Rebel Rugby pulled off the very difficult task of repeating as Boys U18 Elite champions, although they needed a little good fortune to get there.
Throughout the tournament it became clear that Rebel and the new Next Phase Rugby team were going to face off in some fashion.
New Kids on the Block
Next Phase Rugby is a GRR sponsor and which created the team to kick off a select side/camp system to further its college connection plans built around its college recruiting app. This was the first salvo in that plan and Head Coach Greg Stelluti put together a team of sturdy, quick kids from HS programs from around the USA.
Throughout the weekend they were at times unstoppable, infuriating, and surprising. They escaped a pool game against Washington Academy of Rugby where they looked quite vulnerable. But they ended up 3-0 in pool play and managed to get by a very tough Layton Christian team thanks to some hard work, they were the team to watch.
In the semifinal against Atlantis Next Phase got two tries right up the middle by Jake Stelluti and one by Jason Champagne, they led 40-12 before Atlantis got one back at the death.
The Road to Repeat
Rebel, meanwhile, had also had a scare game in pool play, this time losing to San Mateo 24-7.
The coaches and players examined that game closely and, said Head Coach Ethan Pougnet, concluded that it was just one of those things. No major changes needed; just time and possession slipping away from them.
Back to their stingy defensive ways, coupled with some excellent continuity, they shut out Kahuku 31-0 in the quarterfinals.
In the semis then Rebel was spared the task of playing against their own and instead faced a snappy Grizzlies side that has unleashed a pretty impressive defense of their own.
But Rebel can defend as well, and with Arnaud Agasse pulling the strings and Gavin Oleson scoring tries they were fairly dominant in most of their games. They had started the tournament with two convincing shutouts, and stomped their way past the Grizzlies 26-10 to get to the final.
Oleson notched hat tricks in both the quarters and the semis. More to come from him.
A Classic Final
The final itself was a series of momentum shifts spiced with what could have been for both teams.
As they had all Day 2, Next Phase opened the game by giving up a try. Rebel's teamwork and familiarity with each other was evident on that score.
But the upstarts responded quickly. The Rebel restart didn't go 10 meters and from that free kick Next Phase ran a switch-to-chip-kick play they had kept in their back pocket all weekend. It worked, and Dhionny Ruiz chased it down to score and make it 7-5 Rebel.
Back again came Next Phase. They pressured off the restart, got the ball back and seemed to have a sure try on the wing-the dropped ball gave Rebel little respite as Next Phase stole the scrum ball and raced in under the posts.
The sevens gods are fickle beasts however and Keegan Hannon's conversion attempt hit the post. 10-7 Next Phase.
The second half began with Next Phases sliding sideways and finding no way through the Rebel D. Finally a holding-on penalty (we will revisit that too) gave Rebel a chance and a short field and over they went.
Next Phase responded with their best team effort of the day with halfback Riley Huestis capping off a smartly-taken team try. That made it 17-12.
With the game in the balance Rebel struck. They wisely took a lineout on a penalty and played with admirable patience so late in the game. Running wide off the lineout and put them over.
Moments later full time was called with the game tied 17-17. With the temperature reaching triple digits both afternoons of the NAI 7s the players would have been forgiven for being unhappy about OT. But they weren’t.
“For me personally I wanted it,” said Agasse, who played his 50th game for Rebel in the final. Overtime, it seemed, was the appropriate way to end it all.
It had been an enormously entertaining game and it would end that way. Next Phase received and ran wide where a backhanded pass was just a shade in front of Ruiz. Had he caught it there is little doubt he would have scored. Instead, Rebel had another shot. More pressure defense led to another holding-on penalty (like the other one a bang-bang play and the referee was right there) and Rebel tapped and spun to Oleson, who capped off a nine-try weekend with the game-winner.
