Atlantis Leads RugbyTown U18 7s
Atlantis Leads RugbyTown U18 7s
The Atlantis U18s went 4-0 in action at the Serevi RugbyTown 7s U18 bracket, defeating two teams that finished the day 3-1, and putting themselves in prime position to make the final on Saturday.
Atlantis is playing the tournament down a player as St. Edward, Ohio, star Ryan Bradfield was found to be too old for the competition (players had to make age by tournament day, not an earlier date, as the Atlantis coaches thought).
Despite losing one of their big bruisers, the slight, elusive-running Atlantis team scampered their way to a 4-0 day, opening Friday’s play with a 29-19 defeat of the Utah Lions, shutting out the Utah Cannibals 17-0, getting by the Glendale Raptors Academy 22-14, and edging Canada’s Upright Rugby Rogues 10-7.
“The boys played really well, we’re very pleased,” said Atlantis Coach Jack Foley. “But at the same time, we’re probably three passes away from going 1-3.”
Fielding a small team heavy on halfback types, Atlantis won by playing smart team rugby and moving the ball.
“They are a good group of kids, and they understood we needed to play fast, and they did,” said Foley.
All 11 played a big part in the tournament. With the teams playing four games on Friday and then three on Saturday, Foley said “if you want to go through this tournament riding just seven players you are going to lose. The players got that and understood when we rested guys for later.”
The Rogues defeated the Raptors Academy by just two points, 26-24, and shut out Atavus and the Rocky Mountain Rebels to finish the day 3-1. The Utah Lions also finished 3-1, beating the Rebels, Cannibals, and Raptors. The Lions and Rogues meet at 8am Saturday morning in a game that almost certainly will decide who joins Atlantis in the final.
However, Atlantis does have two games left, against 2-2 Rocky Mountain Rebels and 1-3 ATAVUS. One victory in those two should guarantee a spot in the final. The Utah Cannibals will be disappointed with their 0-4 Friday, and Saturday won’t be much easier with Glendale and the Rogues on their slate. The Raptors Academy may be 1-3, but all three losses were very close and could have gone the hosts’ way with a bit of luck.
Standings, Scores and Saturday Schedule
| RugbyTown 7s U18s | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Atlantis Rugby | 4 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 40 | 38 | 12 |
| Upright Rugby Rogues | 3 | 1 | 0 | 83 | 34 | 49 | 10 |
| Utah Lions | 3 | 1 | 0 | 93 | 72 | 21 | 10 |
| Rocky Mountain Rebels | 2 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 57 | 3 | 8 |
| Glendale Raptors Academy | 1 | 3 | 0 | 89 | 72 | 17 | 6 |
| ATAVUS All-Stars | 1 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 84 | -41 | 6 |
| Utah Cannibals | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 113 | -94 | 4 |
Match 1 Lions 19, Atlantis 29
Match 2 Rebels 34, Cannibals
Match 3 Raptors 24, Rogues
Match 4 Lions 17, Rebels 7
Match 5 Atlantis 17, Cannibals 0
Match 6 Atavus 0, Raptors 34
Match 7 Lions 33, Cannibals 19
Match 8 Atlantis 22, Raptors 14
Match 9 Atavus 0, Rogues 31
Match 10 Lions 24, Raptors 17
Match 11 Atlantis 10, Rogues 7
Match 12 Atavus 14, Rebels 19
Match 13 Utah 0, Atavus 29
Match 14 Rogues 19, Rebels 0
Match 15 8:00am Utah Lions vs. Upright Rugby Rogues
Match 16 8:22am Glendale Raptors Academy vs. Rocky Mountain Rebels
Match 17 8:44am Atlantis Rugby vs. Atavus All-Stars
Match 18 10:22am Utah Cannibals vs. Glendale Raptors Academy
Match 19 10:4am Utah Lions vs. Atavus All-Stars
Match 20 11:06am Atlantis Rugby vs. Rocky Mountain Rebels
Match 21 12:15pm Utah Cannibals vs. Upright Rugby Rogues
Match 22 2:14pm Fifth Place #5 v #6
Match 23 2:36pm Third Place #3 v #4
Match 24 3:00pm Final #1 v #2 This game will be streamed live at http://infinityparkatglendale.com/rugbytown/matchplayer
