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08.10.2022
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westside ronins vs aow 2021 club 7s brian jackson 0

St. Louis, Mo. will be the host city for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championships this weekend.

The tournament, which has followed largely an invitational format (heavily influences by on-field results, of course), includes 16 teams for men and 16 teams for women. It will be held August 13-14 at Emerson Central Fields in St. Louis, admission is free, and it will be streamed live on The Rugby Network.

The defending Signes Cup champions from 2021 will return as the Chicago Lions (men's defending champions) and Scion (women) head up the list.

Topping the women's bracket at Life West, Washington Athletic Club, and San Diego Surfers. The Surfers have won this event before, and the WAC, when they played as Seattle Atavus, did also. Life West made the final in 2021 before being beaten rather convincingly 40-0 by Scion.

In the men's bracket the Lions are joined by WAC, Denver, and a long list of contenders. WAC won it all in 2019; Denver has made eight finals but never hoisted the cup. Former champions Belmont Shore, Old Blue, and former finalists Westside Ronin (2021) and Schuylkill River (2011) are also there.

Interestingly, several of the teams in this event will also turn around and compete in the End of Summer Bash at the LA Sevens. Denver, Belmont Shore, Berkeley All Blues, and Scion are all set to double-up, while a number of players in other teams are expected to suit up for compilation sides in LA. 

Go here for LA Sevens Tickets and to see the End of Summer Bash>>

This is an interesting tournament as often it's a collegiate player who steps to the fore to help teams take the title. That was certainly in evidence in 2021 when Will Chevalier, still a student-athlete at Indiana, was MVP of the tournament. 

This tournament is not without its controversy—the at-large nature of of the tournament certainly leads to some disagreements, and it's interesting see, for example, the Austin Hunts not included. (This might be because the Huns, in the 7s series in Texas, fielded three teams, with two coming 1st and 2nd in one tournament, and a third group winning two tournaments—had they played as one unit they might have logged more points.) three regions—Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Pacific Coast—get three seeds in the men's event. Interestingly, Cincinnati and St. Louis were both 2nd in their respective standings in the Midwest (East for Cincy, West for STL), and yet it is Cincinnati, not St. Louis, that attends the tournament in St. Louis.

In the women's bracket, there are four teams from the Mid-Atlantic, with three seeds from the West, Pacific Coast, and the Midwest.

2022 USA Club 7s Men's Pools
POOL EPOOL FPOOL GPOOL H
Chicago Lions WACDenverCincinnati
DallasOld BlueNAVLife West 
BeltwaySchuykill RiverWestside RoninBelmont Shore
Atlanta Old WhiteOceansideDetroitMystic River
    
2022 USA Club 7s Women's Pools
POOL APOOL BPOOL CPOOL D
ScionLife WestWACSan Diego Surfers
Chicago LionsChicago North ShoreRocky MountainBerkeley All Blues
BostonsHARCsAtlanta HarlequinsPhoenix 
AlbuquerqueNOVATempeDC Furies

(Note: Phoenix is not from Arizona, but from Florida)

Historical ChampionsMen's Champions Women's Champions
1985Old Mission Beach Athletic  
1986Quad City Irish  
1987Duck Brothers  
1988Old Puget Sound Beach  
1989Maryland Old Boys  
1990Old Puget Sound Beach  
1991Old Puget Sound Beach  
1992Old Puget Sound Beach  
1993Old Blue of New York  
1994Old Blues (CA)  
1995Old Mission Beach Athletic  
1996Northern Virginia  
1997San Mateo  
1998San Mateo  
1999Philadelphia Whitemarsh  
2000Old Mission Beach Athletic  
2001Old Mission Beach Athletic  
2002Old Mission Beach Athletic  
2003Riverside  
2004Riverside  
2005Old Blue of New York  
2006Old Mission Beach Athletic  
2007Chicago Lions  
2008Gentlemen of Aspen  
2009Belmont Shore  
2010Seattle-OPSB  
2011Belmont Shore2011Berkeley All Blues
2012Belmont Shore2012San Diego Surfers
2013Seattle-OPSB2013Berkeley All Blues
2014Seattle-OPSB2014San Diego Surfers
2015Seattle Saracens2015American Pro Training Center
2016Rugby Utah Selects2016Scion Sirens
2017Rugby Utah Selects2017Seattle Atavus
2018Bulldog2018San Diego Surfers
2019Washington Athletic2019San Diego Surfers
2020COVID-No Tournament
2021Chicago Lions2021Scion

 

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