American Teams Showing Very Well in United World Games
American Teams Showing Very Well in United World Games
It's been an interesting first day at the United World Games in Austria, with three American select programs fielding six teams.
Here's a quick rundown:
Rhinos Rugby Academy
Rhinos Rugby Academy has a U18 Girls and a U16 Boys team in the competition.
Their girls started off very well, shutting out RC Strong out of Czechia 55-0 and followed that up with a 10-0 victory over Rugby Academy Ireland. They wrapped all of that up with yet another shutout, beating Texas Outlaws 27-0.
The Boys U18 team were edged by Irish team Causeway Barbarians (from Ulster) and then slammed Vienna Celtic 55-5. They wrapped up the day's action against French team Compégne.
NA Lions
The Lions U18 Girls are coming off a win at the Heidelberg 7s a week before. In this round-robin of all six teams, some teams play three games on Friday and two on Saturday, and some teams play two on Friday and three on Saturday. The Lions had just the two games, beat Rugby Academy Ireland 24-10 in impressive fashion, and then shutting out the Texas Outlaws.
The U16 Boys kicked off pool play with two shutouts on Friday. They beat RC Havirov out of Czechia 30-0 and hit ASA Tel Aviv out of Israel 45-0.
The NA Lions players have been getting interviews for us in Germany, and here are their U18 Girls counterparts on their way to winning the Heidelberg 7s. @UtahLionsRugby @NAI_7s pic.twitter.com/N2l4AyAhfE
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) June 23, 2023
Rugby Texas
The Texas Rangers Boys U16s split their first two pool games, losing 19-10 to Czech team RC Prelouc and beating German team RC Leipzig 21-5. Unfortunately, the team from Ukraine couldn't attend, and so the Rangers' third game, scheduled for Saturday, will be a 30-0 forfeit. As a result the Rangers secured a 2-1 record and should make the semis. They are waiting on the result of Saturday's game between Leipzig and Prelouc, but the tiebreakers fall for the Rangers even if all three teams end up 2-1.
As reported above, the Texas Outlaws girls U18s lost their games against the Rhinos and the Lions, but they did beat Garioch out of Scotland to sit 1-2.
A little review of the Heidelberg 7s with the @RugbyTexas teams, the North American Lions @NAI_7s pic.twitter.com/gcCjQ6eOuR
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) June 23, 2023
Saturday Matchups
As we pointed out the Texas Rangers have clinched a place in the semifinals in the U16 Boys, and so have the NA Lions. The big question is the matchups. Likely Prelouc will beat Leipzig, putting the Czech team on top of Pool B and making the Texas Rangers #2. Meanwhile the Lions and Rugby Union Donau Wien out of Austria meet up Saturday morning to decide who wins their pool.
That's a tough one to predict because their results have been very similar (Lions 30-0 over Havirov, Donau Wein 44-10; Lions 45-0 over Tel Aviv, Donau Wein 31-5). Despite Donau Wein being in their home country, the Lions have not allowed a point so far and are probably favored.
If the Lions win their game then the Lions and the Rangers will meet in the semis.
The Boys U18 bracket is five games in a single pool of six. So the Rhinos Rugby Opens Borders (1-1) and Ukraine's Rugby United (0-3) on Day Two. The American team is expected to win those and get through round-robin play 5-0. That will put them into the semifinals.
In the Girls U18 bracket, with three American teams involved in the six-team bracket, it's quite the race.
The Texas Outlaws play Rugby Academy Ireland and Czech Team RC Strong, who recorded similar results to the Texas team. One win gives the Outlaws a decent shot at a semifinal spot.
The big game Saturday is Lions vs Rhinos, which could be a preview of the final. They play at noon. The Lions also have Garioch and RC Strong, and Rhinos also face Garioch. The likelihood is that Lions and Rhinos will be 1st and 2nd (in what order we can't predict), and that Texas will make 3rd or 4th. The chase is on for the other semifinal spot.
