Sunsplash 7's Tournament

I had the pleasure of watching Pasadena play in the last 7’s tournament this past Saturday in Long Beach. Let me start by briefly re-telling a story that was in a previous post. I went to one of the first 7’s practices and it was pretty much as I had suspected. PRFC looked like 5 forwards playing 15’s and 2 backs playing 7’s. Then I saw a practice about a month and a half ago. Despite having a lot more guys, it did look like more of the same. I told Keegan it looked “horrific.” Then I watched them play on Saturday. Obviously I owe Roche, Keegan and every player out there a huge apology. Not only were you not “horrific,” but you looked really damn good. Very impressive, to say the least. That may have been the best Pasadena 7’s squad I have ever seen.

Pasadena has had such impressive numbers, we entered two sides. The Pasadena Scum and the Pasadena Bags. The Scum was entered in the more competitive division and the Bags were in the more social division. Each team started the day off with an unfortunate loss. The Scum played a very fit and athletic CSULB side that used their speed to sneak a win by one unconverted try that would end up haunting Pasadena later. The Bags also lost to our new conference rivals Kern. Their inexperience, not only with rugby, but also with each other, cost them against a more disciplined team.

Pasadena regrouped and made some substitutions. Both sides were eager to avenge their loss. The Scum took the field first, this time against another new conference rivals, Riverside. About 5 years ago, our 15’s team was scheduled to play Riverside’s 2nd-3rd team. Instead we had the privilege of playing their 1st side (that eventually went on to win the national Championships that year.) We lost about 135 – 0. Obviously it was nice to see us play well and beat them pretty handily. Riverside had two or three good players that seemed more interested in seeing if they could run over the Pasadena players than actually playing as a unit. I am sure they will be tuff come January. The Bags took the field shortly after and played the Old Boys of San Diego State. There were about 7 San Diego teams there, so I am not to sure how old they were, or what their majors had been. I do know that despite playing very well and improving upon their first game, the Bags lost.

This was about the time that one of the Celtic (not the basketball team) loving man-witch (not the sandwich) from the Finlanders forced my to have a conversation with him. He explained he didn’t really like my match reports (gee why.) He also doesn’t know if he does or does not have a coach (and I mean ever.) He still believes that biting Garrett was an “OK thing to do.” He informed me that he did, in fact, know that the Fins, as a people, were not Vikings. He tried to explain that the currrent team was formed when a team from Fontana and a team from the Inland Empire merged. He said that Fontana and Inland sounded like Finland. I suggested a more appropriate name could have been the Fondlers! No?

The third game for both teams would be very interesting and had playoff implications for The Pasadena Scum. They played San Diego State’s “A” side. Considering their difficulties with the CSULB side earlier in the AM, it would be interesting to see the outcome. It never was in jeopardy as Pasadena put them away and they finished 2-1. The Bags would face a much tough and a more hated opponent in the form of Eagle Rock….dah dah dah duuuuuummm. Despite it being ERAC, Keegan did not sharpen his elbows at the chance of playing them one last time (did I mention they were in a lower social bracket?) It doesn’t matter if you are watching an ERAC vs. Pasadena Semifinal match or two guys playing Ping Pong. As a Pasadena fan, you want to beat Eagle Rock. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job done and the Bags ended the day 0-3 . Nonetheless, each game was a better game than the previous one. Each player improved defensively and offensively. As a team, they improved 10 fold. Whether you play for Pasadena or AP or APU next year, you all played very well and made us proud.

Despite playing very good, traditional 7’s rugby, Pasadena did not make the playoffs. Apparently 3 teams had the same record and we missed leaving pool play by one unconverted try! The roster for each team is below. I wish I could remember the name of a few of the AP kids that played. You all did very well. There was one who played prop against the San Diego side who, despite playing against men 4-5 years older than him, held his own. Matt (from Arroyo) and Tim were awarded Men of the Match and were given jerseys from Roche. PJ and Greg were named Scum Men of the Match and also given jerseys. Well done to all of you.

Pasadena Scum:

Brian
David
Keegan
Greg Smith
PJ
James
Hans

Subs: Sloan at Wing and Ian at Prop.

Pasadena Bags:

Peter
Dru (Arroyo)
Dan
Matt (Arroyo)
Stephen B.
Tim
Skippy

Subs: Mattt Hettermann, Garrett and a bunch of Arroyo kids. There were a lot of Arroyo guys that subbed in and played great.

Special Note: Martin is young Arroyo kid who has been to every practice and his game has come WAY up. Unfortunately, his nose was broken during practice and he was unable to play this past weekend. Martin has been playing very well and improving in all areas. It was a shame that he couldn't play. He still showed up to support his team and even did a little touch-judging.

Oops,
Tanner