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The Cottesloe RUFC Sevens squad will fly out next week to take part in the 62nd Singapore Cricket Club Rugby Sevens Tournament, to be held on the 7-8 November.
Over 20 teams from around the world will participate in 2009, with some teams using the tournament as a warm up to the IRB Sevens. The South African 7s team participate along with Scotland and the USA Eagles.
In making the Shield Final and finishing sixth overall in the 22 team competition last year Cott are looking forward to another strong showing. After wins over the Singapore Barbarians and Thailand Barbarians, Cott defeated the Dubai Arab Emirates side (which competes in the Dubai IRB Sevens), 32-12 in the Semi Final.
The Blues then faced the daunting prospect of playing the Scottish national side in the final of the Shield competition. Despite holding their own throughout, the Scots proved too strong in the end to complete a 19-7 win. Some of the other countries represented next week will be Japan, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and New Zealand.
The Blues have been training hard over the last few weeks and are quietly confident they will do well with a strong squad chosen. Captain Ryan Westaway, who has played a lot of Sevens in the USA for Chicago and Las Vegas, said it was a great opportunity for players to play in a different country to showcase some different skills in a different style of rugby."The squad has come together really well over the last few weeks especially after just playing in the Grand Final just over a month ago. We will rely heavily on experienced players Dave Cloete, Tim Parks and Todd Edwards". One player to watch out for will be Karl Leary, the speedster of the team Westaway said."But despite the quality of the opposition we think we can perform to a high standard."
The squad is:
1. Ryan Westaway (c)
2. Karl Leary
3. Matthew Battishall
4. Tim Parks
5. David Cloete
6. Josh Gugich
7. Regan Johns
8. Tom Santangeli
9. Todd Edwards
10. Ben Mitchell
11. Nick Haining
Coach – Ian Fowler
Manager – Craig Fairhall