The Summer Tour 2019 will be the most diverse one yet for the 7 Bamboos women’s and men’s teams. Besides the usual contingent of 7s tournaments, in 2019 the tour schedule has been boosted by some exciting beach and touch rugby events.

It was around two years ago, at the London Beach Rugby, when the team last played on a sandy surface. This summer, both squads travel to the stunning beaches of Exmouth in Devon, to compete at the South West Beach Rugby tournament, staged at the 29th of June.

The first weekend in June is traditionally one of the busiest in the Bamboos-calendar with both squads in action on Saturday as well as the tournament crew working hard to deliver the only junior club 7s tournament in the area a day later.

One of the busiest weekends for the Bamboos will be at the beginning of June when the team rolls out in full force at the SW7s Festival. Since the launch of the event in 2015, we have been involved and could witness how the festival has grown significantly from year to year. 

In 2017, the three-day festival will take place at the stunning facilities of Cleve RFC from the 2nd to the 4th of June. The Bamboos will compete with their elite men’s team and the newly introduced women’s team on Saturday.  

SW7s 2017 Official Video from South West 7s on Vimeo.

On Sunday the focus is all about development when our coaches will welcome 16 youth teams to the first-ever SW7s Development Cup. The eight u15s and 16s teams travelling from all over the South West to Cleve and it’s set to become an action-packed competition. This tournament was sold out fast, underlining the great interest in 7s among age group teams. 

In addition to the Development Cup, we partnered up with the RFU and Bristol Ladies Rugby to run two Girls Development Sessions on the day. With the aim to further support the development of girls and women’s rugby we are proud to bring you this opportunity. There are 20 free spaces for under 15s girls (no 7s experience required) to join professionally coached 7s-sessions, followed by an exhibition match in front of a large audience.

So with plenty of playing opportunities for junior and senior players, it is fair to say that this weekend in June is set to become another cracking one – We can’t wait for SW7s 2017 to arrive.

Quick Links

SW7s Festival | Website

SW7s Development Cup | Website

SW7s Girls Development Sessions | Website

The popular SW7s Development Cup returns this June as part of the annual SW7s Festival.

This u14s/u15s tournament offers one a few opportunities for those age groups to enjoy the Olympic sport in front of a large crowd and the best possible playing conditions. This year the competition will be run for the first time under the newly introduced X Rugby 7s rules.

X Rugby 7s is a brand-new format which allows youngsters to enjoy 7s rugby during the Summer months and is ideal for inexperienced players to start the game. The essential law changes of X Rugby 7s include a smaller pitch, two try-zones as well as modified kicking and tackling rules.

The tournament will take place on Sunday 3^rd of June at Cleve RFC and there are only eight spaces per age groups. Entering a team is only £25.00 / team.

To enter your side, please visit our event website or contact us.

Quick Links

SW7s Development Cup | Website

SW7s Development Cup | Invitation 

The SW7s Festival in Bristol is one of the favorite stops during the annual Bamboos summer tour. Since the launch of the festival, 7 Bamboos Rugby have been on board with their elite squad as well as the development coaches and tournament organisers. 

In the past, we teamed up with SW7s to run development sessions and school tournaments and this year we are thrilled to launch the first-ever Development Cup on the Sunday of the three-day event.  Eight u14s and u15s teams will come to Cleve RFC to go head to head for silverware.

On Saturday, the Bamboos roll out in full force with their women’s and men’s squads to attend the 20th tournament since the humble beginnings in 2013. Last year, the men’s team won the Plate trophy in a competitive top-class Elite tournament. With a strong squad under the leadership of captain Lewis Pratten, the team is striving to repeat the successful performance. 

The competition standard remains very high and consequently, the Bamboos will face top-tier teams such as the Godfathers, Shredded Ducks and the RAF Spitfire. However, with a good mix of young and experienced players, the team is ready to take on this massive challenge.

The Bamboos Women’s team will also travel with a full squad to Mangotsfield. The team has trained incredibly hard in the previous weeks to get in shape for a busy 7s season. At their first outing, at the Hartpury Sevens in May, the women gained plenty of confidence by making it all the way to the Plate final.

