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Twickenham glory!!
19 Aug 2008
Sevenoaks “touch” boys victorious in Twickenham final
Sevenoaks's Freddie Woods led a team comprising mainly Sevenoaks RFC players to overall victory in the National Touch Rugby championships at Twickenham on Saturday 16th August 2008.
The team, operating under the name of the Somerhill pub, who have sponsored it for the past five seasons, competed and won the Tonbridge League earlier this summer, won all their preliminary games at Old Deer Park on Saturday morning, beating teams from Gloucester, Northampton and Worcester before playing the final at Twickenham in front of 30,000 spectators who were there to watch the annual Middlesex 7s competition.
The squad of twelve, the majority hailing from Sevenoaks Rugby Club, won the competition with an outstanding defensive record, conceding only two tries throughout the day, and scoring in excess of thirty five.
Despite drawing in the final 0-0, The Somerhill won the competition overall because they had already beaten their final opponents three tries to nil earlier on the day.
Captain Freddie Woods said ‘To become National Champions is a fantastic achievement. Our defensive effort was superb and really won it for us. Touch Rugby also requires strength in depth within a team, as there are role on and role off substitutions, so it really was the essence of a complete team performance'.
The team are indebted to The Somerhill pub, in Tonbridge. ‘It does cost a fair bit of money to enter these competitions, so we are always thankful to Steve and Kerry for their continued support' added Woods.
The team now hope to finish their season with a trip to a competition in Medway on 31st August, and will be the team to beat in next year's touch rugby tournament at Tonbridge, which starts in May.
Also on display in the main competition were two former Sevenoaks players, James Short who was in the Saracens squad, and Tristan Roberts, who was in Gloucester's team.
Team: Freddie Woods, Max Beasley, Michael Fenton, Alex Barber, Dan Scott, Dan Barber, Will Barber, Matt Bates, Jon Barber, Patrick Rogers, Doug Woods, Josh Harding.
The team would also like to thank the support of the other team members who couldn't make the final: Wayne Smith, Steve Gallagher, Kieran Conway, Tom Swallow, Stu Coleman and Luke Harding