First team regulars Luke Sherriff, Jim Evans, Steve So’oialo, Simon Keogh, Gavin Duffy, Tom Williams and Ugo Monye were joined by Tom Guest who is a product of the Academy as well as Chris Robshaw and Charlie Amesbury who are still in the Academy.

So it certainly looked like a squad with flair and an awful lot of pace as Blackheath were to find out to their cost.

Tom Guest was the first to cross the Blackheath line soon after the noon kick off when he showed great pace to beat the defence running from his own 22, Ugo Monye had the kicking duties early on but he failed with his first attempt, 5-0.

Ugo was in action soon after making a great break, the ball was recycled well and Charlie Amesbury broke the defensive line to score under the posts, this time Ugo’s kick was successful, 12-0.

So’oialo showed great pace and strength to break the Blackheath line (perhaps something to do with his new ‘go-faster’ haircut), he offloaded well to Luke Sherriff who scored under the very same posts that Ugo’s conversion attempt bounced off just moments after, 17-0.

So’oialo harried his opposite number and forced a turnover before the ball was passed to Monye on the wing who pinned his ears back to run around the defenders to score, he was successful with the conversion, 24-0.

Keogh scored his first try of the day at the beginning of the second half and Tom Williams added the extras, 31-0.

Keogh crossed the line soon after but he was unfortunately brought back for a forward pass.

But it wasn’t long before Quins were back on the score sheet again - Williams made space for Amesbury who sprinted round the tiring defence to touch down, Williams added the conversion, 38-0.

Williams then got himself on the scoresheet with a try from an interception, he missed the kick and the final score remained 43-0.

Next up for Quins was Bath Rugby.

The referee deemed that Quins had taken a man out in the air at the kick off and Bath were awarded a penalty they kept the ball alive well and scored easily. The next restart wasn’t much better with Bath winning the ball to score again, Quins looked to be in trouble at 0-10 down. Some witty fans started asking ‘are you Blackheath in disguise?’

The Bath restart didn’t go 10m so Quins had a freekick on the halfway line, So’oialo, passed to Duffy on the scissor who showed great pace and an eye for a gap and was through, with the fullback coming across to tackle, Tom Williams cut back inside receiving a pop pass from Duffy to score. Unfortunately he missed the conversion of his own try, 5-10.

The next try was simplicity itself – pass the ball to the fast bloke – the ball was passed along the line to Ugo who tore up the ground ran aound the defence to score, Williams hit the post with the conversion attempt, the scores were tied at half time 10-10.

In the second half Tom Guest got on the scoresheet again, he ran past the same chap that Ugo had beaten at the end of the first half, even though he touched down under the posts Tom Williams missed the conversion, 15-10.

Bath then leveled the scores again with a try in the left corner which was again left unconverted, 15-15.

Simon Keogh took Quins ahead again, he got the ball inside his own 22 and headed off, it looked like he was going to be caught by the Bath wing, but his jinking run left defenders on the ground as he crossed the line, Williams added the extras. 22-15.

Bath looked like they were going to score with their attacker about 15m from the Quins line and no defenders anywhere near him, but then Ugo sprinted back and caught him from behind, the attacker was penalized for holding on and the danger was gone.

The only other notable moment from the game was a run out of defence by Charlie Amesbury, he showed great pace at first but when two defenders closed him down on the right wing, he sidestepped, and sidestepped and sidestepped again until one of the defenders fell over – it was great footwork.

The final score remained 22-15 and Quins were through to a semi-final against tournament favourites Gloucester.

Tom Williams was replaced soon after the start of the semi, he was on the ground at a ruck when a Gloucester forward seemed to put his shoulder into the Quins player’s derriere.

Simon Amor, Gloucester and England 7s captain, was the first player on the scoresheet, he broke through he defence with apparent ease to cross the line, he converted too, 0-7.

Ugo then showed what he does best, outpacing and running round the defenders to score in the corner, Gavin Duffy took over the kicking duties from Tom Williams and he converted from the touchline with an amazing curving kick in the high wind.

Ugo was in action moments later when he completely poleaxed an attacker, the Gloucester fans were baying for blood, or at least a red card, but when the replay was shown you could see that it was a perfectly fair tackle that Monye had just flown into. Unfortunately Gloucester scored with the two players still flay out on the ground.

The scorer wasn’t troubled again and Quins were out of the competition for another year with the 7-14 loss to eventual competition winners Gloucester.

So it was back to the food and drink tent supplied by the Ladies team until the security guards suggested it may be time to leave because they were just about to close the carpark gates.

All in all it was the most enjoyable Middlesex 7s I had been at for many years. It was good to see that everyone who played looked very sharp indeed and when these players are added to the group that played London Irish the day before it should make a formidable outfit although the power in the scrum and aggressiveness at the breakdown still needs looking at.

Full Results from the Compass Group Middlesex Sevens

Final 
Gloucester Rugby 35-26 London Wasps

Plate final 
Newcastle Falcons 14-5 Worcester Warriors

Semi-finals
Gloucester Rugby 14-7 NEC Harlequins
London Wasps 22-12 Leicester Tigers

Second Round
Gloucester Rugby 19-12 British Army
NEC Harlequins 22-15 Bath Rugby
London Wasps 33-28 London Irish
Leicester 10-0 Saracens 

First round
British Army 24-0 Bedford Blues
Gloucester Rugby 21-17 Worcester Warriors
NEC Harlequins 43-0 Blackheath
Northampton Saints 12-26 Bath Rugby
London Wasps 27-12 Leeds Tykes
Newcastle Falcons 14-24 London Irish
Leicester Tigers 40-5 Bristol Rugby
Saracens 31-12 Sale Sharks

Attendance: 30,000 (approx.)

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