Samurai Aid Sporting Chance In Dubai
Samurai Aid Sporting Chance In Dubai The Sporting Chance team beat all the odds last weekend to go one better than last year, to win the Dubai 7s Invitation tournament by beating a strong KooGa Wailers side 34 - 5, in a final played in front of 50,000 fans in the new Emirates Sevens Stadium. The squad that in all but name was the Samurai 7s Team put together and selected for the Sporting Chance Foundation Charity by the Samurai 7s management, were sponsored by Scottish Company Heather Group.
After the first days pool games the SCF team faced old rivals the Marauders in the quarter final where they eventually disposed of the side led by Marauders stalwart, Howard Graham - by 3 tries 1. In the Semi final SCF faced last years winners the South Sea Drifters, a full blown Fijian team coached by none other than Waisale Serevi. It was a tense affair but the SCF played to their strengths and never allowed the Fijians to settle with SCF running out winners 17 points to 14 with the Drifters scoring a late consolation try.
In a final full of atmosphere in the fantastic Emirates Stadium, the Kooga Wailers team (based around the Newcastle Falcons Middlesex 7s winning team) started well to find themselves 5-0 ahead after only 2 minutes. From that moment on the SCF never looked back putting in a performance packed with power and pace never allowing the Wailers any time on the ball.
A fantastic victory for a team participating for a very worthy cause indeed. www.sportingchancefoundation.com. Enormous thanks go to all of the Foundation Trustee's and in particular Eddie Young, together with all of the foundations sponsors for making this fantastic victory possible
URL Samurai To Visit Port Elizabeth Again
The Samurai Team will participate at the Nelson Mandela Rugby Sevens Tournament for the second year in succession in December. The tournament will be held at the Pearson High School complex in Port Elizabeth from 12th / 14th December.
After an excellent showing last year against excellent opposition the team will now be a little wiser and will hope to improve on last year's semi final exit. It is going to be a very tough ask for the Samurai Team at a time of year when player availability is at best difficult, but as always they will undoubtedly be competitive.
The Samurai management has forged some excellent links with South African Teams and personnel over the past few years and are looking forward to visiting their friends in such a beautiful Country.
The team will be managed by CT DuPlessis who spent 4 years in the UK working with the Samurai team's founder Terry Sands and will be coached by Ex Springbok Sevens player Jan Harem Van Wyk who also played for the victorious Springbok Team that recently won the Golden Oldies.
Jan Harem and CT will select from mainly South African based players and will face some very very tough opposition with the French Froggies, The British Army Fijian team and of course Paul Treu's emerging Springbok side are all taking part.
Tournament report to follow soon.
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Samurai Forced To Share The Spoils At Harpenden
The ULR and Camp Quality sponsored Samurai Barracudas side went to Harpenden Sevens to end the summer season on a high and did not disappoint. The pool games against Team BIC and The Dambusters saw the Barracudas score over 60 points unanswered with Matt Vaughan picking up 4 tries in 2 games. The last pool game against a Scorpions side comprised of several British Army Fijians was a close affair with Barracudas winning 12-10 thanks to another Matt Vaughan try and conversion.
This saw the Samurai side finish top of the pile and draw the RAF in the quarter final. The RAF had pushed both Susies Saloon and Maurauders in their pool games to finish as best runner up and qualify for the knock out stages. By this time the Samurai Barracudas, under the guidance of England 7's coach Russell Earnshaw and New Zealander Eugene Martin, had really hit their stride and demolished the RAF side scoring sevens tries and without conceding a single point.
Unfortunately with the weather closing in the semi final was a much closer than expected affair against The Castaways with Warren Abrahams breaking the deadlock with a fantastic individual effort and then a well worked passage of play put Ben Gerry in for an excellent try to close out the game. At this point, with the weather conditions so bad and the pitch completely unplayable, the final was called off and the Harpenden Sevens 2008 trophy shared between the Samurai Barracudas and the White Hart Maurauders.
