Texas A&M traveled north to Norman, OK for the first-ever Allied Rugby Conference 7s tournament, hosted by OU, this weekend. The Aggies fought their way to a championship with an amazing 12-5 victory over Colorado State University. The tournament featured two pools of four teams in the varsity bracket in addition to a JV and developmental bracket.
The Aggies began their day with a 34-0 victory over Baylor University in pool play. Lukas Jacobson had two nice tries in the match, but came out early due to a previous injury which kept him out for most of the day. A&M followed their victory over the Bears with a nail-biter against Texas Tech. Tech, a very athletic team, took the match all the way down to the wire before Brian Guillen scored a try right at the end of regulation to seal the victory 26-19.
The final pool match against Colorado State University was a disaster for the Aggies. The Aggies spotted the Rams a four try lead in the first half before storming back to score three tries of their own. However, it was too little - too late for the Ags who came out with a 28-19 loss. More importantly, it pushed A&M to a second place finish in pool play and forced them to play Oklahoma University in the semi-final. OU breezed through their pool play giving the Aggies a challenging road to the championship.
Looking absolutely nothing like the team that lost to CSU, the Aggies dominated their semi-final against OU, coming out with a lopsided 36-5 victory. Brian Guillen had 3 tries in the match, and was joined by Durke, Mills, and Gessner in the scoring column. The Aggies controlled possession and territory for virtually the entire match and shocked the Sooners who had been dominant all day. The Texas A&M defense was solid, and the victory was clearly their best effort so far.
After defeating OU, the Aggies faced CSU again in the championship match. CSU received a 28-0 forfeit victory over Oklahoma State, who decided to leave the tournament early. The Rams were fast, big physically, and skilled - presenting a fierce challenge to the Aggies aspirations for a tournament championship.
Unlike the first match between the two, this one proved to be a defensive battle for 14 minutes. It appeared that it was going to be a fireworks display when Guillen scored a try in the first 41 seconds, giving the Ags a 5-0 lead. The Rams struck back at 2:42 with a long try by their winger who had been brilliant all day, tying the match at 5-apiece. The match settled into a slugging match with neither side gaining any advantage until late in the first half. Jan Young was yellow-carded for a questionable high-tackle and the Aggies went down a man. A fierce defensive effort by the remaining six managed to keep the Rams from penetrating the goal line and the half ended tied. The second half was more of the same until freshman Matt Theodore got a pass from Mills in the closing seconds and scored under the posts for a thrilling 12-5 championship win!
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