BSC defends Leslie Sevens Rugby crown

Blantyre Sports Club (BSC) broke the President’s Invitational team’s chain of resilience with a 2-1 triumph during the annual Leslie Sevens Rugby Tournament to defend the crown for the third time.

The President’s Invitational team, comprising junior players, selected from the newly introduced Southern Region squad, seemed to be on their way of earning their first title as they led 7-5 at half-time but BSC dug deep in the dying minutes of the game to upset the table.

BSC’s incisive attacks in the second segment, including Nick Thornicoft’s storming run that broke the opposition’s line of defence and helped him score a second try, were so efficient to the effect that they managed to get the game in their favour with a 10-7 lead with three minutes to play.

The President’s team fought back to re-correct the situation with a drop goal, but their effort proved too little too late.

“The game was so physical and quite tactical,” admitted BSC captain Graham Staines. “This shows that the game is fast improving in the country because in the past we hardly sweated to earn victories in the finals. All the same, it is good that we have successfully defended the title.”

Both finalists produced a 100 percent record during the eight-team contest’s group stages that were divided into two pools. Each team played four games in the round-robin stage to qualify for the final.

The other teams that participated in the competition are Luchenza Red Ants, Ndirande Impala, Lilongwe Rugby Club, Ian All Stars, Thyolo Rugby Club and Barbarian Internationals.

According to Rugby Football Union of Malawi (Rfum) public relations officer Grey Tewete, FMB, Carlsberg Malawi, Mapeto Tyres, Game Haven as well as KK Security contributed towards the smooth running of the contest.

Tewete said the Leslie Sevens Tournament was established in 1948 by the BSC member W. J Leslie, but it went into dormancy in 1996 due to unforeseen circumstances before it bounced back to action in 2010.