Wild Day One At Freetail 7s
Wild Day One At Freetail 7s
We're set for Day Two of the Freetail 7s after an exciting Day One in the new all-star end-of-year 7s tournament in Round Rock, Texas.
Named after the freetail bats that are a signature resident of the Austin, Texas area, the tourament is the brainchild of Ryan Walker and was shown live on Next Level Rugby.
In the women's bracket, Phoenix dominated. The select side that is based in Florida but draws players from everywhere found a gem in Croatian international (and San Antonio, Texas resident) Antea Dedic. Christine Krieger, Toni Armstrong, and Jetta Owens all benefitted from a swarming defense that forced turnovers and created scoring opportunities.
But at the cener of it all were Eagles Nate Serevi, and especially Alycia Washington, who is among the candidates for Women's 15s Player of the Decade as voted by GRR readers. (Vote Here). Washington was a powerhouse, working hard to support runners and rarely going down even when swarmed by tacklers.
"I am just trying to get some reps in," she said, but it was more than that. Serevi offered similar physicality and worked with Washington in several give-and-goes. The result was 33-5 over the Central Queensland Dingoes, 44-0 over Texas Motley, and 42-0 in a rematch with the Dingoes.
Men's Pool A
Led by a leadership tour de force from Corey Jones, and Raggamuffins beat an athletic and freewheeling Lomaiviti to finish 3-0. Celtic Barbarians looked in trouble but somehow pulled out a victory over a young North Texas to go 1-2.
"We're a Round Rock-based team with a little bit of flair," said Jones, who added that "first thing we need to do is defense ... and we;re pulling out well, not taking contact when we don't need to."
Men's Pool B
This had a shocker. Atlantis looked untouchable in their opener, a 52-0 dismissal of a very young Rock Rugby. But then Gorilla, another young team but one that has experience playing against men's teams, scored at the end of full time to beat Atlantis 19-17. Jeremy Brown did the honors there and with Dutch Patterson, Evan Conlon, and Gregor Gourlay part of the charge, Gorilla humbled the touted Atlantis team.
Atlantis wasn't happy, and with Dylan Carrion lighting a fire under the players, Mitch Vannoy charging up the middle, and Aren Martin and Narada Jackson striding around tacklers on the outside, they made the ORSU Jesters pay in the final game.
| Freetail 7s Standings | ||||||
| Women Pool | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Phoenix | 3 | 0 | 120 | 5 | 115 | 9 |
| CQ Dingoes | 1 | 2 | 29 | 76 | -47 | 5 |
| Texas | 0 | 2 | 0 | 68 | -68 | 2 |
| Men Pool A | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Raggamuffin | 3 | 0 | 83 | 29 | 54 | 9 |
| Lomaiviti | 2 | 1 | 77 | 34 | 43 | 7 |
| Celtic Barbaians | 1 | 2 | 34 | 94 | -60 | 5 |
| North Texas | 0 | 3 | 39 | 76 | -37 | 3 |
| Men Pool B | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Gorilla | 3 | 0 | 90 | 37 | 53 | 9 |
| Atlantis | 2 | 1 | 118 | 19 | 99 | 7 |
| ORSU Jesters | 1 | 2 | 25 | 87 | -62 | 5 |
| Rock Rugby | 0 | 3 | 10 | 100 | -90 | 3 |
So that sets up tomorrow's New Year's Eve games.
Phoenix will take on Texas and then Texas will face CQ, with a place in the final on the line. Phoenix will likely face the Dingoes there, and will likely win it.
For the men, Celtic faces Rock Rugby and North Texas plays ORSU in the Bowl Semis.
In the Cup Semis, four very evenly-matched teams face off. Atlantis plays Raggamuffin, and Gorilla plays Lotaiviti.
"To win it all you've got to beat two teams," said Atlantis Coach Chris Ryan. "We're just playing those teams in a different order than we expected."
