BC Bears Win Shield at RugbyTown 7s – Jesters Defeat USA U23 in Cup Final
The BC Bears won the Shield Final over Team Germany 21-7 to finish 12th in the tournament. Perhaps not the ranking they were expecting going into the tournament but as their tournament description states, “This programs goal is to provide a competition pathway for BC players to gain experience and showcase themselves towards National team selections.”
A couple of players did showcase their talents, Kainoa Lloyd was tied for the tournament top try scorer with a player from the Cup winning team. There was little surprise that he had that talent and it’s just proof that he’s able to jump into the Canada 7s side if they need some pace, a power runner and someone to score tries. The other player who showcased his talent is Brock Gallagher who scored all 3 BC tries in the Shield final. He plays scrum-half and again is skill ready to jump into the Canada 7s setup if he’s needed.
For the other players, it’s part of their development pathway as they gain international rugby 7s experience. The RugbyTown 7s commentator liked the play of Kal Sager, for myself I thought Keegan Neary is one to watch, I liked his defensive tenacity and game vision.
Another Canadian player at the tournament who showcased well was Gabe Casey who played for the Tsunami Barbarians, they finished 4th at the tournament. Casey is a UVic player who was recently picked by the Toronto Arrows in the MLR draft.
The Ramblin Jesters are a UK based Barbarians style team and have won the tournament twice.
You can watch the replays on the RugbyTowns 7s website
from RugbyTown 7s
The Jesters used back-to-back tries as the second half wound down to overcome a two point to defeat the USA U-23s 22-12 in the 2022 RugbyTown 7s Cup Final. It was the sixth time that the Jesters have competed in the RugbyTown 7s, and the second time theyve emerged victorious. The win avenges their third place finish at last years tournament, and marked the fifth time theyve left the RubgyTown 7s with a piece of flare for their trophy case. Theyve finished in third twice, second place once, and have now have two RugbyTown 7s cups.
Sunday was full of exciting finals matches across the board.
The British Columbia Bears were one of the last teams to arrive at Infinity Park for the 2022 RugbyTown 7s, but having fewer training days together didnt seem to make much of a difference for the Canadian side. The Bears handled business to defeat Team Germany 21-7 to take the RugbyTown Shield back to B.C. Kainoa Lloyd finished the tournament with nine total tries.
In the Bowl Final, Lions 7s capped their RugbyTown 7s debut with a 31-7 victory over the SoCal Griffins. Lions 7s knocked off Gorilla Rugby 19-14 earlier in the day to book their chance to take home some hardware and used a complete performance to do exactly that after an early try from SoCals Ryan James had the Lions in a 7-0 hole early. They rattled off 31 unanswered points to make sure they didnt leave Glendale empty-handed.
The Plate Final was a showdown between two teams making their RugbyTown 7s debut in Casanovas and the Tel Aviv Heat. The evenly-matched sides went well into the second half knotted at 0-0, and it was a penalty try that gave the Tel Aviv Heat the lead in the 11th minute of the match. Casanovas survived their two minutes in the sin bin and Nick Boyer scored the equalizing try to tie the match at seven points apiece and send the match to overtime. After a grueling three-and-a-half minute overtime, Ronan Murphy slipped through a few tacklers and ended the match with a try between the posts to lock up a 14-7 win.
After a 30-minute lightning delay sent the teams back into the locker rooms, the Tsunami Barbarians and NAV 7s gave fans a memorable third place match. An early NAV 7s yellow card helped Tsunami Barbarians jump out to an early 7-0 lead. NAV 7s bounced back with two-straight tries from Gabe Michnya to close the first half and take a 10-7 lead heading into the break. The teams traded tries early, but it was a NAV try late in the second half that shut the door on a Tsunami Barbarians comeback. NAV 7s closed their RugbyTown 7s debut with a 24-12 victory over Tsunami Barbarians and third place in hand.
In total, there were a whopping 353 tries scored by 157 try scorers throughout the 62 matches that occurred over the course of the three day tournament. British Columbia Bears wing Kainoa Lloyd and the Ramblin Jesters Micahel Adlard both finished the tournament with nine total tries, the most of any other player in the tournament. Aren Martin of the Denver 7s Selects wasnt far behind with eight tries.
If you missed any of the action, the entire tournament replay is available on RugbyTown7s.com.
*BC Bear 7s Team Heading to RugbyTown 7s This Weekend: 5 Players Retained from Kelowna Tournament, 7 New Faces*
The BC 7s team is heading to Glendale for the prestigious RugbyTown 7s this coming weekend. There have been a number of changes to the team that came 2nd in the Kelowna Summerfest 7s to the Pacific Pride player pool of the San Capri Marlins.
New to the team are Matt Weir, Jacob Bourne, David Thompson, Kal Sager, Jaxson Jones, Brock Gallagher, Shane Rikley-Krindle. Returning players are Ethan Hager, Henry Do, Kainoa Lloyd, Keegan Neary, Gabriel Smith.
A number of players are familiar to BCRN readers and have played in the BC Premier. Matt Weir plays for Westshore, Jacob Bourne for UBC, Ethan Hager for UVic, Henry Do for JBAA, Gabriel Smith for Pacific Pride, David Thompson for Ravens, Kal Sager for Pacific Pride, Shane Rikley-Krindle for UVic. Kainoa Lloyd has played for JBAA, Brock Gallagher played for JBAA and Westshore. Kainoa Lloyd is the only player on the team who has been capped for Canada in XVs. Brock Gallagher was recently selected MVP in the USA based Premier 7s series. Ethan Hager is part of the MLR draft taking place this week. Keegan Neary is from Victoria but has been playing rugby with the University of Calgary Dinos, Jaxson Jones from Cowichan is the youngest at 17 and will be going to UVic next year, he was outstanding for the BC U18 team this summer.
from BC Rugby
BC Rugby is pleased to announce the BC Bears Selects Senior Mens 7s travelling roster that will compete at the 2022 RugbyTown 7s Tournament in Denver, Colorado from August 19-21.
Taking place at Denvers Infinity Park, RugbyTown 7s will see teams from around the world go head-to-head in this three-day event, vying for a chance at the Shield, Bowl, Plate, or coveted Championship Cup.
BC Bears Senior Mens 7s Roster
Matt Weir Nanaimo
Jacob Bourne Vancouver
Ethan Hager Brantford, ON
Henry Do Victoria
Kainoa Lloyd Mississauga, ON
David Thompson Vancouver
Keegan Neary Victoria
Kal Sager Peterborough, ON
Jaxson Jones Duncan
Brock Gallagher Edmonton, AB
Shane Rikley-Krindle Hudson, QU
Gabriel Smith Langford
This BC Bears Team features some exciting, young talent striving to make an impact in Denver. Led by Coaches Robin MacDowell and Mike Hall, and aided by Physio Mo Yamali, this squad is sure to feature some fantastic Rugby while players utilize the competition as an opportunity to gain experience and showcase themselves for National Team Selections.
BC Bears Senior Mens 7s Schedule at RugbyTown 7s
The BC Bears have been drawn into Pool C, where they will meet the AKUMA Cannibals, Tel Aviv Heat, SoCal Griffins, and USA U23s. The Tournament will include three days of action, with pool matches on day 1 and 2, followed by semi final and final playoffs on day 3.
Keep up to date with the BC Bears Senior Mens 7s progress on the BC Rugby website. For all information relating to the 2022 RugbyTown 7s Tournament, including livestream links and schedule, head to the Event Website or click on the buttons below.