Auckland University Rugby Football Club Inc

The University Sevens squad continues to go from strength to strength this season, winning one of the three tournaments they have entered so far.Coached again by Kili Tabakau, Sevens has been given extra prominence at the University club in the last two seasons and it is now starting to show on the field.

"The boys are really starting to hit their straps," Kili says. "It was a real thrill to win at Patamahoe in our first tournament of the season."

The victory in Patamahoe was especially satisfying for University as the team they beat in the final, the Fijian Barbarians, was a side they had been beaten by in the round-robin play. "It really gave the boys a boost in confidence to take out that competition after losing early on."

University has steadily built from there, losing in the Plate semifinal at Te Rapa and winning the Plate final in the Auckland Club 7s, beating Grammar Carlton, last weekend.

"We have got enormous potential at the club and I know that with more experience and more time playing together we can only get better," Kili says. "There is no shortage of talent."

An issue is starting well. "Against Pakuranga in pool play at the Auckland 7s we let them score first and they got away from us. When you concede points early in Sevens it is often very difficult to claw back."

There are a large number of stars in the University Sevens squad, although perhaps the most uplifting story is that of Liam Steel. The talented midfield back broke his ankle and missed most of this season for the under-21s. Yet after four games in the regular season he is back playing Sevens.

University takes part in the Greerton Marist Super 7's this weekend in Tauranga and then takes a beak until Christmas. In January University takes part in the Pakuranga Sevens and then there are the prestigious Sevens at Mount Maunganui, which will be a real gauge of their progress.

"We are certainly moving in the right direction," Kili says. "The boys are extremely keen and they are a young group with plenty of potential. That really does make them a joy to coach. We have tried to put the right structures in place at the club for Sevens to prosper and so hopefully in time we will be a real force in this form of the game."

Kili says that a major goal for the club remains winning the Auckland 7s, something he considers the club was close to achieving last weekend. "We know if we had beaten Pakuranga we could have gone all the way."

A Strong Finish - Mount Maunganui Sevens Tournament

It has taken three summers, but at the Mt Maunganui Sevens tournament, AURFC became a respected Sevens team by grafting their way to a Championship Final. The Mt competition has a reputation for being one of the most competitive and biggest (29 teams) tournaments in the North Island. The team's unbeaten run was finally halted against a Rangataua team that was a shadow Bay of Plenty Sevens team that had three former/present NZ Seven reps and coached by Matua Parkinson. Rangataua absolutely steam rolled their way to the final, putting 45 on Ponsonby in a Quarter Final and 40 on College Rifles in a Semi Final.

In there two pool games, they bet a very accomplished Hamilton Old Boys first, who have been our nemesis at previous tournaments. In the second game, we played Whakarewarewa who went up 12 nil fairly quickly, but the lads got themselves composed and scored the next four tries. Therefore, we topped our pool and had to play Pakuranga who were also undefeated, in the Championship QF.

Pakuranga were heavy favorites with their current success at winning the Auckland Club 7s comp and runners up in their own tournament played last weekend, which University bombed out in. Wayne Pivac also did a good job of stacking their team with a few Auckland stars too. Anyway it didn’t matter the lads played won with great composure 17 - 12.

Then onto James Semple Tuaranga Sports in the SF, which was a close affair up till the 3/4 stage, but with some super performances from the bench, made the telling difference and resulted in a comfortable win.

In the final, the lads did exceptionally well to be up 14 -12 at half time, they held out Rangataua for extensive periods on their own line in the 2nd half. The tired legs and 10 minute halves started to take it';s toll and our guys were exhausted, but still defended with vigor. It wasn't until New Zealand Rep Ricky Te Puna finally squeezed through the slightest gap, that broke the deadlock. What eventually went to 14 - 31 after a Uni player was red carded, was a respected scoreline when you compare the gap in experience of each squad.

A big thanks to the coach Kili Tabakau who has turned the team into respected and serious contenders on the Sevens circuit, therefore adding to the University’s reputation. He has helped the younger guys develop into leaders and given them opportunity and confidence to perform against men and under extreme pressure, which they excelled at on Sunday. It is exciting to see that there were three school leavers and four Under 21 players in Sunday's squad. What also makes the result stand out, is they were without the stars Liam Steel, Loto Pita with broken legs and Nepia Fox with a knee injury.

