(San Francisco) Taylor Howden and Justin Boyd each scored twice as Belmont Shore raced past Schuylkill River 37-14 for its second national 7s crown in the past three years.
The match turned on the one-two punch of Boyd's 9th-minute shorthanded try and Ed Pitts' injury-time touchdown, made by a Shalom Suniula tap move just after Schuykill's advantage expired.
Having fallen behind 12-0 on tries by Howden and Boyd, the first-time finalists climbed back into contention behind Dan Wright's chip-and-chase score and the opportunity presented by Howden's yellow card. Yet Belmont went to half ahead 22-7, and through superior speed and use of possession, especially turnover ball, the Southern Californians left no doubt of the second stanza.
The one-sided final belied an tense pair of semis, which saw Belmont erase the (Minneapolis) Youngbloods 17-12 on Howden's 14th-minute score, and the tenacious Philadelphians stave off the high-profile Utah Warriors 24-22.
The upset was costly, however, as Schuylkill gamebreaker Greg Ambrogi injured his shoulder tackling Warrior flyer Maka Unufe. Ambrogi started the championship but lasted just three minutes.
Belmont also narrowly prevailed in its quarterfinal match against the Chicago Lions, the 2007 champs. In a 14-7 contest, Boyd saved a try tracking down Peter Tiberio and then replacement Alex Ross ran the winner in from midfield. Youngbloods too played a wild one, defeating the Woodland Exiles on the game's final play.
The 2011 tournament featured several youthful newcomers, including the Youngbloods and Middlesex, a team primarily comprising collegians from the Boston area. 'Young squads have done well. They could run all day,' Belmont coach James Walker observed after the final.
A year ago, the quarterfinalists comprised Old Puget Sound Beach, the Lions, Belmont, Life University, the Denver Barbarians, Nova, Aspen, and Old White of Atlanta. This year OPSB, the defending champ, failed to emerge from the Pacific Coast qualifier, while Nova, Life, *and* Aspen, and OMBAC were also missing from the Sheeran Field tournament.
For its part, Belmont deliberately sought to improve team speed after dropping the 2010 final, Walker said, pointing to the addition of Boyd and Ross. Also on the roster: San Diego State All-American Duncan Kelm.
Along the same lines, four of the tournament's six referees were under the age of 30. USARFU's referee managers believe that youthful fitness, along with specialized 7s training, in which American officials have been among the world's innovators, will help its best and brightest win overseas appointments.
In the consolation rounds, the Warriors overwhelmed Youngbloods 26-7 for third place; the Chicago Lions throttled Hawaii Marist 40-7 for the plate title; and San Francisco Golden Gate downed Boston 22-5 to win the bowl.
Saturday in Toronto, unforced errors cost the US a 28-22 loss to Canada. In a seesaw match, the US rallied from a 7-0 deficit to lead 15-10 lead to half, but fumbled away a try and also missed a penalty goal from in front of the posts. Todd Clever's second try, at 77 minutes, brought the contest to within 3 before a final Maple Leaf penalty closed out the game.
'There were plenty of positives.... Our scrum was very solid and our lineout fired well for the most part. We scored some good tries, and with more time together, the team cohesiveness will only improve,' coach Eddie O'Sullivan said in a press release.
The Maple Leafs retain the Can-Am Trophy, which was not contested a season ago for the first time since it's founding in 1977.
2011 7s Championship: Belmont Shore 37 Schuylkill River 14
Belmont Shore
Tries: Justin Boyd (2), Taylor Howden (2), Ed Pitts, Alex Ross, Riaan Hamilton
Conversion: Shalom Suniula
Gareth Williams (Eddie McKenna) Riaan Hamilton, Taylor Howden, Shalom Suniula, Peter Sio (captain), Ed Pitts, Justin Boyd (Alex Ross)
Schuylkill River
Tries: Dan Wright (2)
Conversions: Dan Wright (2)
William Knipsher, Pat Boyle, Greg Suellentrop (Michael Burch), Randy Helsman, Greg Ambrogi (Joe Bardwell), Dan Wright, Gavin Blower
Referee: Nick Ricono (Southern California)
Attendance: 800 (estimated)
Canada 28 United States 22
Canada
Tries: Jebb Sinclair, Phil Mackenzie, Ed Fairhurst
Conversions: James Pritchard (2)
Penalties: James Pritchard (3)
United States
Tries: Todd Clever (2), Takudzwa Ngwenya
Conversions: Valenese Malifa, Tai Enosa
Penalty: Valenese Malifa
Unless the Eagle coaches have a few skilled players in storage and a better plan of how to play that that they haven't had time to get to, "more time" together isn't going to matter.
