Last weekend, National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) welcomed 19 women’s sides to its annual All-Star 7s Competition in Austin, Texas, and named two champions inside the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex stadium. Lone Star kept the DI/DII (“All-Star”) trophy in-state, while Colonial Coast brought the Small College title back to the Northeast. [Lead photo: Jackie Finlan / The Rugby Breakdown]
RELATED: Tournament-wide scoring stats • More Photos
There were 10 teams in the All-Star (DI/DII) bracket, and so a modified pool-play structure provided everyone with three games on Saturday. The top-two teams advanced directly to Sunday’s semifinals, while teams ranked 3-6 contested semifinal play-in matches early on Sunday. Meanwhile, teams ranked 7-10 played to place on Sunday.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
Lone Star and Big 10 emerged as the teams to beat on Saturday. The former beat Great Lakes, Upstate New York and South Atlantic by a combined 76-10, and got great leadership out of flyhalf Ari Gieseck and Premier Rugby 7s pro Telesi Uhatafe at center. Both set the tone for work rate on defense and topped the three major statistic categories on offense. Uhatafe scored 11 tries for 55 points overall, and Gieseck kicked seven conversions (and scored a try).
The Big 10 picked two players apiece from each of the conference’s seven teams for its all-star squad (see all teams’ rosters). Halfbacks Elizabeth Langlois and Deisdy Rodriguez were superb playmakers and Maddie Bowers was so opportunistic around the breakdown. All together, the Midwest team beat South Atlantic, Allegheny and Great Lakes 88-0 during pool play.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
The dominant performances meant Lone Star and Big 10 took direct routes to Sunday’s semifinals. Meanwhile, the Midwest and High Peaks played a thriller of a semifinal play-in match on day two. The Rocky Mountain team used a yellow card advantage to tie it up (17-17) on the final play of the game to force overtime. Midwest scrumhalf Annie Henderson ended extra time after breaking weak off an attacking scrum, going in and out on the defender, and then scoring the game-winner in the corner: 22-17.
On the other side of the bracket, Upstate New York overturned a 10-5 halftime deficit against Great Waters to win 19-15. Both conferences fielded a DI/DII and Small College side in the competition, but treated the teams like Tier 1 and Tier 2 sides. That is, strong Small College players (like Makenna Ramsey, Kyla Nentarz and Kaylee Middaugh) were rostered on the DI/DII team and vice versa in the name of competitiveness.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
In the semifinals, the Snow Leopards leaned into its hungry defense to actually lead the Big 10 at one point, but the Midwesterners had the gas to pull out a 15-10 win. Lone Star shut out the Midwest 31-0 for a berth to the final. In the title match (rewatch on The Rugby Network), the teams were very even in the middle of the pitch, but the Big 10 did hurt itself with a yellow card and two knocked-on restarts. Uhatafe was hungry for the ball and just had an unstoppable giddy-up that produced two tries. Gieseck kicked both conversions for the 14-0 win and Uhatafe was named championship MVP. The title marked Lone Star’s second all-star 7s championship, having won the inaugural DI title in 2022.
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ALL-STAR SCORES
SATURDAY JAN 20
Big 10 22-0 South Atlantic
Big 10 35-0 Allegheny
Big 10 31-0 Great Lakes
Lone Star 30-5 Great Lakes
Lone Star 24-0 Upstate NY
Lone Star 22-5 South Atlantic
Midwest 22-17 Great Waters
Midwest 24-10 High Peaks
Midwest 36-5 Rugby Northeast
Upstate NY 29-10 Allegheny
Upstate NY 27-10 South Atlantic
Great Waters 30-0 Rugby Northeast
Great Waters 39-5 High Peaks
High Peaks 12-5 Rugby Northeast
Allegheny 15-15 Great Lakes
SUNDAY JAN 21
Consolation SFs
South Atlantic 29-0 Great Lakes
Allegheny 17-12 Rugby Northeast
7th: South Atlantic 36-10 Allegheny
9th: Great Lakes 19-12 Rugby Northeast
Championship SF Play-ins
Midwest 22-17 High Peaks (OT)
Upstate New York 19-15 Great Waters
5th: Great Waters 35-0 High Peaks
Championship Semifinals
Lone Star 31-0 Midwest
Big 10 15-10 Upstate NY
3rd: Upstate NY 19-0 Midwest
Final: Lone Star 14-0 Big 10
Championship MVP: Telesi Uhatafe
SMALL COLLEGE
The Small College division was a bit more dramatic in that Colonial Coast was not necessarily in the “favorites” category after day one. The Northeast team went 2-2 during pool play and *just* qualified for the semifinals due to a favorable head-to-head tiebreaker. But Colonial Coast took its opportunities and produced its only shutout in the finals. Like Lone Star, the 2024 title marked Colonial Coast’s second trophy, having topped Small College is 2020 (back when the tournament was only Small College).
