Thoughts on SEC 7s

What an incredible weekend! It was very exciting to see the Aggies bring home two championships from Alabama.  Our JV team played incredibly well this week and I was really proud of the way the came back from a poor performance against Florida during pool play.  Tyler Lunsford, J.D. Smiley, Jonathan Barbee, Mike Tkatch, Matt Krath, and Andrew Stanley all had fantastic weekends.  Smiley really demonstrated that he is ready to step up to the next level.  His defense was spot on and he scored a number of very exciting tries during the tournament.  The key to having a great rugby squad is having depth.  These guys all showed that they are ready to contribute in a big way during 15s season.

The varsity squad did something that has not been accomplished by anyone this year - win back to back 7s championships.  For the second week in a row, the Aggies came out winners.  The team has bought into our program and continues to improve every week.  This weekend was yet another example of what unselfish play can produce.  We will continue to improve in the lead-up to the national championships.  Our focus over the next few weeks will be fitness and the return to health of a number of guys who were banged up over the last two tournaments.  

The SEC tournament was a great opportunity to play against some top 7s squads.  I am amazed at how much the quality of 7s has changed in the United States in less than a year.  It appears that everyone is taking the game extremely serious and their efforts show.  My hat goes off to Georgia for their play during the tournament.  Although they have not garnered much recognition nationally, I think they are an extremely talented and tough team.  I will be interested to see how they finish up their 7s season.

The venue in Montgomery was fantastic, the fields were in excellent condition and it was a great place to hold a tournament.  However, I still think it would be ideal to have a conference championship held on the campus of one its members.  The hospitality by the city of Montgomery was also fantastic and the banquet held at the historic train station in downtown Montgomery was very nice.  The only thing that the Aggies did not like about Montgomery was the 12-hour bus ride it took to get there.

2012 SEC JV 7s Champions

Texas A&M is a special place, but not because it is located in College Station or because of all of its traditions.  It is special because of its people - this was a great weekend because of those people, our players.  They demonstrated character, brotherhood, and dedication throughout the weekend.  I am extremely proud to be associated with such a special group of men and consider it a great honor to be their coach.

Mills Named SEC All-Conference

Aggie Captain Conor Mills was named to the Southeast Collegiate Rugby Conference 2012 All-Conference squad.  Mills was a member of the Texas A&M team that beat Georgia 28-10 for the championship. 

Mills against Alabama in the Quarterfinals of the SEC 7s

2012 SCRC Olympic Rugby All-Conference Team
Lucas Baistrocchi (Florida), Jon Ross (Georgia), Nathan Ring (Tennessee), Mason Howard (Tennessee), Nick Vigder (Tennessee), Matt Johnson (Tennessee), Matt Berenato (South Carolina). Tim Holkenburg (South Carolina), Dentay Daniels (Mississippi State), Chance Taylor (Mississippi), Conor Mills (Texas A&M), Allen Alongi (LSU)

Leading Aggie Varsity Scorers in the SEC Championships

Chris Fazier flying in for a try

Conor Mills was the overall leading scorer for the Aggies at the SEC championship with 37 total points.  He was followed by Chris Frazier who had 25 points and led the team in tries over the weekend with 5.  Lukas Jacobson and Tyler Gessner each tallied 20 points on four tries.  The Aggies scored an amazing 162 points over the weekend.

              
    

SEC Scoring
Scorer		Tries	Conv.	Total
Conor Mills		1	16	37
Chris Frazier		5	0	25
Tyler Gessner		4	0	20
Lukas Jacobson		4	0	20
Matt Theodore		3	0	15
Jan Young		3	0	15
Aaron Durke		2	0	10
Brian Guillen		2	0	10
Ray Hawkins		1	0	5
Andrew McMath		1	0	5

      

Aggies Win SEC 7s Championships

The Aggies traveled to Montgomery, Alabama for the SCRC (Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference) 7s Championships this past weekend.  Texas A&M entered both a varsity and junior varsity squad in the competition and came away champions in both divisions.  This was an excellent showing on the back of the Aggies recent championship win at the ARC 7s.

The tournament format consisted of four pools, with the top two teams in each pool qualifying for the quarterfinals.  The quarterfinals, semifinals, and final were all held on Sunday.  Texas A&M was grouped with Auburn University and Ole Miss in varsity pool D.

The Aggies put on an impressive offensive display in both their pool matches, defeating Auburn 33-0 and Ole Miss 45-0.  Chris Frazier notched two tries in the opening match and Lukas Jacobson added two in the second match.  The scoring was balanced with a number of Aggies scoring tries during the day.  TAMU made easy work of Pool D which resulted in an early morning quarterfinal tilt against the University of Alabama.

