visiting sides London Scottish, Loughborough the composite sides like the Barbarians, French Barbarians Irish Wolfhounds, Co-optomists and the overseas visitors, Randwick, Bay of Plenty, Stellenbosch, Narwaka have all had their day in the sun. Despite Melrose’s brave effort in getting to the final, I can’t see a Border side winning the sevens again such is the power, pace and pool of talent of teams like this year’s winners - University of Johannesburg.
A ten-a -side match between the finalists of the veteran’s tournament held the previous day took place between the semi-finals and the finals of the main event.
I felt the dead hand of Time on my shoulder when I heard the son of someone I was at school with described as a veteran!
Oh dear.