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The nine Small College teams played a random assortment of teams during pool play, and after everyone played four games, the field was reranked according to standings stats. The top-four teams moved directly to semifinals, while teams ranked 5-9 played to place.
Colonial Coast went 1-2 on Saturday, beating Allegheny 24-19 and then losing to Great Waters 10-5 and Upstate New York 32-7. There was one more pool play round early Sunday morning, and that ended up being the difference-maker for Colonial Coast, which beat Rugby Northeast 22-12. The two teams finished 2-2 and were up for semifinal berths, but the head-to-head went to Colonial Coast.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
Meanwhile, Upstate New York and Eastern Pennsylvania were looking like the teams to beat. The former went 4-0 in “pool play,” defeating Ohio Valley, Colonial Coast, Mid-America and Prairie State 98-33. EPRU went 3-1, defeating Allegheny, Mid-America and Prairie States 84-22, and tying Ohio Valley 15-15 (Ohio Valley went on to finish 5th overall).
In the semifinals, EPRU, the two-time reigning champion (2022 and 2023), won its semifinal 15-12 on the final play of the game, when Jaidyn Bowen tapped through a penalty and just powered through a Great Waters defense for a try. It was a sidelines-erupting ending, but a game that also cost EPRU its heartbeat, Ros Page, for the final. But as thrilling as that semifinal was, Colonial Coast’s 22-10 semifinal win against previously undefeated Upstate New York perhaps stole the show.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
In the final, it was all Colonial Coast. Two tries from Bailey Tymeson and another from Liv Houghton provided a 15-0 championship win. Prop Laryssa Landmesser was named championship MVP, and it was a redemptive acknowledgment for the Plymouth State sophomore, who was part of Colonial Coast’s 2023 team, only to sustain an injury in round two of play. For head coach Carly Baker, she’s the first to hit the NCR trifecta, winning 7s and 15s national championships with Endicott College, and now an NCR all-star 7s title with Colonial Coast.
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The all-star tournament actually marks the beginning of the NCR 7s season, which will culminate with the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC 7s) on April 26-28 outside of D.C. The Rugby Breakdown will also be present thanks to the travel sponsorship of NCR.
SMALL COLLEGE SCORES
SATURDAY JAN 20
Upstate NY 22-0 Ohio Valley
Upstate NY 32-7 Colonial Coast
Upstate NY 24-12 Mid-America
Upstate NY 20-14 Prairie States
Eastern Penn 31-5 Allegheny
Eastern Penn 31-10 Mid-America
Eastern Penn 22-7 Prairie States
Eastern Penn 15-15 Ohio Valley
Great Waters 10-5 Colonial Coast
Great Waters 30-7 Prairie States
Great Waters 15-5 Mid-America
Rugby Northeast 29-5 Prairie States
Rugby Northeast 19-10 Ohio Valley
Colonial Coast 24-19 Allegheny
Colonial Coast 22-12 Rugby Northeast
Ohio Valley 17-5 Great Waters
Mid-America 12-10 Allegheny
Allegheny 15-7 Rugby Northeast
SUNDAY JAN 21
Consolation Bracket
Play-in: Allegheny 25-21 Prairie States
SF: Allegheny 22-10 Rugby Northeast
SF: Ohio Valley 17-12 Mid-America
5th: Ohio Valley 20-10 Allegheny
Championship Bracket
SF: Colonial Coast 22-10 Upstate NY
SF: Eastern Penn 15-12 Great Waters
3rd: Great Waters 10-5 Upstate NY
Final: Colonial Coast 15-0 Eastern Penn
Colonial Coast won the 2020 championship:
Head coach Carly Baker has now won the Small College trifecta: all-star 7s with Colonial Coast, and 7s and 15s national titles with Endicott: insta embed