Very much looking forward to the 2011/12 season.

2010/11 AURFC Sevens Update

Congratulations to the following two players who were selected for the Auckland Sevens squad:.
Jarek Goebel
Sean Brookman

The team has had a fairly strong season so far. With the latest result of finishing third out of twelve teams at the Samurai 7s tournament which was played over three Saturdays.

2010 Tournament Results:

Coaches and Management
Head Coach: Kili Tabakau
Trainer: Guy Mothersole
Physio: Harley Matthews

2010 Uni Games - University Rugby 7s Team

University Sport New Zealand presents the 2010 Uni Games to be held in Invercargill. The games are a huge annual event for sport minded students throughout the country. After a long absence rugby returns to the Uni games in the form of 7s. A Auckland University Rugby team will be traveling down to win national honors. The Uni games includes 20 + Sports which involves around 1000 - 1200 competitors who are all students, which should equate to a good party atmosphere.

Click on the following link for the official Uni Games website; http://www.southlandunigames.co.nz/
To be involved in the 7s team. Contact Robert.Taylor@aurfc.co.nz

Must be a student at the University of Auckland.

Mount Team
Kayne Bubb, Robert Taylor,
Steven Kumarich, Ben Patterson,
Nepia Fox Matamua, Liam Steel,
Matthew "Unit" Matich, Sam Henwood,
Tom Halse, Tiemana Mohi

AURFC 7s 2010 - Progressing nicely

What has served as a good opportunity to bring in new players to the club and have them playing and socialising along side established senior players has been a very worthwhile exercise leading into the 2010 season.
In what is the second year we have run a Sevens team, there has been tremendous progress from its inaugural year in culture, results and it's overall purpose to recruit and develop AURFC talent for the XVs season.
Notably new recruit from St Peters College Nepia Fox-Matamua has been outstanding, another name to add to the 'watch out for' list in 2010.

A sincere thank you to Kumo for his time and passion in coaching the team and the committee for financially supporting the programme.

31st January 2010 Mt Maunganui

No one had told us we would be participating in our first underwater Sevens tournament. Weather you would expect in Wellington, hit the Mount on there big day of national club sevens.
Under these outrageous conditions the style of play adopted more suited your standard northern hemisphere XVs game, kick for territory and apply pressure.
The lads played four games, winning two and losing two. The most vital was the last game which was the Quarter Final lost for the Plate against Hamilton Old Boys.

The future Premier back-row made a huge contribution to the teams effort once again; Sam Henwood made some decisive breaks throughout the tournament with pace to burn, Nepia was playing like Benji Marshall and Matich cleared a total of 213 rucks. Liam Steel from St Kents made his debut in Varsity blue and made a big splash with every touch down.

Results

Mt Manganui 5 - 17 loss
Rotoiti 24 - 0 Win
Melville 12 - 7 Win
Hamilton Old Boys
5 - 17 loss QF Plate

Player of the Tournament:

Robert Taylor
A new player making his debut for the 7s team left a huge impression on the rest of the lads and left the core of the squad scratching their heads as to why he hadn't made more appearances in the previous tournaments. RT has joined up with the New Zealand squad for their preparations for the Wellington 7s.

Team:
Grayson Schiphorst
Fraser Deas
Ben Boyle
Dane Coles
James Mata
Joey Stainton
Nepia Fox-Matamua
Brad Linklator
Michael Peters
Matthew Matich

Coach: Steve Kumarich

Te Rapa Sevens 2009

A much better performance from the Varsity team at the Te Rapa tournament played on the 28th of November down in Hamilton left the squad in a very positive mindset for future tournaments. The lads lost the final of the Bowl 5 - 17.

Ben Boyle (Shooters) was top try scorer with five outstanding finishes.

Nepia and Matthew were joint players of the tournament for the Varsity team and were making their debuts in the royal blue. Other players making their debut were Fraser Deas and Dane Coles. Welcome to the club boys.

Formal presentations of the days achievements and fines were done at the very well know Waikato student establishment The Outback Inn.

2011-2012 Sevens Information

Trainings:

Tournaments:

University Sevens go from strength to strength