UJ claim Melrose Sevens title

FNB UJ became the third South African team to win the famous Melrose Sevens tournament in the last six years, after a fine 35-21 victory over the hosts, Melrose, in the final at the Greenyards at the weekend.

The University of Johannesburg, of course, followed in the footsteps of two-times Varsity Cup champions, Maties (2004 and 2005), and Shimlas (2007), by claiming this title – mainly thanks to speedster Earl Lewis who scored a hat-trick of tries and added five conversions in a pulsating final.

The new Melrose champions – coached by former Transvaal and Lions wing Jaco Louw – started off slowly against Langholm in the initial stages of this annual Sevens event.

They probably were a little sore from warm-up friendlies a day before, but upped the pace in the quarterfinals against Kelso.

But then Lewis, in combination with the two experienced Lions provincial Sevens players Byron Godfrey and Derich Badenhorst and also Clinton de Klerc, took them to an impressive 38-19 win over Watsonians in the semifinal.

In the final UJ took an early lead, before the home side fought back to level things at 21-21 at half-time.

Then Lewis – who shone at fullback for UJ in the 2009 Varsity Cup and has previously been noticed by Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu – turned it around for the victors.

UJ, under the coaching of Hugo van As during the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International, narrowly missed out qualifying for the VC semifinals after finishing fifth on the log. Their win at the Melrose Sevens does, however, prove just how competitive the 2009 Varsity Cup was.

Melrose Sevens play-off results:

Quarterfinals:
UJ 43-5 Kelso
Watsonians 19-10 Stirling County
Melrose 14-5 Heriot
Glasgow Hawks 24-17 Ayr
 
Semifinals:
UJ 38-19 Watsonians
Melrose 40-5 Glasgow Hawks

Final:
UJ 35-21 Melrose