Fijian side Yamacia has scored 130-points without conceding any on Day One of the Central Coast Sevens – Photo: Claire Reed/Central Coast Sevens.

by Brendan Bradford –

With 130-points from three games, Fijian side Yamacia are the team to beat after the Pool stages of the Central Coast Sevens.

Demolishing Mana Pasifika 47-0, Southern Districts 45-0 and Iconz 38-0 to top Pool D, the side – on its first tour to Australia – are in prime position for Sunday’s finals where they play Manly at 10am.

Byron Rugby 7s and Sydney Premier 7s champions Northern Suburbs carried their good form into Day One, winning all three of their Pool B matches. After beating Sunnybank 22-19 in an opening round thriller, the Shoremen built a big lead over Damnation before easing off in the second half for a 31-19 win.

Taking on Randwick – who had beaten Damnation and narrowly lost to Brisbane side Sunnybank – Norths jumped out of the gates with three quick tries before the tide turned in the second half and the Galloping Greens fought back. Two five-pointers made the closing stages tense, but time ran out for the Wicks, who went down 17-12. Norths topped the group and will face Island Breeze while Sunnybank finished second and will play a Josh Holmes inspired Deadwood side in the finals.

Going down 12-0 by halftime in their first match, Deadwood fought back with a double to Warringah halfback Holmes and led 19-12 with a couple of minutes to play. They couldn’t hold on to the lead though and let two more tries in for a 26-19 loss to Ovalau.

Somebody sign him! Warringah halfback Josh Holmes has scored eight tries in three games for Deadwood
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

Notoriously slow starters, Deadwood earned a come from behind upset over a fancied Island Breeze side in the next round. Trailing 21-17 with just seconds on the clock and a man in the bin, Holmes outpaced the defence for his third try of the match and a 24-21 win.

“The hammys are killing me,” said Holmes who led Warringah to second place in the Premier Sevens on Thursday.

Another Holmes hat-trick set up a 38-0 win over the Brisbane Fijians in their last match and secured Deadwood top spot in Pool A.

Destroyed by injury, Southern Districts had a day they’d rather forget. After getting beaten on the bell by Queensland side Iconz, the Rebels lost to Yamacia before beating Mana Pasifika 33-12 at the end of the day. Injuries to Australian Sevens representatives Paul Asquith and Alex Gibbon – who is out for three months with a stress fracture in his back – took the wind out of Souths’ sails before they had even gotten underway. The Rebels finished third and will play Fijian side Nabua on Sunday.

In the Womens’ competition, Sunnybank and New Zealand side Bay of Plenty had early wins before BOP recorded the upset of the day with a 17-12 defeat of the Brisbane heavyweight Sunnybank side. Bay of Plenty fell away in the last game, losing 31-12 to Maroubra who had beaten Rockdale 29-0 after their loss to Sunnybank. Maroubra finished second on points difference in the Pool with Sunnybank on top.

Pacific Two Blues and Northern Suburbs both had good first up wins, but the Two Blues ran out 10-0 winners when the sides met in round two. Jumping out to the eventual match-winning lead in the first half courtesy of two well worked tries, the Pacific Two Blues – playing in the Parramatta Two Blues strip – held out the willing Northern Suburbs side which made too many handling errors to capitalise on their chances.

The Two Blues finished the day with a 31-0 win over the Central Coast Academy side and topped Pool B with Norths finishing second.

Iconz dominated Pool C all day, notching comfortable wins over Te Whanau, The Mamas and Sydney Fiji Ranadi to top the group. The Mamas won two from three and finished second to set up a quarter-final against an impressive looking Tribe 7 who breezed the Pool D undefeated.

Sydney University earned a 32-0 win over Waverly in Group D before going down to Tribe 7 and Rugirl who finished second in the group.

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Men’s Cup Quarter Finals Matches –

Deadwood v Sunnybank

Northern Suburbs v Island Breeze

Red Rock v Iconz

Yamacia v Manly

Women’s Cup Quarter Finals Matches –

Sunnybank v Northern Suburbs

Pacific Two Blues v Maroubra

Iconz v Rugirl

Tribe 7 v The Mamas