The 2009 ladies teams

Possible Silver Pier Semi Finalists

Samurai

Samurai won the tournament in 2005 and again, as Samurai St. Georges Ladies with pretty much the England team, won again in 2008. The tournament in 2008 was the strongest Ladies Tournament in the world that year. Aotearoa Maori Ladies were unbeaten - ever, and had won Hong Kong six years running but the "Rules Gonks" in Hong Kong decided they could not play in 2008 - they were not a national side. We also had national teams from Canada and USA and many other top teams. Samurai St. Georges Ladies were drawn in the same Sunday Morning pool as the Maoris, Canada and poor old Susies Valkyries. Samurai lost 19-7 to the Maoris but qualified for the Semi-finals. After beating USA 14-5 in the Semi-final Samurai earned a second chance to play Aotearoa, this time in the final. In the Final Samurai St. Georges Ladies ran away with the game 24-5 to claim the title. We do not know the make-up of the team this year but we think they will make the final.

Wooden Spoon

Wooden Spoon is the charity of British and Irish Rugby. Three years ago 'WoodenSpoonRugby' was established to help raise awareness throughout the rugby world of the charity's work to improve the lives of mentally, socially and physically disadvantaged children and young people. The squad comprises a mixture of experienced players including recently retired internationals and present players from the four home unions. All these players have chosen to play for the charity team as ambassadors for Wooden Spoon both on and off the pitch. The Wooden Spoon Women's team was unbeaten in 2007 winning in Kinsale, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Dubai. In 2008 the team retained its title in Kinsale, Ireland, won the Bournemouth and Newquay Seven's Tournaments and were runners-up to the England National team in Dubai. In Amsterdam they reached the Silver Pier but in the Sunday Morning pools lost to the USA national side 33-0 and drew 5-5 with the Brasil national side and only missed out on the semi-finals on "tries scored". This year they will probably reach the semi-finals and could do better. Visit www.woodenspoon.com where you can learn about the Charity and what you can do to help improve the lives of disadvantaged children. Watch out for Spoon's multi-coloured wristbands at the tournament - this year's 'must have' accessory, from which all proceeds go to the charity. (Charity Reg No. 326691).

Probable Silver Pier Qualifiers

Susies Valkyries

Susies Valkyries made their first visit to the Amsterdam Sevens in 2008 and qualified for the Silver Pier, beating the Czech Ladies national side on the way. In the Silver Pier Sunday pools they ran up against the Canadian national side, Samurai St. Georges Ladies which was basically the England Team and Aotearoa Maori Womens Sevens, six time Hong Kong winners and undefeated - ever (until the final last year). This year we think they will again make the Ladies Silver Pier but they will be hoping to get a better draw in the Sunday Pools.

Moody Cows

Moody Cows are an international invitational side formed to play in the Dubai Sevens where they played in 2004, 2005 and 2007. 2008 saw there first visit to Amsterdam. They missed out on the Silver Pier and in the Ladies Plate their morning finished early with a 31-17 loss to Brasil Blue, the Brasil second string team. We expect a Silver Pier qualification this year. They also have a clothing line.

Pink Ba-bas

A group of friends from different clubs around the UK, this will be the third visit to the Amsterdam Sevens for the Ladies in pink. In 2007 they made the Ladies Silver Pier. In 2008, in a much stronger tournament, they made the Ladies Plate and after beating AAC in the quarter-finals 29-7 they lost in the semi-finals to Brasil Blue, the Brasil second string, 19-7. Could make the Silver Pier this year.

Corsolettes

Once Upon a Bloody Mary Monday - this team was founded in the deepest and darkest corner of the Cafe Corso in Amsterdam's red light district. The Corso-lettes are an invitational team mostly from NL and Scotland. I'm not sure whether that makes them Nederlottish or Scutch however, they've done well in recent years and play some good rugby.

Corsolettes obviously enjoyed Saturday night in the Caf Corso. They lost all three games, 44-0 to USA, 27-5 to Wooden Spoon and 40-5 to Brasil Gold.

RC The Bassets Ladies

Runners up to AAC in the Dutch National Sevens the week before

Probable Ladies Plate Qualifiers

AAC

In 2008 hosts AAC were knocked out of the Ladies Plate at the quarter-final stage 29-7 by Pink Ba-bas. This year AAC won the national title. There is a chance the Netherlands national team will be taking part this year after their heroics in Dubai. The AAC performance will depend upon whether Netherlands play. If they keep their international players they could scrape into the Ladies Silver Pier or challenge for the Ladies Plate.

Czech Republic

Czech Republic is more or less the Czech ladies national team. The Amsterdam Sevens is part of their preparations for the Sevens European Championship. They have been playing Women's rugby in the Czech Republic for 6 years and there are now 9 rugby clubs who have women's teams who play in the Women's League and there is also an U19 Sevens League which started in season 2007/2008. The first champions were RC Sparta Praha in June 2008 and the Sparta Girls make up much of the national team every year. You can find more information about Czech rugby on http://www.rugbyunion.cz/ or http://www.ragby.cz/. On their first visit to Amsterdam last year in a very strong competition they made it through to the semi-finals of the Ladies Plate where they lost out to the Pirates from England 26-7. They may do a little better this year.

Germany Ladies

This is the German National Ladies Team. The Amsterdam Sevens is part of their preparations for the tournaments over the summer. We expect they will be competing for the Ladies Plate.

Sabbie Mobili

Sabbie Mobili (it means "quicksand" in Italian) is an invitational team set up in 2002 for the best young rugby players around Rome. They play in Sevens and Beach Rugby tournaments for Men, Ladies aand Youth players. The team's mission is to give the best young players from Rome the chance to play on the big stage. This is the first visit of their Ladies team. They have a mission to enjoy themselves both on and off the pitch.

Norwegian Raiderettes

This is the Norwegian Ladies national team and this is their second visit. It would be unfair to judge them on last year's performance. Half of the team were stranded in Norway by a national airports strike. We managed to get them a few spare ladies from other teams to fill the gaps and they did manage to beat Bassets Ladies 19-10 to qualify for the Ladies Plate where they lost 42-0 to the Pirates from England. We expect a Plate qualification this year if they can cope with the heat in Amsterdam.