Wednesday's Ruck & Maul

MINIS TO MULGRAVE & CAPILANO

Early last Saturday morning, CW’s mighty minis (21 boys and 14 girls), party of eighty, hit the BC ferry for Vancouver.  Saturday was a practice day at Mulgrave School. The conclusion of the day saw the group take over the school’s Sole Center (Outdoor Leadership & Education), where swimming basketball, and tree house shenanigans were the deal.  The day concluded with a barbecue and marshmallow roasting over the open pit fire.

Sunday was a rugby day. The Tricolors were hosted warmly by Capilanos RFC for a second year, and the rugby was magnificent.  Thanks to all the hosts and the word from parents was that the kids were fantastic and they were proud reps of our club.  ‘onyas, all!

HUGE shout out to Canada NSMT U20’s who defeated Tonga last weekend, 57 – 27 for a 2 – 1 record in the Oceana Rugby U20 Tournament.  CW grad, Josh McIndoe, played a major hand in all the matches. CW’s Spencer Cotie also was a member of the team. This is great news for what was an ailing program.

VIRU Women “Blue” took one on the chin in Vancouver, dropping the final of three inter-union matches, 24 – 29. This followed two earlier shellacking of the VRU “Yellow”.  Many CW ladies were once again on the park.

HAS MEN’S SEVENS SEEN ITS DAY??

We start today with a precis of history of the sevens game.  Sevens was first played at Melrose, on the Scottish border in 1883. It was a very local event initially but all of that changed dramatically when in 1970 the Hong Kong Sevens came on the scene.  There had been famed events.  The Middlesex Sevens held at Twickers, were known as much for their picnic fraternizing as for their play on the field, but Hong Kong epitomized gaiety to the nth degree.

The growth of the game could still be best described as “fringe” until 1998 when it was included in the Commonwealth Games, and the game was put on the map.  In 1999 the world IRB Sevens Series was inaugurated and by 2016, it was an included and popular sport in the Olympic Games.  During the last eight years its evolution has been rapid.  It is a sport that has attracted rugby neophytes, yet at the same time has turned away many devoted and fanatical followers of the rugby game, not actually seeing it as “true rugby”.  The partying nature – costumes, imbibing of plenty of beer and sometimes, unruly behavior has been seen as both a fun, positive experience but at the same time, as a detracting factor.  So, why is it on the wane?

Firstly, the cost to maintain the game.  To send small numbers of players all around the world has made Unions question their “bang for the buck”.  Income is minimal with stadiums often being basically empty, and sponsorship difficult. Secondly, what seems like the newly revised format of sixteen to twelve teams, reduced locations, relegation/qualification process and perhaps, what is no longer a chance of a rugby minnow causing an upset, are all factors.  To the rugby aficionado, the game itself, its lack of a large base of serious fan favorite players, and generally, its bent toward a social outing could all be detractors.

And now a report from CW dad, Chris Poulton, whose son Liam, will be part of this show.