USA Sevens Rugby Tournament Returns to PETCO

SAN DIEGO - The USA Sevens Rugby Tournament returns to PETCO Park this weekend. The popular international sporting event features rugby action and a great fan festival for the entire family. The fifth annual tournament, which is the largest international rugby tournament in North America, is the fourth of eight stops in the International Rugby Board's Seven Schedule. Past winners include Fiji, 2007; England, 2006; New Zealand, 2005; and Argentina, 2004. For more information, please visit www.usasevens.com.

The following is a story about last year's event.

U.S. Rugby Moving On Up
Team USA Wins Shield Final Title During Event at PETCO Park
by Jonathan Greene

SAN DIEGO - The rugby world came to PETCO Park for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series USA on the weekend of February 10-11. The host U.S. team was involved in an international competition featuring a total of 16 countries, including powers Argentina, England, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga.

In rugby football, as in American football, the object if the game is to cross the goal line with the ball. Unlike modern football, but like the football played at the beginning of the 20th century, the ball must be "touched down" to score (and thus the term "touchdown" in football). The conversion kick, worth 2 points, is taken at a point perpendicular to the goal line where the ball is touched down (and as far back as the kicker desires).

There are two other ways to score: a penalty kick from anywhere is worth 3 points, and a drop kick between the posts at any pint in play is also worth 3 points. Because of the high rate of try scoring in sevens, neither penalty kicks nor drop kicks are common in this variety of the game. The standard rugby match is played with 15 men per side. In terms easier to understand, the sevens game is what arena football is to the NFL. Fewer men, faster pace and more scoring means the fans get their moneys worth. The sevens game is played in seven or ten minute halves, depending on the round of the tournament.

Unlike the rest of the world, U.S. Rugby is still working on the ground level of the sport. Most international rugby players can earn a living playing professional rugby, however in this country players often miss work and even pay their own way just to play the game they love. Things are slowly changing for Team USA, both on and off the field, as displayed by the results of the tournament held in San Diego,

On the second day of tournament play, the Eagles (nickname of the U.S. squad) played neighbors Canada in a quarterfinal match. The U.S. was riding high after routing Kenya 33-5 the night before to secure the quarterfinal bid. Chants of USA! USA! USA! were shouted by a dampened, but festive crowd. Such chants were new to the Eagle players, who had never heard such a tremendous refrain during tournament action. Team USA dropped the exciting match 14-7. Despite the loss, the Eagles were not out of contention for the Shield championship (the lowest title of the tournament), they met the West Indies in the Shield semi-finals. The U.S. shutout the West Indies 17-0 allowing them to advance to the Shield finals against Portugal. In the finals, the U.S. secured its first IRB Sevens World Series Shield since the USA Sevens Tournament in Los Angeles in 2004 by beating Portugal, 26-5.

“How the U.S. played today was extremely important to the growth of our sport in the USA. Not only will it help our fan base, but it could even grow the interest of our sport at the youth and high school level,” U.S. head coach Al Caravelli stated. To his point, a two-day total of over 29,000 spectators watched the action at PETCO Park, which included a large contingent of U.S. fans. In fact, the turnout surpassed previous attendance totals of the event, which was held in the Home Depot Center outside of Los Angeles the previous three years.

Fiji walked away the victors of the tournament, after a 38-24 battle with Samoa in the Cup finals. In other final action, South Africa beat Scotland, 28 -19, for the Plate, while Argentina and Tonga had to battle through overtime for a 22-17 result in Tonga’s favor for the Bowl.

Photos:
1. International rugby action at PETCO.
2. Aerial view of rugby action at PETCO Park.
3. USA vs. England in rugby action
by Jonathan Greene/NC Sports