There are teams at the USA Rugby Men’s DI 7s Championships that have been playing 7s constantly, and there are teams that haven’t.

But of the teams that haven’t, several have very strong 7s traditions. Certainly Central Washington, which has produced several 7s All Americans and a couple of Eagles, is one. CWU has been training hard at 7s since they were ousted in the Varsity Cup, but they haven’t played any games.

“Who knows how sharp we’ll be,” pondered Coach Tony Pacheco. “We have some good players, and they know what we’re trying to do, but e haven’t played any tournaments, so you don’t know.”

The Wildcats have experienced players in the likes of Josh Bower, Aladdin Schirmer, and Vili Toluta’u on which to call, but are also working with some youngsters. Cameron Marek is a player who shone in 7s in the fall, but struggled to crack the 15s starting lineup. But the sophomore did get time in their April Varsity Cup loss to BYU, and has continued to develop. Those are the kinds of players CWU will need if they are to challenge for a title.

And challenge, they can. They are in Pool A, where the Wildcats can definitely target a pool win. North Texas has some 7s under their belts of late, but San Diego State and Nevada do not. All are coming in a little blind.

“We haven't played 7s since the conference tournament in November,” said Nevada Coach Nelo Lui. “We’re a little rusty. It's going to be a challenge for them, but they're up to it.”

Nevada lost a little pace in their squad, but Lui is looking for a team approach. For the Wolfpack, their main issue has been paying for the trip. It’s a classic rugby contrast in which a varsity CWU program goes up against a program getting no support whatsoever from their school as a club sport trying to raise fan support to pay for their trip. (Nevada’s GoFundMe page is http://www.gofundme.com/t9hd5cew if you’re interested).

Pool A

CWU

Nevada

North Texas

San Diego State