By Jack Malcolm [Nelson App]

After morning rain looked like it might mute celebrations, the weather cleared in the afternoon for Tasman Rugby's Club 7s at Motueka's Sports Park.

Despite a greasy surface, 20 teams from around the region came together to send off the rugby season in style with a day of exciting action.

In the Women's final, a defiant Kahurangi were unable to overcome Waimea Old Boy's women in a back-and-forth affair that ended 31-26.

Both teams traded tries back and forth with an emphasis on attack rather than defence, before WOB capitalised on minor mistakes to walk away deserving victors.

In the senior men's Div 1 final, Kahurangi were the deserving winners in a 52-0 performance over Nelson.

After having a mediocre 15's season, the Nelson club made an impressive showing to make the final, but they didn't have it in the tank to put any pressure on Kahurangi.

Having scored three tries in quick succession to start the game, the Rangi were in clear control of the game and Nelson started to hang their heads.

A fourth try on the stroke of halftime gave them a near insurmountable lead, having dominated territory and possession resoundingly.

Kahurangi then put the nail in the coffin with a runaway try from the second-half restart before another dominant shift saw Nelson unable to make it out of their own side of halfway.

The one breakaway Nelson did manage down the sideline was quickly covered by the defence, who were able to force a turnover and retain Kahurangi's momentum.

Kahurangi captain Stein Schreiber says the final was their best performance of the day.

"I think we were building throughout the day. Each game we progressed."

He says that after the rain in the morning looked like it might spoil the day, it was awesome to be back playing sevens.

"To finally have it back, everyone looks forward to these days."

The Club 7s could not be played due to Covid-19 in previous years.

"Thank you to Motueka and to Tasman Rugby Union for putting it on," says Stein.

The men's Div 2 final was won by Takaka, beating Stoke 26-14.

Nelson College won the Div 1 Plate Final and Marist Fiji won the Div 2 Plate Final. T

Article added: Monday 31 October 2022