This past weekend, Columba College attended the SISS Sevens Tournament held in Geraldine. As Columba has many excellent and keen Sevens players, we managed to enter both a U16 and U19 Team.

The U19 Team arrived ready to give it their all as they see their time at Columba come to an end. For the majority of our Year 13 cohort, it was their last sports tournament wearing the dove. Maddy Sullivan led her team well despite a niggly back injury and all the girls involved had an epic time playing with their friends. They played some extremely impressive schools and did remarkably well considering their pool contained some of the top Sevens schools in the South Island, including National Condor contenders - Christchurch Girls. Overall they managed to cross the line multiple times and topped their day off with a try to our Rugby Stalwart, Phoebe Wellstead. She had not crossed the chalk all season and it was her goal to get on the scoreboard at this event. Leaving it until the dying minute of the final game, fellow Year 13 speedstar, Jaime Reid, snuck through a gap before offloading to her friend for the glory! It was incredible teamwork and made for a very memorable event. 

The U16 Columba College Team was in a pool with six other teams from all around the South Island. Their first game was against the highly favoured Christchurch Girls High who are known for their Sevens talent. Nevertheless, our U16 team knew they had to kick off the day with a dominant performance to set them up for a strong tournament and they did just that, notching up a 26-5 win. After this impeccable start to the day, they then went on to beat Timaru girls 29-10, James Hargest College 38-5, St Andrews College (which was another really tough game) 22-10, Roncalli College 30-0 and lastly Rolleston College 21-7. Overall, they ended up winning all six of their games, scoring 166 points and letting in just 37 throughout the day. This talented team was rewarded with 1st place claiming the title of U16 SISS Sevens Winners 2022. 

A special shout-out goes to the superstar management duo of Nick and Tania Anderson for all their support and guidance. We appreciated all the parents cheering from our sidelines, we could hear you and we are beyond grateful. Well done to all the players who participated in this tournament; we are immensely proud of the efforts and success Columba College showcased!