Big weather has brought cold, windy and wet conditions to California, and the Los Angeles Invitational (LAI) 7s has tightened up competition structures to shorten time on grass rugby fields, among other considerations. See the most current schedules here and return for results.
How has that affected the women’s competitions? The Girls’ High School Open is now a one-day tournament (Friday) and has moved from CSU Long Beach to Mira Costa High School (1401 Artesia Blvd., Manhattan Beach, Calif., 90266). Instead of pool play, teams are seeded 1-16 for an opening knockout round: Rhinos (1) vs. Pleasanton (16), EIRA (2) vs. Fallbrook (15), etc. From that point on, teams flow into Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield brackets. All teams will play four games on Friday and the Cup Final is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. See the HS schedule.
The Women’s Open and Women’s College tournaments are also one-day tournaments scheduled for Saturday and at the Dignity Health complex. Similar to the HS division, the eight Women’s Open teams are seeded 1-8 for an opening knockout round. Winners flow into Cup semifinals, losers into Plate semifinals, and then all teams will a play third and final match for place. The final is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. There are five teams in the Women’s College division so they’ll do a proper round robin and the champion will be named on standings. See the Open and College schedules.
The Women’s Elite remains a two-day tournament at the Dignity Health complex. The 12 teams will play three pool games apiece, and then the top eight will be reseeded into Cup quarterfinals, also played Friday. The bottom-four teams will resume play on Saturday and play to place. The Cup, Plate and Bowl brackets will play out Saturday, and then the final will occur inside the stadium at 4:52 p.m. See the Elite schedule.