February 23 - The spring 7s season begins in earnest this week, with the first three of more than 90 tournaments funneling to the Collegiate Rugby Championship April 26-28 in Boyds, MD. Over the next 10 weeks, hundreds of teams will crisscross the country contesting friendly tournaments, automatic qualifiers, and conference championships to earn a shot at a national title in one of eight divisions.  

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For Men’s Premier Cup hopefuls, the road to Maryland begins Saturday at Sunshine 7s in Gainesville, FL, as eight teams from six different conferences battle it out in the Florida sun for an automatic bid. 

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Host Florida comes in having won the Florida Collegiate Conference 7s title in the fall, and South Carolina is hot off winning Dixie Cup 7s in Tuscaloosa last week. Joining the Gators and Gamecocks in Pool A are Alabama, who fell to South Carolina in the Dixie Cup semifinals by one try, and Rugby East’s Queens.

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Looming in Pool B are Clemson from the Southern Conference, Iowa Central Community College from the Big Rivers, Notre Dame from the Big Ten, and Auburn, the third SCRC representative. Clemson comes in having won the Lander Invitational last weekend, notching a notable victory over Belmont Abbey in the final, avenging an earlier loss in pool play. Auburn enters with a 1-2 record, notching a win over West Virginia and losses to Georgia and Alabama.  

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Sunshine 7s starts a run of eight Men’s Premier Cup automatic qualifiers over the next nine weeks, with the series touching down in Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Missouri, Indiana, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. 

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The first conference championship of the spring is also Saturday, as the Great Lakes crowns its Women’s Small College champion at Grand Valley State in Allendale, MI, with the winner clinching a berth to the CRC.

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In Charlotte, the Southern Rugby Conference begins its interdivisional series Saturday, with the the first of three tournaments pitting teams from Men’s Small College through Division I against each other, culminating in the April 13 finale at East Carolina.  

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