The Crimson Tide suffered a slim loss to LSU in pool play and demonstrated a tremendous amount of physicality throughout a tough match.  The Aggies expected a hard game against Bama and hoped to move the ball around the park, keeping it away from the Tide defense.  The plan worked to perfection as the Aggies came away with a convincing 34-7 victory.  An Aggie miscue at a scrum inside their own 10 meters, resulted in the only score for Alabama.  The Aggies dominated possession throughout the match, moving the ball around the  pitch fluidly throughout the game.  Chris Frazier had a brilliant match with three tries - all from long distance.  

Auburn won their quarterfinal as well with an upset against LSU, giving the teams a rematch in the semifinal.  Beating a team twice in a tournament is a hard task, and the Aggies knew the Tigers would present a stiffer challenge than their previous game - and that is exactly what they got.  TAMU walked away with a 22-5 victory, but it was a hard-fought one.  The Aggies had only twenty minutes between quarterfinal and semifinal which gave little time for recovery, but they managed to dig deep and pull out the win.  Jacobson, Mills, Guillen, and Gessner all scored tries.  In the other semifinal, University of Georgia pulled off a stunning upset over highly-favored University of Tennessee, setting the stage for the varsity final.

2012 SEC 7s Champions

Jan Young started the final off in grand fashion with a smashing 50 meter run for the try.  Mills hit his conversion and the Aggies were up 7-0 early.  Georgia came storming back a short time later (3:17).  The Aggies jumped back into the lead at the half when Aaron Durke made a piercing run through the heart of the Georgia defense for a score.  Mills tacked the extras and the Aggies were up 14-5  The Bulldogs were tenacious though and once again came storming back with another nifty try (10:19) after the Aggies turned the ball over in tackle.  The Aggies held a slim 14-10 lead when Tyler Gessner gutted the Bulldog's hopes with a run right through the heart of their defense (13:14).  He added another after a Georgia turnover (14:39), helping the Aggies to the victory circle with a 28-10 win over a very-talented Georgia squad! 

Thoughts on ARC 7s

Captain Conor Mills

The Aggies came out on top of the first-ever ARC 7s event and it feels good!  Despite injuries and playing below our capability, the Ags demonstrated the character they are famous for and pulled out a major tournament win.  While disappointed in the pool loss to Colorado State, the coaching staff was thrilled with the quality of play in the semis and final. 

 

Moving forward, it will be critical that the Aggies are mentally focused and prepared to play in ALL of their matches.  There was some complacency apparent on Saturday, but to the team's immense credit, they demonstrated tremendous character in erasing that complacency.  We displayed offensive skill throughout the tournament and showed the opposition our ability to score from anywhere on the pitch.  Unfortunately, our defense was uneven.  We need to do a better job in the tackle as the opposition slipped way too many arm-tackles, especially in the loss to CSU.  If we can improve defensively and maintain our offensive acumen, the Aggies will continue to be successful throughout the 7s season. 

 

Everyone was impressed by the play of Colorado State thoughout the tournament.  They are physically tough and fast.  No one will be surprised if they qualify for the national championship tournament.  They are definitely the type of team who will take advantage of any weakness you show during a match and are well-coached in basic skills.    They moved the ball through the backs quickly and took advantage of switches and double-switches in the first match.  We did not tackle well and as a result they ended up with four tries. 

 

 It is clear that the quality of 7s rugby has risen a great deal since last year.  It will become increasingly difficult to win tournaments and matches.  We are seeing that classic adage - "on any given Sunday."  Sevens rugby is an unforgiving game and quality teams can beat anyone if their opposition is not mentally or physically prepared.  This makes 7s exciting for fans and nerve-wracking for coaches as they must have players prepared to play every match - there are no easy matches anymore. 

Leading Aggie Scorers for ARC 7s

Brian Guillen

Senior wing Brian Guillen led the way for the Aggies in scoring at the ARC 7s in Norman with 40 points.  He scored eight tries on the weekend, including three in the Aggie's semi-final win over OU.  Captain Conor Mills was not far behind Guillen with a 31 point total.  Tyler Gessner finished the weekend with 21 points.  A&M scored 125 points on the weekend and demonstrated that they are capable of putting up some good offensive production.

Points Leaders            Tries             Conversions        Total

Brian Guillen                     8                         0                     40

Conor Mills                      3                         8                     31

Tyler Gessner                   3                         3                     21

Aaron Durke                    2                         0                     10

Lukas Jacobson               2                         0                     10     

Matt Theodore                 2                         0                    10

Chris Frazier                    1                         0                      5

Aggies Win ARC 7s Tournament

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!