Did you miss the 2007 Steinlager USA Sevens in San Diego?

Well, if you did, don't worry! USA Rugby is providing you with an event recap to let in on what happened!

STEINLAGER USA SEVENS RECAP

SAN DIEGO – Gathering interest from the youth, high school, college and women’s teams, in addition to making a big impression on the International Rugby Board (IRB) and the 16 Sevens Teams that came from far and wide, the Steinlager USA Sevens saw success at every level of participation this year in San Diego, Calif.

As this is the first time the event is staged in San Diego, the United States Rugby Football Foundation (USRFF) helped make it an unforgettable one for the players and fans by welcoming the 16 national teams participating in the tournament to a Kickoff Reception at the San Diego Hall of Champions on Wednesday, February 7, from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

“The Kickoff Reception set the stage for the rest of the week. The 200 plus rugby fans who attended had a unique opportunity to meet some of the world’s most gifted rugby players while the players had a couple of hours to relax before starting to focus on the weekend,” USRFF Director Brian Vizard said. “I think it’s important for events like this to take place in countries where rugby isn’t the primary sport.”

On Thursday, the San Diego Sevens Tournament took place, featuring collegiate players from around the nation competing in a two-day tournament at Robb Field in San Diego. The teams participating in this tournament included the University of Utah, University of San Diego, San Diego State University, University of California – San Diego, Hyde Rugby All-Stars, The Wharton School, Point Loma Nazarene and Utah Valley State College.

In the first day of action, the eight teams were separated into two pools of play, with Utah, SDSU, USD, Hyde and UVSC all seeing at least two big victories. From the pool play, teams were seeded one through four and played through tournament brackets on Friday. In the end, it came down to an overtime battle between the Hyde All-Stars and Utah in the final. Utah came out on top, scoring first in overtime and walking away the victor over Hyde, 24-19.

The Women’s International Sevens Tournament started on Friday and saw two teams from the USA and Canada, plus the addition of China’s Women’s Sevens Team. Each team played a total of four matches, and were then ranked one through four for the semifinal round. The Women’s Tournament finished with a final between USA ‘A’ and Canada ‘B’ in PETCO Park on Saturday. In the end, Canada ‘B’ clinched the women’s title by beating the U.S. ‘A’ Team, 19-7.

On Feb. 10-11, the fourth IRB Sevens World Series event, the USA Sevens, took place in front of approximately 29,992 spectators, setting an all-time record for attendance at a USA Sevens event. The tournament was held at PETCO Park, an open-air stadium in downtown San Diego, which was opened in 2004 and is the home park for the San Diego Padres. The tournament included 16 teams from around the world with Fiji, Argentina, Scotland, West Indies, South Africa, Samoa, Portugal, Tonga, England, Australia, Kenya, USA , New Zealand, France, Canada, and Chile all competing in a total of 44 matches throughout this two-day event.

“The USA Sevens’ move to San Diego has proved to be a success and being held in the three-year old PETCO Park has been a highlight of the Series with its new facilities and great location,” IRB Sevens World Series Tournament Operations Manager, Beth Coalter said. “The ability to provide extensive information on the scoreboard was also an added bonus. The 16 teams from around the World will be able to take back great memories and will undoubtedly be looking forward to the 2008 event in San Diego.”

The final pitted Fiji against Samoa in a repeat of the Wellington final, a week earlier. This time, however, Fiji found redemption against the Samoan team, claiming their first IRB Sevens World Series title of the season, with a 38-24 Fijian victory.

The U.S. also found a bit of redemption as it secured its first IRB Sevens World Series Shield since the USA Sevens Tournament in Los Angeles in 2004. The Eagles finished 3-3 on their home turf by beating Portugal, 26-5, making great strides compared to last week’s showing in New Zealand at which the U.S. lost a close one to the Portuguese in pool play, 26-21 and finished 0-5.

“How the U.S. played at this tournament was extremely important to the growth of our sport in the USA. Not only will it help our fan base, but it could even grow the interest of our sport at the youth and high school level,” Al Caravelli, the USA National Sevens Team Coach said.

In addition to the World Class rugby, there was also a San Diego Youth Festival hosted on Saturday at Canyon Crest Academy that featured 200 players from Under -8, Under-10 and Under -12 Teams, playing a non-competitive game of rugby against others at their respective level. Young athletes involved included Teams from San Clemente, Fullerton, Old Aztecs, San Diego Wallabies, Mustangs, NSDC Penguins, and Alameda.

Furthering its family appeal, for the first time since its inception, USA Sevens also hosted an international fan festival outside the stadium with music, rides, interactive rugby games and vendor tents for the enjoyment of the young and old alike.

“It really seemed like everyone was having a great time at the festival,” USA Rugby’s Youth and High School Game Development Officer Katie Wurst said. “It is always great for USA Rugby to be giving back to the game and it is especially important for us to be getting involved with the community of San Diego. We saw a ton of enthusiastic kids of all ages, who will no doubt pass that enthusiasm along to their friends and family.”

The Southern California media outlets also did a great service in introducing sevens rugby to the local public like never before with over 50 television mentions and an average of 60 inches of coverage a day in the Union Tribune and 20 inches in the North County Times during the tournament.

“I think the media picked up on this event for several reasons,” USA Sevens Public Relations Director Rick Schloss said. “First off, a lot of these reporters were intrigued by the sport and its international appeal. Secondly, the fact that it was held at PETCO Park and not a smaller venue made this a legitimate newsworthy event from the start. And finally, the timing of this event was perfectly situated between the Buick Open, the Super Bowl and the start of baseball, which made it great filler for the media and definitely paid off for the event.”

For more information on the USA Sevens event, please log on to www.usasevens.com; For more detailed USA Sevens and Women's International Sevens match reports, please click on the links above, or log on to www.usarugby.org.

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