The big dance is only a few days away and the American rugby world’s eyes turn to Kansas City for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship. A new team will hoist the men’s cup in the air on Sunday as there are plenty of contenders for the crown. With only eight teams returning, fresh clubs have opportunities to surprise, shock, and amaze on the biggest stage.
It all goes down this weekend at the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Mo., but if you can’t attend, FloRugby will be broadcasting the event live on their website.
Pool A – Park City Haggis, Mystic River, NAV 7s, Washington Athletic Club
After Rugby Utah won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, the team was absent last year. The guys got the band back together as part of the Park City Haggis and went through their trials before qualifying in the Frontier. The core of the Rugby Utah squad (Don Pati, Josh Anderson, Josh Whippy, Joseph Nicholls, Lance Williams, and Vernon Ale) is back along with some of their very talented friends.
Ben Nicholls and Jeff Hullinger have returned to coach the team and hope to catch lightning once again. Joining the core six is Kendrick Scott, Jeremy Misailegalu, and Calvin Whiting.
Nicholls describes the summer as one of mixed results. “All the players are on the back of a pretty unsuccessful collegiate or MLR campaign and have struggled with injuries and finding their form. However, the summer has been a positive one as a lot of the players have been able to come back to the club level and remind themselves why they love the game.”
“Park City has the ability to cause some big upsets, but will need to be consistent which has been an issue during the Frontier qualifiers. When they are in the mood and band is together, there is a lot of experience and chemistry in the group. Despite some recent inconsistent performances, they have the ability to rise to the occasion.”
As the Northeast #2 seed and eighth overall, Mystic River has enjoyed enormous success on both the 7s and 15s sides. After finishing in third place last year, Mystic is reloaded to complete the mission in 2019.
With the likes of Ian Luciano, Oliver Engelhart, Peceli Rinakama, Bryan Michel, Diego Maquieira, and Adnan Kawuma, Mystic sports a roster heavy with MLR talent. The offense was further upgraded with the addition of two young internationals in Jeron Pantor and Mikel Facey.
Coach Chris Frazier guides the ship this year and according to him, “to win in KC, we need to dominate kickoff and kick receipt. We need to make high IQ reads around the breakdown and complete out tackles. If we are able to do that, we can compete with anyone.”
One of the newcomers to Nationals is the National Athletic Village 7s, a team based in the Carolinas. The NAV 7s came out of nowhere to capture the Mid-Atlantic’s bid and did it by playing a different roster every weekend and having every player step up in certain situations.
With the constant shuffle of the lineup, the coaching staff emphasized team-centric play. Even with the turnover, Robert Johns, Austin Lyons, and Corey Jones stood out from the crowd.
Coach Robert Bortins’ summed up his philosophy saying that the team needs to be “physical, bang it up the middle, and use our size advantage. Possession and patience, let the game come to us.”
After coming in third in the Pacific North, the Washington Athletic Club is back for another shot at the title. The WAC will look to improve on the sixth-place finish from last year.
This summer’s squad consists of several Eagles as well as members from the MLR Champion Seattle Seawolves. Miles Craigwell, Mike Palefau, Peter Tiberio, and Mat Turner have all been capped and Dion Crowder, Eric Duechle, and Scott Dean each wore the blue and green during their MLR championship run earlier this year.
Coach Shalom Suniula will rely on Lui Sitama, Tommy Clark, and Noah Wright for offense and Scott Dean to clean up the trash on defense. Suniula’s gameplan to get the final is to “keep our defensive shape and pay close attention to the basic details. We’ve been working on with our defensive alignment and ruck recognition.”
Pool B – Belmont Shore Blue, Chicago Lions, Kansas City Blues, Schuylkill River Exiles
As the second seed overall, Belmont Shore Blue returns to Nationals for its 12th visit in a row. In last year’s tournament, Belmont ran into card trouble and lost in the cup final against Bulldog Rugby.
Coach Peter Sio’s main takeaway from the final is to avoid mistakes and limit penalties. “In last year’s final, Belmont Shore was talented enough to win it all but it came down to a few yellow cards and a few turnovers. As long as we have all seven guys doing the basic stuff, we should be good. If we hold onto the ball and do what we should do, we should win the tournament.”
Belmont retooled its roster in the offseason bringing back some veterans and adding playmakers. As a result, the lineup includes Eagle Marcus Tupuola, College 7s Player of the Year Cristian Rodriguez, and MLR’s Keni Nasoqeqe, Alex Elkins, and Tai Enosa. Matthew Masoe is the unsung hero of the bunch and the real engine of the team.
As one of three teams to send both a men’s and women’s sides to Nationals, the Chicago Lions claimed the Midwest #1 seed and seventh overall. The Lions missed qualification last year but 2019 marks the 19th appearance at Nationals.
