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 was held from Oct. 27-29 in Wyong, Australia and consisted of 16 teams in each tournament, featuring some of the strongest sevens competition outside of the HSBC Sevens Series. These teams included international, invitational, club and domestic teams that had been invited to the tournament.

In the UON Cup final, Australia Gold defeated Fiji Barbarians 19-17, while in the Kinesio Cup, Australia won 29-12 over Canada. With the win at the UON Central Coast Sevens, comes $20,000AUD in prize money. The winners also gain automatic entry into the Coral Coast 7s in Fiji in January.

Australia captured both MVP awards with John Porch and Emma Sykes, the winners.

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 the organization as well as BarTV Sports with commentary. The matches were 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. The Women advanced to the Bronze medal match, losing 45-0 to New Zealand Development. The Men, who averaged 22 years of age, played in the Boot Final, losing 19-14 to the West Harbour Pirates.

Central Coast 7s –  UON Cup & Kinesio Cup Day 2

Stars Rugby 7s Women

The Stars Rugby 7s Women went undefeated in Pool play the day before and met the University of Queensland in the Cup Quarterfinals. The Stars Rugby 7s dispatched the UQ, the AON Uni 7s Champions, 17-0 to advance to the Cup Semi-Finals against Canada. Tries were scored by Leigh Whiteside, Emily Bass, and Katrina Barker, while Sani Lavale added a conversion.

In the Semi-Finals, the Stars faced the Canada Maple Leafs, a national team, and competed well. At halftime, the score was 14-5 in favor of Canada and was then extended to a 33-10 victory over the Stars. Emily Bass and Sani Lavale scored tries for the Stars.

In the battle for third place, the Stars faced another difficult opponent in the New Zealand Development team. New Zealand maintained possession throughout the match and won convincingly 45-0.

The Stars Rugby 7s performed well throughout the tournament and will be pleased with the 4th place finish in this prestigious tournament.

Stars Rugby 7s Men

After going winless on day one of the UON Cup pool round, the Stars Rugby 7s men were looking to win their Boot Semi-Final match against Liverpool. The men tasted victory with a 19-5 win and moved to the Boot Finals. Try scorers for the STars included Regan Muir, Najee Bissoon, and Adam Gauder. Bailey Christopher Stringer had two conversions.

In the Boot Final, the Stars faced the West Harbour Pirates. It was a thrilling match with the Stars within a ball bounce away in the final play of taking the match. The Pirates prevailed 19-14 for the Boot title.

The Stars Rugby 7s men finished in 14th place in the tournament. The tournament included HSBC World Series teams, Professional teams, and teams that were part of the Shute Shield. For a young side, the experience gained from playing teams of this stature is invaluable.

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
• Mardi Watts, Australia
• Leigh Whiteside, Ireland
• Pam Buisa, Canada 7s Player
• Katrina Lavale, Canada 7s Player
• Sani Lavale, Canada 7s Player
• Injury Reserve: Michelle Montague, New Zealand