Utah Wins Men's Club 7s On A Day Of Wild Finishes

Utah Wins Men's Club 7s On A Day Of Wild Finishes

Rugby Utah Selects made it two titles in two years at the Men's National Club 7s Championships, coming back to defeat their rivals the Denver Barbarians in the final 22-21 on Sunday in Blaine, MN.

Aug 14, 2017 by Alex Goff
Utah Wins Men's Club 7s On A Day Of Wild Finishes
Rugby Utah Selects made it two titles in two years at the Men's National Club 7s Championships, coming back to defeat their rivals the Denver Barbarians in the final 22-21 on Sunday in Blaine, MN.

The championship game mirrored the final of the Denver 7s, which Utah won on the last play back in June.



In the final, Utah fell behind 21-10 thanks to two Michael Al-Jiboori tries and a yellow card to star Don Pati. But unperturbed, Utah finished the game with tries from Jared Whippy and Josh Anderson, with Whippy kicking the crucial conversion to win it all 22-21. Kevon Williams was a try-scoring machine for Denver all weekend, while Pati was once again the heart and soul of the Utah team.

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The Washington Athletic Club stormed through the second half to beat a tough Belmont Shore team 38-21 in the bronze medal match. Kevin Swiryn, who many think is reaching the end of his rugby career, looked in his prime while working his way through and around defenders all weekend for the WAC. 

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The knockout rounds saw a few very tight games. Belmont Shore made the semifinals only after a 17-14 squeaker over Chicago Lions. Utah had to work for it to get past Old Blue.

Old Blue ended up taking the Plate with a difficult 19-14 win over the Bulldog team from Connecticut. Old Blue received a rather harsh yellow card to Nate Augspurger for a dangerous clearout, scored anyway, and then saw Augspurger get another yellow for slamming the ball down after a penalty call. Augspurger was thus red-carded, and Old Blue was down to six players for more than half the game. 

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Down 14-7, Old Blue managed to come back anyway. Luke Hume created space, and Michael St. Claire and Richard Kirkland scored to win the plate for the New York City team.

Pool play in the men's bracket seemed to show there was a definite split between the haves and have-nots. But as they moved into the Bowl rounds, the teams that struggled on Saturday found some closer contests, with all but one of the seven Bowl bracket games being decided by less than a try. This included the Bow final, in which Dallas edged Metropolis 19-14.

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So your final rankings are:
1. Rugby Utah
2. Denver Barbarians
3. Washington Athletic Club
4. Belmont Shore
5. Old Blue
6. Bulldog Rugby
7. Chicago Lions and Life West
9. Dallas
10. Metropolis
11. Optimus and Santa Monica
13. Charlotte and Beltway Elite
15. Austin Huns and Schuylkill River