Philadelphia, PA–Day two of the Elite City 7s Championship saw the Rugby Utah Olympic Development Academy go two-from-two to claim the Bowl.

The ODA was pitted first against Boston in the Bowl semifinal early Sunday morning. The scoring start quickly in the favor of Rugby Utah despite their being pinned against the goal line after an early Boston line break.

During the defensive build-up Josh Anderson would strip the ball from the Boston attacker and race 95 meters for the game’s opening try.

A well constructed series of attacking phases by Rugby Utah saw Taylor Thomas score the next try moments later.

Anderson would notch two more tries for a hat-trick in the first half and Rugby Utah would lead at the half 24-0.

A pair of second half tries by Boston and Rugby Utah respectively would round out the scoring to give the ODA the semifinal victory by the score of 29-5.

In the Bowl Final Rugby Utah played an athletic Ohio team and the scoreline would show as such with the ODA and Ohio knotted at 7-7 at halftime.

“Ohio was impressive,” said Rugby Utah captain Calvin Whiting, “They had some serious speed on the edge and really stretched us early.”

The ODA defense was solid though and held Ohio scoreless in the second half.

Four tries followed from Rugby Utah as they were sparked by Anderson’s touchline tip-toeing try seemed to be the momentum shifter that the ODA needed to put the game away.

Veteran Jason Pye, University of Utah All American Gabe Ruflin and Whiting would follow Anderson’s scoring effort and put the game away before the final whistle. Final score Rugby Utah 31 Ohio 7.

“We knew this weekend was about laying a foundation for the future,” said Rugby Utah coach and director Kimball Kjar, “Finishing the weekend with two wins and taking home the Bowl in our first-ever tournament is something these guys should be very happy about, because I know am. That being said, the long-term plan for Rugby Utah is to achieve elite level success. With the high school and collegiate talent in our state there’s no reason we can’t shoot for that.”

The Rugby Utah ODA team now moves into the Fall Season with players slotting back into their respective club and collegiate teams.

Many of the ODA players will look to compete in the Rugby Utah & Utah Youth Rugby Fall 7s Series which kicks off September 19th in Clearfield and continues until October 31st. The collegiate ODA team members will also compete in their respective Fall 7s tournaments.

Next on the Rugby Utah calendar is the inaugural Touch Rugby League that will be opened up with a clinic from USA Touch head coach OJ Hawea this Thursday at 6pm at Champions Field at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. The clinic is free for the entire rugby community.

For more information on the Touch Rugby League and the Fall 7s Series go to www.RugbyUtah.com.

MATCH SUMMARY FOR ELITE CITY 7s:

DAY ONE:
Rugby Utah 10 Armed Forces 29
Rugby Utah 24 Atlanta 10
Rugby Utah 7 New York City 24

DAY TWO:
Rugby Utah 29 Boston 5 (Bowl semifinal)
Rugby Utah 31 Ohio 7 (Bowl Winners)

ODA TEAM FOR ELITE CITY 7s ASSEMBLY:

1. Will Taylor (Unaffiliated)
2. Chad Gough (University of Utah)
3. Vic So’oto (Unaffiliated)
4. Gabe Ruflin (University of Utah)
5. Austin Griffin (Unaffiliated)
6. Kevin Schofield (Brigham Young University)
7. Robbie Ah Sue (Park City Haggis)
8. Taylor Thomas (University of Utah)
9. Jason Pye (Unaffiliated)
10. Calvin Whiting (c) (Brigham Young University)
11. Tua Laei (Brigham Young University)
12. Josh Anderson (Brigham Young University)