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honours for 2 consecutive years at the Dubai IRB 7’s as well as
the inaugural IRB Namibia Sevens in Windhoek. The schoolboys
taught each and every senior team they played against a lesson
in sevens rugby by never losing a game in 3 years before this. In
the process teams like the Royal Air force and Moscow University
were beaten convincingly. During last year’s Royal International
tournament the boys won the Plate final with a whopping 38-0
score against the Namibia National team after the Springboks beat
them in the qualifying rounds. The biggest upset was probably
when the boys beat the Lions professional team convincingly.
Success stories
from this team include the likes of Gerhard van
den Heever now playing Super 15 rugby for the Bulls and Guy
Cronje for the Sharks and Danie Poolman and Siya Kolisi for the
Stormers. Branco du Preez and Hofmann Maritz both became 7’s
Springboks with Branco being one of the key players in the current
Blitzbokke side. The best statistic for players that made this team
over the past 2 years is that each and every one of them are now
contracted by the major rugby provinces and all of them played in
the 2010 Currie Cup competition.
In 2008 the first Champion of Champions tournament was held with
Harmony Sport Academy from Virginia taking the crown as the best
schools sevens team in South Africa. The three and a half hour live
broadcast of the tournament on Supersport and MNET added to
the already prestigious event. 2009 and 2010’s finals were played
at Konka in Northwest with HS Monument taking the honours in
2009 and HS Tygerberg victorious in 2010. This year defending
champions, Tygerberg were crowned champions again when they
beat Oudtshoorn in the Cup final.
The pinnacle of everything the organizers have worked for over
the last 5 years was the announcement of the first ever U18 & U13
Provincial tournament that took place at Konka on the 6
th
and 7th
of October. Commonly referred to as the “Craven Week” of sevens
this was a prestigious event with the Blue Bulls winning the U18 and
Western Province the U13 section. 72% of the participants have
played on the @lantic circuit before, representing their individual
schools.
The
@lantic Sevens journal program
on SuperSport provides
excellent exposure for the game with 72 episodes per annum.
The show is presented by well known SuperSport presenter Owen
Hannie and sport promoter Willem Strauss with frequent high profile
guests like the Springbok management team, coaches, rugby
journalists and players adding to the glamour. The most amazing
aspect of the series is however the excellent sportsmanship and
camaraderie displayed by the players. Sport and Sevens Rugby
specifically is definitely the vehicle to develop the youth and provide
them with opportunities.
The junior 7’s rugby that was included from 2010 proved to be such
an overwhelming success that it has become a regular fixture at
tournaments. This involves a further 10,000 players between the
ages of 6 and 13 per annum. With the inclusion of Sevens Rugby in
the Olympics in 2016 the @lantic Sevens series is the ideal vehicle
to produce future stars for the Springbok Olympic team.
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