Aggies Win Third 7s Tournament in a Row!

The Aggies won both the varsity and JV divisions of the Allied Rugby Conference South 7s tournament this past weekend in Austin, Texas.  This is the second tournament in a row the Aggies have won both divisions.  It is also the third tournament championship for varsity this sevens season.  Despite two lineup changes (based on injury), the Aggies managed to play extremely good rugby over the weekend, with the new players fitting in seamlessly.

 

J.D. Smiley was moved into the varsity lineup after his fantastic performance at the SEC.  He then stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Jan Young.  He continued to impress, scoring multiple tries during the tournament - with three in his first match.  Matt Theodore, a Varsity regular, started at wing for the injured Brian Guillen.  He also had a fanastic tournament, scoring four tries, and making a major impact on defense. 

 

Conor Mills on the attack

Captain Conor Mills led the way for the varsity with a brilliant performance, scoring six tries and adding seven assists.  He led all tournament scorers with 62 points.  His playmaking skills were on display with a number of tries being scored off his spectacular offloads.  Andres Diaz and Chris Frazier also had huge tournaments.  Diaz dominated the breakdown and turned the opposition's ball over numerous times, which led to a number of Aggie tries.  Frazier was all over the field both offensively and defensively, making a number of long runs.  Once again the scoring was very balanced among the Aggies and their chemistry as a unit was clearly evident throughout the day.  The key as always was the stingy brand of defense played by Texas A&M.  Aaron Durke stood out especially, leading the team in tackles in two of the games.

 

The Aggies won both of their Pool A matches.  They beat Sam Houston State 38-0 in the opening match and Baylor 31-5 in the second game.  The Aggies crushed UT in a semi-final 36-5.  A&M finished the day with a resounding 45-12 victory over Oklahoma in the championship match.  The Aggies averaged 37.5 points per match (scoring 150 total points) and gave up an average of 5.5 points per match.  The Aggies had eight players score tries during the tournament with seven scoring multiple tries on the day.

 

The JV had another outstanding tournament defeating UT 17-10 in the opening match and OU 21-7 in their other pool match.  They went on to beat Sam Houston State 24-7 in the semi-final and annihilated OU 57-0 in the championship.  The JV squad may have been the second best squad at the tournament this weekend.