1823 wins Inaugural Derby City 7s

Engraving on Derby City 7s Trophy

May 19, 2013 - The 1823 7s team of Columbus, OH traveled to Louisville, KY on Saturday. They returned to Columbus the Men's Division winners of the inaugural Derby City 7s presented by the Lousiville RFC at Thurman Hutchins Park in Louisville, KY. 1823 Coach Paul Holmes picked a diverse squad for Louisville featuring an Eagle, two Tigers, a Tiger Cub, and a Cardinal. In doing so, Holmes proved that "diversity breeds strength" with a team that posted a 6-0 record on the day and allowed a miserly two tries to their opposition.

Despite the outcome, 1823 met stiff physicality at the breakdowns all day. Their opposition forced them to contest plenty of rucks, which exposed opportunities for Holmes and 1823 to practice and strengthen this week. Holmes was encouraged by this tournament's results in that his team focused on a staunch defense and enjoyed the benefits of that focus. Allowing only two tries in six games on one day is a phenomenal achievement for any 7s team, especially one playing it's first tournament of the season.

Holmes has re-positioned Rocco Mauer from his traditional flyer/finisher role at wing to to center in an effort to hone and utilize Rocco's considerable creator and distributor talents. Such a move indicates that Holmes has great faith in these abilities and that 1823 has some serious speed - enough to move a speedster like Rocco to a creator/distributor position. The elder Mauer brother still showed his finishing skills on the weekend, dotting down nine times in only four games. He also used the ball to create enough space to put away his teammates for five more tries in those same games. Being responsible for fourteen tries in four matches is what one would expect of an Eagle. 

Tiger Rugby's Michael Ziegler proved to be a valuable Tournament Captain for 1823. With Tiger Cub and Team Captain Ryan Cochran in attendance but out of play due to a minor injury, Ziegler stepped up and proved his worth. Additionally, former Buckeye Track standout Brandon King found in-goal three times in his first 7s tournament and experienced the bite of the rugby bug. Finally, Columbus' own Nick Brandenstein provided a surprise in that he took an 18 month hiatus from rugby and returned in superb rugby form. 

1823 after defeating Louisville in the Derby City 7s Final

1823 and the Tiger Cubs take the field in Ohio Rugby's invitation-only Larrimer Cup next weekend where they face Pittsburgh and the Cincinnati Wolfhounds. Coach Holmes intends to take this week's lesson of breakdown physicality and focus on positional accuracy at the breakdown this week. Holmes sees hitting the ruck with the proper body angle in relation to the ball's place at the breakdown as a key part to winning the ruck on defense or offense. He is correct, of course. And if this is tactical basics for 1823 and the Tiger Cubs, then their opposition are in for a long 14 minutes.

Coach Holmes possesses a problem, though, a problem any 7s coach in the US would love to have. He experiences a practice turnout of 40-50 players - for 7s. This makes 1823 two to three players deep at each position. His athletes are hungry to play and compete hard every session for the chance to take the pitch on the weekend. When you have athletes of the caliber that participate in 1823 and Tiger Cubs combined with numbers, your problem is choosing which athletes do NOT make the roster!

NOTE: College & HS rugby in Texas takes a sabbatical every summer. So, RuckBottom plans to cover Summer 7s all over the states and the USA v Ireland match in Houston, TX over the summer. For Summer 7s, we plan to cover the Texas Sevens Series (TSS), other 7s tournaments in Texas, 1823 (Columbus, OH), Tiger Cubs, Tiger Rugby, Woodlands Exiles, El Azul (or Negro i Azul), and other 7s teams of note. This is the first in that change-up at RuckBottom. Thank you for reading.