Samurai Barracudas; Ross Blake, Ben Gerry, Tuppa, Matt Vaughan, Warren Abrahams, Kyle Palm, Jon Holtby, Matt Cannon, Chris Malherbe, Russell Earnshaw, Eugene Martin, Sam Showering
Coaches; Russell Earnshaw & Eugene Martin
Managers: Mark Dean & Jon Pennycuick
Physio: Claire McLoughlin
Samurai Strettle Lifts Middlesex Trophy
It was a jubilant Dave Strettle that lifted the Middlesex 7s trophy on Saturday afternoon (16th Aug 08) with a fine final performance against the Sevens experts the British Army Fijians.
Strettle was a virtual unknown in terms of Sevens before he first played for the Samurai International side at the Amsterdam 7s in 2005. It was the Samurai management that first spotted Strettle and give him his first real taste of Sevens in Amsterdam and in doing so he helped himself to the Man of the Tournament award. In the same year Strettle went on to play for Samurai in Rome and Cayman 7s and was on the tip of everyone's tongues with all and sundry tipping him for greater things.
The following year Mike Friday the England 7s Coach then gave Strettle his International chance and "Stretts" has never looked back. His next opportunity came when Dean Richards offered him a professional contract at Quins and then as we all know he moved on to International stardom.
The Samurai International Sevens Team has proved beyond all doubt that the team is a proven development tool for young players. At the Middlesex Sevens event on Saturday there was an array of players that have come through the Samurai ranks.
Tom Croft, Rob Vickerman, Marcel Garvey, Dom Barrell, Dan Norton and many more besides have worn the famous Samurai colours. In the Tournament winning Harlequins side alone we had 4 Samurai players in Nick Easter, Chris Robshaw, Darren Edwards and of course Strettle.
It was a great performance by the Strettle led Harlequins team and hopefully a great start to the season for them all.
Congratulations from the Samurai International 7s team management. To read the full tournament review click here.
Back On Track In Basingstoke
The ULR Samurai management team, when putting fixtures together earlier in the season, had committed to participating in 2 tournaments on the same day at Basingstoke and Cwmtawe.
Selection proved quite a difficult task with so many players being involved in training weekends with their Clubs but the Samurai management were eventually able to pull things together to field 2 exciting teams.
Basingstoke Sevens 02/08/08
Samurai enlisted the expertise of Ben Ryan the England 7s Coach for this tournament, who had also helped with team selection which enabled him to look at several players to gauge their progress and development in readiness for his squad selection for next seasons World Sevens Series events. Tony Roques, (who captained the side) Adam Clayton, Alex Page, Chev Pennycook, Redford Pennycook, Mark Woodrow and James Bailey had all played previously for the Samurai's and were now looking forward to the opportunity of being coached by Ben Ryan.
Samurai faced RBS Royals, Marchwood Sharks, Royal Navy and Bracknell in their round Robin pool games and ran out relatively comfortable winners as they were getting used to each other more and more as every game went on.
Ben Ryan had carefully tweaked and honed the team game by game, which helped them put in a fine performance in the Semi final against Fijian side Ronin impact where they came back to win 28-14 after being down 7 points to 14 at the break. Player of the tournament Greg Barden scoring a fantastic try to seal their final place against Marchwood Sharks (who they had played earlier) the Fijian side run by England Sevens player DamuDamu.
The final began as a tense affair with the Sharks 100% committed to causing an upset but it was not to be. The Samurai team had grown in stature and despite only being ahead 10-5 at half time they ran out 24 - 5 winners with tries from Page, Bailey, Red Pennycook and Tony Roques to take the trophy and the 6000.00 pound cash prize.
An enjoyable days Rugby and a job well done by all concerned, with the Samurai Team getting back to winning ways after their disappointing display at the Newquay Sevens.
Team: Tony Roques (Capt) Greg Barden, Chev Pennycook, Redford Pennycook, Charlie Simpson'Daniel, Joe Mbu, Mark Woodrow, Adam Clayton, Dan Norton, James Bailey, Alex Page.
Coach - Ben Ryan
Manager's Matt Davies and Mark Dean.
Cwmtawe Sevens
This Samurai team had a completely new look and feel about it with many of the players winning their first Samurai Caps. Eugene Martin agreed to Coach the side and did a fantastic job considering he had only an hour with the team before the first game.
Several of the Samurai players in this team had come through the Samurai Barracuda's development team during the course of the season, but others had never worn the coveted Samurai shirt before.
