The 43rd Guinness Carrick Sevens will take place this weekend the 1st to the 3rd of May. The festival of sevens rugby will see 50 teams taking part from England, Scotland and Ireland in six different competitions.
This will include the Kukri Sportswear U18s at 6pm on Friday, which will see 8 teams such as Edinburgh College, CIYMS, Belfast Met, Carrickfergus and Larne, competing for the Everest Cup. In addition a Girls U18s tournament will be taking place for the first time, with Bangor, Belfast Harlequins, Ballynahinch and Carrickfergus all involved.
Saturday’s tournament is the Quigg Golden Open, commencing at 12:00, in which the NGN 7s hoping to regain their title which they last won in 2013. However this year their opposition will come from a host of senior clubs including Queens, Belfast Harlequins, Ballynahinch, City of Derry and Malone who will have their sights on the top prize of £1,000. Along with these sides there will be a number of Fijians teams as well as the usual Scottish visitors.
After the main final at 4pm, as part of the 150th celebrations of Carrickfergus Rugby club, Junior Ulster will be playing Junior Munster in their inter provincial series, kicking off at 5pm. The Ulster side will be drawn from top Ulster clubs such as Clogher Valley, Portadown, Dromore with hopefully some East Antrim representation from Carrickfergus and Ballyclare. So as much local support would be appreciated for the Ulster players SUFTUM.
On Sunday the Abbey Ladies 7s and the Manvik Qualifying League kick-off at 12.00.
The women’s tournament will see Queens wanting to continue their recent series of victories, however Cooke and City of Derry will be thinking differently. In the men’s competition CIYMS will be looking to regain their title but Bangor, Omagh and the host club shall be trying to spoil their party. In the Guinness Ladies Development tournament eight teams will be looking to take the honours away from Ballynahinch, so expect strong opposition from Carrick, Coleraine Cobras, Cavan and Newry. This will make a total of 22 teams taking part on the Sunday.
Throughout the whole weekend there will be plenty to cater for all the family, with the usual Reapers barbeque and kidzone, plus a craft fair on the Saturday and Sunday featuring nearly twenty stalls. And for the first time you will be able to get some liquid refreshment from our very own authentic Irish bar.
In the evening you will see great entertainment starting with the Discobeards in the clubhouse on Friday night (free entry). In the Guinness Live Marquee on Saturday the incredible Flash Harry will take to the stage and on Sunday Sunshine will be headlining! Both costing £10 per ticket, with tickets available in the clubhouse.
Along with Guinness, Kukri, Quigg Golden, Manvik, and Abbey Insurance, the event could not take place without the financial and logistical support of Mid and East Antrim Council and including the NK Group. To all these sponsors we are indebted.
So with only a couple of days to go to the biggest rugby tournament in Ulster, Carrickfergus RFC is ready and waiting to host for many is the best rugby weekend on the calendar.
