GLENDALE, Colo. – Action continued on Day 2 of the 2015 Serevi RugbyTown Sevens as fans bore witness to all the fast-paced excitement of Rugby 7s at Infinity Park.
Always a highlight of SRS are the performances by teams representing each branch of the U.S. Military, and all were vying for positioning in Pool A. Army proved to be the team to beat in that pool, winning all four of its pool matches capped by a 22-12 win over Air Force.
In a rematch to determine this year’s military champion, Army proved to be even more dominant, winning the second match 43-12.
It marked the third-straight time Army has won the Military Championship in the four years of SRS.
“We’re definitely excited,” said Army team captain Andrew Locke. “It’s definitely our goal to win the Armed Forces Championship. Every year it’s a new team and a new competition so it’s just about 12 guys coming together as part of the All-Army family and getting the result that we wanted.”
After leading Pool B on Day 1, Canadian side Upright Rugby Rogues continued their dominance on Saturday, closing out pool play with a 47-0 defeat of Stars 7s and winning their Cup quarterfinal match over Northeast Academy by a score of 38-7.
The tournament hosting Glendale Raptors also posted a strong outing on Day 2, finishing group play with a 29-7 win over Bermuda and winning their Cup quarterfinal with a 29-7 win over Army.
“A lot of credit to Glendale; their attack was really sharp and they put on a lot of pressure on defense,” Locke said. “We’re going to come out stronger tomorrow and finish with a few good matches.”
“After the game against the Stars we started gaining momentum, we starting talking better and following our game plan. It worked for us,” Raptors head coach Andre Snyman said. “After yesterday we decided to stick with what works for us. Our goal was to keep the momentum and the players really worked well together.”
In Pool C, Denver 7s continued their dominance from Day 1, closing out pool play with a 22-10 defeat of Atlantis and winning their Cup quarterfinal match, 26-10 over Negro Y Azul. The win sets up a Cup semifinal pitting crosstown rivals on Sunday with Glendale and Denver facing off at 2:12 p.m.
Serevi Selects won Pool D by virtue of their 31-7 defeat of the USA Collegiate All-Americans and punched their ticket to Sunday’s semifinals with a 29-7 quarterfinal win over Air Force.
Along with the Rogues, Serevi looks to be one of the more impressive teams of this year’s tournament, according to Snyman.
“They’ve both got some quality international players,” he said. “They are both tournament favorite and they’re going to meet each other in the Cup semifinal tomorrow so it will be very interesting to see who comes out.”
Day 2 also saw the crowning of the first SRS High School Tournament Champions, with Atlantis defeating the Utah Lions by a score of 31-26.
Sunday’s slate of rugby will feature an entire day of semifinal matches as teams compete for the SRS Shield, Bowl, Plate and Cup awards with gates opening at 11 a.m. It will also feature a stadium concert with a performance by the Mile Highlanders pipe band set for 3 p.m.
The Cup Final will close out the Sunday’s action and conclude the 2015 SRS Tournament with kickoff tentatively scheduled for 5:14 p.m.
