Greer SC Parks & Rec Welcomes Top College, HS Teams to Christmas 7s
The City of Greer, SC and the Greer 76ers Rugby Club are hosting a Christmas 7s tournament this coming Saturday, Dec 10.
The tournament is hosted by the city's Parks & Recreation Department and in fact the city's P&R department started their own rugby program, the 76ers.
High School and collegiate rugby teams from six states will compete Country Club Road Park. There will be four divisions: College, Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls, and JV Boys.
Teams from Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina will be competing, from Clemson, Western Carolina, and University of Georgia to Pendleton HS (Indiana), Raptor Rugby (Tennessee) to Raleigh (NC), Roswell (Ga.) and also local-ish Lander University. Greer also has their team playing.
Carolina Ruggerfest Set for March 2022
The Carolina Ruggerfest will return for 2022 with the tournament set for March 5-6 at the Mecklenburg County SportsPlex in Matthews, NC.
Carolina Ruggerfest is probably the largest high school tournament in the country, and one of the longest-lasting as well as this will be the 19th time the event has been held.
The event will have expanded warmup areas and four full-size fields for preparation plus five full-sized game fields.
There will be 10 divisions of competition for the 2022 Ruggerfest:
High School Boys Elite 15s – meant for teams ranked in Goff Rugby Report's Top 50
High School Boys Competitive 15s – meant for teams that can play but maybe aren't ranked
High School Boys Developmental 15s – meant for newer and rebuilding teams
High School Boys Junior Varsity 15s – No seniors allowed – meant for younger sides
Lions, Barbarians Cap Off Dubai Trip
The North American Lions were defeated by the German national U19 team 14-12 in the final of the Dubai International 7s U19 Invitational.
The two teams had tied earlier in the competition. Germany's ability to control possession and their excellent defense caused issues for the Lions. The North American Barbarians came in 4th after losing 24-12 to Brussels Development in the 3rd-4th game.
NA Lions Tie Germany in Dubai, Barbarians Get a Win
The North American Lions tied Germany 19-19 in the Boys U19 International bracket of the Dubai 7s.
Meanwhile, the North American Barbarians finally put something together to beat the Brussels Seven Development team 26-7. Those results capped off pool play.
The Lions actually held Germany scoreless for 11 minutes of the 14-minute game, with Eli Palmer, Cormac Saint, and Nathan Leff scoring tries and Saint converting two.
But the methodical German attack finally wore the Lions down and they scored three late tries to tie the game.
Siaosi Nauer and Coby Baker did much to set up the Lions tries.
A B Γ Δ O Keep The Kids Outside
This is an opinion column by GRR Editor Alex Goff—So I have been struggling with producing another commentary on COVID and how it relates to sports, young people, and rugby.
I recorded something some time ago but it didn't quite sound right to me. The issue is so very complex, and yet in some ways if very simple. In writing what I am writing now, I do so in the middle of the newest Big Thing which is the Omicron Variant, about which, frankly, we know little besides inferences and conjecture ... oh, and fear, don't forget fear.
I will start by giving you the conclusion of my video.
North American U19 Teams Pitch-Up in Dubai
Two mostly-US teams are competing in the Dubai 7s International U19 bracket in the UAE this weekend.
Both the North American Lions and the North American Barbarians opened up their play early in the morning US time. Both teams normally draw from the USA and Canada, but COVID travel restrictions between the two countries made that basically impossible. So these teams have drawn from US sources.
Colorado Wraps Up HS Fall 7s
Rugby Colorado crowned its fall 7s champions this November with its usual girls competition and, for the first time, a boys championship too.
Since the 15s season ran late this year, there was no summer 7s for the boys so they played this fall.
Five girls teams and 11 boys teams competed in a series of jamborees each other. The boys teams were split into a Tier 1 and Tier 2 for the finals and the girls also had two tiers, with a Tier 1 plus a 2nd tier that also included some JV teams.
At each jamboree teams earned points and that seeded them for the final tournament November 6.
Berks Caps Huge 2021 With NY 7s HS Win
Berks County Rugby battled back from a slow start to win the New York 7s High School Premier Championship Saturday at Randall's Island in New York City.
On a cold, windy day on the East River in Manhattan, Berks Rugby opened up pool play at 8AM against Aspetuck Rugby.
With the temperature in the low 20s at kickoff, Berks found themselves starting cold and were down 12-0 after missed tackles on Aspetuck’s first two possessions. Berks settled down and kept the score 12-0 through the end of the first half.