Samurai faced CSG Old Boys and Old Breconians in their pool and improved with each game to earn 2 fine victories. They then faced Fijian side Covenants Brother in the Quarter Final and put in their best performance of the day with Rob Thirlby leading his side to a well deserved victory.
Next up came Samurai's old adversaries the KooGa Wailers and despite having the Lions share of possession in the first 3 or 4 minutes they failed to turn possession into points and the Wailers then scored 3 first half tries in quick succession. It was a very different Samurai Team to the teams that had beaten the Wailers in Amsterdam and Rome this year. The new faces and lack of game time with one another proved to be the main difference between the two sides. Samurai did pull 2 tries back in the second half but then the Wailers pulled away again to make the final for the second year in succession.
All in all a satisfying tournament from a very different looking Samurai team with many of the new faces having enjoyed the experience and opportunity to develop their skills.
Team: Rob Thirlby (Capt) Jonathan Hooper, Gerard Viguurs Ryan Tomlinson, Gareth Bowen, Jon Paine, Dan Connelly, Chris Malherbe, Nio Ainoe, Greg Summers, Ben Gerry, Sam Brown
Coach: Eugene Martin
Managers: Terry Sands and John Pennycuick
Physio: Iona Davies
Samurai Fail To Shine In Newquay Sun
Samurai were as ever amongst the favourites to take the trophy but they never really looked like living up to their previous performances this year. Fielding a team with so many new faces did not help the Samurai cause and with the British Army Fijians, KooGa Wailers and Marauders all selecting teams with their regular players. The difference became quite noticeable as the games became harder.
The Army beat the Wailers in the other Semi final, with the Army going on to beat the Marauders in an exciting final.
Next stop Cwmtawe and Basingstoke where Samurai will hope to put in a performance that better fits their status on the invitation 7s circuit.
Newquay Sevens
The ULR Samurai team, by their own high standards, failed to shine at the Newquay Sevens.
Photo taken by - http://www.cornwall-photos.com
Samurai Shot Down On Safari
The ULR Samurai International team started well at the Safari Sevens in Kenya with a fantastic first day, but the second day proved to be a totally different story.
The Samurai team accepted a late invitation to participate at the Safari Sevens, a tournament they last attended some 10 years ago. The tournament now has a totally different look about it, with a huge crowd attending enjoying themselves in a real party atmosphere. The tournament would now certainly put several of the IRB World Sevens Series tournaments to shame.
With the Samurai team only coming together at the airport just prior to departure, in true invitation Sevens team fashion they only had 1 days training to prepare themselves for what was going to be a tough tournament. The team were very grateful to be granted permission to train at Braeburn School where the facilities where excellent and after a few hours training they looked forward to some competitive games.
Their first game on the first day pitched them against a very strong Emerging Springboks side with the game moving from end to end, in what was a physical encounter. Tries from Kevin James (2) and Howard Thomas see the Samurai team through by 19 points to 17.
Next up was another national side this time in the shape of Uganda who had previously played on the WSS circuit. Samurai again put in a fine performance with tries from Jon Hooper (2) Adam Hughes, Gareth King and Drew Locke to win 36 points to 14.
The Samurai's last pool game of the day was an all important one as they needed to win to win their group. Win they did and they did so in some style as they took Tanzania apart with tries from Thomas (2) Drew Locke and Paul Jones helping the team to a 32 - 0 victory. The Samurai's won their group with relative ease with some excellent team performances. Samurai debutant Adam Hughes and Paul Jones had proved just how important pace is in the game of Sevens.
On tournament day 2 Samurai found themselves without a fly half as Howard Thomas had gone down with food poisoning overnight, common problem in Nairobi. Despite losing Thomas, Samurai were to face Zimbabwe in the Quarter final with a team full of confidence after a great first day. The game started well with Samurai racing to a 14 - 0 lead when disaster struck. Paul Jones pulled up with a pulled hamstring and Adam Hughes had to leave the field with concussion. In one foul swoop Samurai had lost both speedsters within a minute. The Samurai management hurriedly replaced the injured players and re-jigged their positions, but the team was unable to hold on to their lead going down 14 - 21 to a late second half try.
