| 15 May 2008, 5:23 pm |
| Irish eyes see Spoon teams smile |
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| In the Republic of Ireland on the southern most tip in Kinsale three teams were aiming to make their mark amongst some of the most reputable sevens teams in the game at the Tournament hosted in May |
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 The Wooden Spoon Blues had a strong team of young representatives who shone on the first day of the tournament, only faltering by one try to an Irish President’s VII in the semi final. Sunday saw the top 12 teams from Saturday play in a seeded competition and despite a loss in the group stages to the Stoned Pups, the Blues reached the semi’s again only to be confronted by the Irish President’s VII again. In a much more competitive game the Blues showed they were not going to go down without a fight against the would be International Irish sevens team.
The Wooden Spoon Vets faced a quandary when sadly the Veterans tournament was cancelled leaving them unable to defend their title. But with flights booked the over 35’s decided to enter the Junior competition instead and after recruiting a few speedsters, headed off to see if they could compete with the ‘youngsters’. The team’s experience showed considerable as they were able to top their group at the end of day one. On Sunday they continued their success meeting old rivals Marauders (also a vets side) in the quarter final. It was a battle of wills amongst friends but Spoon kept their heads the most and ran out victors. The semi final sadly was the end of the road for the team as they were confronted by a faster, younger university side that sadly ran circles round the old boys.
The Wooden Spoon Women’s team also went to Kinsale to defend their title and took a very strong side of present and past internationals and Sevens players. Their intentions were clear from the first game and regardless of the quality of the opposition they played their own game. They reached the final of the Saturday tournament against the Irish Vixens. Sadly at that moment the heavens opened and what should have been a great exhibition of running rugby turned into a tight game of battling for possession and it wasn’t until the last few minutes that Spoon finally were able to stretch their legs and run in a few tries to take the cup.
 A replica of Saturday’s final occurred on Sunday. The girls had stormed all their previous games not conceding a try and were determined that the crowd of 5000 plus who were enjoying the much appreciated sunshine would be given a great display of sevens rugby. The final result was 36-0 to Spoon and certainly many new fans for the women’s game had been acquired as well as many new Spoon supporters. The 2000 Euro prize money will certainly be appreciated by the disadvantaged children it will support.
It is worth reminding people that the cost of sending these sides around Europe is met by the players themselves and also through additional Spoon sponsorship. As a result of their endeavour, the prize money received from these events plus a significant donation from this year’s Hong Kong Sevens has raised is excess of £10,000 for Spoon. Thank you to the sponsors NETGEAR and KUKRI and of course the players and management teams for their fantastic support of Spoon.
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| Author: Sarah Griffiths |
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