Having taken the title at the start of the season in Cardiff, they book-ended their campaign with another crown at Parc y Scarlets where once again they set the standard for every other team in the Premiership to match.
Rees, who was voted Player of the Tournament, paved the way with two of his side’s seven tries in a 45-0 win over Neath in Round 1 that sent a message to all their rivals that they meant business. They conceded the first try of the game to Jared Walters in their quarter-final against Swansea, but still emerged as 24-5 winners.
Their semi-final clash with Carmarthen Quins turned into an epic in which the Quins, who had one of the stars of the day in wing Morgan Griffiths, led before falling just short, 22-21 thanks to another brace from Rees along with touchdowns from Rhodri Jones and Jack Parkinson. After such a close shave, the Drovers had to bring their A game for the final against Aberavon.
This was a repeat of the final at the start of the season, with the Wizards still smarting from their defeat in the Principality Premiership final against Merthyr last week. Wales Sevens international Steff Williams was once again to the fore for Aberavon, who beat Ebbw Vale 28-19, Pontypridd 29-12 and Cross Keys 31-19 to reach the final.
The Drovers led 14-12 at the break and scored five tries to four as they ran out 33-24 victors. Matthew Jacobs, formerly of Llandovery, and Kane Teear Burge claimed a pair of tries each for Aberavon but Llandovery’s class showed to come out on top once again. Rhodri Wall helped himself to a hat-trick of tries and Jack Parkinson and Scott Gibson got the others to make sure the Cup returned to Church Bank for another year.
In the Plate competition, host club Llanelli went all the way to the final after their first round defeat by Merthyr in the Cup tournament. Tom Howells scored a hat-trick in a 31-7 quarter-final win over Cardiff and he scored again in the 33-12 semi-final triumph over Bridgend.
Ebbw Vale marched into the final with wins over Bargoed (19-15) and Bedwas (26-20) and dominated the final. They led 17-7 at half time thanks to tries from Toby Fricker, Andy Evans and Carl Lewis. Fricker and Evans added further scores after the break and John Davies rounded off the job for a convincing 34-7 victory.
Scarlets Ladies won the Women’s trophy, beating Dragons 31-5 in the semis and Cardiff Blues 51-0 in the final. It was the end of an era for captain Elen Evans in her last Scarlets outing.
Heineken National Sevens
Cup Round 1: Llandovery 45-0 Neath; Swansea 31-10 Bridgend; Llanelli 17-26 Merthyr; Cardiff 14-31 Carmarthen Quins; Aberavon 28-19 Ebbw Vale; Bargoed 0-24 Pontypridd; Newport 26-17 Bedwas;
Cup QF: Swansea 5-24 Llandovery; Aberavon 29-12 Pontypridd; Carmarthen Quins 42-21 Merthyr; Cross Keys 22-10 Newport
S-F: Llandovery 22-21 Carmarthen Quins; Aberavon 31-19 Cross Keys
Final: Llandovery 33-24 Aberavon
Plate
QF: Neath 26-33 Bridgend; Bargoed 15-19 Ebbw Vale; Llanelli 31-7 Cardiff; Bedwas v RGC1404 (24-24, Bedwas score golden try)
S-F: Llanelli 33-12 Bridgend; Ebbw Vale 26-20 Bedwas
Final: Llanelli 7-34 Ebbw Vale
Aberavon: Luke Joseph, Mathew Jacobs, Rheon James, Jacob Flynn, Steff Williams, Mike Wilson, Shaun Pearce, Luke Davies, Ben Jones, Kane Teear-Bourge, Liam Popham
Llandovery: Lee Rees, Tom Powell, Emyr Price, Joe Powell, Scott Gibson, Rhodri Jones, Rhodri Wall, Cai Devine, Scott Maynard, Steff Pryce-Griffiths, Richard Brooks, Joe Powell
