LaSalle, Layton, Olympus, and St. Augustine Head Up Early Boys Fall 7s
LaSalle, Layton, Olympus, and St. Augustine Head Up Early Boys Fall 7s
LaSalle College High School defeated Berks to take the first Rugby Pennsylvania boys 7s tournament of the fall.
Both Berks and LaSalle were undefeated going into the final.
"We certainly made plenty of mistakes," said LaSalle Head Coach Jessica Nedzwecky, "but we can only continue to improve throughout the season, as we did with each game on Sunday."
LaSalle benefited from a cadre of players who have suited up with the Atlantis touring program, including Brian Donahue and Kevin Corso, and they provided plenty of leadership over the course of Sunday's action.
"We were particularly happy with the depth of the bench, as all players stepped up and played well, no matter their role and number of minutes, especially since quite a few are new to 7s rugby," added Ndzwecky.
While many of those players do have 15-a-side experience, getting their heads around Rugby 7s is still an adjustment. But even the players completely new to any sort of rugby showed well.
The teams as a whole showed growth in numbers and while Berks and LaSalle made the final, Downingtown and Knightmare both showed well. Knightmare beat Downingtown to take 3rd. A relatively young Bishop Shanahan took 5th.
"I think they’re going to be a team to keep an eye on throughout this season and in the seasons to come," said Nedzwecky. "Overall, I think Sunday was a great opportunity for all teams to shake the rust off a bit and we should see some good 7s rugby this fall season."
In Utah, Layton Christian Academy, which had a really good NAI 7s in the summer, finished the first week of competition 3-0. Also 3-0 was Olympus, but the notable result was probably Layton's 38-0 defeat of Herriman, the team that usually comes out on top in Utah's fall 7s.
Layton and Olympus also saw their 2nd teams go 3-0.
For Olympus Head Coach Brad Anderson, this is the first step in the Olympus team returning to prominence in Utah. Now, they did make the 15s semis last year, but they were also a work in progress. They had only one returning starter in spring 2022, and that player, flyhalf Porter Maughan, got injured. Now what Anderson has is a smart, athletic team with some time under their belts and Maughan back to direct the attack.
"It's great to have someone with that understanding of the game directing things," said Anderson. "The boys did very well and they are starting to figure it out. They are finding out how to play together. But we also know that we didn't play Herriman or Highland or East or Layton Christian. We'll just keep working and improving."
St Augustine Prep finishes 1st in U-19 and U-16 brackets today. 19 teams competed in the first week of the Rugby NJ Fall Sevens Season hosted by CBA. Weeks two and three will be hosted by St Augustine on Sunday, 9/25 and 10/2. Kickoffs are at 9am.
And in New Jersey finished top in the first New Jersey fall 7s tournament, edging our Morris to win the tournament hosted by Christian Brothers. Union County took 3rd in a tournament that welcomes teams from three different states.