Everyone has to travel to Club 7s Nationals, and maybe that will be a factor in the Men's Pool A — could it mean more heartbreak for Denver, or could distances make Belmont Shore stumble?
Watch The USA Rugby Club 7s Nationals LIVE on FloRugby
Here's our look at Pool A.
Atlanta Old White
Old White swept the Southern Conference and it wasn’t that close. Atlanta is loaded with Life University talent, including the Running Eagles’ coach, Colton Cariaga.
Old White should be a favorite in this pool, but the team hasn’t played great opposition in a while because they had early qualifiers. Early in the summer, they beat up on historically strong clubs like Charlotte and Southern Pines, but again that was in June and early July. Expect Old White to finish first or second in Pool A.
Denver Barbarians
The Lovable Losers? Maybe not. The Barbarians have the most nationals appearances with 24 but have never won the championship. This is their year. Their A-Side dismantled teams in the Frontier region, and their second side frequently got to the podium in national qualifiers. In their home tournament last weekend the Barbarians second side beat the Kansas City Blues, a national qualified team...twice.
Having a strong second side is so crucial to development. Teams that compete against a national-level squad in practice and in scrimmages every week are always much further ahead in development.
Belmont Shores Gold
A perfect transition because this is Belmont Shores second side. Are they going to win the national championship? No, but they can upset some people and ruin somebody’s day. Last week Belmont Shores and Belmont Shores Gold scrimmage against each other with a referee. Being able to have another team at nationals is a sign of an incredible program but is also a massive development advantage.
These guys have been putting in the conditioning work at Long Beach and they don’t want to hear the words “second side.”
Mystic River
The 2018 D1 15s national champions got the job done by securing the second seed in arguably the toughest qualifying region, the Northeast. Mystic River couldn’t quite get past Old Blue, but to their defense, Old Blue is the number one team in the country.
The national champions have two key additions to their 7s squad that will find their way onto some highlight reels. Diego Maquieira will hook for Mystic River after just spending a season on a professional contract hooking for the Houston SabreCats.
Jerron Pantor is another addition that will catch some attention. Pantor played for Trinidad in the Rugby Americas North U19 Championship the last three years and played 7s with the Trinidad national team. He has incredible field vision, can cut off both feet and throw a subtle but tantalizing goose step.
