Red Shirts, 2018 LVI HS Elite champions / Photo: Jackie Finlan
The HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series moved its USA stop from Las Vegas to Los Angeles beginning this 2019-20 season. It has no impact of the women’s series – remember that the women have a stand-alone stop in October in Glendale, Colo. – but there are ramifications for amateur teams that had treated the now-defunct Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) as a major fixture on their annual calendars.
The Los Angeles Sevens Invitational (LAI 7s) fills that void and runs alongside the USA 7s tournament, taking place across two days: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 28-29. All of Friday’s games will be contested at a soccer complex (with grass pitches!) that is not located in the immediate vicinity of the Dignity Health Sports Park, the USA 7s venue, but Saturday’s games will occur on the fields adjacent to the 27,000-seat stadium. The USA 7s tournament is also back to a two-day format and will Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 28 – March 1.
The LAI 7s site currently lists girls’ and women’s divisions, but those competitions are obviously subject to demand. For the women’s international series, the LAI 7s splits the fifth and sixth stops, which are separated by two months. Chris Brown’s Eagles are so close in Chula Vista, and a USA Falcons side could easily take advantage of the fixture if an elite competition built out. Come back, Maple Leafs!
Tickets to the USA 7s tournament went on sale today, and AEG Rugby will release more LAI 7s info, so stay tuned.