Rugby 7s - Collegiate Tourny

Eddie and I went down to Philadelphia this Saturday and watched a little college Rugby 7s. Both UCLA and Wisconsin were playing so we decided it would be a fun road trip.

The view from the far (2nd) Rugby Field with the Stadium and the bridge to Jersey in the background

The set up was pretty damn big. There is a Rugby stadium in Chester (just south of Philadelphia) - Talen Energy Stadium. They open stands on one side on Friday - Saturday and use two other outside fields. For the Sunday Finals the whole stadium is open.

 

The picture above is Naya Tapper, Me, Eddie and Madison Hughes.  Naya from the USA Rugby 7s and Madison is Captain of the USA Rugby 7s. We met Madison in Rio at the 2016 Olympics and spent some time with him. A great guy. There were at the Collegiate Tournament to give pointers, answer questions and generally represent the USA Rugby Teams.

On Saturday teams are in 6 pools of 4, and they all play the other 3 teams in their pools. Some pics below.

Above the the UCLA / AIC (American International University) game. It was way out on field 2. Sight lines weren't good, but every now and then they ran right by you.

This was from the Wisconsin Arkansas Tech game. This one was in the big stadium, where the views were better but farther.

After watching UCLA and Wisconsin, we found that University of Wisconsin, Stephen's Point was playing. This city is where Ed grew up - and his step-dad used to be Athletic Director - so we watched a little of that on field 1. We saw a couple of scrums right in front of us.

Here is a view from the Stadium Deck out to the practice area and fields 1 and 2 beyond. On the right, you see a little of the walkway with booths and all.

And finally... the requisite shot of cute boys (UCLA, Irish (Notre Dame), Game Cock (South Carolina) and videographer.