*** Melrose Sevens Report ***
The CURUFC 7s squad were lucky enough to receive an invite to the prestigious Melrose 7s to mark the 50th anniversary of Cambridge last winning it (or possibly the 8th anniversary of AK Rodgers drinking the free bar dry). After a long drive up on Friday, the team relaxed with a light training run before settling in for dinner and the official welcome ceremony at the Melrose Club.
As one of the seeded teams, the Blues were given a bye in the first round and were due to meet the winners of Glasgow Hawks and Herriots FP in the second round. Feeling the need to replicate that first game, the management team of Supercoach Rodgers and his Assistant Owen "Scrimo" Scrimgeour put together a tough 25 minute morning "blow out" (blowing out of my .... more like. ed) session that, because Todge was there, included a lot of scrummaging. After training, our liaison man Jimmy organised a meal at his house before heading off the ground to prepare for our first game.
Despite starting well, keeping the ball for two minutes before scoring through Will "The Crowbar" Jones, the performance looked sluggish and Cambridge struggled to impose the dominance they had shown in Casablanca. Trailing 14-10 at half time thanks to another try by (annoyingly) Mr Modesty Jones, the Light Blues went further behind before James Greenwood, The Orange Express went the length with two minutes to go to make it 21-17. From the restart, Cambridge forced a lineout from which Captain Jimmy made a break and fed Joe Wheeler, making his way back from a scrum in the first half, who set off for the line. His goose step couldn't throw off his pursuer and somehow Herriots got the ball into touch - game over and a disappointing end to a tournament that Cambridge had a genuine chance of going far in.
The evening allowed some of the squad members the opportunity to shine, reignite old flames as well as do some recruiting for future tournaments. Special thanks must go to the coaches, Scrimo (for the rugby) and Todge (for letting us bill your room - very generous), and to Captain James for leading us well on and off the pitch. Also to James Greenwood for driving there and back, Will Jones for not harassing his room mate, Jamie Gilbert for taking the heat off Fred Burdon and Sandy Reid for his diplomatic skills...It was a big deal.
GDBO
