In June 2017 1st Battalion Welsh Guards Rugby Football Club entered a 15 man squad into the La Manga Sports Festival to take part in the Rugby 7s competition. Held in south east Spain, this consisted of a 2 day round robin competition followed by a cup and plate final on the second day. The team flew out on the evening of 14 June in order to undertake a day’s acclimatisation training and relaxation before the competition started 16 June. The entire team stayed in the 5* Las Lomas resort and took full advantage of the various facilities on offer throughout the stay.
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh also entered teams, creating an immensely competitive and yet close atmosphere between the regiments. When it came to playing one another the rivalry was fierce but remained in good spirits throughout. When it came to playing non-military teams, the support for one another was huge. At one point the Royal Welsh were fielding 3 Welsh Guardsmen in order to beat the civilian opposition!
All smiles – a combined Welsh Guards and Royal Welsh picture.
Off the pitch and when not being pushed to their limits by ex-England Rugby 7s Captain Kevin Barrett the team bonded together down by the pool. The Royal Welsh team was hosted for a BBQ before a trip to a local bar together to demonstrate how the Welsh are better singers than the English and Spanish! Former X Factor contestant Gdsm Dyer led the way and demonstrated to everyone how karaoke should be done.
Hosting 1 Royal Welsh for an all Welsh BBQ.
The team played 5 games in the round robin and qualified for the Plate final whereby we met Freshfields, a London based law firm. Unfortunately, Freshfields came out on top in the final with a break away try in the last minute, taking the game out of our hands. Every man that played could not have put more effort in and should be hugely proud of their performances. This can be supported by the fact that after the tournament had finished Kevin Barrett sent an email saying: ‘what a pleasure it was to associate myself with your boys throughout the tournament. They wore their hearts on their sleeves and were an absolute credit to the regiment’.
Mid-action – Gdsm Nabukebuke taking over the sweeper role in defence.
At the end of the tournament an All-stars team was selected from the top 7 players throughout the tournament and I am delighted to mention that Gdsm Divavesi was amongst those selected. La Manga 7s proved to be a fantastic tour for the team and it is a tournament that we should support in future.
The team at the Awards Supper where Gdsm Divavesi was announced as an All-Star.