Scion In Sin City, Day 3

Unfortunately, Day 3 of rugby in Sin City wrapped up early for the Scion Elite side. They faced a tough South African side early in the morning, and though the Elites fought a good fight, they weren't able to put up enough points to grab the win against the Springboks.

South Africa jumped out to an early lead in the first half with a couple of tries. They were led by some physical play in the breakdown, and the breakdown was where Scion received a few penalties.

In the second half, Scion was able to control play a bit better, and with about two minutes left on the clock, they got on the board. However, South Africa wouldn't give up their lead, and put another try on the board following a good series of offensive phases, and the match ended with South Africa on top 17-7.

Though this wasn't the result Scion wanted, they, once again, played strong against an international side. Out of their five matches in Vegas, four of them were against international teams. Each of those four matches were were close, with 15 points being the biggest point difference (in the Great Britain match), and one ending in a Scion win (the Japan match).

All in all, the Scion Elite side left their mark on the Vegas 7s Tournament. They showed that they could play with the best in the world, and they will use their experience in Vegas to continue to build a successful 7s team and Development Academy.

Scion In Sin City, Day 2

So ends day 2 of the Las Vegas 7s Tournament. The Open Division wrapped up play today, and the Elite Division advanced through the quarterfinals. Both Scion sides, once again, played some great rugby.

The Scion Elite side started the day with a win over the Florida Selects. Florida came into the match without a win, and they were hungry for one. They played a physically intense game, but the Scion Elites matched that intensity and physicality. They maintained their composure, ran their system, and chalked up a 33-5 win behind some powerful play from forwards like Alycia Washington, Stacey Bridges and Sam Pankey.

In their quarterfinal match, the Scion Elite side faced a group of internationally capped players from Great Britain--players from England, Scotland and Wales. Once again, the Elites proved they could hang with some of the best in the world. However, they left a couple of scores on the field and couldn't manage to overcome a couple of early tries from GB. The Elites fell 15-0 to the GB Selects.

In the Open Division, the Scion Select Side won their quarterfinal match against Dark And Stormy, a Bermuda side, 29-5. Scion veteran players, like Leigh Theirfelder and Kylie Noll, are no stranger to Scion successes and would lead the Selects into the semi-finals against a British Columbia All-Star side.

A rough first half saw the Scion Selects down by a few tries, however they would rally in the second half to close the gap. Their second hand efforts would come up short in the end, and they fell in the semi-final match by a score.

Though the Scion Selects were hoping to come out on top of the Open Division, finishing in the top 4 isn't so bad. The BC team they faced went on to win the Open Division. Though that doesn't lessen the blow, it is a consolation knowing the only game the Selects lost was to the eventual champions.

Tomorrow will be the final day of play for Scion. The Elite side faces South Africa at 9:20am, and if they win, they will face the winner of Atavus v. Stars 1. The morning match will be the 4th international match for the Scion Elite side, and they hope to repeat their performance against Japan in pool play.

Scion In Sin City, Day 1

Day one of the Las Vegas 7s Tournament is in the books, and both the Scion Select and Elite sides had impressive showings, and both are in a position to compete for a place atop their respective podiums. 

The Scion Select side won all three of their matches. In fact, they handled their competition, not allowing any team to come close to victory against them. With speedsters, like Kylie Noll and Karmin Macedo racing around the outside of defenses and power runners like Jaime Albarelli and Jacie Vonada running through defenders the Scion Select side had no trouble scoring tries. And their defense was just as solid with some big hits coming from the likes of Megan Gilmore and Jasmine Harrison.

In the Elite division, the Scion Elite side opened the day of 7s with the first match of the morning against a strong French side. Though France bested the Elites, 12-0, Scion controlled the flow of the game, and had it not been for a few mistakes that turned into French breaks, the outcome may have been quite different.

Against a quick and scrappy Japan side, the Scion Elites played more composed and jumped out to an early lead in the first half behind some brilliant kicks from Kimber Rozier and streaking runs from Danielle Miano. The second half opened with another score from Emily Fullbrook, putting the Elites well ahead of the Japanese. However, Japan would rally and tick off a few tries in a row to close the gap to two, 26-24. In the end, Scion would hold on to that two-point lead and set themselves up for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals tomorrow.

The Scion Elites will kick off the day for Scion rugby tomorrow morning at 8:20am when they take on the Florida Select side, in their last game of pool play. A win against Florida will, most likely, put them into the quarterfinals.

The Scion Selects have already wrapped up their pool play and will meet Dark And Stormy in the Open Side Quarterfinals tomorrow morning at 9:00am. Both sides are expecting another day of great rugby and some exciting wins.

One final note, check out the view of Las Vegas from the balcony of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Pretty sweet backdrop for dinner after a tough day of rugby, huh?