Rugby 7s News and Information
Upcoming 7s Events
- Touch Rugby – Area H, Rose Bowl, 6.30pm to Dark, Every Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- 7s Dinner/Get-together – To Be Determined. Likely venue to be The Capri, Eagle Rock.
- Griffins 7s (So-Cal Select Side) Combine and Trial (Try-outs) – August 20, 2011, UCLA.
If you wish to take your shot at being selected to represent So-Cal in the upcoming 2011 7s National All-Star Championship on August 26-27, try-outs will be held at UCLA on August 20, 2011. There will be a $20 registration fee for the combine attendance. Contact Craig Hartley for details and questions.
2011 Pasadena 7s Season
PRFC began the 2011 7s season with high expectation coming off a spectacular fifteens’ season. Moreover, PRFC 7s performance over the 2009 and 2010 seasons showed that we needed better competition in order to challenge our program. Our results this season are both humbling and encouraging, which bodes well for the program’s future.
Before this year, PRFC 7s only entered the Social competition of any tournament. This year, we only entered the Open division in search of better competition. We originally wanted to enter the National Qualifiers, but we reconsidered after our earlier humbling experiences. For those of you unfamiliar, most 7s tournaments in Southern California are divided into an Open and Social division. The teams that play quality 7s enter the Open division.
With the increased awareness of 7s and it’s elevation to an Olympic Sport, the quality of the 7s competition in SoCal appears to have taken one great leap forward. The handling, awareness, communication, and organization of the teams on the field were very advanced. As a result, PRFC’s leap into the Open division was truly a giant leap.
Oasis 7s (San Diego)
A mere six (6) weeks ago, we began our 2011 Tournament Season in San Diego. PRFC experienced a very rude awakening in its first match against LA Rugby Club. It was our first match in the Open competition and it definitely showed us our shortcomings. If the players did not realize the necessity of fundamental skills, communication, and structure of play, they paid a painful lesson that day. At the San Diego Tournament, we did not score even one try in four (4) matches.
Grunion 7s (Santa Barbara)
At Santa Barbara, we showed we had learned from our experience in San Diego. We improved in all aspects of our game, but were still unable to take advantage of many of our scoring opportunities. Nevertheless, the Open team scored several tries in three matches with an opportunity to win in the last two matches.
Santa Monica 7s
At the Santa Monica Tournament, we continued our improvement by winning our first match of the season in the Open division. Moreover, we were competitive against a top tier team, the Long Beach Wave, allowing them to score their winning margin off our mistakes (as good teams will do).
Belmont Shore 7s
At this tournament, we were placed in a tough pool with Tempe, LB Wave, OC Ravens, and LA RFC. Although we ended the day with no wins, our competitiveness in three of the four matches was very encouraging. Our overall structure, ball movement, and communication reached a level that allowed us to compete against these quality sides. The only negative we took from this day was that we were unable to beat the OC Ravens.
Samoa Flag Day 7s
Pasadena RFC entered a team at the Samoa Flag Day 7s Tournament this past Saturday, July 30, 2011. Thirteen (13) players plus one (1) coach arrived at Victoria Regional Park in Carson, California to compete against fifteen (15) other teams for the tournament’s grand prize of $2,000.
In PRFC’s pool were San Fernando Valley, Huntington Beach, and Islanders. In order to compete for the grand prize, PRFC must place at least second in the pool to advance to the knock-out rounds. Also, in an effort to ensure every team plays at least four (4) games, the organizers scheduled each team to play their first opponents twice.
SFV: PRFC dominated play from the beginning. We manhandled SFV in all aspects of play and demonstrated very good ball movement most of the time. Defensively, SFV never posed a true threat until the second half when they managed to score 2 consolation tries after we had made mass substitutions. PRFC’s 6 tries were scored by Peter Koch (x2), U19 Chris, Hong Kong Chris (x2), and Fabian Munoz.
Huntington Beach: PRFC played a Huntington Beach team whose numbers were bolstered by OC Ravens’ players. The match was tight for the fist five minutes, then PRFC broke free to score it’s first try. PRFC’s second try was scored after a missed call by the touch judge (me), that allowed a fast thinking Russ Pitts to execute a quick lineout. The quick lineout caught HB off guard and resulted in PRFC’s 2nd try. The 2nd try broke HB’s composure for the rest of the match, and PRFC added three (3) more tries and conceded none. PRFC’s 5 tries were scored by U19 Chris, Will Bryant (x2), Hong Kong Chris, and Fabian.
Islanders: As expected, the Islanders proved to be PRFC’s biggest challenge in the pool stages. Many of the Islanders were former or current Red Rhinos players from the 15s program. After a hesitant beginning, where PRFC spotted the Islanders two (2) early tries, PRFC regained its composure and attacked back with ferocious tackles and hard runs. PRFC’s toughness and ability to match the Islanders physicality earned us much respect from the many islanders both on and off the pitch. PRFC scored two (2) tries while conceding a third try in the second half. With time running out, PRFC was awarded the feed in the scrum for a final attempt at scoring the game winning try. Alas, we were unable to deliver the ball cleanly out of the scrum, resulting in a knock-on that ended play. PRFC lost to the Islanders 12 to 15. PRFC’s two (2) tries were scored by Fabian and Nick Sabatella.
SFV: By this time, our numbers were whittled down due to players’ work commitments. Nevertheless, we outclassed our opposition scoring 6 unanswered tries. PRFC’s six (6) tries were scored by U19 Chris, Wil Bryant (x2), Hong Kong Chris (x2), and Matthew Raba.
Long Beach Wave (Quarterfinal): As the second seed, we played one of the other pool’s first seed. We faced Long Beach Wave twice earlier in the season. Both times, we competed well, but were beat by several tries. This time around, we fared better, but were still unable to change the ultimate result. Our handling miscues brought on by quality pressure from the Wave prevented us from efficiently using the ball. Fatigue was also a factor as players were not getting back into position as quickly as in previous matches. The combination of the Wave’s coordinated pressure and fatigue resulted in one (1) try for PRFC to four (4) tries for LB Wave. PRFC’s only try was scored by Hong Kong Chris.
Conclusion
We started the season poorly but progressively improved each week. We went from being unable to score tries, to scoring tries, to winning a match, to making the knock-out stage. We did all this despite jumping into the lion’s den of 7s competition. As a reminder, there is no Division I, II, or III in 7s. When one enters the Open competition, you are just as likely to face the Belmont Shores as you are the Eagle Rocks (mind you ERAC did very well this year, winning the Belmont Shore Open Competition by defeating Tempe).
From what I have seen and the talent we possess as a club, we belong in the Open competition. Should our 15s players commit to 7s as well, I see no limit to our potential. Besides, how else are you going to make it to the Olympics other than as a spectator? In conclusion, I wish to thank the EC for their support and all the players who have come to training each week.