Carlton 7's, Sri Lanka

After 18 hours of travelling from Madrid to Colombo, Sri Lanka, we arrived to a VIP welcoming! Instead of going through customs we where ushered away to the VIP lounge where there where fruit platters laid out for us. 15mins later we jumped onto a transfer bus for an hours drive through the bustling city of Colombo with a police escort taking us to the 5 star Cinnamon Grand hotel.

Once out side the a/c air of the bus you realise how the different the climate is. A think, warm, syrupy version of air engulfs your lunges like the inside of a steam room. We had the problem of flying into time, it was 8am in the morning but really for us coming from Spain it was 3am, so we where knackered. We where sent to bed for 3 hours and then woken up for a training session. The rest of the day was a struggle to stay awake but after a good sleep that night our body clocks where back on track. 2 days later, Friday, I was rearing to go and ready for the tournament the next day.

In team meeting on Friday night the objectives where clear. We wanted to win our first 2 matches against Korea and Malaysia to book a place in the quarterfinals and then enjoy the game against Fiji, playing against a world class team.

It was an early start on Saturday as we where the first game. The tournament was played at the national sports arena with an athletics track around the field. As the day went on the stands started to fill and by lunch time there was a good atmosphere brewing. We started really well beating Malaysia and Korea without much trouble. Then came the game against Fiji, this same Fiji side was playing the IRB series in Dubai the following week, so we had nothing to loose. Being massive under dogs you could tell everyone was keen to have a crack at Fiji and prove that we know how to play 7's in Spain. We went down 0-12 but managed to pull back a try just before half time after 4mins of possession, making it 05-12. In the second half we had all the ball which frustrated the Fijians and with no time on the clock we scored to make it 10-12. We converted a pressure kick to write a bit of history for Spain, 12-12 draw against Fiji !!!! Suddenly we where the talk of the tournament… everyone loves an underdog!

So at the end of day 1 we had completed our objective and had also done really well against Fiji. Our coach left us with a challenge by pointing out that a good team can have one good performance against the big teams like Fiji but a great team performs consistently against all the big teams!

Day 2 our quarter final was against Australia, they brought there 2^nd team to Sri Lanka, and even though we did so well the day before we where still the underdogs. We lead from the front putting 21 points on the board; final score Spain 21 Aus 7. Next up in the semi was Samoa, also there 2^nd team, but they had looked good all weekend and where one of the favourites for the tournament. This was a much more closely contested game but we managed to soak up the pressure and win 19-17. Spain had made the final !!!! Complete underdogs but we had stood our ground and took the opportunity that came our way. Fiji played SA in the other semi. Being South African I was hoping SA would win so we could face them in the final, but it was not to be.

The stadium had filled up and there was a great atmosphere surging from the crowd. A brass band was playing with people singing, shouting, dancing and getting into the spirit of things for the final. Before kick off it was pouring down with rain, which never makes for a great game of 7's. The final was probably one game to many for us as Fiji where at the top of their game. They run away with it 38-7!

A disappointing final for us but a great tournament, putting Spain on the map and some pressure on the IRB to get us involved in more big tournaments. That night we had a post match function at the hotel where all the teams did a dance or haka, a good bit of fun to round off an awesome tournament!

Our flights where only on Tuesday night so we had some time to do some sight seeing around Sri Lanka. We went to a couple of the local markets and then rented 2 mini vans for the day which took us to see the elephants. We all had a ride on one and some of us had an elephant shower, the elephant sucked water up its trunk and then strayed it all over us ! Good fun! I had a chance to talk to a couple of the locals and even managed to join in on a street cricket game! The Sri Lankan people I came across where really friendly, had big smiles, loved there cricket and seemed to bob there heads side to side whenever they spoke. After a lot of laughter and joking around with the head bob we discovered that this head bob means "ok". Just like nodding or shaking your head means yes or no.

All in all a fantastic week away! Aside from us doing really well on the field it was great to see a new country and take in some culture!

Ryan le Roux - 2010/12/05