Who's Playing in the R7CC Gold Divisions?
Who's Playing in the R7CC Gold Divisions?
What teams are playing where in college 7s championships is clearing up a little.
For the May 14-15 USA Rugby 7s Collegiate Championships (R7CCs) in Atlanta, Ga. were are seeing names pop up.
Let's have a look at the top brackets for men and women:
Men's Gold (D1A Teams)
Sixteen teams are expected and while not all have been confirmed, most have. The list includes teams that have won the USA Rugby championship before. Lindenwood, which has won the last three USA Rugby events, in 2017. 2018, and 2019, is back along with longtime rivals Life University, which won the championship in 2011.
Saint Mary's of California won it all in 2016 and is back, along with perennial contenders Central Washington, UCLA, and Arizona. Davenport, Indiana, Ohio State, Navy, and Texas A&M round out the 12 teams.
Four more are to be confirmed.
Women's Gold (NIRA and D1E)
There's a lot of talk in women's college rugby about whether we will ever see the NCAA programs (National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, NIRA) and the D1 Elite teams. In 15s? No, you won't see that. In 7s? Yes, right here. Twelve teams are expected to compete and we already know seven if them: D1 Elite teams Life, Lindenwood, Penn State, and Central Washington, and three NIRA teams in Army, Dartmouth, and Harvard.
The results from tournaments through the spring, such as last week's Brown 7s which the hosts won, will decide the remaining five teams, all of which will be from NIRA.
What this does is bring together both sides of the top levels of women's rugby, and any number of matchups between NIRA teams and D1 Elite teams is worth paying to see.
