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Written by Jackie Finlan    Tuesday, 09 August 2011 12:06    PDF Print Write e-mail
Longtime Champs Suffer First Shortcoming
Sevens - Club Sevens

The Women's Club 7s Championship was a bittersweet experience for Dana Creager. The longtime NOVA fixture and former Eagle 7s player ran the inaugural club 7s invitational two years ago in San Francisco, and returned to Treasure Island for the first USA Rugby-sanctioned event last weekend.

CJ Hildreth (with ball) during NOVA's pool win over Berkeley. (Dobson Images)

“I had no idea where it would go,” Creager reflected on the 2009 event. “I’m very excited that USA Rugby picked it up this year and even more excited that the level of 7s play is increasing throughout the country. There were a lot of outstanding athletes and coaches involved in the tournament this year, and it was great to watch. Berkeley was outstanding in the final!”

And NOVA was nearly outstanding. After pool play last Saturday, the team put in a convincing case for tournament favorites. NOVA was the only team to exit pool play undeafeated (4-0), a feat that included wins over eventual finalists Berkeley and Boston Belles.

“We went all day Saturday only getting scored on once and feeling pretty confident in each of our games,” Creager said. “We were very excited going into Sunday.”

On day two, 7s Eagle Lauren Hoeck led with two tries in her team’s 19-5 quarterfinal win over the Atlanta Harlequins. Meanwhile, the Boston Belles blanked last year’s finalist, San Diego, 7-0 in their first knock-out game.

“When we met the Belles again in the semifinals, we never got into our game plan,” Creager said. “I'm still trying to figure out what happened, but we didn't play as a team.  The Belles took advantage of every mistake and turned them into tries.” 

The Belles defeated NOVA 17-7 for the final’s berth, while NOVA had to sate itself with an opportunity for third.

“I was worried about the team getting ‘up’ for playing the Furies for third place,” Creager said. “We play them almost every weekend, all summer, and after our big loss, I wasn't sure how the team would react. Luckily, after a slow start, we were able to pull it together and finish the tournament playing as a team and with another win. 

Tries from Monique McQueen and CJ Hildreth (pictured above), and Beth Black's conversion were enough to lift NOVA 12-5 over DC.

“We were obviously disappointed when we lost on Sunday,” Creager added. “But it's hard to be upset about a 6-1 finish for the weekend - the best of the tournament - but we didn't win when it counted.”

NOVA didn’t hang their heads for long, and one can assume that they’re already thinking about summer 2012.

“Six of the NOVA girls will be playing for MARFU at the National All Star Championship,” Creager said in the next breath. “I think the loss this weekend will be motivation for them to come out and play even harder in Chula Vista at the end of August!”

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Written by Pat Clifton    Tuesday, 09 August 2011 15:59    PDF Print Write e-mail
RUGBYMag 7s Nationals All-Tournament Team
Sevens - Club Sevens

There were some superb team performances at Club 7s Nationals in San Francisco over the weekend, with teams like Schuylkill River, Youngbloodz, Marist and Middlesex making deeper runs than perhaps they were projected to.

Just like you saw some teams' names left out of the later cup rounds (Chicago, SFGG and Utah), you'll see some high-profile players' names left off the all-tournament team, because guys like Schuylkill's Greg Ambrogi and Dan Wright and Youngbloodz's Nick Johnson had fantastic tournaments.

Wright led all scorers with 39 points on five tries and seven conversions. When Ambrogi (7 tries on the weekend) went down with an injury in the first half of the semifinal against Utah, it was Wright who picked up his slack, dotting down what turned out to be the game winner.

Ambrogi was probably the player of the tournament. When Schuylkill River was put on its heels at the start of the semifinal against Utah, Ambrogi started the comeback with consecutive tries. When Utah's star player, Maka Unufe, threatened to pull Utah back even, Ambrogi delivered a crucial tackle that sidelined both he and Unufe the rest of the semifinal.  

The Youngbloodz were led in scoring by Garrett Bender and the Augspurger brothers, but whenever a big defensive play or a gashing run was needed, Nick Johnson supplied it. He scored a momentum-swinging try in the comeback against the Denver Barbarians on day one, and he setup the try that brought the Youngbloodz within a score late in the quarterfinal comeback against the Exiles.    

The list below isn't of the most talented players who played at Nationals, or perhaps even the best players. It's of the guys who had the best performances when it counted.

Utah's Ben Nicholls embodies just that, as he scored six tries in the Warriors' quarterfinal and semifinal matches. It was his try under the posts that Jason Pye failed to convert to force overtime with Schuylkill River in the semifinals. Nicholls led all try-scorers with nine.

