Waikato knocked out in Melrose Sevens semis
10th April 2011 09:16PM
By Hamish Forsman
Waikato have been eliminated at the semi final stage of the Melrose Sevens in Scotland this weekend.
An estimated crowd of 15,000 gathered at the home of Melrose RFC, The Greenyards, for the world’s oldest sevens tournament.
The Melrose Sevens is held annually in the Scottish Borders town of Melrose and dates back to 1883.
Waikato’s appearance at this year’s tournament was the idea of team manager David Fox, who played club rugby for Melrose back in the 1990s. The team’s trip was largely self funded with the players raising $38,000 through various fundraising events.
Waikato were seeded for the straight knockout tournament and given a bye through the first round.
Their first opponent was Scottish club side Currie in the second round. Waikato cruised to a 33-0 win with tries to Ryan Meacheam (2), Matt Kenny (2) and Mark Murray.
In the quarter finals they faced a sterner test from Glasgow Hawks. It was the Hawks who took an early lead before Waikato scored three tries to Ryan Meacheam (2) and Matt Kenny. However the Hawks were not done and scored again to set up a tense finish. They threatened to pull off an upset but on full time Waikato broke out to score through Mark Murray to seal the win 22-14.
Waikato were then drawn against the defending champions in the semi final – South African side Hamilton. It was Waikato who created more chances in a physical encounter but they failed to capitalise. Hamilton eventually made them pay and scored three unanswered tries. Cohen Masson scored a consolation try on full time but Waikato went down 17-5.
According to the BBC Scotland commentary team, a virus had been going through the Waikato camp since they arrived in the UK, and they ran out of puff at the semi final stage.
After their loss the Waikato boys did a lap of honour and performed a haka, much to the delight of the huge crowd.
Hosts Melrose RFC held off Cape Town based Hamilton 31-26 in the final to deny them a second straight title. It was Melrose’s first title of the historic sevens since 1998, and they were the first Scottish club side to win since 2002.
Waikato squad: Steve Ketu (Captain), Jordan Smiler (Vice Captain), Cohen Masson, Jonathan Armstrong, Jonathan Malo, Troy Lobendahn, Ryan Meacheam, Benji Olesen, Mark Murray, Matt Kenny.
