Five teams went 3-0 in the Boys Open 7s Thursday at the Las Vegas Invitational, with the Arizona Bobcats dominating and taking the #1 seed.
The Bobcats beat Rugby Royals, Loudon, and Medicine Hat, and allowed just one try.
The Bobcats are the official all-star team from Rugby Arizona, and this team was drawn from eight different teams.
"They did great," said Bobcats Coach Ian Gregor. "We had a lot of good teamwork. We needed to simplify it and told the guys not to panic - just work in groups of three and you won't need to panic. And if there's a half-gap, take it."
Big Nafi Maafu drew plenty of notice in the midfield, leaving space open for the likes of Julio Hidalgo, and Vitolio Teutupe (who has the added benefit of being USA 7s player Martin Iosefo's cousin).
"We have five non-seniors on the team, and it's nice to see the young guys stepping up," added Gregor.
The Bobcats squad is: Tre Bass – Tempe, Connor Bey – West Valley, Ian Bocek – El Mirage, Ben Cohen – North Valley, Tanner Davison – Northern Arizona, Julio Hidalgo – West Valley, Nafi Maafu – Tempe, Cyp Miller – Phoenix, Brad Moran – Phoenix, Vitolio Teutupe – Tempe, Adriaan Van Niekirk – Desert Vista, Brody Wainwright – Blackbirds
Also enjoying a good day was the Herriman HS team from Utah, which finished 5-1 with two separate teams, winning two pools, and putting two teams into the Cup Quarterfinals.
Brig Rush scored five tries for the Gold team (more experienced), and Jaeron Masina and Levi Hunt both had good performances. The Red (mostly younger players) lost only one game, 14-10 to the Rugby Zoo Crew, and in that pool three teams ended up 2-1. Herriman Red moved through on superior points difference.
Herriman did this while playing without four of their top players. Tomasi Tonga and Leki Fotu are with the HS All American team, Beto Lui is playing with the Utah Cannibals select side, and Noah Vaea is at a football tournament.
"Not a bad start to the season for us," said Herriman Coach Jeff Wilson. "We had a bit of sloppy play and unforced errors that come with running out for the first time this year; hopefully we will clean some things up tomorrow."
Below are all the Boys Open 7s Scores, the standings as we figure them, and the knockout round quarterfinals as we've figured them. They are unofficial, however.
| Utah Rugby Academy | 14-19 | Herriman Red |
| Mavericks 7's Blue | 12-38 | Rugby Zoo Crew |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Red | 12-45 | Rock Rugby |
| Utah Cannibals 3 | 24-15 | SMAC Selects |
| BCEY 7's | 29-7 | South Side Irish |
| Rugby Virginia Red | 12-28 | View Park Prep |
| Rugby Virginia Blue | 41-5 | The Goth RFC |
| PV Rugby | 12-47 | EORU |
| Utah Rugby Academy | 17-12 | Rugby Zoo Crew |
| Mavericks 7's Blue | 0-34 | Herriman Red |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Red | 19-14 | SMAC Selects |
| Utah Cannibals 3 | 7-12 | Rock Rugby |
| BCEY 7's | 29-5 | View Park Prep |
| Rugby Virginia Red | 7-21 | South Side Irish |
| Rugby Virginia Blue | 17-19 | EORU |
| PV Rugby | 5-19 | The Goth RFC |
| Utah Rugby Academy | 38-7 | Mavericks 7's Blue |
| Herriman Red | 10-14 | Rugby Zoo Crew |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Red | 5-33 | Utah Cannibals 3 |
| Rock Rugby | 29-0 | SMAC Selects |
| BCEY 7's | 41-7 | Rugby Virginia Red |
| South Side Irish | 12-28 | View Park Prep |
| Rugby Virginia Blue | 38-5 | PV Rugby |
| The Goth RFC | 14-38 | EORU |
| Medicine Hat Griffins | 5-38 | Rigby Royals |
| Loudon Rugby | 0-39 | AZ Bobcats |
| Mavericks 7's Red | 5-24 | LV Blackhawks |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Blue | 12-31 | Herriman Gold |
| Medicine Hat Griffins | 0-50 | AZ Bobcats |
| Loudon Rugby | 0-19 | Rigby Royals |
| Mavericks 7's Red | 12-24 | Herriman Gold |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Blue | 36-0 | LV Blackhawks |
| Medicine Hat Griffins | 5-29 | Loudon Rugby |
| Rigby Royals | 7-17 | AZ Bobcats |
| Mavericks 7's Red | 17-19 | Tennessee Tri-Star Blue |
| LV Blackhawks | 5-19 | Herriman Gold |
| Pool B | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Herriman Red | 2 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 28 | 35 | 7 |
| Utah Rugby Academy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 69 | 38 | 31 | 7 |
| Rugby Zoo Crew | 2 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 39 | 25 | 7 |
| Mavericks Blue | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 110 | -91 | 3 |
| Pool C | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Rock Rugby | 3 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 19 | 67 | 9 |
| Utah Cannibals 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 32 | 32 | 7 |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Red | 1 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 92 | -56 | 5 |
| SMAC Selects | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 72 | -43 | 3 |
| Pool A | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| British Columbia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 19 | 80 | 9 |
| View Park Prep | 2 | 1 | 0 | 61 | 53 | 8 | 7 |
| South Side Irish | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 64 | -24 | 5 |
| Rugby Va Red | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 90 | -64 | 3 |
| Pool D | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| EORU | 3 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 43 | 61 | 9 |
| Rugby Va Blue | 2 | 1 | 0 | 96 | 29 | 67 | 7 |
| The Goth | 1 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 84 | -46 | 5 |
| PV Rugby | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 104 | -82 | 3 |
| Pool E | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| AZ Bobcats | 3 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 7 | 99 | 9 |
| Rigby Royals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 22 | 42 | 7 |
| Loudon | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 63 | -34 | 5 |
| Medicine Hat | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 117 | -107 | 3 |
| Pool F | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Herriman Gold | 3 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 29 | 45 | 9 |
| Tennessee Tri-Star Blue | 2 | 1 | 0 | 67 | 48 | 19 | 7 |
| LV Blackhawks | 1 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 46 | -3 | 5 |
| Mavericks Red | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 67 | -33 | 3 |
The teams are re-seeded for the next round of games. Teams are seeded by the pool winners, with points difference the 1st tie-breaker. The next two best teams are added. (So even though Herriman Red was 2-1, as was Rugby Virginia and Rigby Royals, Herriman Red won their pool, and so are ranked ahead of them.)
Unofficial Quarterfinal Matchups for Friday:
Cup:
9:20am #1 Arizona Bobcats v #8 Rigby Royals
9:40am #4 EORU v #5 Herriman Gold
10am #3 Rock Rugby v #6 Herriman Red
10:20 #2 British Columbia v Rugby Virginia Blue
Plate
8am #1 Utah Cannibals v #8 Loudon
8:20am #4 Tennessee Tri-Star Blue v #5 View Park Prep
8:40am #3 Rugby Zoo Crew v #6 Las Vegas Blackhawks
9am #2 Utah Rugby Academy v South Side Irish
Bowl
8am #1 The Goth v #8 Medicine Hat
8:20am #4 SMAC Select v Rugby Virginia Red
8:40am #3 Mavericks Red v PV Rugby
9am #2 Tennessee Tri Star Red v Mavericks Blue
