One of the sporting world’s fastest growing formats is coming to the Blue Mountains this Saturday, January 28.
The Blue Mountains and Greater West Rugby Sevens Carnival will be held at Wentworth Falls, with games starting at 8am.
Hosted by Blue Mountains Grammar School, players from Bathurst to Penrith will take to the school’s fields and neighbouring Pitt Park with 66 games unfolding on the day.
Tournament organiser Chris Nay said the response to the inaugural tournament has been overwhelming, with plenty of interest from outside the Blue Mountains/western NSW catchment area.
And while they may look to expand the tournament in future years, this year’s event is focused solely on the local region with most teams from the Blue Mountains plus several from Penrith and Bathurst.
Sixteen teams will compete for the main trophy in the open men’s competition, including multiple teams of former Blue Mountains Grammar School and St Columba’s College students.
Top title contenders include the Lapstone Grunts (a side of Blue Mountains Grammar and Blue Mountains Rugby old boys playing in honour of Grant Opie), St Stannies Old Boys Bathurst, the St Columba’s 2 side, and Blue Mountains Rugby 1.
Local rivalries are also likely to come to the fore with a potential semi-final showdown between sides from St Columba’s High School in Springwood and Winmalee High School.
“There was a fair bit of legwork to get it up and running for the first few teams, but once we’d locked in a few then word started to spread,” said Mr Nay.
The open men’s competition features one fully invitational side - the Southern Mudguts, consisting of 100kg plus players from the Shute Shield competition Southern Districts club.
Youth girls and boys competitions will also be held with all finals starting at 3.30pm
But the entertainment won’t be confined to the rugby field.
International sevens players from Australia and Samoa as well as current NSW Waratahs players will be on hand to meet fans off the field.
A DJ will be playing music and there will be multitude of food to choose from including Zensational Coffee Van, Char Char Food Truck, wraps, barbecue, and various other stallholders and entertainment.
“There’s going to be a big, carnival-like atmosphere,” said Mr Nay.
The sevens action will be livestreamed with commentary all day long at: https://livestream.com/BliveStreaming/Rugby7s.
The tournament’s major sponsor is McGrath Estate Agents, with entry $5 for all players, managers, coaches and spectators. Additional sponsors are Ovo Mobile, One Point Health, Muscle Bros Penrith and Codmah.
Open Men’s teams
- Blue Mountains Grammar Old Boys 1
- Blue Mountains Grammar Old Boys 2
- Blue Mountains Grammar Old Boys 3
- St Columba’s Old Boys 1
- St Columba’s Old Boys 2
- Winmalee High Old Boys
- Lapstone Grunts
- Return of the PAC
- Blue Mountains Rugby 1
- Blue Mountains Rugby 2
- Blackheath Black Cats
- Southern Mud Guts
- St Stannies Bathurst Old Boys
- Scots Bathurst Old Boys
- All Saints College Bathurst Old Boys
- FC11 Penrith
Schoolgirls competition (U/18)
- Blue Mountains Grammar School
- McCarthy Catholic College Emu Plains
- Central Coast Youth Girls
Schoolboys competition (U/18)
- Blue Mountains Grammar School
- Blue Mountains Blue Tongues JRC
- Blaxland High School
- Penrith Gold
- Penrith Black
- Drummoyne JRC
