The third time proved to be the charm for the Ramblin’ Jesters.
After falling to Fiji Savu Water in the Cup final in 2017 and getting bounced by Tiger Rugby in the Cup semifinal in 2018, the Jesters toppled underdog Marlborough Compeed 7s, who was the only two seed to work their way through the winners bracket, 26-14 in the Cup final to take home the $10,000 cash prize and the 2019 RugbyTown Sevens crown.
Just like they had done all tournament, the Jesters played suffocating defense took advantage of their scoring opportunities when they appeared. Marcus Tupuola scored three tries in the match to give him 11 total tries on the tournament and help the Jesters seal the deal. The 14 points that the Jesters allowed in the Cup final were the most points that they allowed in a single match all weekend. They finished the tournament having scored 290 points while only conceding 34 points.
The byproduct of a Jesters-Marlborough Cup final meant that the fans at Infinity Park would get to see a battle for third place between NOLA Gold 7s and Tiger Rugby. A battle is exactly what those two teams served up. Tiger jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but was unable to string together back-to-back scores and that ultimately proved to be the difference. Facing a 7-5 deficit at halftime, NOLA used two converted second half tries to secure the 21-12 third-place victory.
U.S. Armed Forces Champion Army Rugby 7s picked up a 24-10 victory over Celtic Barbarians in the Plate final. Army jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second minute of the match and never looked back. Their only loss of the weekend came in the Cup quarterfinal to eventual runner up Marlborough Compeed 7s.
In the Bowl final, the SoCal Griffins used a last-minute try to defeat the Denver 7s Selects 24-19. The Griffins had a comfortable 12-0 lead in the third minute but found themselves in a 12-12 match at the half. They exchanged tries in the second half, but the Griffins created a scoring opportunity in the 13th minute to win the match.
Finally, in the Shield final, the North American Lions capped off their weekend with a 31-12 victory over the Merlins 7s. The Merlins battled hard and had a 12-12 tie at half to show for it, but it was the Lions who used a big second half to leave with some silverware.
In total, 2,458 points were scored over the course of the 62 matches that made up the 2019 RugbyTown Sevens. The Jesters 53-0 victory over the Sacramento Eagles on Saturday afternoon was the highest score posted by a single team while the 33-24 clash between the Tsunami Barbarians and the Celtic Barbarians served as the most points scored in a single match on the weekend. The 24 points that the Jesters conceded were the least amount of points allowed by a team in the tournament.