Looking forward to the second match on Saturday to see if "more time" makes any difference.
Posted by: Spencer | 08 August 2011 at 17:52
The Eagles looked pretty decent overall. The quick throw in was a bone headed move that cost the Eagles dearly. Nalifa has been much better in the past and deserves another shot at it.
For some reason Ngewanya gets a lot of criticism but having watched the first half again he had several very strong and aggressive runs and retained possession when tackled. He did drop two - one he was running full speed and gathering the ball was not a sure thing and the kick he dropped one could argue that the Canadian should have been penalized as Ngwayna was in the air when he went to gahter it and was hit at the same time. Definitely made it a difficult catch.
Clever had a good game but his arm tackle (along with others) did lead to the first Canadian try ... so he too made some mistakes and did also have at least one drop.
We'll see how Saturday goes but for the opening match of hte world cup campaign I have seen a lot worse in the past. It is something to build on.
Posted by: I played drek rugby - and loved it | 08 August 2011 at 18:53
OMBAC were in pool D at the National Sevens tournament.
Posted by: Icanhazrugbyball? | 08 August 2011 at 23:41
Unstable scrum problem is still there and against tier 2 teams. Ineffective. non-confident or both first choice 10. These are mahor problems going into a RWC. If this is what over a half million dollars of coaching buys, bounce out Eddie and put Dan Payne in at 100k and spend the money on youth and college.
Posted by: Doesn't | 09 August 2011 at 01:35
You can spend or save all the coaching money you want, but butterfingers at flyhalf in in-goal will not win games. And I'm sure Dan appreciates YOU setting his salary.
Posted by: Sergeant Hulka | 09 August 2011 at 08:49
That's all he would be worth and what is affordable for a team like tge Eagles. Keep your man crush in check.
Posted by: Doesn't | 09 August 2011 at 20:33
In a normal sport comment section, fans would be free to speculate what a coach should make for a job. but in a rugby comment section there is always someone who is friends with someone who takes exception to speculation of that sort. for good or for bad the american rugby community is TINY
Posted by: college | 09 August 2011 at 21:25
The Eagles are a very poorly coached team at this point. We are seeing the final throws of the Roberts led Eagle centric plan.
The IRB has completely wasted millions of high performance grant dollars on the wrong mission. Had USAR requested and the IRB agreed, to the grant funds being used more wisely US rugby would be leaps and bounds ahead of where we are.
Posted by: time for change | 10 August 2011 at 09:59
who were the under 30 Refs and where were they from.
better refs are part of the equation for usa rugby improvement at all levels. this can only be good.
Posted by: mike | 10 August 2011 at 18:54
What is going on with the CPD? Is it a 20 something division now? What is the final tally on teams that did a "one and done" to their fellow collegiate rugby programs in this great project?
Posted by: CPD Fan | 11 August 2011 at 15:57
Only 4 teams have left the CPD so far. From my understanding they are looking at restructuring the league to make the travel easier on some of the teams. Brian Lowe posted some BS on his website saying that the PAC12 schools were looking to leave to create their own Pacific conference. That is completely inaccurate and was just written to get people all upset. He's also continuing to talk about the East leaving and playing in the Fall. AGAIN, another misguided BS statment from Mr Lowe. That issue has been put to rest. The teams in the CPD will play in the spring.
Posted by: CPD is fine | 12 August 2011 at 06:58
So what was the deal? They had a giant teleconference?
Posted by: college | 12 August 2011 at 09:07
The CPD news on wearerugby.com is just Brian Lowe collaborating with his few friends in rugby union. Lowe, Gary Lane from Arizona State, Doc from K-town and maybe the guy from Army gossip about what is going on and he prints it like he is on the inside. Total joke.
Posted by: Lowe Syndrome (google it) | 12 August 2011 at 13:10