The multi-national Murphy's Misfits are in their sixth season of existence, and the forthcoming weekend sees the club compete in the Sofia Sevens while at the same time hosting English touring team Whitney RFC.

Now in its 14th year, the Sofia Sevens is an annual Sevens Rugby event that is held at the beautiful campus of the National Sport Academy (NSA) in Sofia. Participating teams will be travelling from all over Europe, from countries including the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, in addition to local Bulgarian teams such as those representing NSA, the Bulgarian National Sevens Team and Merkuri.

The Sofia Sevens is a fun and fast-paced tournament. The name Sevens comes from the number of players on each team. In this format, each team fields seven players as opposed to 15 in a regular game of Rugby Union. While a normal Rugby Union match lasts 80 minutes, a normal Sevens match lasts 14 minutes. The emphasis of play in Sevens is speed, skill and fitness. The advantage of this is that the rugby is fast, very open and easy to understand.

Recently the trophy has been changing hands each year, and over the history of the event, teams from countries as diverse as the US and Belgium have been victorious. In 2008, three trophies are on offer for the main men’s event. Saturday will see stage one of the tournament as teams compete in group play. On Sunday, the winners of the groups will compete for the prestigious Rector's Trophy, and the title and honour of being crowned 2008 Sofia Sevens Champions. The other teams that do not qualify for the Rector's Trophy will compete for The Plate and The Bowl.

Although the Sofia Sevens is not on the European Sevens circuit and is not heavily promoted within Bulgaria, it still attracts strong teams and has a strong international flavour. Entertaining and competitive rugby is always on display, and past and present national team players from a variety of countries have competed in the tournament.
Murphy’s Misfits have entered the Sofia Sevens each year since 2002. The highlight for Misfits was in 2005 when they won the Bowl Trophy by defeating Levski RC of Sofia in the final. The 2008 Misfits Sevens team will be trying to replicate this past success. Key players are returning from injury to play, though the tournament may be arriving a little too soon for Misfits to be at full strength and fitness. As usual, the Misfits team will be made up of players from a variety of nations. However, in addition to this solid foundation, the Misfits will be including a number of young talented Bulgarians. Helping to develop local players is a key part of the Misfits philosophy.

Misfits Sevens captain Vesso Stoyanov, a Sofia Sevens veteran, said: “We are getting better and better in the Sofia Sevens thanks to Misfits traditionally being placed against strong opposition and we look forward to giving a good account of ourselves.”

On May 11, while the Sofia Sevens is still in progress, Murphy’s Misfits will play against Whitney RFC in a traditional 15-a-side game of Rugby Union at 3pm at NSA.
Increasingly, English teams are looking for somewhere different for their end-of-season European tour and Bulgaria is becoming a fashionable destination. Whitney RFC will be bringing 35 players, ranging in age from 20 to nearly 60, to take part in a social, yet competitive game against Misfits.

This will be the fourth game of the season for Misfits. Misfits have had varied success on the field so far this year and will be looking to bounce back against the English team after losing to Krusevacs Wolves of Serbia in the Balkan Shield.

Club president Murray Te Huki said: “Currently team spirit is high and we are entering the main part of our season. Over the last few practices we have been getting good numbers and have worked on the basics. Hopefully we will reap the benefits.”

Murphy’s Misfits would like to thank their sponsors JJ Murphy’s Pub and L.S. Property.

The Misfits play touch rugby, 15-a-side and sevens. Whatever your standard, if you are interested in playing, contact Murray Te Huki (club president) at hukgrahl@hotmail.com or visit the Murphy’s Misfits website www.murphysmisfits.org