It was a wild and enjoyable Day One at the Las Vegas Invitational Boys High School Open 7s.

Thursday saw 24 teams face off at Heritage Park, with varying degrees of success. Few teams really struggled or really dominated, but several showed athleticism and teamwork, sometimes at the same time.

Among the leading teams were several from Southern California and several from Canada. In Pool A SoCal finished 2-1 after weathering several sophisticated Tennessee Tri-State attacks only to turn the ball over in their own 22 and shock the Tennesseans with some long-range counters.

Tennessee was left to lick their wounds and look to Friday.

“It was a close game first half,“ said Tennessee’s Alex Smith about the loss to Southern California. “Second half was back and forth, and then we had a couple of calls go against us and couldn’t get the momentum back.”

Overall, the trip is valuable win or lose, said Smith.

“We just want to see how the rugby is all around the country and with teams outside the country. It’s a good experience for the whole state. I think a lot of these teams just have a lot of rugby knowledge, and they are unique, they have different players. We’ve learned that if you’re playing against a bigger, faster team you’ve got to be more disciplined on your defense. It’s a great experience for us.”

Utah team the Herriman Mustangs, however, were too much for everyone, with speed and size and good teamwork.

ICEF, also out of Southern California, were very impressive, edging a good Lowland team 19-17 and then beating South Side Irish.

“We want to win, but it’s important o work as a team together,” said ICEF wing Leodes Van Buren. “This competition is new to us and better overall. We’re playing big, physical guys, but our team has more speed, and we have to use our skills to get those big guys down.”

ICEF did falter against GP Vanier, but GP ended up 1-1-1 on an inconsistent day, and ICEF won the pool at 2-1.

Southern California looked good in Pool C, too, but ran up against a British Columbia side (this is BC’s 3^rd group, as their top two are in the HS Elite 7s kicking off Friday). BC beat SoCal Select 24-17. In the end, SoCal, BC, and Littleton out of Colorado all ended up 2-1, and SoCal won on points difference.

It was Southern California again in Pool D, as Palos Verdes beat the Ocelots and the Warriors to join the Herriman Stallions at 2-0 in that group. Palos then slammed the Mustangs to win the pool with an impressive 3-0 record.

In Pool E the Southern Utah Cannibals were outstanding in their combination of power and speed.

“It’s been great,” said Carter Jacobsen with the Cannibals. “We were able to work out our kinks. Of course we want to win the cup, but if all else fails it’s all about the experience. Our main goal is to win the cup and show what we have from Utah.”

It did take a while for Utah to really click as a 7s team, but their athleticism took them through.

“We’ve got a select group of players who know what they’re doing, but the more experience we get in 7s the better,” said Jacobsen. “We’re learning to do this and playing teams we don’t normally play. Teams from California usually base their game off a bit more smash-mouth, and the Canadians play more year-round, so they are pretty skilled. “

And finally, the Canadians came through in Pool F, with British Columbia 2 beating Harlequins, Cherry Creek, and the second Tennessee squad.

High School Boys 7s
Boys HS 7s
Pool A
Herriman Mustangs 22-5 SoCal
Tennessee Tri-Star Blue 27-7 Edmonton Gold
SoCal 24-0 Edmonton Gold
Herriman Mustangs 12-10 Tennessee Tri-Star Blue
SoCal 24-17 Tri-Star Blue
Herriman Mustangs 22-21 Edmonton Gold

Pool B
ICEF 19-17 Lowland Lions
GP Vanier 17-17 South Side Irish
ICEF 24-10 South Side Irish
Lowland Lions 22-5 GP Vanier
GP Vanier 33-17 ICEF
Lowland Lions 12-12 South Side Irish

Pool C
SoCal Select 24-10 Littleton Eagles
British Columbia 35-7 Rochambeau
Littleton Eagles 19-5 Rochambeau
British Columbia 21-15 SoCal Select
Littleton Eagles 19-10 British Columbia
SoCal Select 33-0 Rochambeau

Pool D
Herriman Stallions 27-12 Ocelots
Palos Verdes 24-7 Warriors
Herriman Stallions 17-17
Palos Verdes 26-5 Ocelots
Palos Verdes 33-5 Herriman Stallions
Warriors 17-7 Ocelots

Pool E
South Utah Cannibals 48-0 Notre Dame Hounds
Fullerton Lions 31-0 Stern MASS
Notre Dame 26-12 Stern MASS
South Utah Cannibals 12-7 Fullerton Lions
Fullerton Lions 24-7 Notre Dame Hounds
South Utah Cannibals 29-0 Stern MASS

Pool F
British Columbia 2 46-0 Harlequins
Tennessee Tri-Star Red 5-15 Cherry Creek
British Columbia 2 27-5 Cherry Creek
Tennessee Tri-Star Red 48-0 Harlequins
Harlequins 24-17 Cherry Creek
British Columbia 2 41-12 Tennessee Tri-Star Red