The Full Story
Formed as a touch rugby team in 2018, the Lion Rugby 7s has grown from strength to strength, to become a
UK 7s forerunner brand with 5 teams
The Beginning
Inspired by the London 7s , the jet setting lifestyle of the World Sevens Series & the high performance training style of Elite Rugby Sevens, Arun Watkins, aged 15 decided he wanted to launch a rugby 7s team. Aged 16, this idea was realised and grew to become the Lion Cub Sevens Academy touch rugby team which was then entered into the Old Reigation Touch Tournament. A year on, in 2019, the Lion Cub 7s entered the Lytchett Minster 7s, Wasps 7s & Nuneaton 7s culminating with a placing in two semi-finals & a tournament win.
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C-19 & SENIOR 7S
2020 arrived and plans for a Senior Adult 7s debut were in full swing. January 2020 saw a training event versus the Jamaica 7s before their appearance on the HSBC World Challenger 7s Series. Two months later and Covid-19 put a hold on all rugby activity. It would take until September 2020, before the squad were back together for a training session. Another couple of lockdowns came and went before we got the squad back into training at the beginning of April 2021. We finally kicked off our campaign with a pre-season runout up north at the K-Sevens, followed swiftly by Chiswick 7s where we bowed out to the Fiji Marauders in the semi-finals after an impressive 26-14 victory versus Liquid Exiles in the quarter finals. A tough group placement at Shelford 7s saw us triumph with a 33-12 victory versus Hill Road in the final, before our grand finale of the summer season at the M5 Super 7s where a tough day with 7 games saw us secure 4 wins, a draw and 2 losses, before once again winning another final - 19-14 after 7 minutes played of extra time... - a fantastic summer of 7s, finishing with 2 finals and a semi-final and seeing a number of our squad going on loan and winning a number of tournaments elsewhere. What a great start for a squad with an average age of 19 that season....
THE DESERT AWAITS
In August 2021, the club decided to accept an invitation to attend the 2021 Emirates Dubai 7s. A bold move, considered by some, as we were so early into our Senior 7s journey. In October the squad came together for two UK training camps before flying out in November. What a phenomenal debut tournament for the club where we played against some of the world's best 7s sides and took on a number of international 7s sides. A stand-out moment for us was the quarter final win against the Qatar national side in front of a packed crowd, before bowing out in the semi finals to the Russian national side who were the eventual winners of the group. Once again, the youngest team in the competition - the Lions participated to stake their claim and not just make up the numbers.
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A New ERA
2022 brought about a new era for the club. The Lions welcomed the Lionesses into the club. Both entered into the UK Super Sevens Series & European Super Series competitions this season. The Lionesses have started consistently in this competition with back to back Plate semi/finals. The Lions have achieved a plate semi/final, bowl final win and a cup quarter/final so far. The Lionesses have also achieved the title of 2022 South Island 7s champions.