Several teams youth elite sides from the United States gained valuable experience last weekend as they competed at the Victoria 7s. The tournament has quickly become one of the premier destinations for elite 7s in North American with strong teams from the Western United States and Canada competing. Like in previous years, U.S. teams once again did well with the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy coming in second place to BC Gold.
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy, which is run by All-American coach Salty Thompson, was the top American team at the competition. The EIRA has been scouting players all over the country for the tournament and it served as somewhat of a selection vehicle for the All-Americans. The team got off to a great start with wins over BC White (19-7), the Utah Lions (40-7), and BC Blue (26-17). On day to the EIRA met the Upright Rugby Rogues from Toronto in the Cup semi-finals and won 19-12. That put them in the final against a very tough BC Gold team where they ended up losing 31-26.
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Utah had two teams competing in the Utah Lions and the Utah Cannibals, a team that was in part sponsored by the Utah National Guard. The Lions finished the highest coming in fifth place as they beat BC White in the 5th/6th place match. As mentioned they lost to EIRA in pool play but they beat BC Blues 17-14 before losing to BC Whites 26-12, making their win in the final the next day even sweeter. The Lions beat the Washington Loggers to move to the 5th place match.
The Cannibals didn't quite have as much success. They finished pool play without a win losing to the Upright Rugby Rogues, BC Gold, and the Loggers. On day two they lost to BC White before falling to the Loggers 20-12 in the 7th/8th place match. The Loggers lost to BC Gold and the Upright Rugby Rogues in pool play before beating the Cannibals.
In the U-18 Open division the Cannibals beat the Lions 24-7 but had to forfeit the match after they fielded an ineligible player who had been issued a red card earlier. In the U-16 division it was the Cannibals that would claim the title by beating Thunder 22-7.
Day Two Results
U18 Elite
Washington 12 – Utah Lions 19
BC White 21 – Utah Cannibals 15
BC Gold 34 – BC Blue 5
Eagles Impact 19 – Upright Rugby 12
Washington 20 – Utah Cannibals 12 (7/8)
Utah Lions 21 – BC White 12 (5/6)
BC Blue 22 – Upright Rugby 7 (3/4)
BC Gold 31 – Eagles Impact 26 (1/2)
U18 Open
Thunder 14 – North Star 21
Tsunami 26 – White Rock 24
BC Red 21 – Utah Cannibals 17
Celtic Barbarians 17 – Utah Lions 10
White Rock 19 – Thunder 14 (7/8)
North Star 24 – Tsunami 0 (5/6)
Utah Cannibals 24 – Utah Lions 7 (3/4)
BC Red 20 – Celtic Barbarians 15 (1/2)
U16
Thunder 5 – Utah Cannibals 27
White Rock North Stars One 29 – White Rock North Starts Two 5
White Rock North Starts Two 17 – Utah Cannibals 22
Thunder 24 – Tsunami 10
Tsunami – White Rock North Starts Two
Utah Cannibals – White Rock North Stars One
White Rock North Stars 17 – Tsunami 12 (3/4)
Utah 22 – Thunder 7 (1/2)
Day One Results
U18 Elite
Upright Rugby 22 – Utah Cannibals 10
BC Gold 20 – Washington Loggers 0
BC Blue 14 – Utah Lions 17
Eagles Impact 19 – BC White 7
Upright Rugby 26 – Washington Loggers 12
BC Gold 32 – Utah Cannibals 0
BC Blue 34 – BC White 15
Eagles Impact 40 -Utah Lions 7
Utah Cannibals 12 – Washington 14
BC Gold 38 – Upright Rugby 14
Utah Lions 12 – BC White 26
Eagle Impact 26 – BC Blue 17
U18 Open
White Rock 5 – BC Red 19
Utah Lions 40 – Thunder 12
Utah Cannibals 24 – Tsunami 12
North Star 0 – Celtic Barbarians 34
White Rock 17 – Thunder 24
Utah Lions 17 – BC Red 26
Utah Cannibals 14 – Celtic Barbarians 19
North Star 12 – Tsunami 17
BC Red 22 – Thunder 5
White Rock 19- Utah Lions 26
Tsunami 5 – Celtic Barbarians 26
North Star 12 – Utah Cannibals 15
U16
White Rock North Stars One 29- Tsunami 19
White Rock North Stars Two 0 – Thunder 36
White Rock North Stars One 5 – Thunder 19
Tsunami 0 – Utah Cannibals 35
U14
North Vancouver 0 – Valley East One 32
Valley East Two 0 -Tsunami 41
BC U14 One 24- BC U14 Two 17
Valley East Two 22- BC U14 One 22
North Vancouver 5 – Tsunami 22
Valley East One 29 – BC U14 Two 5
Tsunami 31 – BC U14 One 15