The Samurai teams brilliant first day performance ended without reward as the team went from hero to zero after the loss of 3 key players. It was a shame the Samurai's real involvement was to end so early on the second day, but the crowd applauded their participation in true Kenyan fashion and will be hoping the team can come back next year to renew their friendship.
Samurai Fail To Do Italian Job
The ULR Samurai International Team went out in the Semi Final of the Roma 7s to eventual Winners the British Army Fijian team.
The Roma 7s tournament was possibly the toughest tournament on the circuit this year with a star studded Penguins team, the 7 Kings of Rome invitation side - which included several All Black 7s players including Justin Wilson, the National sides of France and Italy, KooGy Wailers, White Hart Marauders and Sevens specialists Stellenbosch University all taking part.
Samurai also had a tough pool having to face Italy, Argentine side Clandestino and Stellenbosch in the pool games on the first day. Samurai won their group where they found themselves having to face the KooGy Wailers in the Quarter final on day 2. In a very physical affair the ULR Samurai International team ran out winners but not without loss as Darren Allinson and Martin Freeman would take no further part in the tournament through injury. This excellent win set up a semi final against an in form Army Fijian side.
Samurai, who were now 2 players down, were to suffer another knock back when in the Semi Final warm up they lost Tom Powell to a knee injury. The quickly re-shuffled side took to the field but were always going to find it tough as the Army had recruited well by enlisting 2 Fijian players from the Penguins team to assist their cause. The Army also welcomed back Apolisi Satala for the game, who having earlier retired from the tournament through injury, had recovered sufficiently well to stamp his mark on another physical affair. The British Army Fijian side outscored Samurai by 3 tries and 2 conversions to 2 unconverted tries as they pushed forwards to the final where they disposed of Stellenbosch in a 10 minute each way affair player under lights. Satala (who has played several times for his Country) was once again in fine form as he helped his side to fine victory.
The Samurai International team had once again acquitted themselves well after victories so far this season at both Belfast and Amsterdam. A Semi Final was a fine achievement and who knows what could have happened had they not suffered the unfortunate injuries in the Quarter final. Next Stop Kenya where they participate in yet another tough competition where they will face IRB WSS teams France, Kenya, Fiji and Zimbabwe.
Samurai Barracudas Make 2nd Final In Succession
The Samarai Barracuda development team continued their fine season as they reached their 2nd final in consecutive tournaments.
Following on from their fine showing in Amsterdam where they were beaten by the Samurai International side. They were beaten by 3 tries to 1 at the Bournemouth Sevens event, by the All Star's Team that included Steffan and Dellon Armitage, who had to rush off straight after the final to meet up with England to take part in the Churchill Cup.
The team has certainly grown in stature since their narrow semi final loss to London Irish at the Walsham Sevens on May 4th. The Final proved a bridge to far for a gallant Barracuda's side with the unfortunate loss of Warren Abrahams and Geoff Griffiths to injuries in the semi final, not helping their cause.
It was a fine display from a relatively young Barracudas team and they will certainly be looking forward to their next outing.
Samurai Off On Safari
The ULR Samurai International Team have received a late invitation to the Safari Sevens in Nairobi to be held on June 21st and 22nd.
Mike Friday Samurai Chairman said "it was great to receive an invitation to attend this prestigious tournament as it is nearly 10 years since we last participated at the Safari Sevens" It's a very difficult tournament to win for an invitation side as it is very rare that our players ever get time to train together but we will give it our best shot.
Friday is unable to attend himself due to his commitments with the England Ladies 7s team, but he will actually be Coaching the Samurai team in Rome 2 weeks before to make up for his absence.
The Team will have a distinct Welsh flavour to it with Dai Rees (Former Wales 7s Coach) Coaching the side and Kingsley Jones (Current Sale Sharks Forwards Coach) Managing the team. A team will be selected after the Samurai team's participation at the Bournemouth 7s and Rome 7s held on consecutive weekends before the Safari 7s.
Samurai Make It 4 Straight Wins At 2008 Amsterdam 7's
The ULR International Samurai 7s team became the first team ever to win the tournament for 4 consecutive years last weekend - 17th/18th May. The team also added to their curent record of winning this event for a record 7 times in total. The ULR team beat the Samurai Barracuda development team in a final that could have gone either way.
