BC Gold takes U18 Victoria International Sevens title
BC U18 provincial sevens program goes undefeated in 2012
Published Saturday, July 14, 2012
by Andrew Smith, BC Rugby Communications
VICTORIA - British Columbia's U18 men's provincial sevens team defeated Ontario 38-10 on Saturday in the Cup Final of the U18 Victoria International Sevens. Their third straight sevens title sees the U18s go undefeated in 2012 competition.
The U18 sevens team is part of the BC Elite Youth Sevens program led by former Canadian national team coach Shane Thompson. Under Thompson the U18s lifted titles at the Las Vegas Youth Invitational Sevens in February and cruised through competition at the Hong Kong Youth International Sevens in March.
Scoring in the Victoria final were a number of BC U18 players graduating from the program this year who will move onto university and senior men's rugby. Nathan Yanagiya recorded two tries during the Cup Final with tallies also recorded by Haydn Evans, Ollie Nott, James Pitblado and Fergus Hall. Hall kicked four converts to round out BC's 38 points.
Competing as the BC 'Gold', the U18s went 5-0 in pool play with a 34-0 win over Utah, 22-5 win over BC Blue, 31-5 win over Ontario, 33-0 win over Washington and a 22-7 win over BC White.
"It was a great way to end it with this team, especially against one of our biggest rivals Ontario," said Yanagiya, a senior player in the BC Elite Youth Sevens program who represented Canada at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games. "We've been together for almost three years and I've made some of my best friends on this team," Yanagiya added.
BC's under-17 team competing as the BC 'White' defeated Washington in the Bowl Final, while BC Blue fell 15-21 in the Plate Final to finish in fourth place.
"It was a good effort by all three teams," said BC's head coach Shane Thompson. "The results show that the athletes are working hard and how important it is to get these guys more hours on the field playing sevens."
Placement Games CUP FINAL: BC Gold 38-10 Ontario PLATE FINAL (3/4 playoff): BC Blue 15-21 Utah BOWL FINAL (5/6 playoff): BC White 26-12 Washington
Round Robin Results - U18 Men BC Gold 34 - 0 Utah Ontario 17 - 5 BC Blue Washington 19 - 24 BC White BC Gold 22 - 5 BC Blue Ontario 22 - 14 BC White Utah 20 - 26 Washington BC Gold 31 - 5 Ontario BC Blue 24 - 5 Washington Utah 22 - 19 BC White BC Gold 22-7 BC White Ontario 46-5 Washington BC Blue 31-0 Utah BC Gold 33-0 Washington Ontario 22-5 Utah BC Blue 21-14 BC White
U18 Men Round Robin Standings BC Gold (5-0) Ontario (4-1) BC Blue (3-2) BC White (1-4) Washington (1-4) Utah (1-4)
Canadian Maple Leafs are Victoria International Sevens senior men's champions The Canadian Maple Leafs, a Rugby Canada senior mens development side, won the Victoria International Sevens men's competition on Saturday with a 43-7 Cup Final win over British Columbia. In pool play the Maple Leafs blanked the USA Military 45-0, defeated Crimson Tide 48-0, and lost to OPSB 17-10. In the cup semifinals the Maple Leafs edged USA development side Atlantis 19-17 before going on to defeat BC in the Cup Final. Full results on www.victoria7s.com
