Hosts Garsfontein beat 2010 and 2011 champions Tygerberg 43-28 in the high scoring cup final to claim the @lantic 7s Champion of Champions title for 2012. It was Garsies third @lantic tournament win of the year. They had participated in 2 out of the 16 @lantic regional tournaments and won both (Pretoria and Kempton Park), to qualify for the Champion of Champions main event.
Final pool standings:
| Pool A: | P | W | L | D | |
| 1 | Affies (Pretoria) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Tygerberg (Cape Town) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Monument (Krugersdorp) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Sarel Cilliers (Glencoe) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Pool B: | |||||
| 1 | HTS Middelburg | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Hentie Cilliers (Virginia) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Oakdale (Riversdale) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Maritzburg College | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Pool C: | |||||
| 1 | Garsfontein (Pretoria) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Nelspruit | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Montana (Pretoria) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Diamantveld (Kimberley) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Pool D: | |||||
| 1 | JAG Excelsior (Cape Town) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Grey High (Port Elizabeth) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Ben Vorster (Tzaneen) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Kempton Park | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Match day 1 Results:
| Winning Team | Losing Team | ||
| Tygerberg | 41 | 5 | Sarel Cilliers |
| Oakdale | 33 | 12 | Maritzburg Coll. |
| Affies | 33 | 21 | Monument |
| HTS Middelburg | 24 | 7 | Hentie Cilliers |
| Garsfontein | 36 | 0 | Diamantveld |
| Grey High | 27 | 7 | Ben Vorster |
| Nelspruit | 24 | 17 | Montana |
| JAG Excelsior | 14 | 14 | Kempton Park |
| Hentie Cilliers | 24 | 12 | Oakdale Landbou |
| Affies | 21 | 7 | Tygerberg |
| HTS Middelburg | 22 | 10 | Maritzburg Coll. |
| Monument | 38 | 14 | Sarel Cilliers |
| JAG Excelsior | 22 | 19 | Grey High |
| Montana | 33 | 22 | Diamantveld |
| Ben Vorster | 31 | 7 | Kempton Park |
| Garsfontein | 22 | 12 | Nelspruit |
Match day 2 results:
| Game | Time | School | School | ||
| Pool A | 08:20 | Tygerberg | 19 | 12 | Monument |
| Pool B | 08:20 | Hentie Cilliers | 31 | 14 | Maritzburg Coll |
| Pool C | 08:40 | Garsfontein | 36 | 0 | Montana |
| Pool D | 08:40 | JAG Excelsior | 21 | 14 | Ben Vorster |
| Pool A | 09:00 | Affies | 35 | 14 | Sarel Cilliers |
| Pool B | 09:00 | HTS Middelburg | 19 | 7 | Oakdale |
| Pool C | 09:20 | Nelspruit | 29 | 19 | Diamantveld |
| Pool D | 09:20 | Grey High | 10 | 7 | Kempton Park |
| Bowl QF | 10:30 | Monument | 14 | 12 | Maritzburg Coll |
| Bowl QF | 10:30 | Oakdale | 33 | 0 | Sarel Cilliers |
| Bowl QF | 10:50 | Montana | 28 | 10 | Kempton Park |
| Bowl QF | 10:50 | Ben Vorster | 21 | 19 | Diamantveld |
| Cup QF | 11:10 | Affies | 12 | 7 | Hentie Cilliers |
| Cup QF | 11:10 | Tygerberg | 14 | 17 | HTS Middelburg |
| Cup QF | 11:30 | Garsfontein | 26 | 24 | Grey High |
| Cup QF | 11:30 | JAG Excelsior | 5 | 0 | Nelspruit |
| Shield:SF1 | 12:10 | Sarel Cilliers | 29 | 7 | Maritzburg Coll |
| Shield:SF2 | 12:10 | Kempton Park | 7 | 5 | Diamantveld |
| Bowl SF1 | 12:20 | Monument | 26 | 24 | Oakdale |
| Bowl SF2 | 12:30 | Monument | 31 | 7 | Ben Vorster |
| Plate SF1 | 12:50 | Hentie Cilliers | 29 | 10 | HTS Middelburg |
| Plate SF2 | 12:50 | Grey High | 36 | 19 | Nelspruit |
| Cup SF1 | 13:10 | Tygerberg | 31 | 12 | Affies |
| Cup SF2 | 13:30 | Garsfontein | 38 | 5 | JAG Excelsior |
| Shield 3/4 | 13:10 | Maritzburg Coll | 35 | 17 | Diamantveld |
| Bowl 3/4 | 13:30 | Oakdale | 31 | 28 | Ben Vorster |
| Plate 3/4 | 13:50 | HTS Middelburg | Nelspruit | ||
| Shield | 13:50 | Kempton Park | 24 | 21 | Sarel Cilliers |
| Bowl | 14:10 | Monument | 28 | 26 | Montana |
| Plate | 14:30 | Hentie Cilliers | 15 | 5 | Grey High |
| Cup 3/4th | 14:50 | Affies | 40 | 10 | JAG Excelsior |
| Cup Final | 15:10 | Garsfontein | 43 | 28 | Tygerberg |
Baie trots op die Tiere..Vlieg vrydag 14.30 Pretoria toe en kom 20min voor die Affies wedstryd by Garsfontein aan. Om die finaal te speel was spesiaal, maar Garsies! Wat n span! Groot,sterk en vinnig. Prag skool met uitstekende sport fasiliteite! Wel gedaan Garsies
baie geluk Garsies!! lekker om weer skolerugby te kyk.
