Showers of rain didn’t stop the cheerful crowd from heading to the Mount Isa Rugby Union (MIRU) grounds on Alma Street.

MIRU president, sevens organiser, and Warrigals coach Kurt McGregor said they had a great turn out, even with the bad weather.

“It was good to get enough numbers for the six teams. I think it’s a good sign going ahead into the season,” he said.

“Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, we had really good numbers, even though the rain started coming down later in the night it didn’t deter people.”

The event was a fast-paced introduction to the rugby union season.

Six teams – Warrigals, Euros, Keas, Cloncurry, AB Originals and Fiji – played two full sevens games.

Fiji and Keas were undefeated and went on to play against each other in the final.

The Fijian side won the event, with Keas taking second place and Cloncurry coming in third.

They received prize-money of $1500, $800 and $300 respectively. 

Mr McGregor said the four club teams have signed up for the official season, which kicks off in two weeks.

“MIRU works purely off of volunteers and although we have a few key people volunteer and set up the tournament, it would be nice to have more people available and interested in helping out,” he said.

“We are trying to get a junior rugby union season off the ground; we’re looking for interest from players and volunteers.”

A rugby tens carnival will be held in Cloncurry on Saturday, October 14.

The official MIRU season begins the week after on October 21 and will continue until the end of March 2018.