We're about two months away from the USA Rugby Collegiate 7s Championships, and the qualifiers have just started, but there's plenty to look at.
Watch The USA Rugby Collegiate 7s Championships LIVE on FloRugby May 24-26
Queens University Qualifier
Queens University Charlotte hosted a hugely successful tournament which featured a qualifier for the National Small College women's championships, and the women's D1 championships. There were also men's D2, women's D2, and a high school tournament.
Queens took the Men's D2 Bracket, while Eckert was the class of the NSCRO division.
Those tournaments were played on Saturday. On Sunday, the Women's D1 bracket was center stage, and Virginia Tech defeated Queens in a very tight clash 17-5. The game was 10-5 until very late.
The women's D1 tournament featured two pools of four. A late pullout meant there was a vacant spot, and organizers decided to create an NSCRO All-Star team from the previous day to fill out the bracket.
"They were really competitive," said Queens head coach and tournament organizer Katie Wurst. "The women said it was an awesome experience and I'm glad we did that."
In one pool, Queens, Virginia, and Navy B all went 2-1, with Queens winning the pool on points difference. In the other pool, Virginia Tech got by Navy for 1st. Virginia Tech then won a close meeting in the semis with rivals Virginia, while Queens defeated Navy 15-14 on a late try.
Making this tournament a multi-bracket tournament was a major success for Queens. Wurst praised her army of volunteers plus the referee effort, organized by Nigel Platt and headed up on the field by lead ref Alex Hedquist. "He put in a superb effort," said Wurst.
So there's your first qualifier—Virginia Tech women. But there has been more action.
More Tournaments
On the same weekend, Davenport University hosted a women's tournament, and Davenport blew away the competition, beating everyone, most with shutouts, before taking care of Indiana in the final.
Norwich Surprise
Norwich Men won the Ariel re 7s in Bermuda in what was a bit of a surprise. The Cadets are a D2 squad and defeated several D1 teams, including Ohio State, Rowan, and the Chesapeake Conference Selects, to get the job done.
The Cadets needed a three-try second half to come back to beat the Chesapeake Selects 19-10, and in the final, Norwich and the Bermuda All-Stars were tied 5-5 with almost no time left.
Norwich surprised Bermuda with a maul off a lineout from just inside the Bermuda 22. The All-Stars had no answer and Adam Schmitz scored to win it.
Nathan Rolling led the team with six tries.
UMW Coming On Strong
The Chesapeake Conference series has been going on, and Mary Washington has won all three tournaments so far. This is a rarity. Usually these tournaments have seen a constant chageover of winners. Watch out for UMW this spring.