Mini & Rookie 7s Tournament reports

Last Saturday saw over 130 primary school aged kids taking part in the final Rookies and Mini’s Tournament of the year on the Orkney RFC 7’s weekend.

The Primary 1 to 3 Rookies from East, West and Kirkwall sections met at 11am and were split in to 4 mixed teams for the Tag Rugby Tournament.  The Rookies Tournament went on for just over an hour and the victorious side on the day was the Yellow Squad and they lifted the D & K Sutherland Rookie Cup and were presented with winners medals by Martin Kelly representing this years Mini/Rookies Tournament Sponsor – Insulation King.  The Blues, Reds and Greens followed closely and all received a Tournament medal too

The Primary 4 and 5 Minis Tournament kicked off at 10am and had 5 teams taking part.  The Referee, Stewart Spence was kept on his toes from the first match right through to the final match at 1pm with some exciting, fast flowing rugby.  The matches were two periods of 7 minutes. The West Greens ran out the eventual winners and received the Tournament Cup and received winner’s medals from Insulation King.  The full results were 1st – West Greens, 2nd – East, 3rd – Kirkwall Whites, 4th – Kirkwall Reds and 5th West Blues.  Individual Medals on the day were Players Player medals went to Ronan Hamilton – West Greens, Robbie Lyon - West Blues, Catherine Baillie – East, Callum Leslie - Kirkwall Whites and Matthew Meason - Kirkwall Reds.  Coaches Player medals went to Cullen Dick – West Greens, Joe Thomson - West Blues, Taylor Gibson – East, Kieran Gray - Kirkwall Whites and Jacob Reed - Kirkwall Reds.

Straight after the Tournament the Primary 4 and 5’s played the hotly contested Town v Country match which see’s a 10 v 10 match with combined teams.  The Country Players lifted the Cup at the final whistle.

The Primary 6 and 7 Minis Tournament kicked off at 10:15am and had 3 teams taking part.  This was played in three periods of 8 minutes per match and was refereed by Adrian Askew.  The older players play a more physical type of rugby with scrummaging and some kicking which adds a different style to the games.  The East side ran out eventual winners and received the Tournament Cup and winners medals from Insulation King. The full results were 1st East, 2nd West and 3rd Kirkwall Stripes. Individual Medals on the day were Players Player medals went to James Braddock – West, PJ Dempsey – East and Brogan Russell - Kirkwall Stripes.  Coaches Player medals went to Alex Scarth – West, Louis Hancock – East and Jake Ross - Kirkwall Stripes.

Once the Tournament was completed, the Primary 6 and 7 players joined forces to have a Town v Country 10 v 10 match with the Country side taking the spoils and lifting the Cup.

With the fantastic weather, great rugby and a large number of spectators, the local coaches and Orkney RFC were delighted in the whole event.  The organisers would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin Kelly and Insulation King for sponsoring the Mini/Rookie Tournament and the parents for supplying the tremendous array of sandwiches, soup and tray-bakes on the day plus the assistance in serving the food and arranging for the tent to be erected and dismantled.

The normal Club Rookies and Mini’s sessions have now stopped until September but please keep an eye on the Club Website and Facebook pages for the news on the Summer Camps and any other events that may occur.   The current Primary 7 players from East, West and Kirkwall will be attending the Transition Sessions on Wednesday evenings in May. This initiative will allow the Club Coaches to introduce these players into the 15 aside format that they will be playing in August when they reach Secondary School.