# Snelling Sevens

The Snelling Sevens (also known as the Snelling Seven-a-Side Trophy and originally known as the Welsh Seven-a-Side Tournament) was an annual Welsh Rugby Union sevens competition that ran from 1954 until 1995.
The tournament was inaugurated in 1954 and the trophy presented by the Chairman of Newport Athletic Club, Reg Snelling, after whom the competition is named. The competition took place over a single day, and was originally a straightforward knockout tournament between 16 teams, with the initial draw taking place prior to the match day. The teams invited were the premier South Wales teams, but occasionally if a team was on tour at the time clubs were invited from other areas, including English teams such as Leicester and Bath. Ebbw Vale won the tournament in 1958. The squad included G Powell, M Williams, F Matthews, R Morgan, D Ackerman, D Barrett, R Evans, K Cameron, J Pugh. 1967 saw the introduction of the Bill Everson Award for the Man of the Tournament Trophy. In 1979, the competition changed format from a purely knockout tournament to a pool system with four groups of four teams followed by knockout rounds.
Despite the competition's popularity from the 1950s to the 1970s, crowds diminished from 50,000 at its peak to around 5,000 by the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1995, the competition was renamed as the "Worthington Sevens", but it was decided that, due to the congested timetables of the clubs involved, the tournament should cease to be held. The trophy was awarded permanently to Newport as the most successful club in the competition's history.

## Finals

| Season | Winners | Losing Finalists | Score | Venue | Everson Award |
| 1954 | Newport | Ebbw Vale | 6–0 | Newport Athletic Club | |
| 1955 | Cardiff | Newport | 8–3 | Rodney Parade | |
| 1956 | Newport | Penarth | 5–3 | St Helens | |
| 1957 | Newport | Abertillery | 11–8 | St Helens | |
| 1958 | Ebbw Vale | Newport | 10–5 | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 1959 | Newport | Pontypool | 6–3 | Rodney Parade | |
| 1960 | Llanelli | Penarth | 14–10 | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 1961 | Newport | Pontypool | 8–3 | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 1962 | Newport | Neath | 19–3 | St Helens | |
| 1963 | Newport | Bridgend | 8–0 | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 1964 | Neath | Cardiff | 10–5 | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 1965 | Newport | Newbridge | 9–8 | St Helens | |
| 1966 | Cardiff | Newport | 23–20 | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 1967 | Newport | Cardiff | 21–15 | Cardiff Arms Park | David Watkins |
| 1968 | Bridgend | Pontypool | 13–10 | Cardiff Arms Park | J.J. Williams |
| 1969 | Cardiff | Llanelli | 17–13 | Cardiff Arms Park | Barry John |
| 1970 | Neath | Ebbw Vale | 18–8 | Cardiff Arms Park | David Parker |
| 1971 | Llanelli | Newport | 31–10 | Cardiff Arms Park | John Thomas |
| 1972 | Cardiff | Bridgend | 15–4 | Cardiff Arms Park | John Davies |
| 1973 | Llanelli | Newbridge | 52–6 | Cardiff Arms Park | Roy Bergiers |
| 1974 | Bridgend | Swansea | 30–14 | Cardiff Arms Park | Vivian Jenkins |
| 1975 | Bridgend | Cardiff | 32–12 | Cardiff Arms Park | Stuart Lane |
| 1976 | Cardiff | Newport | 18–8 | Cardiff Arms Park | Chris Camilleri |
| 1977 | Cardiff | Newport | 24–16 | Cardiff Arms Park | John Churchill |
| 1978 | Bridgend | Cardiff | 38–16 | Cardiff Arms Park | Gareth Powell Williams |
| 1979 | Llanelli | Ebbw Vale | 26–16 | Cardiff Arms Park | Peter Morgan |
| 1980 | Bridgend | Newport | 24–16 | Cardiff Arms Park | Gary Pierce |
| 1981 | Cardiff | Leicester | 20–6 | Cardiff Arms Park | Gwynfor Williams |
| 1982 | Swansea | Ebbw Vale | 44–6 | Cardiff Arms Park | Jeff Herdman |
| 1983 | Cardiff | Abertillery | 44–6 | Rodney Parade | Adrian Parry |
| 1984 | Cardiff | Newport | 30–12 | Rodney Parade | Mark Ring |
| 1985 | Newport | Glamorgan Wanderers | 43–0 | Rodney Parade | Steve Pill |
| 1986 | Glamorgan Wanderers | Cardiff | 30–6 | Rodney Parade | Nick Ward |
| 1987 | Bridgend | Newport | 34–12 | Rodney Parade | Aled Williams |
| 1988 | Llanelli | South Wales Police | 40–4 | Rodney Parade | Jonathan Davies |
| 1989 | Swansea | Bridgend | 22–16 | Rodney Parade | Mark Titley |
| 1990 | Newbridge | Bridgend | 20–14 | Rodney Parade | David Rees |
| 1991 | Swansea | Bridgend | 20–18 | Rodney Parade | Chris Bradshaw |
| 1992 | Newbridge | Swansea | 28–24 | Cardiff Arms Park | David Manley |
| 1993 | South Wales Police | Pontypridd | 24–14 | Cardiff Arms Park | Richie Collins |
| 1994 | Bath | Cardiff | 42–5 | Cardiff Arms Park | Audley Lumsden |
| 1995 | Swansea | Bridgend | 29–28 | Cardiff Arms Park | Robert Howley |