Original post: December 2022
A week on from what can only be described as another insanely epic tournament with the Pack Family & the dust has just about settled. The Emirates Dubai 7s, without a doubt, the biggest 7s event of the calendar & this year the temperature had been turned all the way up!
We touched down in Dubai a few days before the first game to take in some sights & build the gees (vibe) within the 3 squads;
The International Vets, on their debut in the desert (more on them in a separate post). The Impi Pack, returning to defend their title as the International Social Champs & The Alpha Pack jumping up a division to take on the Men's International Open competition.
It is in the Wild Dog’s DNA to believe that we are always in with a shot at any title, & the immense effort from the Pack did not disappoint.
Our Impi’s fought valiantly to top their group which included a bruising Friday afternoon, table topped, clash vs The Black Goats. They then faced-off against the exact same Cup quarter-final & Semi-final opposition as the year before in the Cats & the Beavers respectively. After two incredible knockout performances they, unfortunately, fell short in the Cup Final against a very well drilled Vikings team who almost went under the radar through the tournament but saved their best for when it mattered most. Worthy Champions on this occasion.
Our Alpha’s were up against arguably some of the toughest invitational teams on the planet. We managed a clean sweep on Day 1 vs the Dubai Tigers & Tropics 7s (who would go on to make the final of the Plate - a seriously tough pool). We then stumbled in the table topping clash early on Friday morning vs a strong Sri Lions team. The boys wore the loss well & it seemed to solidify the Pack who fought hard to knock out tournament favourites, the Monaco Impi’s, before taking out a quality Canadian Irregulars side on their way to the Cup Final. Here, we took on Georgia’s National 7s squad. Never looking out of place, & putting in a dominant performance, the boys looked to have the game it in the bag with a couple minutes to go. A harsh yellow card saw the momentum shift with Georgia scoring 2 tries in the final 2 minutes, the final one after the hooter. With the conversion needed to seal victory, the Georgian kicker slotted it for the win & the title.
Hearts broke & heads felt heavy for some time before the reality of what the Pack had achieved over the week had sunk in. New friendships, memories for life & 3 finals in the desert made for a great celebration. We’ll be back next year, hungrier then ever.
Until then, a huge thank you to our incredible family of sponsors who made it all possible, our supporters around the world & those that traveled with us & cheered from the sidelines, all the management team who put in the hours behind the scenes and, lastly, to all of our dogged players who left absolutely everything they had to give in the desert. We love this Pack Family & we are only getting started!
#packfamily
(Please note these are posts that we have made in the past on LinkedIn that we are moving to our new blog/news page & we will be posting new news soon)
