What a summer it’s been for Old White rugby! From tough losses to resounding victories, the club has gotten a little taste of everything that you could hope for during another exciting 7′s season!
It all began with the Renegades 7s Tournament on the weekend of June 4th. Struggling through a string of injuries to a few of our veterans, the depleted squad of new and old players alike was able to grind through the day, come together as a team, and walk away with a 3rd place finish in our crosstown rival’s home tournament behind the Renegades and Life University, two teams that we knew we would be seeing again.
Next up on the chopping block was the “Green Vegas” 7′s tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. A week removed from the ‘Gades 7s, Old White was still battling th injury bug, but this hardly slowed down the men during a hard-fought day of nonstop Rugby action.
First up was St. Andrews. Shaking off the rust of travelling 2 hours from Atlanta was not too tall of an order for OW, winning by 3 tries, but struggling to really find a cohesive gear throughout the match. This would come back to bite the club in the next match versus Charlotte, a seasoned and salty group of gentlemen who really drove the point home in a tough game resulting in an emotional loss for the men from Georgia.
This seemed to be all the club needed in order to wake up and get the wheels churning. In subsequent matches against Charleston and COBRA, the intensity out of Old White was something of legend. Using a plethora of new talent against Charleston, our boys played like they’d been doing this for years. Whether it was wingers or the big fellas in the middle, everyone got a little piece of the action in what would be the second most impressive match of the day. The mantle of “most impressive” undoubtedly went to our final match against COBRA. This could only be described as a complete rout. No player was left out of the fun as OW seemed to score try after try, causing most onlookers to eventually lose score of the all-world rugby being played before their eyes. This was a bright end to a rather unglamrous day, and the momentum started against Charleston would stick with the club throughout the rest of the year.
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Follwing another injury-plagued but still hard fought Hotter-Than-Hell 7s effort out of Old White, it was finally time for us to host our own tournament with the Atlanta Harlequins: The Hotlanta 7s.
38 teams, 5 fields, 10 youngans from the Boys&Girls Club of Atlanta, and over 500 attendees made this day a resounding success for everyone involved. You might call this the resurgence of this year’s Old White 7s squad; We call it just getting started. Our old pals, Life University and the Renegades, were present for a hot day of Rugby action. However, the Old White squad they would meet on the pitch was not the same one they had roughed up a month prior to the day’s events. After finally getting most of the boys back in action, Old White went to town on the competition, moving the ball as a single unit and winning one match after another – to say the least, it was an overwhelmingly impressive display from every player involved in the day’s action. The day was a success in every way imaginable, and set the tone for the most important Saturday of the season:
The Southern Championships at Life University.
6 teams converged on Life with the intention of locking up a bid in the USA Rugby Nationals in San Francisco. Only two would walk away to fight another day. After pounding throgh pool play, we once again ran into our friends from Life University in the semifinals – arguably the match of the tournament. After pounding out 3 quick tries, in the first half, things seemed to be soundly in Old White’s hands.. and then Life began showing why they are a force to be reckoned with. In what seemed like an instant, the boys in green put up two tries and two conversions, pulling to within 1 of OW with only a few moments left to play. At this point, Old White began showing the defensive prowess that people seemed to know the club so well for. In the last few minutes of the match, bone-crushing hits and magificent stands against a relentless onslaught gave our men a 1-point victory against a squad who many thought would waltz into California on the backs of large, physical bruisers.
To round out a great day of rugby, Old White asserted their dominance over defending Division 2 15s champs New Orleans, finishing the day of competition witha 26-10 thumping of the men from Louisiana, locking up a spot in San Francisco, and showing that Atlanta Old White Rugby was a force to be reckoned with in not only Georgia, but the entire southern United States, and arguably, the entire coutnry.
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Now, we are a week out from Nationals in California. Our men have worked hard from the start to get this far, and we need your help as a family to get the top of the mountain. So come out to Fado Irish Bar & Restaurant in Buckhead on Friday, July 28th from 5PM-8PM, meet the team, have some fun, and support Old White Rugby!
If you are interested in the club, please feel free to browse the website, and do not hesitate to e-mail us to get more information.
Championship!
