2019 USA Rugby Collegiate 7s

Red River Picks 7s Champs This Weekend

Red River Picks 7s Champs This Weekend

Alex Rees looks at the Red River Conference 7s

Apr 5, 2019 by FloRugby Staff
Play Breakdown: Morris Scores On Texas Tech

Saturday, April 6 marks the final weekend of conference play for the Red River Collegiate Conference, as it will host its annual sevens Conference Championships. 

With the winner securing an automatic bid to the Collegiate 7s National Tournament in Tuscon, AZ from May 24-26, the stakes couldn’t be higher. 

The Red River tournament will be held at the home of the Austin Huns in Austin, TX, and features a handful of teams with serious aspirations to make a run in this year’s national tournament. The league saw extremely tight competition in the 15’s season, 7’s should appear to be no different. Here’s the rundown:

Arkansas 

The Razorbacks come into this year’s competition looking to three-peat as Red River 7’s champs, returning the bulk of their team that finished 7th at last year’s national tournament. The big question for the Hogs will be whether they can effectively replace 7’s superstar Jack Casey, a 2018 graduate. Eyes will be on speedster Tyson Lucas to fill those shoes, along with a strong and experienced supporting cast. With a target on their back, the Razorbacks will need to play their best rugby to secure a 3rd straight Red River 7’s title and a 6th consecutive trip to the national tournament. 

Baylor

The Baylor Bears were heartbroken in the Red River 7’s semi-finals a year ago, losing an overtime thriller to the Razorbacks. They will no doubt draw upon that loss for motivation in this year’s competition. Coming off of a 15s season that saw them only lose to Texas A&M before handling Arkansas in the 3rd place game, Baylor will have to feel confident heading into the weekend. 


With playmakers like Stewart Morris and Ben Neukomm, and electric runners in Luke Davis and Taylor McGehee, the Bears have the ability to dethrone the Razorbacks on Saturday. 

Texas A&M

Having finished 2nd place each of the last two years, the Aggies will be champing at the bit to finally get over the hump and become the Red River 7’s champions in 2019. Further fueling their fire will surely be their gut-wrenching loss on the final play to Oklahoma in the Red River 15’s championship back on February 27th


The Aggies are a quality 7’s outfit year in and year out, finishing as high as 10th in the 2017 National Tournament. For the Aggies, the question is whether they can replace the star power of last year’s ace Justin Brown, but between Jeremy Brown, Seth Robinson, and J. Reilly Kight, A&M certainly has the horses to get the job done. 

LSU

The Tigers had a down year in 15’s by their lofty standards, but a stronger second semester of the season has to have them feeling more confident heading into this weekend’s 7’s tournament. Finding replacements for stalwarts like Cam Troxler and Brennan Falcon was never going to be easy, but the playmaking abilities of Drake Roethele and Jack Webster give LSU a chance in any game. Keep an eye on the Tigers as a dark horse in this year’s tournament.

Oklahoma

Arguably the most interesting storyline surrounding this year’s Red River 7’s tournament will be the manner in which the Sooners approach the weekend. Given that OU is slated to host Navy in the first round of the D1A 15’s playoffs on April 13, many are left wondering how they will handle this weekend’s tournament.

Will they send their full ensemble of players, or will they keep some guys rested ahead of their huge matchup next weekend? Regardless, the Sooners are a formidable side under any circumstances and should never be slept on. Between leaders Logan Ronan and Richard Papenfus, Oklahoma has the potential to make a deep run this year. 

Texas

After a downright abysmal second half to their 15’s campaign, the Longhorns will look to right the ship this weekend in their hometown of Austin. The bright side for the Horns is that they typically perform much better in the 7’s code of rugby, with crafty distributor Riasat Alam and kickoff-retrieving specialist Corin Wakefield leading the charge. A team that generally passes well and keeps defenses guessing, the Longhorns are more than capable of springing a few upsets along the way this year. 

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders come into this year’s tournament on the back of a difficult season which saw them unexpectedly lose their head coach before the year even began. They will look to lean on their talisman, Niko Afuhaamango, to lead them through a tough tournament. If Tech can field a healthy side, players like Niko as well as Bobby Flinn can certainly make things happen, but it will certainly be an uphill battle for them. 

North Texas

The newest participants in this year’s tournament are the Mean Green from UNT. Though relatively unknown to the general Red River populous, these guys are no joke when it comes to 7’s. As a team with multiple trips to 7’s nationals under its belt, North Texas has both the experience and the players to make things very interesting down in Austin. 

They will surely look to ride on the back of star player Terrance Hargest to get them going. Hargest was a nightmare all year for teams in 15’s, and with his raw power, blazing speed, and great balance he will be that much tougher to bring down in 7s. 

NOTE: Sadly, it is worth noting that UNT still awaits approval from the D1A committee with regards to whether they can compete this weekend. A series of administrative mishaps over the course of the 15’s season has the team under probation by the D1A committee. Still the conference teams hope to see them in action.

—Alex Rees