The 47th Annual National Pub Sevens
Sunday 26th August 2012
On Sunday 26th August 2012 Harpenden RFC will again host the annual National Pub 7s at their Redbourn Lane ground in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. From its origins, as an occasion on which teams would gain the support of a favourite drinking place, this competition has steadily grown into a nationally recognised and respected event attracting high calibre teams such as the Army, the Royal Navy and RAF; the White Hart Marauders; Samurai and occasionally England representative teams, with smatterings of international players. However, the fun social side of the day has never been forgotten and social sides, eager for a pre-season run-around, continue to be the life blood of the competition with teams continuing to come from far afield: French teams and the 'Friends of Kenya' being notable appearances in recent years.
The format of the competition will again initially comprise of leagues of 3 or 4 teams, depending on the final number of entrants. The winners of each league will then enter a knockout phase against all the other winners. This is the main Singleton Cup competition. The runners up in each group will play each other in the Barrel competition and the bottom placed teams will do the same in the Plate competition. This results in three competitions with each separate competition containing teams of roughly equal standards: the Singleton Cup, the Barrel and the Plate. Mismatches can occur in the early league games but then the elite teams can take things easy and the less talented squads will have bragging rights later on in the pub about the time they played against this or that international! Hence every team, no matter what their ability, has a chance of not just proceeding quite some way in the competition but of winning one of the trophies. In addition, just like last year a veterans competition will be played, in which enthusiasm will again struggle with declining energy and speed but will no doubt produce a competition which will satisfy and exhaust all those who take part.
Please register your interest by downloading a form from the links at the right hand side of this page (Veterans or others) and post it, together with your cheque, to the address on the form. Please note that entry is half price for all those who register and pay before the end of May.
Please also let us know if you would like to camp on the club's grounds on the preceding evening (Saturday) or the evening following the tournament (Sunday.) The clubhouse will be open for breakfast on the Sunday and Monday mornings and hot showers will be available. We do need to know if you intend to camp in order to ensure that we have enough bacon and eggs!
We look forward to meeting you at the National Pub 7s on 26th August for another great day of rugby and fun.
History of the Pub Sevens
1966 was a great year for English sport, whatever else happened that year it is remembered for being the first year of the National Pub 7s at Harpenden RFC.
Back in 1966 there were no leagues in Rugby Union and the professional era was still over 20 years away. Rugby clubs would arrange matches with other clubs against whom they had enjoyed playing year on year and with whom they had enjoyed many an after match beer in the club house. On a normal Saturday, the 1st & 3rd XVs (no substitutes allowed in those days) would travel away one week (often by coach as cars were few and far between for young rugby players) whilst the 2nd & 4th XVs would travel away the following week. A try was worth three points only, the same as a penalty but kicking a penalty from anywhere not in front of the posts or beyond the 25 yard line was no easy matter with a very heavy slippery leather rugby ball. Rugby Union, like many other activities at the time, was heavily regulated with the RFU forbidding clubs from playing rugby on a Sunday or before the end of September/beginning of October.
It was under these conditions that a few young men decided that they wanted something to do on a Sunday just before the start of the rugby season and so they decided to start a seven-a-side competition for players of Harpenden Rugby Club and a few friends from other clubs in the locality. With the active encouragement and support of Reg Johnson, the landlord of the Cross Keys, a Harpenden hostelry well frequented by players from Harpenden Rugby Club and the sporting fraternity generally, a fun 7-a-side completion was started with competing teams adopting the names of public houses (so as not to offend the RFU).
