February 15, 2012 — Life University (LIFE) continues to achieve new heights in rugby. Over the weekend, LIFE’s Rugby 7s team won the Las Vegas Invitational tournament, earning an automatic bid into the College Rugby Championship (CRC).
The CRC will take place in June in Chester, Pa. and will be carried live by NBC.
In Las Vegas, LIFE finished group play undefeated, and then systematically beat Missouri, San Diego State, Kutztown in the knockout stages, and then bested defending champions Utah in the finals.
Dan Payne, director of rugby at Life University said, “It was an incredible weekend for us. The guys played seven matches over the course of three days, and it’s a testament to our conditioning program at LIFE, and of course to head coach Tui Osborne and his great staff, that we were able to emerge victorious.”
This championship is LIFE’s second prestigious accomplishment in the past few months, having won the USA Rugby Collegiate 7s National Championship in December. In just its first year of existence, LIFE’s Rugby 7s team has won every competition they have entered.
Traditional rugby is played with fifteen players on each team. “Rugby 7s” is played with seven players on each team, with a shorter game time and a smaller field. This altered style is generally considered to be higher scoring and more wide open in style. Rugby 7s will be an official Olympic sport in 2016.
The College Rugby Championship aired by NBC in June will feature some prestigious universities and rugby powerhouses such as University of California, Dartmouth, U.S. Naval Academy, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Despite its smaller enrollment, Life University will be considered a serious contender in this event alongside these giants.
Source: Life University, life.edu
