Vancouver, BC: The first ever
men's National Invitational University 7s is set to begin March 11th at UBC
Thunderbird Stadium, with eight schools confirmed in the competition.
The tournament will feature three university teams from British Columbia,
including top seeds the University of Victoria Vikes and Univeristy of British
Columbia Thunderbirds. Making their rugby debut on the national stage are the
UBC Okanagan Heat.
Pool A sees top ranked University of Victoria grouped with Ontario's McMaster
University, the University of Calgary Dinos and UBC Okanagan.
In Pool B, the UBC Thunderbirds will play the University of Western Mustangs,
the University of Alberta and Mount Royal (Calgary).
The tournament is the first of a number of sevens related competitions Rugby
Canada is creating as the shorter version of rugby gains recognition from its
inclusion into the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro.
This will be the first Canadian
university championship to feature men’s rugby since 1998, when the UVic Vikes were
crowned national champs in the 15-a-side version of the game.
Doug Tate, head coach of the
UVic Vikes, says it’s exciting to see Canadian universities competing against
one another.
“We have never played 90 per
cent of these teams before,” Tate said. “It will be great to see what is out
there at the university level. There are a lot of British Columbian players on
the Eastern school’s teams so we are ready for a tough competition.”
Schedule March 11th
Game 1 Pool A 11:00 AM UVic vs McMaster
Game 2 Pool B 11:22 AM UBC vs Western
Game 3 Pool A 11:44 AM University of Calgary vs UBC OKA
Game 4 Pool B 12:06 PM University of Alberta vs Mt. Royal
Break
Game 5 Pool A 14:00 McMaster vs University of Calgary
Game 6 Pool B 14:22 University of Western vs University of Alberta
Game 7 Pool A 14:44 UBC OKA vs UVic
Game 8 Pool B 15:06 Mt. Royal vs UBC Thunderbirds
Break
Game 9 Pool A 17:00 McMaster vs UBC OKA
Game 10 Pool B 17:22 University of Western vs Mt. Royal
Game 11 Pool A 17:44 UVIC vs University of Calgary
Game 12 Pool B 18:06 UBC Thunderbirds vs University of Alberta
Day Two - March 12th
Game 13 9:30 AM 1st Pool A vs 4th Pool B - 1/4 final Cup
Game 14 9:52 AM 1st Pool B vs 4th Pool A - 1/4 final Cup
Game 15 10:12 AM 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B - 1/4 final Cup
Game 16 10:34 AM 2nd Pool B vs 3rd A - 1/4 final Cup
Break
Game 17 12:00 Loser (13) vs Loser (15) - Semi-final Bowl
Game 18 12:22 Loser (14) vs Loser (16) - Semi-final Bowl
Game 19 12:44 Winner (13) vs Winner (15) - Semi-final Cup
Game 20 13:06 Winner (14) vs Winner (16) - Semi-final Cup
Break
Game 21 15:00 Loser (17) vs Loser (18) - Shield Final
Game 22 15:30 Winner (17) vs Winner (18) - Bowl Final
Game 23 16:00 Loser (19) vs Loser (20) - Plate Final
Game 24 16:30 Winner (19) vs Winner (20) - Cup Final
All matches will be streamed live on UStream - go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-rugby
UBC students will be admitted free,
while day passes for non-students are $5 and all others are $10 per day.
