Rugby girls win Sussex Open Sevens

After finishing runners-up last year, the College girls' 1^st VII rugby squad went one better on Sunday by winning the 2010 Sussex Open Sevens at Christ's Hospital School.

On a bright but bitterly cold day, the Epsom girls sailed through their group matches, beating Worthing College, Wisbech Grammar School, last year's winners SEEVIC College and St Bede's, scoring 75 points and conceding just 7.

Some training with the College boys 1st VII squad in defensive pressure proved ideal preparation for the semi-final against Pangbourne College, when the Epsom girls starved their opponents of possession and denied them any scoring opportunities. A hat trick of tries from Tamsin Barber sealed a 19-0 victory to see them through to the final against Cranbrook.

With both teams on the pitch raring to go in the final, a 15 minute wait for the referee did little to calm the nerves and when the game did eventually start, Cranbrook used their size and strength to camp in the Epsom 22 for much of the first half.

Despite the pressure, however, the College defence held firm and the first time the ball was moved wide, it was Tamsin Barber again charging down the pitch to open the scoring.

After a half time pep talk, Epsom started to move the ball into space and quickly scored a second try, with Milly Shopland crawling over the line. Pangbourne came back strongly to score a converted try of their own before some some nimble  footwork and ball skills from Emma Albon released Tamsin Barber to score her second try of the final and eighth of the day.

The final score was 17-7 in Epsom's favour and the icing on the cake came with Tamsin Barber winning the Player of the Tournament award for her try scoring exploits.

Other try scorers on the day were captain Natalie Sciver (3), Emma Albon (2), Milly Shopland (2), Caitlin Keep (2), Wendy Sun (1) and Sophie Reynolds (1).

"The girls were deserved winners as they played the best rugby of the day. They had the vision to move the ball into space and the killer instinct to score when it got there," said coach Tom Doran

With 111 points scored and only 14 conceded in this tournament, the College girls will have high hopes of doing well in the National Sevens at Rosslyn Park on March 25^th/26^th. "You never know how good some teams will be at Rossyln Park, but with the talent we have, I believe nothing is out of our range," Tom Doran said.

While the Epsom girls were sweeping to victory, the boys' 1^st VII found themselves in a very tough group in their section of the Sussex Open Sevens, a tournament they had won in three of the previous four years.

In the group matches, Epsom beat Hurtwood House 45-7, but lost 12-19 to Cranbrook and 0-7 to Filton College to finish third, moving them into the Shield competition.

A 25-7 win over St Joseph's Ipswich in the quarter final and a comfortable 35-7 win over local rivals St John's in the semi-final saw the College side reach the Shield final, where they played Bishop's Stortford College.

Despite being 17-0 up at half time in the final and looking good for victory, however, Epsom were unable to sustain the momentum in the second half as Bishop's Stortford moved up a few gears to run out 41-17 winners.