The Fly 2026 Finals Weekend round-up
The Fly 2026 saw one title defence and one return to the top as Forge Men and Swift Women won the respective titles at Blackheath Rugby Club.
Nathan Hunt’s Forge side were the defending champions this term and made it three successive titles with their final win over Hustle Men.
In the women’s competition, Hannah Hunt and Swift Women picked up their first trophy since 2021 against Rise, as they perfected their turnaround from the team’s fourth-place finish in 2025.
The Hunt couple, head coaches of the Netherlands Men’s and Women’s Sixes programmes, ensured a doubly happy household as they both brought home The Fly titles in their first year as coaches.
Saturday
The opening Play-in Games in London went in favour of the highest seed, with both Rise sides coming out on top in narrow scorelines.
Rise Women overcame four-time champions Forge with a 13-11 win, with high-scorers Ella Malik, Ellie Jones, and Nina Sherwen all netting hat-tricks against the side they lifted the trophy with last year.
In the men’s game it was also No.3 side Rise who progressed to the semi-final with a 17-15 win over Swift, a result that set the blue shirts up for a third consecutive year without a final appearance.
Moving into the first top-seed face-off ,Swift Women continued the favourites’ push to the finals, as they beat Hustle 16-6, with Minty Loxton having continued her fine form with six goals to her name.
The first upset of the day came in the first men’s semi-final, as Forge decimated Hustle with a tournament-high score of 25-10 to land the reigning champions in yet another final.
To add to how impressive the performance was already it was done without the use of their GameChanger, with goalkeeper Thomas Haitsma even joining the goalscoring action from deep in his own half as the full-time horn rang out.
In light of the defeat, Drew Wilkinson led Hustle to the final with seven goals in the second-chance semi-final, as they beat Rise 17-13 to send Vince Cara’s side to the third-place play-off against Swift.
However, the yellow flag would still be flown in the women’s final, thanks to Rise’s overtime win against Hustle.
Nina Sherwen stole the show with her overtime goal to take the only team from outside the top two seeds to the final.
Sunday
Finals Day opened with the men’s third place play-off which ended 22-18 in favour of Rise against Swift.
As Swift went in search of a first win for the 2026 competition, the game was not without controversy as a goal disallowed right on the half-time stifled Swift’s efforts and Rise took control of the game from then on to clinch the bronze medal.
Alex Russell scored five times in a match that would inevitably secure his place as the tournament’s top scorer, and extend his reign as the all-time leading point and goal scorer.
The women’s third-place play-off was more straightforward, albeit much lower scoring, as Forge beat Hustle 7-6 to ensure their 2026 finished on a high despite relinquishing their four-year stranglehold on the title.
Freya Moody’s hat-trick wasn’t enough to overcome Kate Nelson-Lee’s Forge side, as Hustle finished in last place despite being the No.2 seed, following Saturday’s overtime defeat.
Moving on to the finals it was Forge Men who stepped up once more to beat Hustle 18-15, beating them twice in one weekend to retain their crown in a repeat of Saturday’s Semi Final.
However, it was much less one-sided than the previous meeting, as Hustle moved into a 9-4 lead as they went about trying to overturn the previous day’s result.
But Forge regrouped and began to turn the screw with Will Goodwin’s four-goal MVP performance alongside a well-used GameChanger sealing the fate of the final and keeping the men’s title with Forge.
Swiss international Andre Bremgartner joined his teammate in the awards ceremony as the winner of the men’s ‘Goalkeeper of the Tournament’, with Nathan Hunt’s team bagging a hat-trick of accolades on the big day.
For the women’s final, Swift brought back memories of their 2021 success as they edged out Rise with a 7-4 win to secure a first title in five years.
Two stellar goalkeeping performances kept the game at an almost constant deadlock, with Rise’s four-time tournament winner Emilie Chandler up against Swift’s WLL star Kady Glynn; as both racked up save after save.
Rise also locked off tournament top scorer Minty Loxton throughout large periods of the final, but Swift’s team firepower that had been on show across The Fly 2026 eventually told.
Liv Gomarsall led the scoring with three goals including a crucial GameChanger goal that helped seal Swift success for the first time since the inaugural season.
Rise’s Emilie Chandler was again rewarded with a second consecutive ‘Goalkeeper of the Tournament’ award, with opposing ‘keeper Kady Glynn having picked up the final’s MVP award amidst Swift’s brick-wall display.
Leo Downes
The Fly