For the official comment on the 2001 tournament week by the organisers please read on . .

Army fatigues replaced Shell-suits for the first time in March, when the Army sponsored the National Schools Sevens, the World’s largest rugby Tournament, for the first time.

And also for the first time, the Rosslyn Park organisers were forced by the rain, snow, mud and pitches resembling lakes, to cancel the Girls and Open Tournaments due to be played on the Thursday and Friday. This was not a decision taken without a lot of consideration and consultation with everyone concerned, but with 10” of water on some pitches, the risks were just too high. Had there not been six months of rain prior to March 2001, the outstanding grounds men would have coped with the downpours just prior to the start of the Tournament – absolutely nowhere for the water to go.

Anyone who was at the Tournament must have thought there was some obvious connection between the Sponsor and memorable battlefields years before.

It felt as if there had been a conspiracy at large – nation-wide flooding, more rain, transport problems, more rain, then to cap it all the Foot & Mouth epidemic; all of which contributed to schools being forced to withdraw teams at the 11th hour.

However, what was immediately evident was the amazing co-operation and teamwork on all sides, not least the support from the schools and players, some of whom had not played a match since last October.

Our sincere thanks go out to the Army for their unfailing support and good humor throughout the “battle”, to all the referees, the grounds men, the on site organisers and the players + their masters i/c.

As someone said – the Result: Organisers 5: Weather 3

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