London Irish lift Middlesex Sevens trophy at Twickenham
London Irish lift Middlesex Sevens trophy at Twickenham
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Saturday, 15, Aug 2009 08:12
By Tom Powell.
London Irish brought home the silverware in the Middlesex Sevens after beating invitational side Samurai Sevens 26-19 at Twickenham.
Tries from Delon Armitage, Marcus Watson, Paul Hodgson and Sailosi Tagicakibau gave the Exiles enough for victory with Armitage also adding three conversions. Collins Injera and Simon Amor grabbed points for the Samurai side but it was never enough to stop an impressive London Irish side.
Irish dominated the opening stages, with Peter Richards going close early, only to be thwarted by a Samurai defender kicking the ball out of his hands at the last minute. The opening score for the Exiles came from Armitage whose clever chip and chase deceived Amor, the Samurai captain. Armitage converted his try for a 7-0 lead.
Three minutes later Tagicakibau fed Watson who raced in to score with Armitage hitting the post with his conversion attempt, taking the Exiles' lead to 12-0.
Just before the break Hodgson looked to have wrapped up the win by adding the Exiles' third score, combining well with Richards and Nick Kennedy to stroll in under the posts. Armitage added the extras to give his team a 19-0 lead at half-time.
If it wasn't over at half-time it surely was three minutes into the second half as Tagicakibau wriggled over from close range for the Exiles' fourth touchdown, with Armitage grabbing his third conversion to make it 26-0.
With pride at stake the Samurai side fought back and only errors stopped them pull off an outstanding comeback.
Collins Injera touched down for his side's first try, Simon Amor converting. With a minute remaining the Australian Willy Bishop scored a fine individual try to put pressure on the Exiles.
One final effort in defence kept the Samurai at bay until the final seconds when they touched down for their third try, through Peceli Nacamavuto. But it was a case of too little, too late, and Irish secured their first victory in the famous sevens tournament.
Samurai had knocked out Northampton Saints in the first round, then got past Leeds Carnegie before turning over Newcastle Falcons 28-17 in the semi-finals.
In the competition's opening game on Saturday morning, Bath went down 24-0 to British Army, a result which would set the tone for the day.
Kukri White Hart Marauders caused a major upset by dumping out holders Harlequins 22-17.
Sale Sharks - earlier beaten in the main tournament by Help for Heroes, a squad made up from England, Scotland and Wales players, including Welsh Rugby World Cup Sevens winner Tal Selly and current England Sevens player Uche Oduoza - beat Quins 24-12.
But the day belonged to London Irish and England International and star-man Delon Armitage who readied themselves for the new season by lifting the 2009 Middlesex sevens trophy.
"I said to all the players at the beginning of the day that if we won the Middlesex Charity Sevens it would give us a great boost for the start of the Guinness Premiership season," said London Irish sevens captain Paul Dodge.
"Today wasn't just about the players because the coaches, led by Toby Booth did a great job and they told us that four games of Sevens would really help us with our match fitness and they were right.
"We were up against a team of international Sevens internationals and specialists today so that makes the win even sweeter as they were great opponents and a huge test for us."