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With all but two positions for the US Nationals now decided, it was another busy Sevens weekend in the US.

NOVA win Mid-Atlantic 7s by forfeit

It was a weird day at the Mid-Atlantic 7s Championships, but eventually NOVA were crowned champions with Schuylkill River finishing second.

Schuylkill signalled their intentions early with a 21-14 win over a tough Wilmington team, NOVA shut out all before them, while Charlotte looked very strong despite a long absence from high-level 7s.

It came down to the second and third seeds Charlotte and Schuylkill to decide who would meet NOVA in the final.

Charlotte scored what appeared to be the winning try with no time left, but the touch judge saw a punch thrown just before the try. With the try chalked off the scoreboard, Schuylkill went 95-metres to score from the resulting penalty.

It was a last gasp for the Philadelphia side however. They couldn’t field a healthy seven for NOVA and forfeited the final. NOVA now take the number one seed to the national tournament, Schuylkill second, and Charlotte wonders what might have been.

“I was pleased,” said NOVA 7s head Bill Gardner. “Defence wins championships so to not give up a point was big for us.”

Three in a row for Lions

In the Mid-West 7s, the Chicago Lions made it three titles in a row with a 42-21 defeat of a Milwaukee club who had already defeated the Lions twice this summer.

Matt DeGutes was the star for the Lions in the final with two early tries, and Mark Roberts was excellent all day, scoring eight tries in the tournament.

Both the Lions and Milwaukee make the national tournament, along with Chicago Griffins. The Lions join Pool C with the Mid-Atlantic champions Nova, West third seeds Glenda and Pacific second seed, which will be decided on August 1.

Milwaukee will be in Pool D with Atlanta Old White, Northeast and West second seeds, Boston and Denver and Chicago Griffins take the third spot at the US Nationals and will be pooled with Old Blue, OMBAC and Belmont Shore.

Old Blue confirmed North-East number one seed

Old Blue and Boston confirmed their spots in the US Nationals, with the former taking the Northeast tournament in Newport, and Boston finishing second.

A straight round-robin was the order of the day for the five teams, which was convincingly won by Old Blue who remained undefeated in all four of their matches.

With Boston losing to NYAC and 21-19 to Old Blue, they beat Long Island but were expected to finish third.

But Long Island shocked NYAC 17-12, meaning Boston just needed to beat White Plains, who had not won all day, by more than 10. They obliged which left Long Island, NYAC and Boston were all tied with two victories and two losses each, but it was Boston who went through on points difference.

“We thought it was over for us,” said Boston’s Kevin Immonje.

“It wasn’t the best day for Boston Rugby, but we ended up with the result. Against NYAC we were firmly in control and leading for most of the game. However in the last minute we made serious mental errors that resulted in NYAC scoring at the buzzer and beating us by two points.”

“Old Blue were best in class,” said NYAC’s Tom Rooney. “Boston played well and we were fortunate to beat them. I think both teams will do very well at the Nationals.”

US National Pools:

Pool A
Aspen
Life
Pacific #1 (TBD August 1)
Schuylkill River

Pool B
Old Blue
OMBAC
Chicago Griffins
Belmont Shore

Pool C
NOVA
Glendale
Pacific #2 (TBD August 1)
Chicago Lions

Pool D
Atlanta Old White
Milwaukee
Boston
Denver

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