Central Coast 7s – Stars Rugby 7s
Central Coast 7s UON Cup & Kinesio Cup
The UON Central Coast Sevens men’s tournament and the Kinesio Cup women’s event is being held from Oct. 27-29 in Wyong, Australia and consists of 16 teams in each tournament, featuring some of the strongest sevens competition outside of the HSBC Sevens Series. These teams include international, invitational, club and domestic teams that have been invited to the tournament.
The sixteen teams are divided among four pools of four teams. Day one of the tournament featured pool play rounds with results of pool play determining the final rankings leading into the day two final series.
The UON Central Coast Sevens Champions of the UON Cup Division and the Kinesio Cup Division wins the Cup along with $20,000AUD in prize money.
The Central Coast 7s is one of the premier men’s and women’s rugby sevens tournaments in the world. Craig Morgan does a superb job with organization as well as BarTV Sports with commentary.
Day one action took place yesterday in Wyong, Australia and the day two finals should not be missed. They are being streamed by BarTV Sports from Central Coast Sevens.
The Stars Rugby 7s, a select side based in the United States, entered a men’s and women’s team in the tournaments.
Central Coast 7s Simply Smashing Youth Tournament
The Central Coast 7s had a Youth Boys and Girls tournament on October 27. The Cup winner was presented with a $2,000 AU check.
The Girls Cup Final was won by Eastwood Rugby 22-5 over Rugby Vault from New Zealand. The Cobie-Jane Morgan MVP went to Maddie Ashley from Eastwood. The Plate Final was won by Illawarra Sports High 17-0 over Central North.
In the Boys Cup Final, Gordon Rugby defeated NSW Waratahs 26-10 with the Jesse Parahi MVP award going to Gordon Rugby’s Tom Cameron. In the Plate Final, Hunters Hall prevailed 33-17 over Western Sydney 7s Academy.
Day One – Stars Rugby 7s Women & Men – Central Coast 7s
Stars Rugby 7s Women were undefeated in pool play, with a 3-0 record and advanced to the Cup Quarterfinals on day 2 against UQ at 10:40am Sunday local (8:40 p.m ET) . The Stars Men went 0-3 against very strong teams and will play for the Boot Semi-Finals against Liverpool Warriors at 11:40 am Sunday local (9:40 pm ET Saturday).
Stars Rugby 7s Women Day One Recap
The Stars Rugby 7s Women defeated Hunter Women (Australia) 28-10 in their first pool D match. Tries were scored by Leigh Whiteside, Emily Bass (2), Lauren Ebeling, Pam Buisa and Katrina Lavale. Conversions were added by Azania Watene, Katrina Lavale, Sani Lavale and Katrina Barker.
In their second match, the team faced favored Fijiana, winning 21-19. The team played controlled rugby under head coach Pete Hammond’s (Sydney, Australia) system and contained Fijiana’s powerful second half attack. Sani Lavale had a hat trick with Katrina Barker converting all three tries.
In the final pool match the Stars won 17-12 against Sydney University. Emily Bass added another two tries and Sani Lavale a try. Katrina Barker had a conversion.
The Stars Rugby 7s women won Pool D going 3-0 and advanced to the Cup Quarterfinals on day 2 against UQ at 10:40am Sunday local (8:40 p.m ET).
Stars Rugby 7s Men Day One Recap
The Stars Rugby 7s Men were in a very tough Pool along with Tabadamu (Fiji), last year’s runners-up, ACT Brumbies and the Australian Gold, a split squad team of Aussie 7s national team players.
In the Stars Rugby 7s first match they faced Tabadamu losing 38-5. The team had a number of penalties with Regan Muir scoring the only try.
In their second match the team played the ACT Brumbies and suffered a 31-12 loss. The Brumbies scored three of their tries in the last two minutes of the match. Regan Muir and Ben Ellerman scored tries for the Stars and Adam Gauder added a conversion.
The Stars Rugby 7s faced a formidable task against the Australian Gold and the Gold dominated in winning 47-0.
On Day two the Stars Rugby 7s Men face the Liverpool Warriors in the Boot Semi-Finals at 11:40 am Sunday local (9:40 pm ET Saturday).
