Hey there, Rugger!
👊 Happy Friday.
It’s that time of year.
We took a much-needed week away from the action to spend time with family, and now it's time to look ahead to the summer and fall rugby slate.
The spring season was a sprint, so we're keeping things light this week and using the opportunity to hear from you.
I have a favor to ask.
We have a quick survey to help us determine Rugby Riot's coverage in the coming months:
🏉BloodFest 7s
🗓️June 19-20
📍Austin, TX
🇺🇸 USA vs Argentina
U20s Junior World Championship
🗓️June 27 | 5 AM EST
📺 Paramount+
🇺🇸 USA vs England
U20s Junior World Championship
🗓️July 2 | 10 AM EST
📺 Paramount+
🇺🇸 USA vs Ireland
U20s Junior World Championship
🗓️July 7 | 5 AM EST
📺 Paramount+
🏔️ Great Northwest Classic
Grizzlies strike again 🏆
The NorCal Grizzlies have now won three straight GNC titles.
This year, the Grizzlies piled up 154 points across four matches and capped the weekend with a 37-24 victory over the Utah All Stars in the final.
Utah showed well throughout the tournament, including a hard-fought rematch win over Colorado to book their place in the championship match. But the weekend ultimately belonged to NorCal once again.
🏆 Panther Rugby Academy takes National Youth 7s.
The Panthers took a fantastic, experienced roster to National Youth 7s and claimed the trophy in the top boys division. Many of these guys starred in 15s this spring, so it’s no surprise they can sling it around in 7s as well.
They went 5-0 on the weekend, and delivered a resounding 43-0 performance over the Sandhill Sharks in the final. Their closest match was against Gorilla Rugby in the semifinal, where it came down to a last-second score by Elijah Pimental to put them through to the final.
“It has been an incredible run. We have had a remarkable core group of athletes who have achieved Championship success in each of those four years. Furthermore, we have cultivated exceptional relationships with San Mateo, Sac Air, Cavemen, and LCA. These partnerships, and the caliber of their athletes, have been pivotal to our success not only at National Youth 7s, but Tropical 7s as well.”
🆕 Junior Eagles coverage
We added a new hub to the Riot where we’ll be covering the U18s and U20s this summer.
Schedules, rosters, scores, and news—all in one place.
RIOTXV shirts are in
We’ll be shipping these out to all RIOTXV nominees over the next week or two.
USA U20s during their friendly vs Georgia.
That’s Jayden Williams (St. Edward-OH) on the near flank.
📸 usarjnt
“It was a good opportunity for us to put the USA jersey on, have the emblem on our chest, and understand what we're playing for.”
Oddball musings, thanks to the cold tub.
FIFA style this week.
⚽️ This strategy of kicking the ball out of bounds directly from the kickoff is the most rugby thing I’ve ever seen in soccer.
⚽️ Players going down "hurt" and then grabbing a completely different body part than the one that got kicked is the goofiest thing in sports. Eject these knuckleheads.
🎥 Soccer’s futuristic AR offside lines make me nervous. If that stuff is coming to rugby, count me out. Let the ref call the game and live with a few missed calls.
That’s a wrap, gang!
Next week we’ll have more dope rugby stuff to share with you; scores, highlights, stories… all the goods.
If you like this, share it with your friends!
Be well, ruck with gusto, and may your compression shorts always stay in place.
-The Rugby Riot Team