The Utah Youth Rugby Fall 7s kicked off with Herriman Gold winning the first tournament and Wasatch Murray also showing well.

Wasatch Murray beat Herriman Blue and TC Fusion, to go 2-0 in their Pool, which is still waiting for a fourth team, while Herriman Gold defeated Portneuf, United, and Kau Toa to go 3-0 in their pool.

"I really like the fall league," said Herriman Director of Rugby Jeff Wilson, who works with Head Coach Derek Smith on a Herriman program that entered three teams in the fall league - the Herriman White team was in the B division, where the Northern Utah Yettes took the cup.

"There is nothing wrong with more rugby, after all. For us, it is nice because it gives our players who are not playing football a contact option in the fall. I am a huge advocate of multiple sports and I would rather our players play something other than rugby when it is not spring, but not everyone is a football player and there are not many other boys sports in the fall so this is nice to have for those guys," said Wilson. 

The 7s league allows players to develop new skills, including forcing some forwards to play in space and make different decisions when working with the ball. In addition, 7s requires players to be good one-on-one tacklers, and to be able to secure rucks on their own.

"It forces them to become better defenders in space, which is critical when you play teams like United, Greenwich, and Snow Canyon in the spring, all teams that are good at spreading you all over the field at quick pace," said Wilson. 

This is a new activity for the teams in Utah and now all are participating. But it's worth noting that Portneuf is playing in the league and they are from Idaho.

"They are very good, too," said Wilson. "They have lots of good athletes and play solid rugby and have a well balanced attack combining physicality and speed.  I hope that they are able to carry that over to 15s and perhaps we can get some interstate games going in the spring.  I expect them, United, and Wasatch to all make a lot of noise this fall."

Herriman, meanwhile, is making noise now. Wilson said he is very pleased with the number of kids at training. But, he said, while the Gold team won all three games, they were not precise and could have played better.

"That is expected the first time out with several players who have not all played together, but our execution left a lot to be desired," said Wilson. "I think we tried to do too much and were too individual instead of just focusing on good, fundamental team rugby.  Communication needs to get better and there were way too many unforced errors for my liking.  Our captains are returning starters from the spring, Jaeron Masina and Levi Hunt.  They came out on form as expected, so I was pleased there, and returning experienced utility back Andrew Gallardo showed great improvement and athleticism and scored several tries on the day."  

Perhaps the most impressive player was Anthony Perschon, a junior making his debut for the club. He was quick, scored several tries, and was solid on defense. Karson Hammer also showed well on debut.

"Our Blue team was the most pleasant surprise of the day," added Wilson. "As our second Varsity team, I was curious to see how they would compete because they have less experience and three 15 front rowers.  I loved the way they played!  They took third in the tourney and had our Gold team up against a wall for the first half of their semifinal.  They linked up well and flew around the field and made a statement."  

Zach Izatt was impressive all day with sniping runs off of the ruck and plenty of hustle. One of the aforementioned props, Marcus Ortiz, was also very active and provided the expected physical presence in the ruck.

All, said Wilson, will see imporvement in their game as the fall 7s league continues.