1967 saw David Watkins make his last ever Snellings Sevens appearance as in November that year he turned professional and went North to Salford RL but what a last appearance it was to be. David Watkins led the team of John Anthony, Gordon Britton and Jeff Palmer with forwards Brian Price, Brian Perrins and John Jeffrey – the side being coached by sevens expert Brian Jones. Newport cruised past Maesteg, Llanelli and Bridgend to meet old rivals Cardiff in the final. Unfortunately in beating Bridgend star player David Watkins damaged his achilles tendon and was virtually reduced to being a passenger. Amazingly after immersing his foot in a bucket of ice during the interval between S/F and final he came out for the final to face Cardiff who included Welsh international stars Maurice Richards and Gerald Davies in front of 40,000 people.

Newport quickly took an 8-0 lead which they then increased to 18-5 but Cardiff hit back to trail by only 15-18. And the tension increased as the final whistle approached. Then Newport wing John Anthony broke clear and strolled down the touch-line towards the Taff end with that great Cardiff sevens player chasing valiantly but to no avail. Newport were once again crowned champions and aptly David Watkins was the first recipient of the new Man of the Tournament Trophy – the Bill Everson Award. Newport had only lost 5 games in the 52 they had played to date in the Snelling Sevens – a remarkable record and David Watkins kept his record of never having played in a losing Newport Sevens side.

Maesteg 18-6W
Llanelli 18-5 W
Bridgend 15-5 W
Cardiff 21-15 W

This was to be the end of Newport’s golden era of Sevens but what an era it had been. In the 14 yrs that the tournament had been held they had reached 13 S/F’s and 12 Finals winning an incredible 9 and runners-up in another 3. They had won 47 of the 52 games they had played and had produced stars such as backs Ken Jones, Malcolm Thomas, Roy Burnett, Brian Jones, Gordon Britton, David Watkins, Bob Prosser, John Anthony and forwards Bryn Meredith, Brian Price, John Jeffrey, Glyn Davidge and Brian Perrins. Incredibly they were to win the title only one more time until the tournament was ended in 1995 although they did appear in a further 7 finals.