Photo: Liz Entwhistle
Central Coast 7s – Stars Rugby 7s Women’s Squad
- Emily Bass, Australia
- Katrina Barker, Australia
- Lauren Ebeling, USA
- Maria Garcia, Spain
- Lindsey Mahoney, USA
- Georgia Page, Australia
- Kim Semiglia, USA
- Azania Watene, New Zealand
- Leigh Whiteside, Ireland
- Pam Buisa, Canada 7s Player
- Katrina Lavale, Canada 7s Player
- Sani Lavale, Canada 7s Player
- Injury Reserve: Michelle Montague, New Zealand
Coach: Pete Hammond, Australia
Assistant: Ivan Pomare, New Zealand
Director: Liz Entwhistle, USA
Physio: Alexandre Flohr, Australia
Physio: Tony Schoer, Australia
Central Coast 7s: Stars Rugby 7s Men’s Squad
- Najee Bissoon – wing – University of Oklahoma Rugby, Norman, USA
- *Luc Desroches – hooker/prop – SC Trojan Rugby, Los Angeles, USA
- Ben Ellermann -center/wing – FC St. Pauli/Germany 7s/Germany 15s, Hamburg, Germany
- Adam Gauder – center/prop – Bond University Rugby, Gold Coast, Australia
- *Jakeb Glaser – center – UAB Rugby, Birmingham, USA
- Harry Higgins – prop –West Harbour RFC/Old Blue Rugby/USA Rugby 15s – Sydney, Australia
- *Chase Jollie – prop – Wisconsin Rugby Club, Madison, USA
- Regan Muir – flyhalf – Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia
- Manasa Rokosuka
- *Jaime Serna – scrumhalf – Principia College Rugby, USA
- Bailey Stringer – flyhalf/scrumhalf – Arizona State Men’s Rugby, Tempe, USA
- Beau Vrbas – flyhalf/center- Regis University Rugby/Glendale Merlins Rugby, Denver, USA
INJURY RESERVES:
*Finau Makamaka – prop – Randwick Rugby Club, Sydney, Australia
*Jacob Griffin – prop/hooker – Warnervale Rugby Club, Budgewoi, Australia
COACH: Ivan Pomare, Auckland, New Zealand
ASSISTANT COACH: Pete Hammond, Sydney, Australia
PHYSIO: Alex Flohr, Terrigal, Australia
DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, USA
*indicates veteran of previous Stars tours
Stars Rugby 7s Tour
The Stars Rugby 7s tour is not just about playing rugby. The women’s and men’s teams had an opportunity to travel from Sydney to Wyong, Australia, experiencing the culture, sights and enjoyed the rugby camaraderie of thier hosts and team-mates.
The tour recap is a synopsis of Facebook posts from both Liz Entwhistle and from Stars Rugby 7s.
The team arrived in Sydney, Australia and enjoyed the Sydney Harbour, touched sharks at Watson Bay, climbed cliffs at the National Park and had the opportunity to see the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge during both daylight and night hours. They relaxed with a night yoga session and enjoyed meat pies and coffee after a long flight.
The next day the team was off early to Bondi Beach for some beach rugby, visited the Taronga Zoo, Manly Beach, a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art, and had an afternoon training session. While in Sydney they were hosted by Randwick DRUFC.
The team also had a short scrimmage against West Harbour RFc and the West harbour Pirates. The men lost to the Pirates after the score was tied at halftime. Beau Vrbas and Ben Eellermann scored tries. The women scored two tries by Lindsey Mahoney and Leigh Whiteside before the lights unexpectantly went out, an unexpected end to the scrimmage. That left the teams to enjoy a meal together and enjoy the rugby camaraderie.
The next day it was time to leave Sydney for the Central Coast. First they stopped at the Sydney Olympic Park. That day they would join Sense Rugby for a session with an Avoca training group. Scrimmages followed against the Stallions and Avoca Rugby with Avoca hosting a team barbeque.
The day before the Stars were to play in the Central Coast 7s, the team observed the Simply Smashing Boys and Girls Youth Tournament. Some players explored Terriga, while others had a pool recovery session. The day ended with a team dinner and jersey presentation.
Central Coast 7s Pools
UON Cup (Men) Pool Standings & Finals
- A: 1 Australian Gold 2 Tabadamu 3 ACT Brumbies 4 Stars Rugby 7s
- B: 1 Fiji Barbarians 2 Island Breeze 3 Australian Universities 4 Sunnybank
- C: 1 Stallions 2 Uluinakau 3 UQ 4 West Harbour
- D: 1 Australian Green 2 NSW Waratahs 7s 3 Iconz 4 Liverpool
- Cup Quarterfinals
- Australia Gold v NSW Waratahs 7s (10:40 local)
- Stallions v Island Breeze
- Fiji Barbarians v Uluinakau (11 am local)
- Australia Green v Tabadamu
- Ball Semi-Finals
- ACT Brumbies v Iconz (12:20 pm local)
- Uniroos v UQ
- Boot Semi-Finals
- Stars Rugby 7s v Liverpool (11:40 am local – 9:40pm ET Sat)
- Sunnybank v West Harbour
Kinesio Cup (Women) Pool Standings & Finals
- A: 1 Australia 2 UQ 3 Central North 4 West Harbour
- B: 1 Canada Maple Leafs 2 Sunnybank 3 Avoca Beach 4 Cook Islands
- C: 1 NZ Development 2 Pride 7s 3 Randwick Magic 4 Hunter Women
- D: 1 Stars Rugby 7s 2 Fijiana 3 Sydney University 4 Hunter Women
- Cup Quarterfinals
- Australia v Fijiana (10:00 am local)
- NZ Development v Sunnybank
- Canada Maple Leafs v Pride 7s (10:40 am local; 8:40 pm ET Sat.)
- Stars Rugby 7s v UQ
- Ball Semi-Finals
- Central North v Sydney University (12:00 pm local)
- Avoca Beach v Randwick Magic
- Boot Semi-Finals
- West Harbour v Hunter Women (11:20 am local)
- Cook islands v ACT Brumbies
Central Coast 7s – Pool Schedule; Finals Schedule
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