Coach David Clancy has assembled a good balance of youth and experience that will translate into wins in Kansas City. Jake Hidalgo has enjoyed a breakout season in the centers and Youth Olympic reserve Will Chevalier has emerged as a threat on offense. Defensively, Jack Casey, Michael Ziegler, and Alec Cleary attack the line, and captain Andrew Guerra has the highest work rate on the squad.
Summing up his team Clancy remarked, “We are a fit and skillful team who play an unstructured free-flowing attack focused on attacking best space and continuity. We are organized on defense and a number of playmakers in the side… To win in KC, we will need to make sure we have the lion’s share of possessions in each game, be patient on the attack to break teams down and attack the best space when it becomes available.”
The Kansas City Blues have a long and vast history at Nationals and 2019 marks the 16th appearance at the tournament. The Blues are only two years removed from reaching the cup final and coach Scott Kram is back with an accomplished, young squad ready to turn heads this weekend.
“Our team is built around balance,” Kram said. “We are strong in the kickoffs with our powerful front row players, Kevin Schwartze and Walt Elder, have excellent leadership and playmaking ability from Richard Felton and Nick Feakes and a true burner on the wing with Aren Martin. Everyone on our squad is experienced and competent, having played in at least one National Championship in college or with the Blues.”
The Blues will not take any team lightly this weekend, especially in front of the home crowd. “At the national level, we treat all teams as a threat,” Kram stated. “The team that can perform and minimize errors will be the team that walks away with the hardware. We have a strong group of core players that have been together for years. We have worked hard on getting our newer members to integrate into the squad and know each other’s tendencies. We feel that this approach will find success as we attack and defend as a unit as opposed to individually.”
After winning the Eastern Open, Schuylkill River took the foot off the accelerator in the Mid-Atlantic and prepared for a deep run at Nationals. The Exiles seized the opportunity to rest and heal up, try different combinations and strategies, and feel no pressure in the grind to earn a bid in the region.
During regional play, Schuylkill worked on its strength of being a suffocating defense and playing physical on offense. Ben Janssen and Pete Mulville proved to be stout in forwards while Mitch Vannoy and Bruce Dolan stepped up in the backs.
Director of Rugby Pat Boyle boiled it down saying, “It’s a 14-minute game. It’s about limiting the mistakes and making other teams beat us. If we can limit our mistakes and play good defense, we’re going to be in every game and that should give us a great chance to win.”
Pool C – Denver Barbarians, Westside Ronins, Milwaukee RFC, Atlanta Old White
The saying “always a bridesmaid, never the bride” could be said of the Denver Barbarians who have come in second place eight times in their 26 appearances at Nationals. Head coach Tyson Meek is betting on 2019 will be different as players like Harley Davidson, Siale Maka, Cole Zarcone, Jack Wendling, Logan Collins, Eric Sykes, and Aaron Gray fill out the roster for the Barbos.
Denver Alums and current Eagles Ben Pinkelman and Kevon Williams guest coached this summer and offered their advice in certain situations and how to handle the pressure. The players took the advice as gospel and valued the time spent with the Eagles.
Coach Meek had few words on his team’s prospects this year allowing his squad’s play do the talking. “We’ll have to answer that question on the field. There is no other way to answer it.”
In its fourth year of existence, the Westside Ronins booked their first trip to Nationals by winning the Pacific North. The Ronins have evolved from a local club to a team that has to be taken seriously. Tapping into the wealth of Pacific Islander talent in the Northwest, Westside is a bunch of young and very fit players ready to rock Nationals this year.
The playmakers on both sides of the ball are the Tamaivena twins, Suliasi and team captain Sitiveni. They are sons of former Fijian 7s player Levi Tamaivena, who is also coaching the team this year. Along with Lauina Futi, Penisoni Leua, and Patrick Taisamoa, the Ronins are very creative offensively, very strong defensively, and capable of causing upsets at Nationals.
After a ten-year hiatus from the tournament, Milwaukee RFC is back at Nationals by earning second seed of Midwest and 12th overall. MRFC is a mix of seasoned players, newly added young talent, and Milwaukee/Wisconsin area athletes developed just this summer.
Milwaukee has no national or MLR players but does have plenty of guys that will cause problems for opposing teams. On offense, Dan Pettay and Alex Sandstrom are burners on the wing, Garrett Shibilski is a nightmare for opposing scrumhalfs, and Mike Albert and youngster Brennan Streff have proved to be a handful. Hunter Crass and Shibilski play lockdown defense and Pettay and Kevin Schmidt carry a heavy work rate.
