Well, now, there’s this interesting matter of the CRC Men’s 7s invitational.

This year, the tournament, which will run all day Saturday and Sunday, is about as competitive as it has ever been, with even the so-called also-rans having shown themselves to be able to play.

Here’s how we see the pools shaping up:

 

Pool A

Cal, Arkansas State, Maryland, and Tennessee

Cal brings a relatively young squad to Chester, Pa., but it’s still a team that has some significant experience. With more high schools playing 7s these days, many college teams are benefiting from 7s experience in their younger players. For Cal, Anthony Salaber was playing 7s for the HS All Americans well before he donned a Cal jersey, and his understanding of how to use his height, speed, and power is invaluable. Salaber is 65, and James Kondrat is 6-6 … you’ve got to think Cal will push to dominate the restart.

Arkansas State, meanwhile, is packed with players who have significant 7s experience, as well. They will look to dominate the point of contact and read space from there. We like these two teams for the top two out of the pool. Maryland and Tennessee are solid, and you might see the Terps come out ahead between those two.

 

Pool B

Boston College, Indiana, Kutztown, Notre Dame

Kutztown is a two-time finalist and a team that plays 7s well consistently every year. And yes this year we’ve seen a few hiccups along the way. John Sage has been playing extremely well for them as their playmaker and goalkicker. Murphy Lill is a not-so-well-known player, but we at GRR put him on the ACRC 7s All-Tournament team because he made clutch play after clutch play. Some of the more well-known players on KU looked a little below their best at the ACRCs. Part of that was they are just getting back to health.

That may be enough, but this year Indiana is right at their peak. They have Bryce Campbell (and you know we think he’s great), Teddy Terezis, Jake Hidalgo … and more. This is a very experienced Indiana squad finishing up an impressive run. They could win this tournament.

On the other side of the coin, Boston College is smaller, but speedier and plays a really nice team game, led by Danny Schatzmann. They could get steamrolled, or could run right through everyone.

Notre Dame - well we’re not sure about Notre Dame. They haven’t produced the result in previous years, and the program, having just named a new head coach, is in flux. Maybe next year?

Our pick is Kutztown, but Indiana and, to a lesser extent, Boston College, could push.

 

Pool C

Arizona, Army, Navy, St. Joseph’s

Could you believe that we pick St. Joe’s to finish last in this pool? The Hawks play very good 7s, but this pool is really, really hard.

Arizona was a contender last year and they were quite young. This year they improved markedly in 15s, and they’re a year older. They’ve also had to deal with injuries, this year, so you’ll see five freshmen on the squad (again, with the HS 7s experience helping out). Kyle Rogers, Matt Rogers, and Tyler Sousley lead this group, but do they ave the depth?

Hard to know with the military academies coming in. Navy won the ACRC 7s and they did it with a really nice, complete team effort. Gardy Lebon was GRR’s MVP, and the halfback is really talented. Connor McNerny was clutch as a hooker. They’ve got some powerful runners and some pace - watch out for Jacob Rowell, Cadesman Pope and flyhalf Jake Martin. Garret Smith wasn’t part of that ACRC team, but is in now and looking good.

And Army, is missing a few players with academy or military commitments, but at the center of the roster is a group of talented athletes. Jacob Banarhall is the scrumhalf and he makes it all go. Andrew Irwin and Torran Raby are powerful in traffic and Andrew Borer and Jake Lachina are very dangerous in space.

St. Joe’s is more than just Jimmy Wolfer, but they need some of their supporting cast to step up. Tom Curivan can play and Aram Keshhegian is good on attack, but this will be a tough pool.

In the end, we like Navy. For some years Head Coach Mike Flanagan grudgingly accepted 7s as part of his team’s schedule, hiring other coaches to run the 7s approach. But once Flanagan began embracing 7s more, he found his voice - a voice the players always listen to. It matters, and Navy is playing their best 7s.

 

Pool D

Drexel, Life, Penn State, Virginia Tech

This pool probably comes down to Life v Penn State. Drexel has had their moments, and Virginia Tech has too, but they are facing two teams well-versed in 7s, deep, and athletic. Penn State went to the ACRC 7s hoping to get some experience playing a two-day tournament. It worked, and PSU managed to finish the second day with only nine players (classwork took the rest back home on Saturday night), and finished 3rd. The Nittany Lions got some great work from Ryan McNulty and Joe Kelly, and they now add Malcolm May and Michael Dabulas to a an already impressive lineup. 

