The Fairfield Rugby Club won the High School bracket at Tri-State 7 this past weekend thanks to some outstanding defense, only allowing two tries throughout the day.

The day started off with Fairfield matched up against Staples 1. Fairfield's smothering defense was on display early, never allowing Staples to reach Fairfield’s 22.

Fairfield scored three quick tries in the first half, from Corbin Smith, Jackson Chudzik, and Kevin Kirkland. In the second half, Fairfield continued to add defensive pressure, which converted to instant offense. Fairfield scored three more times in the 2nd half with tries from Josh Pastore, Lucas Mayer, and another from Smith, to cap it off 40-0.

Fairfield's next game in pool play was Danbury. Danbury started off strong getting a quick try on Fairfield off of a scrum. However Fairfield responded by putting in seven tries and converting all of them to win 49-7. Fairfield got tries from Aidan Burns, Alex Bottas. Kevin Splan, Jeff Adintori, Smith, Jackson Chudzik, and Griffin O'Connell.

After a forfeit from Harvey School, Fairfield was on to the playoff rounds to play a very tough and physical Southshore team. Southshore was giving teams fits all day with their physical style of 7s and a crashing, pick-and-go style.

From the start, Southshore stuck to their game plan and used the pick-and-go game to work their way down the field. Fairfield held on and forced a turnover off a poach from Jack Reidy, leading to a penalty. Smith took the quick tap and ran 95 meters to score the first try of the game. South Shore would again rely on their smashmouth style of play, but each time Fairfield would wait until they were isolated, force a turnover and then score off the mistake. The score at half time was 14-0 Fairfield, with tries from Smith and O'Connell. In the second half Fairfield continued to tackle and steal the ball. Aidan Burns and then Chudzik scored to seal the win. Southshore continued to fight and scored a try just as time expired. Final score 28-7.

Fairfield was on to the final and would play the winner of the Greenwich vs Staples 1 playoff game. The Greenwich-Staples game was back-and forth-rugby with Greenwich taking an early lead, only to see Staples fight back. Unfortunately for Staples they fell short at the buzzer and lost 21-19.

The final was set with Greenwich taking on Fairfield for the first time in the tournament. Fairfield would strike first with some effective ball movement that led to Kevin Kirkland hitting a gap and racing 70 meters for the first try in the corner. Smith converted, making it 7-0. Shortly after the restart and some excellent defense led by Reidy, Fairfield forced the penalty and Smith cut through the defense for another quick try. Smith converted his own try to go up 14-0. Greenwich tried to get back into the game and moved the ball around only to see no cracks in the defense. Once Fairifled got the ball back Chudzik scored under the posts for a 21-0 halftime Fairfield lead.

In the second half Fairfield continued to steal the ball and force turnovers, which led to a nicely-taken run and try down the sideline by O'Connell. Greenwich kept battling and kept testing the defense, They looked like they would score their first try, but some great hustle by Kevin Kirkland and Burns thwarted the potential try and forced the turnover. Kirkland and Burns quickly moved the ball to Smith, who went in fromt long range. With less than a minute left in the game, Greenwich was knocking on the door again, but strong defense and tackling led by Anthony Desautels and Paul Vanscoy held them out until the final whistle. Final score 35-0

The Fairfield team is joined by several players from West Hartford Rugby Club for summer 7s.