Under the blazing summer sun, the final tournament of RugbyWA’s WA 7’s series saw a wealth of talent take to the field.
WA 7’s was a swinging success at Wanneroo Districts Rugby Union Club, with over 450 participants from Junior and Senior grades taking to the field over two days. With water slides, misting tunnels and plenty of rugby, the tournament was a showcase and a celebration of the rugby 7’s spirit, building anticipation for next weekend’s HSBC SVNS PER kickoff.
Saturday kicked off with a Welcome to Country and opening speech from Wanneroo Mayor, Linda Aitkins, before the first games commenced. Featuring Under 18s, Premier Men’s and Premier Women’s, the Senior tournament featured 10 Senior Men’s teams and 6 Senior Women’s, all competing for the title of Premiers of their grades of the WA 7’s.
Day 2 followed with Junior pool rounds and Senior Finals but splashed with the fun atmosphere of Rugby 7’s, with visiting members of the Western Force handing out Gatorade from Mitsubishi Motors Australia and giving tips to the young players, and HSBC SVNS Ambassadors chatting to the crowd. The waterslide was pumping down the side of Field 1, and the misting tunnel helping to keep everyone cool. SEDA College also stopped by, chatting to future rugby students. Fourteen teams from the three Junior grades competed across the day, showing the talent playing within the RugbyWA competitions.
Premier Grade Women
Round 1 in the Women’s competition saw series-newcomers Fresh and Kotahitanga find wins over Wanneroo Divaz and Southern Lionesses, while South West Summer 7’s champions, Cottesloe Shegulls found victory over RugbyWA HP. Round 2 saw all three teams hold strong again, with Kotahitanga defeating Wanneroo Divaz 29-5, Fresh finishing 20-5 against RugbyWA HP, and the Shegulls defeating the Southern Lionesses 31-10. Round 3 saw the Shegulls and Fresh finish with a 12-12 draw, while Wanneroo Divaz found tehir first victory of the day, defeating the Southern Lionesses 7-27. Round 4 saw Kotahitanga defeat the Cottesloe Shegulls 37-10, while the Wanneroo Divaz found a second win against RugbyWA HP, 27-15. Capping off the Round Robin tournament in the Women’s competition, Wanneroo Divaz defeated Cottesloe Shegulls 32-17, while RugbyWA HP found their first win of the day, with a ten-point victory over the Southern Lionesses. Kotahitanga came up against Fresh for the final round, defeating the side 7-20.
Entering the Semi-Finals saw fierce competition, with Fresh taking on the Wanneroo Divaz, and Kotahitanga facing the Cottesloe Shegulls for a place in the Grand Final. A tough battle on Field 1 saw Kotahitanga walk away with the win, defeating Cottesloe Shegulls 12-7. On Field 2, it was a close match, with two points separating the sides, with Fresh ultimately knocking Wanneroo Divaz out of the competition with a 19-17 victory.
With the two best sides of the day coming head-to-head in the Grand Final, it was a tough battle between the up-and-coming Kotahitanga players, and the legendary veterans of Fresh. Despite the fierece competition, Fresh kicked off the scoring between the sides, with Frieda Ah-Sam making the first try in the latter part of the first half. Kotahitanga came out firing in the second half, with Talitha Heta scoring the first try for her side, with Vella Houghton. It was Heta’s second try just a minute later which secured Kotahitanga the win for the day, crowning the side Premiers of the Women’s competition.
Premier Grade Men’s
With five teams competing in the Men’s Premier Grade, the competition was set to be tough. Round 1 kicked off with Give Rugby defeating Rockingham Dura 17-5, while Nedlands Veiyasana took on Wanneroo Dawgs, leaving with a 26-10 win. Round 2 saw Fresh have their first battle, a tight game with Wanneroo which saw them go down by just two points, with the score 24-26. Yeiyasana had a blitzing performance in Round 2, defeating Rockingham 61-0. Round 3 saw Give Rugby go head-to-head with Fresh, coming out on top 27-10, while Rockingham found their first win of the day against Wanneroo, 24-19. Round 4 saw impressive performances from Veiyasana and Give Rugby, defeating Fresh and Wanneroo. Round 5 followed with Fresh grabbing their first win of the day, taking down Rockingham 14-38, while Veiyasana defeated Give Rugby 25-0. Semi Finals then saw Give Rugby come up against Fresh, with a tight competition leaving Give Rugby the winners, 15-10, ready to tackle Veiyasana in the Grand Final.