The men’s side will face the RAF Spitfires, Toucans Rugby and the Welsh-based Ponty Butcher’s while the Bamboos ladies team competes against Bristol Rugby and North Petherton in the pool stage. 

With two hungry teams striving for success and a fantastic junior event lined up, this weekend holds plenty of action in store. Come along to support the senior teams on Saturday.

Huge thanks go to our amazing team sponsor The Stable and our brand-new transport partner Gulliver’s Truck Hire for all your support.

Quick Links

Website | SW7s Festival

Last weekend the Bamboos women’s and men’s teams traveled to one of our favorite tournaments on the circuit – the Bristol-based SW7s Festival. Thanks to our latest generous partners Gulliver’s Truck Hire Ltd. we had the privilege to have access to one of Gulliver’s brand-new Mercedes Sprinter Vans, which offers plenty of space to meet all required logistical needs of such a tournament.  

This RFU 24/Sevens qualifier event has grown significantly during the last couple of years and was hosted for the first time at the fabulous facilities of Cleve RFC in Mangotsfield. 

For the newly formed Bamboos women’s team, the SW7s was just the second-ever tournament following the team launch at the Hartpury Sevens in May. However, the squad, under the guidance of coach Lewis Pratten, glued together quickly and showed an incredibly strong team performance on the day with three out of four wins.  

The team entered the first match fresh and focussed and secured a 19:10 victory against Premiership side Bristol Ladies, with two tries from Annette Thomas as well as a try by Lucy Juffkins.

In the second pool game, “player of the day” Annette Thomas produced another outstanding performance with a hat-trick against North Petherton. Tanya Bird scored as well in order to seal a close 26:22 win.

Due to a late drop out in the pool, the Bamboos women’s progressed straight to the Cup semi-final to go head-to-head with Chipping Sodbury. Three weeks ago the two teams met already at the Hartpury Sevens and once again the Bamboos got away with the win eventually. Although it was no easy task as Chipping Sodbury played courageous and brave. A tournament-ending injury by Alice Rooke didn’t make things easier but in the end a 22:17 win was enough to qualify for the Cup final.

In the final, the Bamboos faced Swansea RFC a team with some excellent 7s specialists on the team sheet. From early on in the match, it became clear that Swansea’s experience and talent helped the Welsh side to dominate the game and to win the final. 

However, the girls showed as so often on the day plenty of character and bounced back with a strong second-half display leaving the pitch proud with a strong achievement.

Like our women’s team, the Bamboos men’s ambitions to finish the day with silverware were also crushed by a Welsh side. The men in green entered the tournament with a strong squad in order to face the tough challenge of the SW7s Elite competition. 

A loss in the opening game against the strong Ponty Butchers followed by a much-improved performance against rivals Toucans Rugby. However, a loss in the final pool match against the famous RAF Spitfires resulted in a Plate semi-final against the development side of the Ponty Butchers. The Bamboos started well into the match and had a 19:10 lead at some point. However, the Butchers bounced back strongly and managed to get away with the win in the end.

The next stop of the 7 Bamboos Summer Tour 2017 will be the Frome 7 on 17th of June.

SW7s | Bamboos Women's Squad

1 – Sophie Cleverly 2 – Alex Walsh 3 – Grace Baker 4- Alice Rooke 5 – Stacie Godfrey 6 – Lucy Juffkins 7 – Annette Thomas 8 – Tanya Bird 9 – Aine Foley 10 – Elaine Hughes 11 – Kim Moreland 12 – Aimee Kelly

SW7s | Bamboos Men's Squad

1 - Kieran Martin 2 - Nacani Duikete Nacagilevu 3 - Callum Wyman 4 - Josh Holt 5 - Morgan Churchill 6 - Lj Brown 7 - Lewis Pratten 8 - Will Hewer 9 - Jamie Williams 10 - Chrissy Poole 11 - Alex Onyeahasi 12 - Iko Mo Noqu Noqu