Top End tournament leaves Illawarra Rugby Union star in sevens’ heaven

ILLAWARRA Rugby’s Mitchell Payne has returned from playing with the Australian Legends team at the Darwin Sevens.

Mitch, who usually plies his trade as Kiama’s first grade halfback, was selected in the Legends team for the Darwin tournament after being spotted at the 2007 Kiama Sevens.

There, the manager of the Legends said asked to be introduced to Payne and offered him a spot in the side if any vacancies emerged.

Fast-forward to December, when Payne was invited to play in the Darwin Sevens, billed as the “hottest sevens in the world.”

Payne was the only member of the Australian Legends squad to not be playing first grade rugby in either Sydney or Canberra.

Although their name suggests otherwise, the Legends consist of up-and-coming players.

“It was mostly younger guys but they were good,” Payne said.

“One guy had played touch for Australia and a few played in the (now defunct) Australian Rugby Championship.

“It was a great experience; I have never really played representative rugby before so I learnt a lot.”

The Australian Legends made it to the quarter-finals of the Darwin tournament, only to fall to a side consisting of South Africans that normally play in the IRB World Sevens tournaments.

Payne said he was surprised by the amount of playing time he received in the elite tournament.

“I was nervous because of the calibre of guys I was playing against but I felt I held my own,” he said.