The Women’s DII bracket in the USA Rugby College 7s Championships is the only tournament to start on Saturday, as everyone else starts on Friday. It makes sense, really, as these teams might be challenged in terms of depth and recovery, and as a result, one less day might help.

That doesn’t mean they can’t play - far from it. But the shortened tournament should help them all finish strong.

The Saturday competition sees three pools of three teams, with everyone playing twice, and then the three pool winners and the best 2nd-place team go to the semis. The #5 team gets a spot int he Plate Semis, while the other four have to play off for spots in the Plate Semis.

(Too bad they didn’t go for our favorite nine-team championship format, which is round-robin in three pools for pool play, and then round robin for pool winners for the Cup, #2s for the Plate, and #3s for the Bowl.)

Anyway, Bloomsburg is very good at moving the ball and Nikki Snyder and Selena Fernandez are young athletes who can play. Their style is well-suited to 7s. 

Davenport dominated the women’s DII 15s competition, and Dani Ordway is a spectacular runner, while Hannah Tennant and Maddy Sparks can also move. Ashlee Byrge is excellent as a flyhalf, But they will also dominate up front - Alley Miedzielec, Veronica Overbeek, and the inspirational Julia Mayer will see to that.

Rutgers has a snappy playmaker in Emily Stuart, Sarah Deluca is speedy, and Tashai Hodges is part of a belligerent bunch up front. They aren’t flashy, but they get the job done and can dominate teams physically.

Those are the teams we’ve pegged as strong contenders. And we really like the depth of talent in all aspects that Davenport has.

Pool A

Davenport

Springfield

Utah State

Pool B

Bloomsburg

Ithaca

Texas San Antonio

Pool C

Rutgers

Montana State

Texas State