For fans familiar with the RugbyTown 7s, Friday probably looked a little different.
Despite a later start time and earlier end time, the first day of the 2025 edition of the tournament definitely didn’t lack any action.
In perhaps the tightly contested tournament to date, a mixture of old and new teams found themselves atop their pools at the conclusion of Day 1.
In Pool A, RugbyTown 7s rookies R10 Selects used their blazing speed to post a 2-0 record with wins over the defending cup champion Denver 7s and the SoCal Griffins. Despite dropping their first match to the R10 Selects, Denver 7s Selects kept their repeat hopes alive with a 28-10 bounce-back victory over the NCR Selects. The NCR Selects, a team that took the challenge of competing in the 2025 tournament on short notice, dropped a close match to the SoCal Griffins by a final score of 15-22 before falling to the Denver 7s Selects to finish their day without a win. The results from Day 1 set up a match between Denver 7s Selects and SoCal Griffins – two of the teams with the most RugbyTown 7s experience – with playoff implications on the line.
An impressive Day 1 from Heat Rugby sees them atop Pool B heading into Saturday. They used victories over NAV 7s and Casanovas to finish their day with an unblemished record. NAV 7s has had its fair share of success at the RugbyTown 7s, and they got back to their winning ways with a convincing win over N.A. Lions, after dropping their first match of the tournament to Heat Rugby at the buzzer. Casanovas finished their day with a 1-1 record, also defeating N.A. Lions – who are making their return to the RugbyTown 7s after a several-year hiatus – and falling to Heat Rugby. Casanovas and NAV 7s will square off against one another on Saturday morning for a berth into the Cup playoffs.
Unlike Pools A and B, Pool C is set heading into the Cup playoffs. Two outfits gunning for their third RugbyTown 7s title – the USA Falcons and the Ramblin’ Jesters – posted 2-0 records on Day 1 with victories over both Apache 7s and Gorilla Rugby. They’ll get a crack at each other before a potential rematch deeper into the playoffs. Apache 7s and Gorilla Rugby will square off on Saturday for playoff seeding in the Bowl Tier.
Newcomers Scimitar Storm finished their first ever Friday at the RugbyTown 7s with a 2-0 record after a 24-17 photofinish with Assassins 7s to close out Day 1. Both Assassins 7s and Tsunami Rugby dropped matches to Scimitar Storm on Friday, but picked one back up with convincing victories over Wild Dogs, who finished their day without a win. Wild Dogs will try to secure their first victory of the tournament on Saturday against Wild Dogs, while Tsunami Rugby and Assassins 7s battle for a berth in the Bowl playoffs.
The Department of Air Force finished their Friday with a 2-0 record with victories over the 10-time U.S. Armed Forces Champions All-Army and All Marine Rugby 7s. All-Army finished the day in second place after defeating All Navy Rugby 19-12 in the final match of the night, but there is a logjam in the middle of the pool as All Navy Rugby and All Marine Rugby 7s also finished the day with a 1-1 record. All-Coast Guard Rugby didn’t pick up a victory on Day 1, but played two incredibly close matches, finishing the day with a -6 point differential.
All of the Day 2 action begins at 11 AM at Infinity Park with gates opening at 10:30 AM. Purchase your tickets or stream all of the matches live and for free on RugbyTownUSA.com.
