CWU men’s and women’s rugby played in the inaugural USA Rugby 7s Collegiate Championships postseason tournament last weekend at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia.  

The USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate Championships start off with a group stage with four teams in each group for the opening round. The best eight teams from the three game group stage advance to a single elimination knockout tournament to decide this year’s champion. 

All of the group stage games were played on Saturday, May 14, while all of the single elimination games were played on Sunday, May 15. 

Men’s Rugby 

CWU was in Men’s Gold Pool C for the group stage round, with games scheduled against Ohio State University (OSU), Texas A&M University (Texas A&M) and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

In the opening game against Texas A&M, CWU started off the tournament with a win , keeping Texas A&M off of the scoreboard to start off the group stage with a 10-0 win. 

In the second game against OSU, CWU picked up right where they left off from the first game and carried a 14-0 lead into halftime. OSU was able to cross the try line twice in the second half to end game two as a tie, 14-14. 

CWU finished the group stage with a  comeback win against UCLA, 19-12. UCLA took the early lead and led 12-7 at halftime. CWU scored two tries late in the second half.  The victory over UCLA clinched CWU the top spot of Pool C heading into the single elimination knockout round quarterfinals. 

CWU men’s rugby saw their season come to an end, losing 12-7  to Davenport University in a round of the USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate Championships quarterfinals.  

Women’s Rugby 

CWU was in Women’s Gold Pool A for the group stage round, with games scheduled against Harvard University (HU), American International College (AIC) and Penn State University (PSU). 

In the opening round of the group stage, CWU lost game one of the group stage against HU, 25-0. 

After not finding the try line in the opening game, CWU had no problem finding the try line in the second game of the group stage against AIC. CWU took control of the game early on and carried through the rest of the game, in a win over AIC, 24-5. 

CWU picked up right where they left off from the second game and PSU had no answer. CWU breezed past PSU, 27-7. CWU finished the group stage with a  final record of 2-1. 

CWU finished second in Women’s Gold Pool A but finished in the top eight and advanced to the single elimination knockout round quarterfinals game against Life University (Life U). 

CWU watched their season come to an end as CWU could not stop Life U in the quarterfinals loss of the USA Rugby 7s Collegiate Championship, 24-14.