success continues – south collegiate team hammer # 1 seed
South Upsets Defending Champions in First Day of USA Rugby’s Men’s Collegiate All-Star Championships
GLENDALE, Colo. – The USA Rugby Men’s All-Star Championships kicked off on Thursday at Infinity Park, in Glendale, Colo., and produced an upset as the South trounced defending champions Southern California.
Although defenses dominated early on, David Caswell gave the South the advantage, only for SoCal’s Christopher Bredesen to answer right back. It was then Bredesen again who converted a penalty to give the Griffins a slender lead.
However, it didn’t take long for the South to come back, and two tries saw them take a deserved 17-10 lead at half-time.
The South carried their momentum into the second half and it wasn’t long before Paul Bester pounced over the line to extend their lead.
An impressive South side had their tails up and continued piling on the pressure, and five converted tries gave them a commanding lead. SoCal’s Alex Ross put some needed points on the board, but it was a mere consolation as Kyle Grosshedier’s try capped off a quite sensational performance by the South.
The tier one games kicked off with the Pacific Coast taking on the West. A breathless first half saw the West take an early 7-0 lead through an Arrynn Wilkinson try and a Hamish Roberts conversion. However, the Grizzlies captain Shawn Davies, put on a marvelous display scoring 14 points in the first half to give his team a narrow 19-7 lead at the break.
The West began the second half in purposeful mood with Roberts and Pasque pulling them within two points of their opponents. Nevertheless, the next 20 minutes saw the Grizzlies go on a rampage, and 28 unanswered points put the game beyond reach.
The West showed tremendous character to end the game with 12 points of their own, but the damage had been done and the Pacific Coast took the game 47-29 to advance to Saturday’s final.
The South will now face the Pacific Coast Grizzlies in the Tier 1 final on Saturday June, 12 at Infinity Park.
In the first of the day’s action MARFU ran out winners over a spirited USA’s Under-20s Team.
In a tight opening, MARFU scored first through a Patrick Golfring penalty, but the Under-20s rallied and a successful kick from Will Holder shortly squared things up. A nice try from Jamie Gregory restored MARFU’s lead but another Holder penalty ensured the U20’s trailed only 10-6 at half-time.
The extreme heat played a part in the second half with both teams appearing tired. But MARFU added two more tries to eventually edge past the U20s, 22-13.
In the second tier two matchups, Midwest cruised past the Northeast. Midwest enjoyed the early pressure and turned it into points. Five tries in the first half opened up a large 33-8 lead for the Thunderbirds at the break.
Midwest came out after the interval determined to keep the pressure on, and despite a Bryan McCorkle try for the Northeast early on, Conrad Bontrager’s instant reply sparked a major Thunderbird onslaught. A further three tries ensured they ran out emphatic 61-20 victors and set up a meeting with MARFU on Saturday at 4 p.m. South Upsets Defending Champions in First Day of USA Rugby’s Men’s Collegiate All-Star Championships
GLENDALE, Colo. – The USA Rugby Men’s All-Star Championships kicked off on Thursday at Infinity Park, in Glendale, Colo., and produced an upset as the South trounced defending champions Southern California.
Although defenses dominated early on, David Caswell gave the South the advantage, only for SoCal’s Christopher Bredesen to answer right back. It was then Bredesen again who converted a penalty to give the Griffins a slender lead.
However, it didn’t take long for the South to come back, and two tries saw them take a deserved 17-10 lead at half-time.
The South carried their momentum into the second half and it wasn’t long before Paul Bester pounced over the line to extend their lead.
An impressive South side had their tails up and continued piling on the pressure, and five converted tries gave them a commanding lead. SoCal’s Alex Ross put some needed points on the board, but it was a mere consolation as Kyle Grosshedier’s try capped off a quite sensational performance by the South.
The tier one games kicked off with the Pacific Coast taking on the West. A breathless first half saw the West take an early 7-0 lead through an Arrynn Wilkinson try and a Hamish Roberts conversion. However, the Grizzlies captain Shawn Davies, put on a marvelous display scoring 14 points in the first half to give his team a narrow 19-7 lead at the break.
The West began the second half in purposeful mood with Roberts and Pasque pulling them within two points of their opponents. Nevertheless, the next 20 minutes saw the Grizzlies go on a rampage, and 28 unanswered points put the game beyond reach.
The West showed tremendous character to end the game with 12 points of their own, but the damage had been done and the Pacific Coast took the game 47-29 to advance to Saturday’s final.
The South will now face the Pacific Coast Grizzlies in the Tier 1 final on Saturday June, 12 at Infinity Park.
In the first of the day’s action MARFU ran out winners over a spirited USA’s Under-20s Team.
In a tight opening, MARFU scored first through a Patrick Golfring penalty, but the Under-20s rallied and a successful kick from Will Holder shortly squared things up. A nice try from Jamie Gregory restored MARFU’s lead but another Holder penalty ensured the U20’s trailed only 10-6 at half-time.
The extreme heat played a part in the second half with both teams appearing tired. But MARFU added two more tries to eventually edge past the U20s, 22-13.
In the second tier two matchups, Midwest cruised past the Northeast. Midwest enjoyed the early pressure and turned it into points. Five tries in the first half opened up a large 33-8 lead for the Thunderbirds at the break.
Midwest came out after the interval determined to keep the pressure on, and despite a Bryan McCorkle try for the Northeast early on, Conrad Bontrager’s instant reply sparked a major Thunderbird onslaught. A further three tries ensured they ran out emphatic 61-20 victors and set up a meeting with MARFU on Saturday at 4 p.m.