Berks opened the 2nd half with a try by Steven Flinton and they continued to pressure Aspetuck and were soon rewarded with a scrum at the Aspetuck 5-meter line. A strong scrum by Aspetuck earned them a steal and a 95 meter try by scrumhalf Carson Hill extending Aspetuck's lead to 17-5.
MedStar Fundraiser Tournament a Huge Success
Sunday, November 21, was a beautiful, slightly chilly, and unusually busy day in Great Falls Village as Great Falls Youth Rugby hosted its seventh annual tournament to benefit the MedStar National Rehabilitation Center's spinal cord injury programs.
Thirty-three teams from all over the Metro-D.C. area participated in the day-long event raising funds for the cause, playing a total of 50 rugby games on three fields at the same time.
Raptor Rugby Sweeps Tennessee Fall 7s
The Raptor Rugby Program in Middle Tennessee took all of the honors at the Tennessee State Fall 7s Championships this past Saturday.
Boys Open Division
The High School JV side took the Open Division playing well-connected rugby and with purpose throughout the day. They won every match decisively, which bodes well for the program's future. This was a mostly freshman team and they showed a good understanding of the game and played with confidence.
The team was led by a freshman contingent of captain Bishop Reilly, Eli Bauman, Gavin Trussel, Jaob Marak, Bo Linstroth, Willian Wright, Tucker Ervin, and David Krivacka, and added 8th-graders Mac Sutherland and Jake Orefice. These players also won the 2021 Tennessee Middle School 15s State Championship last spring. Bauman was named the tournament MVP.
Carolinas Cap Off Successful HS Fall 7s Season
For several years the North Carolina Youth Rugby Union has put on a Fall 7s Series – with many players doing both football and rugby.
They Fall season has been a great way for non-football rugby kids to stay engaged before Winter 15s when everyone comes out to play. What started as a small 7s season for just a few sides has turned in to a 3-state (NC, SC, and Georgia), highly competitive 7s juggernaut. Thirty teams spread out over several tiers and divisions (based on gender and competitiveness) played 3 tournaments in the month of October, wrapping up with a finals day on the last Saturday in October.
Each team played 3 matches per game day finishing the series with 9 matches each.
The tournament featured a mix of both school, club and motley teams and allowed for nearly 400 high school athletes to get some fantastic rugby in.
Dramatic Finishes Punctuate Ohio Boys Fall 7s Finals
St. Edward beat St. Ignatius on the final play of the game to take the Rugby Ohio Boys Fall 7s, and St. Ed's made it a double, winning the Shield competition, as well.
Rugby Ohio used the regular season to stratify the competitions, with one set of teams playing for the Cup, and a second tier playing for the Shield in the final tournament.
In the Shield, St. Edward and St. Ignatius teams made up of their younger players faced off, and St. Ed's brought a more physical game with a ton of pace and came out on top.
As for the Cup Competition:
Semifinals
St. Ignatius vs St. Xavier
Mountain Ridge Wins Utah Boys Fall 7s
Mountain Ridge won the Utah Youth Rugby Boys Fall Series, getting by Herriman to take the title.
"We had a really great fall season, but everything came together right at the end for our Varsity Boys," said Head Coach Spencer Criddle. "I was really impressed with how well they played together, there were certainly standout players but their success was founded on great teamwork. We only gave up two tries in the whole final tournament while score at least five in every match."
Isaac Criddle and Misi Heimuli were especially good for Mountain Ridge.
At Rugby PA Urging, State Adopts Emerging HS Sport Designation
High School Rugby in Pennsylvania received an organizational boost this week as the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors has approved the creation of an Emerging Sport classification.
During its meeting on July 14th, 2021, the PIAA Board accepted a proposal from their Executive Staff for the development of an Emerging Sports Process Guide. This new emerging sports classification allows sports with smaller levels of school participation, like rugby, to have a pathway to achieving full sponsorship by the PIAA.
1964 Foundation Hosts Rugby Ball For Grassroots Rugby in NE Ohio
The 1964 Rugby Foundation in Ohio is hosting their second ever Rugby Ball on Saturday, November 20 to present two special honorees and to raise funds for grassroots rugby efforts.
The 1964 Foundation supports youth rugby and grassroots rugby throughout Northeast Ohio. They provide grants to pay for jerseys, balls and other equipment, coaching, and to support youth initiatives.
The 1964 Foundation provided a significant grant to the Rookie Rugby Cleveland spring season, enabling kids who otherwise could not afford to play to get on the field.
