David Horwitz Rugby 7s Challenge

Over the past month Emanuel School has taken part in the David Horwitz Rugby 7s Challenge. This tournament was initiated and convened by Emanuel School and this year the tournament was expanded to a three night series. The series involved Junior, Intermediate and Senior divisions and the participating schools included Moriah College, Kesser Torah and St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

The three Emanuel teams had been preparing for this tournament since the beginning of the term through weekly training sessions with Heath Morley. Many of the boys in the junior squad were new to Rugby and this tournament provided the perfect opportunity for them put their training to the test and to gain some much needed game experience. The team played exceptionally well, coming away with an impressive victory over Kesser Torah. Stand out players in this division included Alan Drannikov, Elijah Grynberg and Ari Karjalainen.

The Intermediate Boys team had a little more experience, as the majority of the squad played in this tournament in 2015. This experience proved to be vital, coming away with a win against Moriah in the first game of the competition. Leo Carroll is to be commended on his defensive effort and Jake Hyman led the team around the field with some impressive passing and footwork.

For many of the senior boys, this was their last opportunity to be involved in the representative sport program. It was a fantastic way to finish their school sporting experience, providing them with fond memories. Although the St Andrew’s and Moriah teams proved to be too strong for the Emanuel boys, all of the boys played with exceptional determination and sportsmanship. Etai Meretz worked hard in defence, Jake Kurlansky showed exceptional speed, Harry Buch was unstoppable in attack and Jacob Riesel scored the try of the tournament.

The tournament ended with presentations from official guests of David Horwitz from the Waratahs and a well known legend of the game, Simon Poidevin. I would like to congratulate all players on their effort and thank Heath Morley for coaching the teams and Sharon Fairfax for her assistance in organising the event.

Kristy Reed, Sports Co-ordinator and PDHPE Teacher

Senior boys team

Junior boys team