Girls Champions from All Over at Tropical 7s
Girls Champions from All Over at Tropical 7s
As you can imagine, we here at Goff Rugby Report Headquarters had a lot of work to do getting interviews done and finding snacks at the Tropical 7s.
Occasionally we were able to watch some rugby games. OK, we kid, a bit, but if there were five of us we couldn't speak to every team ... and we'd need over a dozen people to see every game.
So, with all those caveats, here's what we can tell you:
The Tropical 7s is an excellent tournament with over 2,000 serious athletes playing some serious rugby. The teams all had shaded areas to rest up in, and the programs with large numbers were able to combine their spaces for little tent mansions. Yes it was hot—over 90 degrees on both afternoons—but it wasn't debilitatingly so and teams were smart to get out of the sun and keep their hydration up.
The tournament had shaded team benches for both teams at every field, which was a very nice addition, and the referees worked tirelessly in conditions that weren't always easy.
The Brackets
U14 Girls: A brilliantly skilled Atlantis U14 team unleashed some excellent catch-pass, averaged about 36 points per game, and ... get this ... shut out every team in the knockout rounds. Sevens is a weird game and since you kick off to the scored-upon team, there's always a chance that a mistake, or a slip, or bad luck can give up a try. To not give up a try to anyone in the championship bracket was astonishing.
U16 Girls Open. Fifteen teams competed and 12 of them were from Canada. One of the interesting things about this tournament is that it attracts a lot of Canadian teams in part because it is always held over Easter weekend, which is a good off-weekend for Canadian leagues. Even when Easter is early (which it wasn't this year), the Canadians can come together because there are so many covered and indoor facilities in the Great White North.
Each team played four pool games and the three pool winners finished the tournament with a championship pool of three. British Columbia's Crimson Tide went 6-0 over the weekend, beating MacDowell and Barrie to win it all.
U16 Girls Elite: This was a straight round-robin among seven teams with NRU (Niagara Rugby Union) Thunder going 6-0 and, crucially, looking very impressive in a 33-10 defeat of the Utah Cannibals to give the Utah side their only loss.
U18 Girls Open. There was actually a U18 Girls Developmental bracket which featured teams just trying to grow. King's Edgehill School (a school in Nova Scotia that was founded 237 years ago) won the round-robin with a 6-0 record, while US-side Nashville Nighthawks went 5-1. In the Open bracket 32 teams entered, meaning that to make the quarterfinals, you had to win your pool of four. It was a supremely intense bracket as a result.
Several of the pool games that decided the winner were very close, but, surprisingly, all eight pools ended up with a leader that was 3-0—not a single pool had a mix of 2-1 teams that would have forced everyone to trot out the tiebreakers.
That also meant that every team in the quarterfinals entered the knockout stage undefeated. Three American teams advanced to the semis in Atlantis, North Carolina All-Stars, and Panther Rugby Academy. Teamwork and a little tenacity saw North Carolina advance past Panther, although they lost one of their more dangerous players to injury in that match. Atlantis, meanwhile, were beaten by a Niagara Rugby Union Thunder side that was very powerful in contact and quick on the ball.
The final saw the Thunder carry a 19-15 lead into the closing moments. NC had the ball and a chance, but turned it over and NRU scored the try to seal with with no time left.
U18 Elite. Utah's Majestics were brilliant. Showcasing an excellent mix of speed, thundering power, and the ability to complete their passes in traffic or in space, they rolled through a tough Midwest side, MacDowell, and Nova Scotia Keltics. giving up only three tries in pool play.
They were just as stingy in the knockout rounds, holding Albert and Eagle Lady Mustangs to one try each.
However, Idaho's TOA was very physical and while their points allowed wasn't on a par with Majestics, they shut down Atlantis and Eastern Ontario in impressive fashion to make the final. There Majestics did just enough, 24-19, showcasing how it can be the unity of purpose of an ongoing club (Majestics) that can get you by a select side like TOA.
