Rugby Ohio's 7s season comes to a close this coming weekend with one team in a position of heavy favorite.
But, of course, that isn't always a welcome position to be in.
(Note: GRR Editor Alex Goff is an assistant coach for the freshmen at St. Ignatius.)
St. Ignatius out of Cleveland has run six teams in the Rugby Ohio season so far, but they will enter just their 1st side in the eight-team Cup competition. This team is enough. The Wildcats have gone 15-0 so far this season, scoring 614 points in the process and allowing an astonishingly low 24. So that's basically an average of 41-2. Defensively, clearly, Ignatius is a tough nut to crack, but they combine it with a solid ability to keep the ball, meaning that they don't have to tackle for long periods. It's a controlled, skilled, and intelligent approach that has seen them tested only once or twice. In fact, perhaps their shakiest game might have been their last.
that turned out to be a 21-7 win over St. Edward, but was a game where Ed's was threatening before a turnover led to a long-range try to seal it for Ignatius.
"The first time we played them it was 44-0 so we kind of expected to roll over them and it didn't happen; they were way more physical than we though [they'd be, and] we were lazy," said captain mark French.
Penalties and miscues perhaps came at the right time for this Ignatius team as they enter a playoff bracket looking at continuing what is a winning streak dating back to the final in the fall of 2020—St. Edward won that game, but since then Ignatius has not lost.
It's a side with plenty of talent. Joe Deinhart, French, and Rafe Gabrocsek all scored tries in that win over St. Edward on Sunday. (French logged seven in three games on the day.)
