Double State Sevens Win for St. Augustine in New Jersey
Double State Sevens Win for St. Augustine in New Jersey
St Augustine Prep won the 2022 Rugby NJ Series Championship in the state's U19 bracket and also won the state championship in both the U19 and U16 brackets.
This is the first time that the Hermits have won those titles except the U19 finals, which they have won four times.
The Rugby NJ Series included teams from out-of-state, so the Series championship was kept separate from the finals tournament, which was New Jersey-only. So the Hermits won the series and came into this past weekend looking for two more titles.
As the finals weekend progressed it was clear that St. Augustine and Christian Brothers Academy, the two teams that faced off this past spring in the 15s state final, were likely to meet up in the 7s final, also.
And that's how it panned out in both the U19 and U16 brackets.
In the U19 final both teams were able to put points on the board with St. Augustine striking first, only for Christian Brothers to answer to make it 5-5. But a key intentional knock-on call at the end of the first half left the the Hermits down a man for the first two minutes of the second half. This was a crucial time for Christian Brothers, and a prime try-scoring time. But St. Augustine held them off before, once at full strength, scoring to take a 12-5 lead.
With less than two minutes left CBA ran a brilliant set move off a sideline scrum which burned Prep out wide for a try and an equalizing conversion; 12-12 with less than a minute to play. The ensuing restart was collected by St. Augustine. The ball went through five separate sets of hands with some well-executed offloads before being scored with no time left for a 17-12 St. Augustine victory. Final score 17-12 St Augustine.
The U19s were led by captains Jeffrey George (flyhalf) and Gavin Curran (prop). Both scored in the final, with Curran scoring the game-winner.
The U16 final was also St. Augustine vs CBA, and once again St. Augustine won. The U16s were led by junior scrumhalf Max McCoy and sophomore hooker Santino Scaffidi.