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By Alex Goff
One 7s qualification tournament remains for the USA Rugby National Club 7s Championships, with two seeds on offer.
The Tacoma Rugby Club hosts the Pacific Coast 7s Championships on Saturday, with eight teams arriving with no qualification season to get them ready. Because of that it’s hard to predict how the teams will do.
However, all teams have been active this season. Here’s how they look:
Group A:
1. OPSB A
2. Pacific Rovers
3. EPA
4. Olympic Club
Old Puget Sound Beach looks to be the most dangerous and seasoned team in this group, but it's close as all teams are very competitive.
| Above, OPSB shows pace, Alex Goff photo. Below, two men with USA 7s experience, Mike Palefau (now with Provo then at 2009 nationals with Aspen), and Mile Pulu (possibly with East Palo Alto). |
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Beach will rely on Fili Botitu and Isi Daveta, their two outstanding speedsters, but to do use them effectively they will need to keep the ball. They looked impressive at the Can-Am 7s three weeks ago, but that was just after they brought on a bunch of talent to augment their side for the run to nationals. Mike Nelson, Aaron Lee (both from Central Washington University) are part of the OPSB effort, as is Albert Jenkins, Eddie Haigh and, most intriguingly, former Eagle Jeff Hullinger.
East Palo Alto has among their number Mile Pulu (although a registration snafu is yet to be resolved). The USA 7s player heads up a squad that did well at the Las Vegas 7s early this season. Olympic Club is less about pure speed and more about teamwork, and made the top three in last weekend's Denver 7s. While O-Club should be commended for traveling to get good competition, their third place was not a good one - they were lackluster in pool play and won the 3rd/4th game by default.
Pacific Rovers are a dangerous squad under the watchful eye of experienced players like Vili Matanibucaka. However, it must be a little galling to see some of their athletes - Botitu and Penisoni Rokocoko - playing with Old Puget Sound.
This will be a very difficult team to handicap, but Old Puget Sound has the best combination of athleticism and time together. East Palo Alto is very close.
Group B:
1. Provo
2. Bay Barbarians
3. San Mateo
4. OPSB B
Provo is what Humless started out as, before they realized they were good enough to a) win the Las Vegas 7s and b) challenge for a national title. Humless was just a non-regulation team, so the players went back to playing as Provo. Former USA 7s standouts Mike Palefau, who is playing some outstanding rugby football, and Jason Pye, lead a team that opponents really should be nervous about. Former BYU All American Steve St. Pierre, who, remember, played 7s for the USA, is there, as is more recent BYU standout Sam Thorley, former BYU running back Wayne Latu, former BYU wing Vito Qaqa, and a host of other (mostly BYU) talent. Pate Tuilevuka is a possibility, too.
The Bay Barbarians counter with a group of Hayward Griffins-heavy players, but will be hard-pressed to counter a young and speedy San Mateo outfit that perhaps will find its bliss in this event. OPSB B shouldn't be counted out - Beach is very deep.
Still Provo looks the best of this bunch at the moment, and could well take the whole thing.
The battle for the top two seeds could well be some of the most contentious in the Pacific Coast in some years. This isn't to say that the teams that represented the region in the past few years weren't good, it's just that they weren't tested.
The lack of a qualifying season has hurt the Pacific Coast Championships, but this year it seems a new generation of young Polynesian players are taking up the 7s standard, and hoping to be the first Pacific Coast team since San Mateo in 1998 to win a national 7s title.
Pacific Coast 7s Championships, Portland Avenue Fields, Tacoma, Saturday July 31. Check for regular updates and photos from RUGBYMag.com on this tournament.
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