@Andre T: FYI..Two of Paarl Boys players made the WP sevens team, but one had to withdraw because of injury. So not too bad for a school that only plays sevens at Jnr level!
@Andre T: They dont play sevens to give players a breather..only juniors play sevens and won most of their tournaments the last couple of years.
Ou Boggie. It’s no a train smash them not ‘really playing 7’s’ If you have the skills you can play anything. Maybe the fear of losing to teams like Garsfontein or Tygerberg influence the decisions of the ‘franchises’ not to enter……I don’t know…….who cares anyway…..was still a great tournament and well done to Garstfontein for hosting it and winning it. Great advertisement and marketing tool as well……sure a lot of Burgersdorpers, Queenstonians, Malmesburians and Griekwastadders who couldn’t ‘decide’ between Bloem and Paarl might now move to the Mecca of Rugby.
@Andre T: As far as I know, GCB does not really play 7s. This might have changed or is changing because FS, with half the team from GCB, won the inter provincial tournament recently. And for the record and those with tainted glasses,half of the snr side, is also from Grey.
@beet: Sadly the value of 7’s to develop skills and vision is still undervalued and the fact is that by just playing 7’s regularly these attributes will naturally become part of the players’ skills set. I am always shocked by the amount of players at u/20 and senior levels that cannot pass off the weak hand, run a shoulder or even kick with both feet. In my opinion this remains the biggest reason why the AB’s remain way ahead of the rest.
@All Black: Good point but it was those same guys who got them to the final in the first place so wouldn’t really be fair to leave them out. Also, matric exams in full swing I think College are prioritising things correctly by making the matrics concentrate on their studies.
@Prontus: I get a feeling that we are still at the stage of Schools 7’s evolution that any school willing to dedicate extra effort to preparing a team specifically for the @lantic 7s can do very well. Game time is certainly a criteria in gaining experience. IMHO the KZN teams play far to little 7s at a competitive level to pick up enough experience amongst players and coaches. I think the Tygers have got there ducks in a row in this regard, that’s why they produce the results.
Not many schools can boast 3 finals in 3 years and really strange not to see any of the Paarl schools or Grey Bloem there represented.
I don’t know. Was the first time I saw him but what a work rate. I have the feeling thet he’s still in grade 11. What a future for this boy, looks exactly like Ackers at that age, and twice as fiery.
@Andre T: Did Ackers junior feature in the Garsies XV man game this season?
Ackers Junior……..what a player.
Wonder where the super schools like Grey Bloem, Paarl Boois and Gim were? Did they not qualify or were the entry fees too high? Or lack in skills?
Well done to the hosts. Good final. College need to decide if they are going to take 7’s seriously. You cannot go up against the best in the country with Grade 10’s in your side. They are good players but if the other schools can play their top players then so should College.
I see Monnas “walked” Pool A right into the Bowl finals!..well done!
Ag no man Beet!..Just as we got to enjoy your new site and get use to it with our own little jerseys you go and do the same mistake R365 did…..If it aint Broke..dont try and fix it!
I wonder if it was a similar case to the U13 boys who started with a shocker against the Lion, but settled and improved through the tournament. It was clearly a case of the guys not really knowing the 7’s game – as the emphasis is on XV’s. Perhaps this will improve as more 7’s gets played and guys are more used to palying the game.
Sooner or later there will be specialists in each code, and not just the 1st XV having the props and one or two others taken out in order to play 7’s. One can see this from the early days of Springbok 7’s where it was the bulk of the Sprigbok XV squad, and nowadays there are no overl;aps between the squads with guys like Afrika and Stick being world class in their own right.
@Rugger fan: Sarel Cilliers saved their best form for their last couple of matches I think. They had their chances to beat Kempies. Also probably should not have opted for lineouts from penalties = turnovers
Wow – tough for the KZN schools – did not feature at all. Bottom of the pile except for Diamantveld.