Successful West Coast Sevens Sees Cal Take the Cup
Successful West Coast Sevens Sees Cal Take the Cup
Chila Vista, Calif.—The Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista hosted some excellent rugby sevens with the West Coast 7's Tournament.
This was a college tournament but there was also a HS showcase.
The event drew an impressive crowd, and an array of rugby notables, including USA Rugby CEO Bill Goren and incoming USA Men's 7s Head Coach Simon Amor. National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) COO Wade Smith and USA 7s Coach Ben Pinkelman were also in attendance, as were current 7s Eagles Lucas Lacamp, Adam Channel, and Will Chevalier.
The tournament featured intense competition throughout both days, culminating in a series of thrilling knockout matches that kept spectators entertained for the duration of the weekend. The eventual finalists emerged from two closely contested matches that highlighted the growing sophistication of the American sevens game. The California Golden Bears capped off the day as Collegiate champions and the Cathedral Catholic Dons took home the trophy for the high school division.
Cal topped Pool A on Saturday to advance to the Cup Semifinal against Grand Canyon. The Bears were on the defense for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the contest, the most pressure in their own territory they had seen thus far in the tournament. Cal held off the Antelopes and forced a turnover, leading to a try by junior Rand Santos, converted by senior David Hause to give the Bears a 7-0 advantage at halftime.
Cal was quick to score on the restart, with Santos finding the tryline and converting his own score to make it 14-0 with six minutes left. GCU answered with a converted try right off the restart and then another in the 11th minutes to get to within two points at 14-12.
But Cal was able to ice it when freshman Oliver Teague took the ball in the air off the restart and he just kept running, bursting through the line and racing in to make it 19-12. That was it for the Bears.
On the other side of group play, USD – which placed second Pool B – provided the biggest upset of the tournament, beating Pool B winners UCLA in overtime in the Cup Semifinals to advance through to the final match to face Cal. In OT UCLA received the kickoff but a handling miscue gave USD a scrum inside the Bruins 22. UCLA, however, dragged Jackson Short into touch to prevent a try. However, another execution error hurt UCLA as they fumbled the lineout and a brilliant oop move from Daniel Suhr saw him dive over the tryline for the game-winner 12-7.
So that set up the final. Cal struck first with junior Solomon Williams scoring at three minutes—the Bears ran a play off the scrum and the scrumhalf followed on the pick up from a ruck in the middle of the field and race in from long range. With Santos getting a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, USD capitalized by stretching Cal side-to-side before Vaughtn Fouts was able to stretch over out wide. Lucas Troughear converted from the sideline and Los Toreros led 7-5. That lead held into halftime.
Cal looked to get the lead back with a long, weaving run from Williams but somehow his opposite number Caleb Tomasin was able to tackle him and flip Williams to hold the ball up. Tomasin, had played his college rugby at Cal but had one more fall left before joining the LA MLR team, which drafted him this summer, and so is at USD. So that was a good contest.
But Cal was back on the front foot and Santos, having finished his sin-bin period, forced a penalty, tapped quickly, and ghosted through a half-gap to score. Santos converted, and then right off the restart Michael de Beer grabbed a loose ball and just galloped to paydirt. Santos converted and in about a minute Cal had take a 7-5 deficit and turned it into a 19-7 lead.
At the CRAA D1AA final Josh Butler came on as a reserve and was a difference-maker as a runner of the ball. A convert from football he was still learning the finer points of the breakdown, but he could certainly break tackles and run forever. He did that here, taking a pass on the outside and just powering through one defender before racing on to touch down under the sticks. Troughear converted and it was 19-14.
But with time winding down Cal iced the game and the tournament. USD had Butler and Tomasin in with a chance to break through and both were taken down—Oliver Teague's tackle of Tomasin forcing the ball into touch. From the lineout the ball went out to Santos and he sold an outrageous sidestep before on his own 22, putting three USD defenders out of position, and he raced 78 more meters to score. The conversion was good and Cal had it won 26-14.
The location of the Olympic Training Center's facilities provided players with the unique opportunity to compete on the same field where the USA Eagles hone their skills. The Eagles’ pitch and training grounds served as an inspiring backdrop for the competition, elevating the level of play throughout the weekend. The competition’s reach extended well beyond the pitch, thanks to a professional broadcast production coordinated by TVX, The Rugby Network, and COX Communications. The high- quality coverage included multiple camera angles, professional commentary headlined by former USA Eagle Will Hooley, and instant replays, bringing the excitement of elite sevens rugby to viewers across the country.
"The quality of both the venue and the broadcast production matched the exceptional level of play we saw on the field," said Tournament Co-Director Warren Spieker. "Having this caliber of competition at the Olympic Training Center, with such strong support from USA Rugby leadership and current Eagles, shows the bright future of sevens rugby in America. It is safe to say that rugby 7’s on the West Coast is back.”
The success of the two West Coast 7's Tournaments at Claremont and Chula Vista have already sparked discussions about making the series an annual fixture in the American rugby calendar, with organizers hoping to build on the momentum generated by this year's events.
