This weekend, on July 2, the second and final stage of the Latvian Rugby Championship – 7 stage was held at the Baldones Stadium. This year’s Latvian champions were determined. Eight teams participated in the second stage: two RFC Livonia club teams – Brander/Livonia and Garkalne/Livonia, two RK Miesnieki teams – CoverPower/Ķekava and Ķekava district, Fēniks, Jūrmala, Baldone/ĶNSS, Eži.
In the subgroup games of the second stage, in subgroup A, the winners of the first stage – Brander/Livonia – took the 1st place with 9 points and 3 victories. 2nd place was taken by Fenix, 3rd place by Jurmala and 4th place by the team of Ķekava region.
On the other hand, Baldone/ KNSS took the 1st place in subgroup B with 9 points and 3 wins. 2nd place was taken by CoverPower/ Ķekava, 3rd place by Eži, 4th place by Garkalne/Livonia.
The semi-finals and finals proved that rugby sevens is a game of opportunity. In the first semi-final, Cover Power/Ķekava defeated Brander/Livonia 19:7 (Cover Power/Ķekava lost to the first team of Livonia in the first stage of the final). On the other hand, in the second semi-final, Baldone/KNSS defeated Valmiera Fenix rugby players 17:5.
In the game for 3rd place, Brander/Livonia did not leave any hope for Valmiera and won a safe victory with 57-0.
In the final of the second stage, the second and third place winners of the first stage met – Cover Power/Ķekava and Baldones/KNSS. The final match of the championship turned out to be full of sporting twists. Rugby players from Ķekava were the first to take the lead, however Baldonians were able to fight back in the first half and also take the lead – 7:14.
The second half of the game was also a tight battle, with one team scoring points and the other team equalizing the score. The second half of the game ended with the score 21-21, which meant that the winner would be determined in overtime, where the team that scores the first points wins.
In the first overtime, neither team was able to break through the opponent’s defense, so another overtime was played. The Baldone/KNSS rugby players proved to be more successful in this – the team leader Elmārs Šefanovski took the initiative and, making a touchdown, ensured the Baldone/KNSS team the 1st place in the 2nd stage of the Latvian Championship Rugby-7.
Be that as it may, the first place of the Brander/Livonia team in the 1st stage, the third place won in the second stage and the ratio of the points scored in the overall ranking table ensured the team the title of CHAMPION in Latvian Championship Rugby-7 in 2022!
The second place in the overall standings was won by Baldone/KNSS, while the third place in the overall standings was taken by Cover Power/Ķekava. Fourth in the overall standings – Phoenix, fifth Garkalne/Livonia, sixth Jūrmala, seventh Eži and eighth Ķekava county team.
