Rye Rugby has its first win!

Rye Rugby Club entered two teams in this years’ Rockaway Rugby Sevens at Fort Tilden, Breezy Point and claimed their first victory. Rugby Sevens is a modified version of the full fifteen player team game where, as the name suggests, each team only fields seven players. The game is fast paced, flowing end to end and ideally suited to tournaments with 14 minute games of two halves. It will be played in the next Olympics for the first time.

First to play was the U16 division team. They faced nationally recognized teams in their three games. After losing the first two, closely fought and high scoring games, Rye were bracketed 7th in the elimination round and faced Xavier, the 2nd ranked team. Despite huge efforts from the team they were eventually outplayed by the much more experienced side. The U16 squad played very well and should be proud of their achievements as a first year developmental team.

The U14 squad comprised a number of experienced players and was able to overcome their first opponents 40-0. Their second game proved much harder and after leading a close first half the team was unable to prevent a defeat. The same opponents were faced in the final and the tale was very different. Rye played well from the outset and by the second half were able to pull away and win comfortably.

Congratulations to the U14 Sevens squad for bringing the first victory to Rye Rugby Club and closing out a fantastic inaugural season that saw 90 students participating in rugby activities. Looking forward to 2015!