Melrose Rugby Sevens 2008 Tournament
Since its inception in 1883, Melrose Sevens has been played as a straight knockout tournament. There have been many discussions around changing the event to a pool format, especially since the Centenary Tournament in 1983, when a star studded, Barbarians Seven went out to Royal High School FP, in the second tie of the first round, in front of 17,000 underdog supporting spectators.
Each year the tournament hosts teams from around the world and a few have exited in its early stages. When it occurs, it is always a disappointment for the guest team but it provides huge excitement amongst the crowd to see what is, on most occasions, a Scottish club knocking a guest team out of the tournament.
On 12th April 2008 the tournament will have 24 teams competing. The Centenary Tournament is the only other occasion that we have expanded beyond 20 teams.
An early shower and a sevens party atmosphere awaits the first round losers.
The draw for the tournament, which is an open to the public affair, really kicks off the excitement surrounding the event. It takes place in the Greenyards clubrooms, with fingers, legs and everything else crossed for the Melrose Sevens squad.
There will be some very strong, non-seeded teams in the hat and the luck of the draw can have huge bearing on how far any team will progress in the tournament.
If a team drawn to play the first round is to lift the Ladies Cup, their squad will have to play one more tie than any of the eight teams who are either seeded or drawn out of the hat to enter the tournament one round later, however, this situation only adds to the intrigue of the competition, as having a game under your belt can improve a team’s chances when they meet opponents who are taking the field for the first time.
We have had upsets galore over the years and 2008 will no doubt throw up another one or two. It is just one of the great, cut and thrust aspects of seven-a-side rugby, which supporters come back year on year to enjoy.
We look forward to welcoming everybody, from our long time supporters to first timers, for our 125th Anniversary Tournament.
|
your basket
