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The USA Collegiate Sevens kicked off in Philadelphia yesterday with some 10000 fans in the stands at PPL Park. The CRC is in it's 2nd year and sees some of the US most famous colleges go toe to toe in the Olympic sport. With many USA Eagles playing throughout the tournament, the standard of the rugby is of the highest ilk in the US.

The reviews of the Pools below are from www.usasevenscci.com where more information can be found on the tournament including the schedule for Day 2 and how to get tickets

Pool A Review

Pool A of the 2011 Collegiate Rugby Championship saw Cal and Penn State take the first two spots at 3-0 and 2-1 respectively while LSU and Ohio State slumped to the last two spots. LSU managed a 1-2 record and Ohio State went 0-for-3.

Cal could not be stopped as they only allowed one try to be scored against them in all three matches combined. Penn State put up the best fight and battled to a 26-7 loss. They did the best in matching Cal’s physicality and discipline in the first half. But as Cal will do, they put the game out of reach in the second half. They chased and contested on their own kickoffs and that won them a lot of possession, even granting them a try when Blaine Scully chased down a kick and slipped past two defenders for a try. Cal’s earlier victories against Ohio State, 38-0, and LSU, 24-0, cemented their spot at the top.

Penn State showed that their preparation in the Subaru 7s and other competitions has done them well in their opening two wins. They edged LSU in the first round, 14-12, before going up against rivals Ohio State. Ohio State held a 10-point lead at halftime, but Penn State came back with a converted try. The Nittany Lions’ Ben Jannsen then dove over in the right corner on the next possession to snatch the win away from Ohio State right at the fulltime whistle.

“It feels great and it puts us into the cup playoffs,” Janssen said. “It was a team effort I was just the guy on the spot. We play as a team and we won as a team.”

LSU and Ohio State competed in the last Pool A match of the day and the Tigers showed great resilience to beat the Buckeyes, 10-7. Nate Ebner was a standout for Ohio State but it seemed like they relied on him too much at times. LSU grabbed two unconverted tries while Ohio State could only manage one converted score, even thought they showed glimpses of good handling. They can do better in the Challenger quarterfinals on Sunday if they use space more wisely and utilize their whole team on offense.

Cal and Penn State play in the championship quarterfinals tomorrow at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Cal starts at 10:19 a.m. against the second seed from Pool B and Penn State faces the top Pool B seed at 10:41 a.m.

Pool B Review

Surprises and almost surprises characterized Pool B in the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship.

Dartmouth overcame a deficit and plenty of fan doubt to shock defending champs Utah 17-12 in the first game, and that game seemed to inspire almost every match to be a tight one.

Notre Dame showed all kinds of fight in their games, combining skill and a desire to tough it out despite the odds. They shut out Boston College, then almost came back against Dartmouth (down 17-0 they led 19-17 before giving up the winning try), and then surged to mount a too-late comeback against Utah (down 21-0 they eventually fell 21-17).

Notre Dame and Dartmouth were very similar, in that they combined some careful skill and physicality, and the Irish produced against Utah perhaps the try of the tournament, involving a poach, a kick across field, and then three more passes for the try.

But no one wanted to forget Utah. They lost their opener, but didn’t let it dampen their enthusiasm, and with Don Pati and Tonata Lauti providing the sizzle and Zach Taylor and Scott Metcalf providing the steak, they slammed BC and, as mentioned, held off Notre Dame.

It wasn’t always pretty, but it was enough. And for Dartmouth, the good moments were supremely good. Head Coach Alex Magleby said he just wanted more.

“We felt we put in a better performance against BC,” said Nick Downer. “BC is a good team and we started to play better, a more team game. “
 

Pool C Review

Army redeemed themselves from a disappointing 2010 CRC, where they failed to win a game, and fan the table Saturday at the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.

The Cadets were outstanding, playing a much more varied, 7s style than they did in 2010, and that in term gave all sorts of room for Ben Leatigaga to cause damage.

It wasn’t easy. Army barely beat Central Washington 14-12 thanks to outstanding defense. They took care of a North Carolina team that had unexpectedly blown out Navy, beating the Tar Heels 27-5.

That set up their clash with Navy, which, despite the disparate records (2-0 for Army and 0-2 for Navy) turned into a tight tussle, as Navy stormed back to lead 15-12 before Dave Geib scored and converted to put the game away.

It was a new-look West Point team, then, benefitting much from the tutelage of former USA 7s player Justin Hundley . Second in Pool C came down to Central Washington versus North Carolina. UNC had upset Navy before losing to Army. CWU had lost to Army thanks to too many turnovers, but then held off Navy 14-7.

“The tries we gave up, we gave up ourselves,” said CWU co-coach and 7s legend Waisale Serevi. “The boys have not played in this tournament before, and in front of all these fans in a stadium like this. It was new for them and I told them, relax, you are playing well; be patient, and it will come.”

And it came. With Tim Stanfill his speedy best, Central Washington overcame North Carolina 21-10.

“We just played more to our system,” said CWU’s Patrick Blair, who was often in the middle of the action.

Pool D Review

Arizona entered pool D as the heavy favorite, and had the benefit of playing in Columbus, Ohio, last year. The rest of the rookies had a clean slate and needed to battle it out for the second seed into the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship cup round tomorrow.

First-round suspicions suggested that Texas would be that team, as it knocked off Oklahoma 24-12. The team showcased some excellent team speed, demonstrated by the fact that Kye Heck, Eric Kuikens, Alexi Mendoza and Tod Mullen all scored tries. The team followed with an equally impressive 19-0 win over Temple during round two, setting up a final match against fellow undefeated team, Arizona.

Before taking on the heavy favorites, Noah Villalobos was ecstatic with what his team had achieved thus far.

"I think we've been playing really well so far," Villalobos said. "We've been working together as a team like we never have before. A lot of things are coming together that have been dormant for the last month, because we haven't been playing in big tournaments, just practicing."

Villalobos was particularly impressed with the Long Horns’ skill in contact, considering the team hadn’t hit in the last month as well. Villalobos, who scored two tries in the Temple game, acknowledged that the team still had room to grow, and that room was enough for Arizona to take advantage in round three.

The teams went to toe to toe in the first half, but Arizona’s Peter Tiberio lit up the scoreboard just before the halftime whistle, and converted the score for the 7-0 lead. Another try and another Tiberio seven-pointer put the game out of reach, 19-0.

Arizona not only went undefeated on the day but went unscored upon, beating Temple 28-0 and then Oklahoma 38-0. Tiberio was utterly unstoppable, scoring eight tries on the day. If we wasn’t outdazzling defenders one on one, he was dummying an outlet pass from atop the lineout and running in the score past a surprised defense.

Arizona has lived up to the hype thus far.

Temple and Oklahoma struggled in their first two rounds, both losing to Arizona and Texas, and attempted to salvage a win in the third round. Oklahoma's passing was a little more consistent, the defense was more sure than Temple. Oklahoma made good use of the scoring opportunities it had and ended the day with a 22-5 victory. Unfortunately for the boisterous hometown fans, Temple exited pool play winless, although they did have the chance to cheer on the team's lone try to end the day.

Arizona and Texas head to the Cup bracket tomorrow, while Oklahoma and Temple duke it out in the Challenger division.

For tomorrow's schedule, check out www.usasevenscci.com