NYM competed in the NJ 7s in South Brunswick, NJ, last weekend. Two teams were put out, one in the Mens division and one in the Social division. The Mens divison team played very well in patches and reached the semi-finals before going down to a very cohesive Bayonne team.

Bayonne eventually went on to win the final. The Social division team also competed well but couldn't make up as much ground though the side showed some real spirit - Nick the Greek's 60 yard solo try was a particular highlight.

There were some real positives from the day and the summer in general. An army of U19 guys showed up and meant that we were able to field 3 NYM sides in the tournament. This was more than any other club there. The guys will have learned from their experiences playing against older guys. Some of the lads clearly showed they have plenty of ability with George, Arnold and Rob particularly impressing.

In the senior sides, Keith led NYM II by example and showed that he has what it takes to step up. He was the clear stand out player in the group. A number of players joined us from Iona College this summer and Mah carried hard and tackled well all day. For NYM I, Oliver again demonstrated great potential. The two stand out players were Leandro and Antoine. On a personal note, I would like to thank both players for the energy and enthusiasm they have bought to the club. They are two players who are going to be very hard to replace and who have made a real impact at the club. Antoine has an infectious sense of humor, but is also technically very strong and an excellent carrier of the ball. Leandro was immense all day and probably made more tackles and stole more ball in one game than the rest of us put together. Throughout the Summer Ben Whitney has been fantastic in organizing transport and people for the tournaments. Pete Galen, Saad and Antoine also deserve a mention as these 4 clearly put more effort into attending practice on a regular basis than anyone else.

What can we learn from the 7s season? If we had been better prepared we would have won more games and probably even a tournament or two. Communication is still not good enough at the club. The Friday before Princeton we understood that 14 players would be coming - on the day we had 24. Its great that we have lots of players wanting to play - but if the same guys do not attend training, we won't play like a team and this will cost us against good sides. It also makes the coaches jobs very difficult when planning and trying to select teams.

Dave Elwell - 7s Coordinator