Rugby finishes fourth at Tropical 7's in Tampa

TAMPA, FL - Men's Rugby traveled to their final tournament of the year to the Sunshine States' Tampa Sportsplex. The Tropical 7's tournament is one of the largest in the USA and features teams from all over the world playing in various age groups brackets from under-12s to Seniors men's and women's rugby over Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend. 

The Eutectics competed in a combined Under-23 and College bracket, with pool play featuring 3 games on Friday and 2 on Saturday followed by bracket play for final position. 

Traveling with a skeleton squad of 10 players (a normal 7s squad features 13 players), the majority of whom were freshman with an average age of 20.1, the team started the proceedings with a frustrating loss to Alberta Wolfpack - a select team from Canada - 26-19. Tries came from Jahari Hines (2) and Dresden Roberts with two conversions from Dakota Faulkner.

The second game of the day was an "unnecessary nervous" affair vs Coastal Carolina Bronze select team, which saw the UHSP men eventually come out on top 24-15 featuring tries from Faulkner (3) and Jabez King, with Faulkner adding to the tally with 2 conversions. 

"The first two games were very frustrating.", said Coach Lang when reporting on the first day. "It was not a case of a slow start, in both games we were leading at the half and in control of the game, but the second half we lost all structure and disciple and there was too much individual play and no team cohesion." 

"The last game of the day was much much better against Howard University out of D.C. We played in that sweet spot of full confidence without complacency, we were structured and patient and waited to take our chances, especially on defense. You could see a lightbulb go off in the guys heads, they finally understood not only what they were capable of, but also how to achieve it." The game was a 26-0 shutout win with two tries from Hines and one apiece from King and Toby Carruth with Faulkner successful on three out of the four conversions. 

Going into day two the Euts were standing second in the table with games against the top team and the team chasing them left to play. Up first was the chasers, a local team in Eckerd College Triton's, a leading D2 national side. UHSP picked up right where they left off the previous day with a comfortable and confident 19-5 win thanks to tries from speedsters Hines and King and playmaker Faulkner who also converted one of the three coversions with Peters also converting one. 

Faulkner picked up a hamstring injury vs Eckerd and Hines and Austin Novak suffered ankle injuries which meant the team was not at full strength going into the final game against a very strong and physical Rugby XV select side, the winner of which would play in the final. Despite valiant efforts from our support staff, Faulkner was unable to sufficiently recover to be able to play his best, but Hines and Novak paid through the pain. Led by strong carries from the forward combinations of captain Hunter Clark, Toby Carruth, Dresden Roberts and Gavin Portell, the team tried to fight for the championship but were outmuscled 29-7. The solo try came from Hines and the conversion from Dalton Peters.

The result against Rugby XV left the men playing for 3rd against another strong select side - the Black GOATS. The toll of six games of rugby in two days proved too much for UHSP and despite strong defensive hits from Gavin Portell in his last game for UHSP as he leaves to complete his Nursing degree and two tries from Hines and a conversion from Peters, the UHSP Men's Rugby team finished in 4th place with a 21-12 loss. 

In an interview after the tournament, Coach Lang said, "I am happy with the weekend work, disappointed because we could have achieved more, but excited for the same reason. We are very young and have three less subs than any other team yet we still managed to finish as the top single school program and created a lot of attention from both the media and high schoolers also playing in the tourney. With a strong set of recruits coming in next year to help us start our 15s program, we all know we will not be in this position again. It takes time to build a program and this is only our second year of operation and we are right up there. It is sad to see Portel leave the program and possibly Peters too. These guys are founding fathers of UHSP rugby and have set a very high standard for us to maintain. Both athletes will continue to aide the program when their schedules allow which is really awesome."