Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

What a great sporting weekend we had in the Western Bay last Saturday and Sunday. Downtown Mount Maunganui was abuzz with the half ironman and all the other associated events, while out at Blake Park some of the best rugby sevens players in the country were in town for the Bay of Plenty Rugby 7s on 'Super Saturday”.

The Bay 7s kicked off a great week of the abbreviated form of the game, with Bay of Plenty Rugby hosting the National 7s championship in Rotorua this weekend (January 17/18).

While it is easy to think that Rugby 7s is a recent phenomenon, the start of the shortened form of the great game actually goes back to the 1880s in Scotland. It was an idea conceived in 1983, by two Melrose butchers in Ned Haig and David Sanderson, as a fund raising event for their local rugby club.

The first ever Rugby 7s match was played at the Melrose ground of Greenyards, which has eventually led to 7s becoming an Olympic Sport in 2016.

In New Zealand the first National 7s were fought out for the first time in 1975, with Marlborough winning the inaugural title and then backing up to win again the following year. The National 7s have been played every year since 1975, except for 1988/89 and 2003.

It was great to see the Bay team return to form at the Bay 7s to finish fourth, which will give coach Peter Woods plenty of optimism for the Nationals. The Bay women's team also showed some good touches at Blake Park and could be in with an outside chance in Rotorua.

Bay of Plenty rugby has a special affinity with Rugby 7s. In April 1992 a Bay of Plenty team entered the Melrose 7s in Scotland. The tournament was then considered the pinnacle world event of the shortened version of the game.

Coached by none other than (Sir) Gordon Tietjens, the Bay of Plenty representatives emerged triumphant defeating Kelso 17-12 in the final.

While Bay of Plenty have gone into a number of National 7s as one of the favorites after good lead-in form, they have yet to hold the winner's trophy aloft in victory. The closest they have come was in 2010, when they were beaten 21-14 by Waikato in the title decider.

However Bay of Plenty's greatest successes has come with legendary coach Sir Gordon Tietjens' outstanding record with the All Black 7s and a number of Bay players who have shone on the World 7s stage.

The first Bay of Plenty All Black 7s player was legendary Bay of Plenty hooker Hika Reid, who was selected in the infancy of the New Zealand 7s teams some thirty years ago in 1985.

Current Bay 7s coach Peter Wood made the New Zealand side in 1993, with the late Joe Tauiwi being one of the stars of the side that won three consecutive Hong Kong 7s titles in 1994-96.

Since the turn of the new millennium, a further 20-odd Bay of Plenty players have gone on to wear the All Black 7 uniform on the World Series circuit.

See ya at the National Sevens in Rotorua.