Sudden death try seals Quins 1’s Shield Cup win
The playoff draw proved interesting as the Harlequins teams played the other's group stage opponents.
THE 2015 Nashua South Coast 7’s tournament was held at Douglas Mitchell Sports Ground in Uvongo this past weekend, where Harlequins were aiming to retain the titles they impressively won last year, but this year they stumbled at the final hurdle of the Cup final, when they lost to hosts South Coast Warriors.
One Harlequins team did however go home with a trophy as Harlequins 1 convincingly won and retained the Shield trophy they won last year.
The day started in beautiful summer weather and the Quins boys were in high spirits, looking to make a good start to their campaign when Harlequins 1 played one of the tournament favourites, Kapaailand in the opener. The game was over before it really started as the Kapaailand farmers were dominant in every facet of the game. They scored 33 unanswered points and Harlequins 1 left the field a little shell-shocked after the drubbing.
Harlequins 2, playing in the much tougher group, restored some pride with a solid 32-0 over the team from Phalaborwa,
The second round of the group stages proved to be very entertaining as Harlequins 1 showed much more determination and purpose in their approach. They certainly put their hands up and pushed the much-fancied Status Warriors team hard to eventually lose 21-10. Harlequins 2 aimed to build on their first outing when they played against Vikings in a repeat of last year’s final. An impressive first seven minutes saw the Quins boys race to a 27-5 lead at half time. The game was over as a contest and two late tries by the Vikings youngsters gave the scoreline some respectability, 27-19 to Harlequins 2.
Round three was the high pressure round with the losers being relegated to the tougher play-offs groups. Harlequins 1 looked to further improve and met development side Gamalakhe. The Bluff boys were in no mood to slip to a third defeat and were too strong, running out 17-10 winners. Harlequins 2 played the much anticipated match against Amanzimtoti and this fixture traditionally has no shortage of energy and passion. Quins dominated the first half but let in two soft tries after the break to see the Toti boys lead 14-10 with 15 seconds to go. Some desperate defence saw a quick Quins line-out taken 5m from their goal line and run 95m up field to score the winner after the hooter. Result was 17-14 to the Mighty Quins.
The playoff draw proved interesting as the Harlequins teams played the other’s group stage opponents. Harlequins 1 lost 17-5 to Vikings in probably their best performance on the day, relegating them to the Shield section. Harlequins 2 kept their hopes of retaining their title alive, by comfortably beating Status Warriors 22-0 to progress to the cup semi-final.
The semi-finals were tough matches for both teams and Harlequins 1 beat the entertaining Gamalakhe side for a second time, in a repeat of their group stage match. The same scoreline of 17-10 flattered the development side and Quins dominated the match with their improved attacking approach. The Harlequins 2 match against the high-flying Kapaailand side was a match of pure quality and had all spectators on the edge of their seats. The Quins boys dominated the first half and were good value for their 12-0 lead. The second half was the exact opposite as Kapaailand made their possession count and levelled the scores at 12 all. The match ended in a draw and both teams had to dig deep and play the sudden-death extra time with the first scorer winning the match. Kapaailand kicked off and Quins made a meal of the kick-off and gave possession to their opponents with a line-out. The very efficient Kapaailand line-out failed them for once and Quins attacked from deep in their half. Star of the day, David Woolls received the ball in his own half and chipped ahead and dribbled the ball – and much to the delight of the fans – outsprinted the defence to score under the poles to win the game.
With both teams playing in the same finals in 2014, anticipation and expectation was running high in the Harlequins camp. Harlequins 1 under the leadership of Jaques Greyling never looked like relinquishing their trophy and humbled the gallant Crusaders team 27-5. One trophy won, with the main final to come. The cup final proved a disappointment for the Harlequins 2 team as they were never allowed in the game by a determined Nashua Warriors team. This time around the final ended in disappointment and the home side were full value for their 35-14 victory. Congratulations to the home team who proved worthy champions on the day.
Special thanks to the Harlequins supporters and the committee members consisting of Nick Breedt, Dale Caswell, Alan Walker, Andre Gerber and Basie Breedt who made the trip down the coast to join in the fun.
Focus now turns to the upcoming pre-season matches, with more on this in the coming weeks.