Veiyasana were dominant out of the gate against Give Rugby, barely giving the other side a chance for possession. Despite Give Rugby's try by Bailey Millar and conversion by Connor Sharrock, Veiyasana were unphased, going on to score eight tries and five conversions, sealing the win for the side. Tries were scored by Ilaisa Kalokalodrau, Daniela Tabuakuru (2), William Noa, Eparama Navale, Daniel Jones and two others.
Junior Competition
The Under 18 Boys tournament saw strong performances across the board. With ARKS, Cottesloe, Cottesloe Blue, Kalamunda Bulls and Nedlands all taking to the field, competition was fierce. Nedlands and Cottesloe proved to be the ones to beat early in the day, both finding victories in Round 1 and 2, before Cottesloe was beaten by one point by ARKS in Round 3. Nedlands held on strong, finding victory in all five of the regular rounds, securing their place in the finals. ARKS put up a good fight, securing a ten-point victory over Cottesloe Blue in Round 4, before losing to Kalamunda in Round 5; Kalamunda finding their first victory of the day. Nedlands met Cottesloe Blue in the Semi Final, finding a victory of 38-5, before coming against the other Cottesloe side in the Grand Final. The Grand Final saw an impressive rivalry between the sides, with Cottesloe clinching the win from Nedlands by just a conversion, finishing as Premiers with a score of 12-14.
The Under 16’s competition was all about Nedlands, with their four teams making up the competition. After three rounds of tournament, all four sides went into the Semi Finals, with Nedlands Black defeating Nedlands Blue 24-7, and Nedlands Gold grabbing the win by two points against Nedlands Red, finishing the match 12-14. The Grand Final was a tight competition between Black and Gold, with a penalty try awarded to Nedlands Black in the third minute, after having scored their first try just a minute earlier. Despite Gold’s strong performance in the second half keeping Black from scoring, the other side’s first half performance kept them in front and secured the win 14-22.
The Under 15’s Mixed competition saw some big performances, particularly from Kwinana Wolves, Joondalup Brothers and Pally Oorah. Round 2 saw an incredible matchup between Ellenbrook Vipers and Perth Baywater, with the Vipers clinching the win from Bayswater by just two points. Round 3 saw both the Vipers and Bayswater fail to get points on the board against Joondalup Brothers and Pally Oorah, while Round 4 saw Kwinana Wolves with a dominate performance against Ellenbrook, with a score of 7-64, and Joondalup Brothers beating Bayswater 0-38. Round 5 secured both Kwinana and Pally Oorah’s place in the Grand Final at HBF Park, with Kwinana taking down Joondalup 33-7, while Pally Oorah defeated Ellenbrook 50-0.
The Under 13’s Mixed competition capped off Day 2 with strong competition between Kalamunda Bulls and Pally Beasts, with both sides dominating the competition throughout the day. In Round 5, Kalamunda squeezed past Nedlands to secure a 22-21 victory, while Pally Beasts held strong against Roo Dogs, with a 49-7 win. Kalamunda and Pally Beasts will now head to HBF Park to fight for their title as Premiers in the Grand Final showdown.
The Grand Finals for Under 13s and Under 15s will be held at HBF Park on Day 1 of the HSBC SVNS. The Under 13s will kick off at 10:05AM, with Pally Beasts playing against Kalamunda Bulls, and the Under 15s playing just before 10:30AM, with Kwinana Wolves versing Pally Oorah.
The winners of the South West Summer 7’s and WA 7’s from the Premier Grade Men’s and Women’s grades will also be taking to the field at the SVNS, with Cottesloe Shegulls facing Kotahitanga at 5:05PM, and Nedlands Veiyasana coming against Southern Lions’ WestOz Nomads at 5:25PM.
RugbyWA would like to thank the Department of Local Government, Sports and Communities for their continued support of the event, in addition to World Rugby & HSBC SVNS PER, the City of Wanneroo and Lotterywest, and our event hosts, Wanneroo Districts Rugby Union Club.