Starting 7
1. John Moonlight (Woodlands Exiles). Physically imposing on everyone.
2. Taylor Howden (Belmont Shore). 6 tries, some big hits and timely plays.
3. Danny Barrett (SFGG). Not as physically imposing as Moonlight, but close.
4. Shalom Suniula (Belmont Shore). Best player at the tournament, Belmont's engine.
5. JP Eloff (Chicago Lions). Better defense than you might expect, faster than you think.
6. Greg Ambrogi (Schuylkill River). Much faster than he looked, very hard worker on the field.
7. Maka Unufe (Utah Warriors). Most athletic, talented guy there. A danger every touch.

Reserves
Ben Nicholls (Utah Warriors). Leading try scorer with 9.
Dan Wright (Shuylkill River). Leading scorer with 39 points.
Alex Ross (Belmont Shore). Scored 8 tries. Race with Unufe would be fun to watch.
Justin Boyd (Belmont Shore). Bigger, stronger, faster than most. Very good defense.
Nick Johnson (Youngbloodz). Nonstop motor. He impressed everyone.

Honorable Mention
Garrett Bender (Youngbloodz)
Will Knipscher (Schuylkill River)
Phil Mack (Woodlands Exiles). Scored 32 points on the weekend.
Tim Barford (Atlanta Old White). Had five tries in four games, and might've had more.
Jared Collinson (Middlesex)
Malakai Vaka (Hawaii)
Mike Palefau (Utah Warriors). Had a good tournament, but not dominant like we're used to.
Andrea Aswega (SFGG)
Rocco Mauer (Chicago Lions)
Peter Tiberio (Chicago Lions). Two meters short of Chicago forcing overtime against Belmont.  
Duncan Kelm (Belmont Shore)
Riaan Hamilton (Belmont Shore)

Men's 7s Club Championships All-Tournament Team (Dobson Images)

Our picks for the all-tournament team.

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Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Monday, 08 August 2011 19:33    PDF Print Write e-mail
Gallery: Men's Club 7s Championships
RUGBYmag Premier - Video and Audio

(photos by Dobson Images)

Men's 2011 Club 7s Championships (Dobson Images)

Photos from the 2011 USA Men's Club 7s Championships. Photos bu Dobson Images.
 
Written by Alex Goff    Monday, 08 August 2011 23:41    PDF Print Write e-mail
Boyd is Back! All the Way
Sevens - Club Sevens

Justin Boyd, center, is happy to be a champ with Belmont Shore. Dobson ImagesIt took Justin Boyd 18 months to get back on the rugby field after tearing all his knee ligaments in 2009, but, really, it took him even longer than that.

Back on the USA 7s team in February, Boyd still struggled at times. It wasn’t until a full six months later, with Belmont Shore this past weekend, that Boyd really looked as powerful a player as he was in early 2009.

“People told me I’d never play again, and I wanted to prove them wrong,” said the still-young Texan. “But it was a lot of hard work. When I came back I really wanted to concentrate on my defense because that was something I had needed to work on before. But it took a while to get that extra step back and that confidence.”

That confidence was in evidence early on in the national 7s final, when Boyd stepped in to intercept a pass and kept on going despite a tenacious tackler holding onto his jersey. At one point, the wing spun around looking for support, of which there was none, and then realized he could charge ahead anyway and score.

That try made it 12-0 Belmont Shore. Moments later, with the score 12-7 Boyd took a Shalom Suniula pass and just went for it. Two Schuylkill River defenders grabbed him, but the wing kept churning his legs and went in at the corner before rounding under the posts.

It was a bigger, stronger, and, yes, more confident Justin Boyd who helped Belmont Shore to a title Sunday.

“I feel that I played the best I played in a while,” he said. “I have put on about 30 pounds and have been training a lot.”

Boyd has a standing appointment at Athlete’s Performance at 5:30 am. The difference in his appearance is marked, and his strength has allowed him to thunder through tackles where before he would have had to pull up.

But that also is because he’s feeling better about his knee, and happy at Belmont Shore.

“I started to feel more confident and the atmosphere I have been in has allowed me to do that,” he said. “The extra weight and extra muscle has helped a lot, but so has being on this team.  It’s been great, what James [Walker] and Matt [Hawkins] have done. The best thing for us was we had more time together, and were able to play better as a result. And for me just more time playing has allowed me to keep working on coming back.”

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Written by Alex Goff    Monday, 08 August 2011 18:04    PDF Print Write e-mail
Tragedy Strikes Chuckanut Program
School Age - Boys

Chuckanut U19 captain Ray Taumaoe was found dead early Friday morning, a cause of death has not been determined.

Taumaoe had been a part of the Chuckanut youth program since it revitalized in 2000, serving as a water boy, playing mini rugby, and with the club’s U14, U16 and, finally, U19 programs. He was captain of the U19s this past season. He was also on the Washington Loggers all-star team.

“His family is a huge part of the Chuckanut family,” said Chuckanut youth program manager Neil Gardner. “We are absolutely confused and devastated right now.”

 

 

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