| 2 December 2008, 10:49 am |
| Spoon Rugby scores a Hat-trick in Dubai |
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| Three Wooden Spoon Rugby teams created a stir in Dubai as they all reached their respective finals played in front of 50,000 people. |
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The Wooden Spoon Vets, the Wooden Spoon Women and the Wooden Spoon Blues all had tough games in their group stages to get through to the knock out stages but they all dug deep to achieve the objective of getting into the final to allow the charity to gain exposure to the 50,000 fans.
 Spoon rugby teams play in tournaments around the world and in the UK to raise the profile of Wooden Spoon amongst rugby fans. All the players pay for themselves to attend these tournaments supported by valuable sponsorship, this year from Saudex, Redstone, Kukri, Danny Sacco and DHL. Dubai is the biggest seven’s tournament in the world, with an enthusiastic attendance of 50,000 fans and a television audience of millions around the world.
The International Ladies Final was first up against the England National team playing as Sporting Chance. To reach the final the Spoon Women beat the American National team twice and already encountered England’s best, loosing 19-0. But they had various ideas up their sleeve to combat a very professional team, most of whom have themselves played for Spoon. It was a stunning game of women’s rugby and up until the final second of the game Spoon looked as if they were going to cause a major upset. With the score 10-7 to Spoon the clock wound down to zero but the ball was still in play and England somehow managed to scrabble over the line for a try. The Spoon women were devastated that they had come so close to defeating one of the World’s leading seven’s teams, only to loose in the dying seconds. But Women’s rugby was the winner here with the crowd appreciating the skill and speed from both teams.
 The Vets were the next team to enter the stage playing against the Christina Noble team that had also beaten them in last year’s final. The Christina Noble team again comprised stars of the rugby world including Chris Shesby and Tim Stimpson. The Vets have reached the final for the last three years and missed the trophy on all occasions. They were determined to end that run this year but the speed merchants in the Christina Noble team had other ideas. Despite valiant defending the Spoon team went down by four tries to none. Spoon Vets were certainly the hardest opposition Christina Noble had encountered all week but when you have former professional players effortlessly stringing passes together, the ten minute halves can last an awfully long time. The team accredited themselves very well and won many friends in the crowd for their defiance and they way they stood up to the pros!
 By the time the Blues team ran on the pitch, Wooden Spoon had become a household name amongst the crowd and the support for the Charity had grown significantly. Chants of “Spooners” could be heard around the ground as the commentator introduced the 'third' of Spoon's teams hoping to walk away with the silverware. The youngsters were possibly star struck in the first half by the atmosphere and the occasion and soon found themselves two tries down but they rallied and game back strong in the second half, scoring two brilliant tries. However, the Atlantic team held the lead and their speedsters fan in two more tries before the final whistle.
So it was three finals and three runners-up titles. It might not have been the results the teams wanted but it achieved the results Spoon wanted, three teams in the finals, great publicity and Wooden Spoon firmly on the map of the rugby world.
Congratulations to all the players who went to Dubai. Wooden Spoon would like to thank them for their time and commitment to Spoon Rugby and for being such professional and enthusiastic ambassadors both on and off the pitch.
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| Author: Sarah Griffiths |
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