In the Ladies tournament the Samurai St George team achieved what had always previously been seen as "impossible" by beating the NZ Maori ladies team in the final having been beaten by them in the pool games. The new ladies coaching team of Simon Amor (a previous Samurai Player) and Mike Friday (current Samurai Chairman) have provided the team with the additional ingredients required to help the team perform to their potential.
Walsh Selected For Australia
Samurai Team Captain Tim Walsh has been selected to play for Australia in the Twickenham and Edinburgh legs of the IRB World Series. Walsh most recently Cpatained the team at the Ledbury Sevens where Samurai International were narrowly beaten by the British Army Fijian team. The Samurai Management Team wish Tim every success in the forthcoming tournaments.
Army Gun Down Samurai At Ledbury
LEDBURY CHARITY SEVENS - SUNDAY 11th MAY 2008
The ULR Samurai International Team were pipped at the post on Sunday where they narrowly lost in the final to the British Army Fijian 7s Team. The Army team, fresh from their Wednesday night victory in the Rosslyn Park Floodlit 7s where they beat Harlequins in the final, ran out winners by 24 points to 21 in a pulsating final that could have eventually gone either way.
Australian 7s stalwart Tim Walsh led the Samurai team on Sunday where they disposed of Ledbury, Apache and Bridgend on their way to the final. The Samurai management selected a blend of youth and experience for the Ledbury team.
Samurai, in keeping with their young player development policy, gave new Samurai caps to Jackson Wray (Saracens) Chev Pennycook (Newbury) and James Honeyben (Wasps) although Samurai were unfortunate to lose one of their most experienced players - Rob Thirlby - after the first game.
Tom Tombleson of Newbury was selected as the Samurai Team's player of the tournament, as he turned in a fine performance in Samurai colours.
Team:
Tim Walsh, Tom Tombleson, Russell Earnshaw, Rob Thirlby, Chris Cracknell, Chev Pennycook, Tom Hockedy, Jackson Wray, Jon Hylton, James
Samurai Unstoppable In Carrick
Samurai International RFC clinched the top prize at the annual festival of rugby hosted by Carrickfergus RFC in Belfast on May 4th and they did so in some style. The invitational 7s side, made up of players from across the British Isles, showed how the game should be played as they swept most of the sides away and lifted the holmes Salver in the Manvik Premier Sevens Event.
Samurai placed themselves well in Pool A, and saw off the defending champions DHL Irish Exiles to go through as group winners.
In the first Semi-final they met Mel's Exiles - yet another of those classy invitational sides. In an exciting affair Samurai secured their place in the final where they disposed of the Ulster team, coached by sevens specialist himself, Ryan Constable 45 points to 28. Simon Hunt of England Sevens was Samurai top scorer helping himself to a total of 9 tries.
Samurai Squad
Samurai Team;
Nick Wakely (Capt), Russell Earnshaw, Richard Gill, Chris Cracknell, Craig Hill, Nicky Griffiths, Rob Thirlby, Rhys Jones, Paul Thirlby, Simon Hunt, Simon Frewin.
Coach; Colin Hillman - Manager; Terry Sands - Physio; Remi Mobed.
Treu To His Word For Amsterdam
There will be a South African flavour to the Samurai International Team selected for the 2008 Amsterdam Sevens tournament on May 17th / 18th to be held at the National Stadium in Amsterdam.
Paul Treu has agreed to Coach the side and will stop off in Amsterdam on his way to Twickenham, where he will be coaching the South African team for the London leg of the World Sevens Series. Paul recently returned home with his victorious team after beating New Zealand in the final of the Adelaide Sevens.
Paul will also help select the side with the team being taken from a 24 man Cape Town training camp the week before departure.
Terry Sands the Samurai International RFC Team manager said "Paul and I have known each other for several years now from my England 7s Manager days and we have worked together for the last couple of years in helping to develop young players. Paul and I took a similar team to Darwin in January where we were beaten by the Aussie Spirit team in the semi final".
The ULR sponsored side is likely to include Schalk van der Merwe who will hopefully Captain the team in Amsterdam.
