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Preview of 2nd MAC Qualifier

Preview of 2nd MAC Qualifier

Randy Helsman23 Jun 2015 - 16:19
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The Men’s Premier division pools are the US Army Selects, Schuylkill River, Pittsburgh Pandas, and the Washington Irish; and NOVA

The second qualifying stop in the Mid-Atlantic Conference summer 7s series is at Blue Ball 7s at Alapocas Run State Park in Wilmington, Del. this weekend. A total of 31 teams will compete in five divisions in the tournament. For the Men’s Premier division, the US Army Selects hope to repeat their dominant performance from last week and cement their place at the top of the standings in the MAC.

“Obviously, we are no longer the unknown,” said Andrew Locke, the captain of the Army Selects. “We wanted quality competition and well-run tournaments and have not been disappointed in the MAC thus far. We got lucky [at the Monk Vaughan 7s] as I think a lot of teams underestimated us being a new team. We will be bringing in different players as well to evaluate so we won't necessarily have the same strengths we had [last weekend].

The Men’s Premier division pools are the US Army Selects, Schuylkill River, Pittsburgh Pandas, and the Washington Irish; and Northern Virginia (NOVA), Baltimore-Chesapeake, the Potomac Exiles, and the Norfolk Blues. After pool play, the first and second place teams will play from the opposite pool in the semifinals. The winners of each semifinal will compete in the Cup Final.

Based on the outcome of the first qualifier, Will Baker, the sevens director for the event said, “It appears that the Army Selects is the favorite given their dominant performance at Richmond going 5-0 and only giving up a single try through the entire tournament. With that being said, the momentum can swing quickly in 7s and whatever team keeps their composure throughout the day will most likely come out on top.”

Prior to the final against the Army Selects last weekend, NOVA enjoyed a stellar day holding their opponents to two tries and scoring 121 points in the games before the championship. Eagle Thretton Palamo and Conroy Smith lead NOVA from anywhere on the pitch. “We are a team when it comes down to it,” NOVA coach Clarence Williams said. “That’s what it takes to win, a team. From top to bottom, we did some things very well and we didn’t do some things well at all when it came to [last week’s] final.”

On the tournament this weekend, “Like any season, a sevens team is about bonding,” Williams stated. “An upside for us right now even though we had a really hard loss is that we have not been together that long. The hope is that we get back to work with hard training this week and come back again [this weekend] and try to take them on or whoever else may come. I know for a fact that the competition for the premier side in the MAC will get stronger week after week.”

In their third year since discontinuing the 15s select side, all of the hard work of assembling a pool of players and a system to compete is paying off for the Army Selects. With a fluctuating roster and limited practice time, head coach Mark Drown only asks one thing from his players. “In the past three years, we really set a training program up. We have a very consistent defensive shape and attacking pattern. So the players as they have gotten more experienced know that nothing is going to change when it comes to our play. The requirement for them is a stay absolutely, at the top of their game, fitness wise. The key for us to be competitive with various men’s teams that can train together a lot is we have to be fit.”

The Army Selects aim to have a core seven players on their roster and test out developing players for their reserves. The real bonus for Drown is having captain Locke in the sweeper position, which has been a key element to their success. “Andy's experience, leadership, and mentoring were relied upon when we brought in some of the younger players into the match. He is an excellent team captain and the glue that binds the team.”

For this week at the Blue Ball 7s, Drown added, “We are expecting that there will be no surprises. Nobody is going to question or underestimate. We came in as an unknown and that’s no longer the case. I think everybody is well aware of what the Army team brings to the field of play and I think they are all going to be much tougher games the second go around. We are expecting a much tougher time.”

- See more at: http://www.rugbytoday.com/7s/us-army-selects-ready-second-leg-mac-7s#sthash.A0itH0ik.dpuf

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