The fourth Rugby Sevens tour under outgoing coach Beau Epperly brought a great success for the men's Sevens team. 14 players travelled to Budapest, supported by coach Beau, manager Joel and the hydration consultant Hugh. After finally assembling in Budapest despite flight disruptions across the board, the team got into full swing right away. As the first of two opponents from Croatia, Lokomotiva Zagreb were dispatched 29-10 in the opening game of the tournament. Next up were the hosts, Budapest Exiles, in their shiny pink shirts. They put up a stiffer challenge, but Beau's words at half-time had their usual effect. Basel ran out as winners, 22-10 this time round.

After two wins each, the following encounter between Basel and the French side Les Tracteurs was hotly anticipated by everyone around. And what a pulsating and exciting game it was - so exciting, that a player from each side spent one minute either side of half-time in the sin bin. The lead changed forth and back and players, coaches and spectators started to lose track of the score. Basel did not let up at all and through persistent infringing, two more players from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine side were sent to the bin. With the game clock severely in the red, Basel scored a break-away try to level the scores at 24-24.

What this hard-earned draw was worth only showed in the matches to come. Our French counterparts not only lost two players to injuries in the same game - they lost the game against the Budapest Exiles too. Instead of a big win, any win over HARK Mladost would do now to win the tournament. The Croatians stood up tall and had some of their friends from Zagreb helping out too. From the final score of 38-0 to Basel, the stand-out is definitely the zero points conceded in a very slick display of ruthless Sevens Rugby. HARK had their phases with possession, but when Basel got their hands on the ball, points were scored quickly.

As for the celebrations and other post-match activities, what happens on tour, stays on tour of course. The team manager probably took this too seriously and seemingly remained on tour forever. Special thanks go out to our tour captain Ben, our playing captain Tristan, all the other players involved, the organisers at Budapest Exiles Rugby Club and of course the referees from Hungary, Wales and Sweden.

The season has not quite ended for the Basel Sevens team however, with the team traveling to Lausanne for yet another tilt at the Swiss Super Sevens title on Saturday 5 July 2025. All the fond memories from Budapest will definitely help them with that!