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South East lead the way at 2023 Nationals
The South East may have taken home the majority of the titles from the 2023 Nationals in Nottingham, but there were plenty of tight matches along the way.
The South East Taipans retained the Mens Open and Womens Open titles they had won so memorably in 2022.
This year’s Mens Open final might not have had as many tries as last time, but it was no less dramatic for it. The teams matched each other all the way, tied at 4-4 at the break and then 6-6 at full-time. The Sharks had battled their way back from a two-try deficit to take the game into extra time. One more try each saw 3-v-3 and more than enough space for Louis Treays to score the golden try to win the title.
In the Womens Open the Taipans had been the team of the weekend, undefeated through the round-robin stages. They took this form into the final against the Sharks, pulling out to a 3-1 lead at the break, which was turned into a 5-2 final result.
The Mixed Open went the way of the South East Sharks, who maintained their composure to turn a 4-4 half-time score into a 12-7 result. But it was the semi-finals which also caught the attention, with the Sharks needing extra time to beat the Midlands Tigers, and the Taipans only seeing off South West Saxons with a pair of late tries.
The South East also took home three titles in the Seniors and Masters divisions, too.
The Womens 27s title left the Midlands for the first time, with the Taipans beating South West Saxons 7-6 in the final. This may have been the only final played in the rain across the whole weekend, but it was no less dramatic for it, as Abigail Cotton scored with just over a minute to play to take the game into extra time. Possession exchanged hands, but with a try on the hooter the Taipans had the trophy.
These two regions were also represented in the Mens 30s final, which once again proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend. The Taipans took early control to build up a two-try lead in the opening 10 minutes. But the Saxons fought back to score three unanswered tries before half-time to lead 4-3. This became 7-4 in the third quarter, but the Saxons had to hold off a fightback from the Taipans to record a 7-6 win and regain the title.
Into the Masters, and the Womens 35s title was retained by the South East Sharks, who beat West Wildcats 5-3 in the final. The Wildcats had been the team of the weekend up to that point, having won all four of the matches played in the round robin. But when the trophy was on the line the team in blue stepped things up to take the silverware.
The first ever Womens 40s title went to the Midlands Tigers, who did not just go through the competition undefeated, but did not concede a single try either across the five games. The 5-0 win over South West Saxons was a reflection of the dominance the Tigers had, and they were worthy winners.
The Mens 40s trophy returned to the South East Taipans, who beat West Wildcats 10-6 to complete an unbeaten weekend.
The other two competitions, the Mens 45s and Mens 50s, were won by the Midlands Tigers.
In the Mens 45s a 3-3 draw in Round 2 against South East Sharks proved to be an outlier for the Tigers, who won their other pool matches by a six-try and 14-try margin respectively, before beating South West Saxons 10-2 in the semi-finals and then the Sharks, 10-3, in the final.
The Mens 50s tournament was the first in this category, and given the spread of the talented players at high performance level it was perhaps unsurprising that the final went to extra time, with the Tigers beating North East Raiders 4-3. That said, Tigers were certainly the team of this category, with three strong wins in the round-robin.
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