DOUBLE SCORE for the Dangels – succesful 7s tournament in Lucerne!

By Gemma Costello:

As the fat morning sun warmed the peaks of Pilatus, clear skies were revealed over Luzern creating an atmosphere that seemed to scream “Sunday is the rugby day!” – an echoing voice that sustained until the last posts were lifted out of the ground in the dark. The weather put on a show for the 8 teams gathered at Allmend to which the girls outshone. The Super Swiss 7’s teams included the Zurich Valkyries (we fight, we shower, we leave), Basel Birds, Yverdon Amazones, Monthey Morrigans (I just googled Morrigan – awesomeness), Cern Wildcats (to-ge-za!), Konstanz+St.Gallen, and two Luzern outfits; the Dangels A-team and the Dangels Bees. With 19 matches (including a Swiss Women’s Federation exhibition game) to be played, the day kicked off nice and early.

With a tinsy bit of pressure as favourites to take the tournament, the Dangels A-team took a try or two to calm their nerves against their first test Basel. Settling into their own attacking routine saw the girls come away with a 55 – 0 victory – Basel hardly seeing the ball all game. Next up the Bees took on the toughest opponent in their pool, Zurich. There were some great contests and hard hits between the forwards from both teams. At one stage, as seven’s sometimes has it, we saw Nush from Zurich running the wing to stop a try hungry Cynthia. A more experienced backline + one speedy Bern Devil resulted in a 40 – 0 Zurich victory. It seems only the Valkyries could keep the Bees at bay during the pool matches. Going to show how a season of commitment to training, matches and to eachother has created an overall force to be reckoned with down at RCL. As fate would have it both Dangel teams met in the finals stirring up much excitement on and off the pitch. Match report: the Cynthia and Sarah Mac collision could be heard atop Mt. Pilatus – double hardcore score.

The Birds and the Bees went head to head in the battle for 3rd place. A nail-bitter which saw the Bees getting up by 1 try. A killer wespe effort!

As logistics would have it the undefeated Valkyries and Dangels A-team battled for the day’s title – Swiss Super 7’s CHAMPIONS. An early try from not-such-a-secret weapon, Rami, forced the Dangels to take a breath, focus and reset. And so they did.  A wonderful interception from Carole igniting the favourites into action. Some fanastic lines were run from the usual suspects – Sarah Mac, Carole, Judith, Heidi and LaLa – creating a nice, thick, juicy scoreline. The second half highlighted the overall strength and talent the girls had been displaying all day. A bout of deja vu seemed to come over the pitch as the Dangels produced a set of similar plays – chasing hard off their own kickoff and scoring tries until the final whistle. Smiles began to pop amoung the girls, who knew they had another satisfying mark against their names in the great Zurich – Luzern rivalry.

Big thanks to the boys who came and supported us on the day, not only by cheering us on, but setting up tents, tables, running the food stand and helping with the clean up. Huge appreciation for your efforts! Thank you!

To all of the girls who made the competition possible – you are awesomeness incarnate. The enthusiasm, blood, sweat and thankfully no tears, put in on the day made for competitive rugby – what more could we ask for. A shout-out to The Morrigans who although only managed 1 try for the day showed their rugby love and eagerness jumping on the pitch with other teams in the finals. Let’s hope they can find some solid numbers and get into 15’s gear 🙂

To Jeremy, Kurt, Andy and Christophe – the refs – thank you for keeping us in line all day!

Last, but in no way possible least, Chris! Huge thanks from every Dangel on the day – that’s right, Chris (nearly wrote Christ) coached both teams on the day. Providing inspiration, motivation, advice and STRUCTURE on the day. Not only did Chris keep us in rugby mode for Sunday’s comp, he also ran two fantastic training sessions in the lead up to the tournament. But wait there’s more – Chris’ behind the scenes work shows again his love and dedication to us girls and for that you are also awesomeness incarnate.