World-class rugby was on display in Glendale Friday, with 20 domestic and international rugby teams competing in 28 matches, each vying for the $10,000 winner take all championship purse. Representative teams from all five branches of the U.S. Military, as well as the British Army and Royal Armoured Corps, competed alongside participating teams from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean.
Organized into pool play, the rugby action kicked off at 11am Mountain Time and carried on until after 9pm. In addition to the ultimate winner-take-all tournament purse, U.S. Military teams competed to set the stage for separate Military Championship honors. The U.S. Army team is the multi-year defending champion, having won every year save 2012, when the Marines took top honors.
RugbyTown 7s (RT7s) has historically invited and featured new teams and talent, and 2018 is no exception. Featuring new faces and seasoned veterans, the history and world-class facilities at Infinity Park continue to draw teams from far and wide. Pool play will continue Saturday, once again kicking off at 11am Mountain Time. In addition to this year’s rugby competition is the Bruises and Brews beer festival, which for the first time in the tournament’s history is a two-day event in 2018.
The action-filled Friday kicked off at 11am. Under sunny skies, and as Colorado continues to be blanketed by a pall of smoke from the forest fires raging across the Western U.S., teams had to cope not just with high temperatures but also with playing at elevation. Those unaccustomed to rugby at altitude were clearly struggling for oxygen in the early segments of tournament play. Notably, many of the day one matches were one-sided – better structures and conditioning making themselves immediately apparent on the scoreboard.
Temperatures cooled as the afternoon pressed into evening, though the rugby action continued to heat up. Breezy conditions on the pitch complicated post-try conversion attempts for many teams as they worked to solidify both pool and overall standings moving into Saturday play.
World-class rugby was on display in Glendale Friday, with 20 domestic and international rugby teams competing in 28 matches, each vying for the $10,000 winner take all championship purse. Representative teams from all five branches of the U.S. Military, as well as the British Army and Royal Armoured Corps, competed alongside participating teams from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean.
Organized into pool play, the rugby action kicked off at 11am Mountain Time and carried on until after 9pm. In addition to the ultimate winner-take-all tournament purse, U.S. Military teams competed to set the stage for separate Military Championship honors. The U.S. Army team is the multi-year defending champion, having won every year save 2012, when the Marines took top honors.
RugbyTown 7s (RT7s) has historically invited and featured new teams and talent, and 2018 is no exception. Featuring new faces and seasoned veterans, the history and world-class facilities at Infinity Park continue to draw teams from far and wide. Pool play will continue Saturday, once again kicking off at 11am Mountain Time. In addition to this year’s rugby competition is the Bruises and Brews beer festival, which for the first time in the tournament’s history is a two-day event in 2018.
The action-filled Friday kicked off at 11am. Under sunny skies, and as Colorado continues to be blanketed by a pall of smoke from the forest fires raging across the Western U.S., teams had to cope not just with high temperatures but also with playing at elevation. Those unaccustomed to rugby at altitude were clearly struggling for oxygen in the early segments of tournament play. Notably, many of the day one matches were one-sided – better structures and conditioning making themselves immediately apparent on the scoreboard.
Temperatures cooled as the afternoon pressed into evening, though the rugby action continued to heat up. Breezy conditions on the pitch complicated post-try conversion attempts for many teams as they worked to solidify both pool and overall standings moving into Saturday play.
