Wasps romped through the tournament from their first match against Newcastle through to the final with Leicester, with only Harlequins seriously troubling them.

With a strong squad packed with first team players, including Phil Dowson, Mike McCarthy, Tom May and new signing John Rudd, John Fletcher’s Geordies would have been confident of making a big impact on the tournament, now featuring only the twelve Premiership sides in a four-group then knockout format.  They were however the last side to start their campaign, two hours in.

London Irish and Bath kicked off the 2006 Middlesex Sevens, the Rec side running up a 19-5 lead before Irish forced their way back to a draw.  Harlequins, Leicester and Wasps then opened their groups with good wins against Gloucester, Saracens and Bristol respectively.  London Irish secured a quarter-final place by defeating Northampton 24-19, before Gloucester beat Sale and Leicester ran up a second thirty point haul 31-0 against Worcester.

The Falcons then took to the field against Wasps, who went 17-0 ahead in the first half with two tries from Josh Lewsey and a James Haskell score which came from us losing the ball in our 22.  After a shambles of a first period performance, Ollie Phillips was set up on the right to score but Wasps held out against our attacks, Phil Dowson’s score on full time being all we could manage after that.

A 12-12 draw between Bath and Northampton saw the former get through to the last 8, joined by Harlequins and Saracens, who survived a late fightback from Worcester to win 14-12.

The Falcons then came straight out of the blocks against Bristol, in stark contrast to their previous match, with tries from John Rudd, Tim Visser, and two from Mike McCarthy giving the blacks a 26-5 lead at the break!  (Mark's note - Visser and McCarthy, separated at birth?)  Phillips almost increased the score after the break, but following a kick Bristol defended and managed to score two more tries, but it was the Falcons who took second place in the group with a 26-17 victory, setting up a knockout game with Leicester, hot favourites from what had been seen so far.

The first quarter-finals saw London Irish beat Gloucester 28-14 and Harlequins destroy Bath 42-17, before the Falcons met Leicester, with seemingly little hope of victory.  Tom Croft put the Tigers ahead early on, before Toby Flood equalized with a long run from halfway to score.  McCarthy almost gave us the lead on the right, but Leicester won the ball and bashed their way forward, Harry Ellis finishing off the move, before another try made the half time score 17-7.  Tim Visser began the comeback in the second half under the posts, before nice passing carved out a chance for Phil Dowson to go over from close range, and suddenly the Falcons were 21-17 up!  However, Tom Varndell, one of the stars of the day, made a long run and regained the lead for Leicester, and when Ollie Phillips went on a good run but was just tapped off his feet, Leicester were sure of a place in the semi-final with a 24-21 win.

For the first time since 2000, the Falcons hadn’t reached a final at this event.  The semi-finals saw Leicester defeat London Irish in a topsy-turvy game, and then Wasps came back from 12-0 down to beat Harlequins 19-26, with the help of a last-minute score.  In the final, Wasps this time went 12-0 up quickly, and led 19-5 at half time.  In the second half, Dave Walder’s new team pulled away to take the trophy 29-10, their first Middlesex Sevens triumph since 1993.

For the Falcons, the day had been a good workout with Phil Dowson looking fit and hungry, and Mike McCarthy and Ollie Phillips pacy and incisive.  John Rudd looked a little overweight unfortunately.  The performances were, for the most part, what we’ve come to expect – good at times, bad at times, and generally a bit frustrating.  But there’s still a few weeks to get everything right.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

Newcastle Falcons Poll