0
Sevens glory for Academy side
David Lewis | November 14th, 2010
Western Force player David Smith was named player of the tournament at the Gold Coast International Sevens after scoring 12 tries for the Samurai International team. Pic: Brendan Radke
Related Links
Pictures: Gold Coast International Sevens finals
THE Sevens sorcery of unheralded Olex Taranaki Academy brought them glory on the Gold Coast last night in an all-Kiwi final of the International Sevens at Albert Park.
The giant-killing Academy side, which cut a swathe through the competition, overcame scalding-hot favourites Emerging New Zealand 31-26 to make it more Kiwi glee after New Zealand upset the Kangaroos 16-12 in Saturday night's final of the rugby league Tri-Nations.
The $20,000 winners cheque was richly deserved for the team from sleepy New Plymouth as they responded to the string-pulling ploys of Super 15 Hurricanes ace Scott Waldrom to take the cash.
They were adrift early on as a sustained burst of acceleration and body swerving trickery took Bryce Heem on an 80 metre run which culminated with a converted touchdown under the posts.
But the underdogs were unfazed and stuck rigidly to their game plan, hitting back when a neat passing move ended with Waisake Naholo crashing over in the corner for a try converted by kicking specialist Cody Rei.
It got even better for the side which had upset world champions Samoa, holders South Sea Drifters and the Aussie Thunderbolt en route to the final when player-coach Scott Waldrom ripped down the middle to barge over, with Rei again providing the extras for a 14-7 interval lead.
The Academy youngsters turned up the heat in the second half with further tries from Kane Barrett, Naholo and Warwick Lahmer underlining their dominance before Emerging NZ hit back when the damage was done through a Toby Arnold double and one from Matt Hudson.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/...ast-sport.html
Reply With Quote