Captain Cory Katzban described his team as “smaller, but crafty. Disrupt the usual structure and make something happen out of nothing. Tenacious defense at times and fast-paced offense to balance… [In order to advance,] zero mistakes/turnovers, nasty defense, stay healthy, and at some point, maybe an act of god.”
Life University head coach Colton Cariaga took over the reins of Atlanta Old White this summer and brought along a few Running Eagles to bolster the side. As a result, the Old White swept through the South and qualified for its eighth appearance at Nationals.
With no players over 30 and only two over 25, the youth movement is in full swing down South. George Phelan and Darell Williams are your threats on offense with speed and vision and Erick Ombasa is tough at the point of contact on defense. Sam Ngethe and Daemon Torres lead the team in tries and Austin White and Joedee Reyes bring their leadership and experience to the party.
“We are a balanced team with a couple of pace-men, experienced playmakers, and crafty, athletic forwards,” Cariaga said. “It’s very important for us to be clinical with our kickoff and kick receipt. We are potent on the attack and have improved quite a bit on defense, but need to focus on winning restarts to give ourselves the best chance of winning on days one and two.”
Pool D – Old Blue of New York, Dallas Reds, Life West Gladiators, Belmont Shore Gold
Old Blue of New York is one of the most storied programs in all of USA Club Rugby and won the Club 7s Nationals twice in their 17 appearances at the show. The Northeast’s top side finished in seventh place after falling in the cup quarterfinals last year.
The New York squad has adopted a “total rugby” gameplan that requires contributions from everyone on every aspect of the game. Derek Lipscomb, Mike St. Claire, Gavan D'Amore Morrison, and JP Aguirre bring their MLR experience to the club, while elite college players Chase Haskin (Life), Sam Chapman (LU), and Tosh Wilcox (BYU) have integrated their own championship and All-American experience into the fold.
Coach Dom Wareing wrapped up his thoughts by saying the team is, “a band of brothers. Adaptive, resilient, passionate, and committed. There have been plenty of challenges this year and we have faced them head on. I am in no doubt we are in a better place for having been through them… [We need to] focus on our process and the elements we can control, task to task, role to role, do each action with the precision, attitude and focus it requires and if we do that we will put ourselves in a place to be happy with our performances.”
Under the direction of Chris and Lynn Howard, the Dallas Reds qualified for the third year in a row and won the Plate in last year’s tournament. Returning six players, the Reds are eager to fly in Kansas City.
Narada Jackson highlights the squad after being named to the tournament dream team for the last three years. Blake Boulton at flyhalf is dangerous and the trio of Houston Sabercats in Chris Saint, Kelly Kolberg, and Chad Joseph form a difficult line to break. 19-year-old South African Ludwig Van Der Merwe has been a joy to watch and brings a youthful exuberance to the club.
With many players used to playing with each other 7s and 15s, Lynn Howard said, “We have a leg up on the brotherhood and camaraderie, but we also have everybody on the same page with the muscle memory from training to really perform. Once it finally came together in our last tournament, it motivated these guys that they are not going to be stopped.”
Chris Howard broke it down simply, “Make tackles and don’t make errors. It’s a simple game. If we control the tempo to dictate what we want to do, I think we’ll do fine.”
After failing to qualify last year, Life West didn’t waste any time this summer by winning the Western Open. Similar to Schuylkill, the early bid to Nationals took the pressure off and allowed the Gladiators to focus on fitness and putting themselves in the best shape for a title run.
Life West reassessed during the offseason and put considerable resources into improving its 7s program. The Gladiators nearly qualified a second side but settled for a squad full of Eagles and substantial collegiate experience. Tim Stanfill, Maanaima Fualaau, Anthony Welmers, Devereaux Ferris, and Martini Talapusi have each represented the USA on the world stage, while Royaal Jones and Jihad Khabir from AIC have impressed this summer.
“Our style is to be competitive at all facets of the game: at the breakdown and the set piece,” Director of Rugby Adriaan Ferris said. “We understand the need to shift the ball into space and often we are guilty of not using the ball as well as we should. We have worked really hard on our discipline in the last three or four weeks to get that right.”
The final team may be one of the biggest sleepers of the tournament. Belmont Shore’s second Gold side won the Pacific South and it’s the second year in a row that Belmont has qualified two sides.
While the Belmont Blue has the heavy hitters, Team Gold has bonded incredibly well over the summer into a finely tuned, fit unit. Andrew Jackson, William Wardlow, and Kalanie Aholelei stand out on the squad, but the side is very team-focused.
“If there is any sleeper in the tournament, its team Gold,” Peter Sio said. “They have beaten Blue twice and it was just out-hustling and out-playing them. They are hungrier and have the green light to play what’s in front of them. It’s just all the guys wanted it more. Pool D is the pool of death but if any team sleeps on Gold, they are in for a long weekend.”