Samurai International will also participate in the Ladies tournament this year and will enter a team which will also have an International flavour. All of their players will be English qualified and will play under the name Samurai St George. Simon Amor and Mike Friday will Coach the team in Amsterdam in what promises to be a very tough tournament with sides from New Zealand and Canada also taking part. Final selection will not be possible until the week before the tournament but it is hoped that Claire Allen, Rachel Burford and Shelley Rae will be amongst those selected.
URL Samurai 7s Facebook Group Now Online
Keep up-to-date and interact with the Samurai 7's team on the Samurai 7's Facebook page. You can see photos and videos of the Samurai's in action and leave messages and start discussions. You will need to be a member of the Facebook site, if you are not sign up now and do not miss out. To join the group go to - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7585589042
Darwin 7's "The Hottest 7's in the World" January 2008
Day 1;
The temperature was already at 33c when the first game of the tournament started at 12.20pm in the hot Darwin Summer sun, humidity was at around 95% so the players were feeling the pinch before they even ran onto the field. The first day of the tournament saw the Samurai's triumph over the 1st Brigade (35-0), The North Queensland Cowboys (22-0) and The Dingoes (43-0).
Day 2;
If at all possible day two was even hotter than day one with the hottest temperatures for this event being reached well into the mid 30's with nearly 100% humidity. All the early seeded teams had progressed well from day one with Aussie Spirit and ULR Samurai having scored the same amount of points, 110 and not conceding any. The South Sea Drifters were living up to there favourites tag from day one scoring 135 points and conceding only 12, the dark horses Gordon had it a little tougher on day one but still progressed undefeated.
Samurai had a relatively easy first up match, winning 64-0 against the lowest side from the South Sea Drifters Pool, Campbell town Harlequins. With 10 tries and 7 conversions the Samurai wrapped up their most impressive display of the weekend building on from the previous evenings display against the Dingoes. The Samurai team progressed onto a tough quarter final against the Australian Legends.
The Samurai's had to wait 4 hours the game against the Australian Legends in the severe Darwin Heat. Legends took the game to the Samurai in the first half trading tries to leave it level at Half Time at 7-7. The 2nd half was a much more disciplined display by the Samurai's who ran out eventual 26-7 winners. The Samurai's booked a Semi-Final place against the Aussie Spirit team.
Unfortunately the writing was on the wall for this match as the Aussie Spirit team had punished there quarter final opponents Brisbane Fiji 35-0 and the stuttering performance of the Samurai in there win over the Australian Legends. The Samurai's went down and out of the Darwin 7's 7-14 to the Aussie Spirit.
The final saw the Aussie Spirit going down, losing to the impressive South Sea Drifters side, 27-12.
The Nelson Mandela Bay 7's
The Nelson Mandela Bay 7's is now the biggest tournament of its kind in South Africa. This year's event took place from the 14-16th of December at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth. The ULR Samurai 7's team progressed into the quarter finals after winning their pool by drawing with Zondela Old Boys and beating Grahams Town Brumbies, Gauteng Lions and reining champions Progress RFC. Samurai's proposed match against the French Froggies was cancelled due to a late no show by the French team.
After a successful first day a quarter final against the SA Legends was awaiting the Samurai side on day two which they won impressively 40-5, to set up a semi-final encounter against the British Army. As the tournament had progressed the Samurai side had became a real crowd favourite, and had performed admirably and were now a definite contender for the cup.
The semi-final against the Army started off with the Army controlling territory and possession which made it very difficult for the Samurai's to get into the game. Trailing 21-7 at half-time,
it looked like the game was over flood but the Samurai team showed Great Spirit and determination as they came out fighting in the 2nd half, playing some of the best 7's rugby of the tournament to bring the score to 21-19 with a min to go. With the Army side now resorting to time wasting tactics, the Samurai team kept pressuring which eventually led to Ockie van Zyl, who had just ran the full length of the pitch to score the previous try, intercepting a Fijian pass. With the try line beckoning the Samurai support watched in horror as his tired legs gave way and was bundled into touch for the whistle to go and the Army breathing a huge sigh of relief as they ran out 21-19 winners. The crowd applauded what was arguably the game of the tournament. The other semi final saw the Emerging Boks beat UPE 7-0, with the fresher Bok team going on to beat the Army 25-14 in the final.
