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The West Mustangs proved too strong for Pacific Coast and were crowned the 2009 Men’s National Sevens All-Star Championship champions at Randall’s Island in New York City.

The Pacific Coast and the West dominated the group stages; however the West had to work distinctly harder to achieve their 3-0 record.

The day one form book was torn up on finals day, with the Pacific Coast defence torn to shreds in the early stages of the final. The West scored 21 unanswered points through DeWon Reed, Spencer Scott and Mike Pelfau. Teddy Omondi was successful with every conversion in the first half.

The Grizzlies replied with a try from Mike Nelson, who had an excellent weekend, with Jone Naqica’s conversion making it 21-7. But it was always going to be an uphill climb for the Pacific Coasters, and even more so after Derek Wolfe scored and Omondi converted to make it 28-7. Shane Moore’s two tries closed the gap, but the West prevailed 28-19.

“The team had the capacity,” said Sean Knight, who also coaches the Denver Barbarians 7s team.

“After every game I’d tell them, ‘Yeah you got the win, but there’s so much more you can bring to the table.’ So it was just a matter of them reaching that level.”

“It was really kind of amazing to see them produce in the first half of the final,” said Knight.

“It was pretty impressive how high this team could reach. Teddy Omundi and Mike Palefau, both international players, were captains this weekend. Both of them raised their games and the others responded in kind. Dewon Reed played hooker, scrum half, fly half, and filled in for us at wing. He showed his ability to play every position on the field and turned in an entire weekend of special performances.”

The semi-finals saw, the Northeast team, who got out of their group on points difference, show that the Pacific defence was penetrable, scoring 24 points in a valiant effort in defeat.

In the other semi final, the West faced the Mid-Atlantic in a similarly close match that came down to a controversial last minute effort. In the end, however, the West walked away with it, winning 14-12.

West's win once again shows that in 2 day tournaments, the title is not won on the first day and often is won by the team that goes about their business quietly but peaks at the perfect time.

Men's NASC Day 1 & 2 Scores

Pool A
Mid-Atlantic 21 Combined 10
Pacific Coast 40 SoCal 0
Pacific Coast 24 Mid-Atlantic 7
SoCal 21 Combined 14
Mid-Atlantic 21 SoCal 10
Pacific Coast 29 Combined 0

Pool B
Collegiates 19 Midwest 12
West 17 Northeast 0
West 26 Midwest 19
Northeast 38 Collegiates 7
West 12 Collegiates 10
Midwest 24 Northeast 12

Bowl Semi finals:
Collegiates 12 SoCal 5
Midwest 33 Combined 0

Cup Semi finals:
Pacific Coast 27 Northeast 24
West 14 Mid-Atlantic 12

7th/8th Combined 29 SoCal 7
5th/6th Midwest 24 Collegiates 0
3rd/4th Mid-Atlantic 21 Northeast 5

Final West 28 Pacific Coast 19