In the weekend, the Columba College Senior A Sevens Team travelled up to Timaru for the South Island Secondary School Girls Event.

Competing in the U19 Girls Division our team is full of young, vibrant and energetic young students but were a lot less experienced than the majority of the group there. Losing captain Maia Joseph to the Otago Spirit Rugby team and without our injured weapon Olivia Fowler this season our numbers were dropping. This was not helped when try-scoring machine Madison Flutey and our super strength up front Niamh Paterson both went down in the first game with tournament ending injuries. Reliable star winger Lara McCulloch was also ruled out due to an ongoing knee injury prior to leaving but proved a top quality water girl throughout! 

The team had a tough start drawn to face the last year defending champions and the current national Condor title holders first up. Columba held strong and made it difficult for the tournament favourites but ultimately Christchurch Girls were too good claiming the first match. We played Roncalli College next and improved immensely, Jorja Dinan had taken over the captaincy role and lead by example scoring a hat-trick of tries and really soaking up the new found kicking skill she was unaware she possessed. Columba dominated both ends of the field gaining valuable defensive turnovers and converting them into attacking points. 

Then it was time to face Dunstan High School - both teams had similar results throughout the day and needed this win to progress. It was a very evenly matched contest, neither side giving an inch early on. Columba took the lead but it was pulled back by their opposition and became a seesaw game with each side swapping tries and eventually ended in a controversial draw. This meant it went to a count-back and Columba were unlucky to be knocked out of the cup playoffs. However finished with a deserved Plate Championship title after winning their playoff match.

A successful trip given the unchangeable injury circumstances and an enjoyable time was had by all. Thank you to the coaches, parents and management who attended, the support was awesome and the future of Sevens at Columba College looks bright!