The Southwest Rugby Conference held their second round of preliminary 7s tournaments yesterday at TCU in Ft. Worth and Rice in Houston. I attended the tournament at Rice and was afforded the opportunity to maintain the score-keeping for the Texas Rugby Referee's Association (TRRA).
I made a typographical error during score-keeping that was caught by fellow Devildog, Cpl Joshua Gonzalez of the UH Rugby Club. Well done, Marine! My apologies UH Rugby. Below are my corrections.
Also, Bill Arnold was on hand snapping pics again. His collection from the day can be found at http://billarnold.zenfolio.com/p867702132.
The scores for the A sides from both tournaments are as follows:
I made a typographical error during score-keeping that was caught by fellow Devildog, Cpl Joshua Gonzalez of the UH Rugby Club. Well done, Marine! My apologies UH Rugby. Below are my corrections.
Also, Bill Arnold was on hand snapping pics again. His collection from the day can be found at http://billarnold.zenfolio.com/p867702132.
The scores for the A sides from both tournaments are as follows:
The game of the day in Houston was Texas St-Rice. This game featured some great defensive efforts by both teams, including an epic goal-line stand by Rice that Texas State overcame from the resulting five-meter scrum.
Houston is a FAST team. With possession, they proved to be a threat from any point on the field.
UTSA is relatively new to Texas Collegiate Rugby, but they displayed impressive tackling most of the day. Houston's fitness overcame the Road Runners in the last match, though.
UTSA's football program is NCAA Division 1, so with USAR's "no sand-bagging" rule, it is reasonable expect UTSA Rugby's movement to D-1 rugby sooner or later. Pete Lewis runs a good program for the Road Runners. I do not think they will be content with having to request a waiver to compete in D2's National Championship playoffs if they lead the Lone Star Conference for more than one year.
Referee James Wolfinger's & SWC Commissioner Clayton Jewett's pre-tournament meeting with the teams set the very positive tone for the day. Wolfie covered scrum, lineout, and breakdown management. Jewett followed with an ultimatum regarding back-chatting the referees. Coaches and players alike followed the directives all day in both the A & B side matches.
On October 20th, the whole of the SWC gathers in Austin for a 7s qualifying tournament determining which team will represent the SWC in College Station on Nov 30-Dec 1. While I still maintain my pre-season prediction that the Longhorns will be that team, I also think that TCU, Texas State, St Edward's, or Houston have what it takes to be dark horses. It's 7s, be dominant all day or go home, right?
Next weekend, the SWC holds an invitational XVs tournament at Burr Field in Austin, the ARC meets for their first 7s tournament (and their qualifier) in Norman, OK, and the Lone Star Conference kicks off its season. College rugby in Texas is now in full swing and it promises to be an interesting and storied season!
On October 20th, the whole of the SWC gathers in Austin for a 7s qualifying tournament determining which team will represent the SWC in College Station on Nov 30-Dec 1. While I still maintain my pre-season prediction that the Longhorns will be that team, I also think that TCU, Texas State, St Edward's, or Houston have what it takes to be dark horses. It's 7s, be dominant all day or go home, right?
Next weekend, the SWC holds an invitational XVs tournament at Burr Field in Austin, the ARC meets for their first 7s tournament (and their qualifier) in Norman, OK, and the Lone Star Conference kicks off its season. College rugby in Texas is now in full swing and it promises to be an interesting and storied season!