Life is just back from winning the DIA title, and not everyone who shone in that championship game will be in Chester. The van Schalkwyk brothers, Duncan and Zander, will be there, and Kevin Lynch is a smart scrumhalf. Harley Davison was spectacular for the Running Eagles in the DIA final and could be spectacular again this time around. The big question is, can the forward do the job? 

We like the rivalry that Penn State and Life have developed at the CRC, and this time around we’re going with Penn State, but it will be close.

 

Pool E

Michigan, South Carolina, UCLA, Wisconsin

Scary events on the UCLA campus might have shaken the Bruins as they prepare for the CRC, but we expect they will play together as a unit and play well. They’ve got guys who can play in the open field. Yah Nakayama is a snappy scrumhalf and Niall Barry, Seb Sharpe, and Zach Bonte can all work the ball well, so make it’s about what happens to get them the ball. Pierre Courpron leads the big guys up front as he’s good in the air and can move, as well. It’s about possession for these guys, and if they keep the ball a lot, they could win it.

South Carolina is the only team at the CRC that also played at last week’s USA Rugby Nationals. USC fielded a squad that was a little bit different, but also included some players doubling up. Overall, the Gamecocks acquitted themselves well in Cary, going 2-4 but all their losses were close. Halfback Brian Keown is one of those players who will be doubling up. He was the SEC Player of the Year and is always a scoring threat. Luke Bolembach also is doubling up and is a talented senior. Watch out for freshmen Nick Skalka and Micah Stewart.

Michigan has continued to play some smart 7s this year, with Zack Burns (both of them) leading the way. The Wolverines best work is done as a unit. They have guys who can take a gap - they just need to create that gap.

Wisconsin is led by captain Dan Pettay with Hunter and Tyler Crass difficult to contain. Watch out for All-Big Ten player Calvin Carlson.

Our pick? Probably UCLA, but all four have a shot. USC probably is best positioned to be 2nd, or even to unseat the Bruins.

 

Pool F

Clemson, Dartmouth, Temple, Utah

Dartmouth won the Ivy League fairly comfortably, and the two-time CRC championship always shows up at Chester. They’ve got speed - we know that - but the thing about Dartmouth is that they are more physical than you expect. Their stealth physicality gets them deep in these tournaments. But they will have to get by a tough Clemson team, a Temple team that is as good as we’ve seen, and a Utah team that qualified for the CRC by winning in Las Vegas.

Utah won by dominating possession - taking a page from Dartmouth’s book - and ruling the set piece and the point of contact. The Utes have Chad Gough, Gabe Ruflin, and Taylor Thomas, and they are big and a little bit scary.

Our pick? Not sure … probably Utah.

 

So here’s the big deal in this tournament - the eight quarterfinalists come from the six pool winners plus the next two best 2nd-place teams. Those teams are decided by points difference (we’re pretty sure about that, but you never know, one year it was something else), and so figuring out which teams will get the rub of the green when it comes to blowouts is key. Pool A, Pool B, and Pool D definitely are in the mix there.

 

Thus we’ve got our predicted quarterfinalists:

Arkansas State or Cal

Kutztown

Navy

Penn State

UCLA

Utah

 

The best 2nd-place teams look like they might be the loser of Arkansas State and Cal, or Indiana, Dartmouth, Life, or USC.

There is a real possibility that three-time winners Cal will not make the top eight. And Utah or Dartmouth have an excellent chance, but both getting in will be tough. 

Should you be paying attention to us on this anyway? Well, let’s have a look at our predictions for the USA Rugby Nationals Men’s DI. We made an outright pick on four of the six pools, and got those four right. We made an outright pick on two 2nd-place finishes, and got those right. We said Pool F would come down to two teams, and it did - we hedged but got the top two right. And we demurred on one pool entirely so we don’t get credit for that.

And we were right on one wild card pick and completely wrong on another.

But, yeah, we did OK.