The Blues, led by Wales wingers Philippa Tuttiett and Raf Taylor, claimed the honours in the senior competition after beating the Ospreys 33-17 in the final while the Dragons edged out the Scarlets in an evenly contested Under 18 final before prevailing 19-14.
Tuttiett was delighted to have captained the winning team to success on a day where running rugby was the definite winner.
“Having the U18’s and Senior women’s regional 7s tournament together made it a fantastic event,” she said. “It was great to see some of the young talent coming through and the crowd made for a great atmosphere.
“We won our first two pool games against Ospreys and the Dragons but we were possibly a bit complacent going into the final pool game against the Scarlets. The great thing about sevens is literally the team that wants it more will get that win and Scarlets caught us off guard and earned the win.”
The Blues then gained revenge in the semi-finals against the Scarlets to reverse the earlier defeat to face the Ospreys in the final.
“We knew they had strong players with Amy Lawrence and Shona Powell Hughes who have a great off-load game so we pressurised them as much as possible. We made sure we used our strengths which was a wide game, with all our players confident with the ball in space. We ran the tries in for a real team win,” concluded Tuttiett.
In the U18s competition the Dragons went unbeaten to claim the championship. They had to come from behind in their group game against the Scarlets and again in the final to secure the silverware.
U18 FIRA 7s internationals Robyn Harris and speedster Emma Hennessy combined well for tries throughout the day with the latter being the standout performer with 14 tries.
Dragons Women and Girls Officer Gwesyn Price-Jones, said: “I’m extremely proud of the way the girls played. The U18s have been working hard over the season. It’s been a tough learning curve for a lot of them. It’s great for the likes of Roisin Payton and Robyn Harris who’ve been in the programme the past three years, to finish their U18 careers on a high.”
Wales Women’s head coach Rhys Edwards was an interested observer and admitted a number of players impressed him as he finalises his squad for the forthcoming Sevens campaign.
“It was a really good example of the skills that sevens can develop. The U18s in particular was an excellent tournament with some real talent on show. It has certainly given me a lot to think ahead of naming the Wales sevens squad for the season ahead.”
