by Travis Normand
April 24, 2022
The Texas Aggie Rugby Football Club are the 2021-2022 Red River Rugby Collegiate Conference 7s Champions!
On Saturday, April 23, 2022, the Aggies traveled to Houston, Texas for the Conference 7s Tournament at Aveva Stadium (home of the MLR’s Sabercats) and walked out as Champions (undefeated 5-0 in the tournament). Further, the Aggies are back-to-back champions as well; seeing that they also won the last/previous conference 7s tournament in 2019-2020 (there was no champion in 2020-2021).
There were five (5) teams that participated in the tournament: (1) Texas A&M; (2) t.u.; (3) Baylor; (4) UNT; and (5) Texas Tech. Texas Tech is a member of the RRRCC for 7s only; while Oklahoma apparently opted to play in the NCR 7s Qualifier Tournament in Oklahoma City (which Iowa State won).
Here are the results from Saturday, April 23, 2022:
Matches (Pool Play):
- (1) A&M 17 v. 5 UNT
- (2) Baylor 5 v. 14 t.u.
- (3) t.u. 0 v. 35 A&M
- (4) UNT 34 v. 0 Texas Tech
- (5) Texas Tech 7 v. 15 t.u.
- (6) A&M 19 v. 17 Baylor
- (7) Baylor 29 v. 0 Texas Tech
- (8) t.u. 12 v. 7 UNT
- (9) UNT 24 v. 31 Baylor
- (10) Texas Tech 0 v. 43 A&M
Records / Standing after pool play:
- (1) A&M (4-0)
- (2) t.u. (3-1)
- (3) Baylor (2-2)
- (4) UNT (1-3)
- (5) Texas Tech (0-4)
Following pool play, there was supposed to be two more games with one being the 3rd/4th place game, and the other being the 1st/2nd place game. However, the 3rd/4th place game wasn’t played while the 1st/2nd place game was. As you can see from the standings above, the 1st/2nd place game was between Texas A&M and t.u. for the conference title.
Championship Game: A&M 35 v. 0 t.u.
The Aggies finished 5-0 in the tournament and defeated t.u. twice (with the score of each match being identical at 35-0; for a total combined score of 70-0).
Championship Game (Scoring):
- Jason Tidwell scores a try off the opening kick-off (7-0);
- Justin Orlando scores at about the 3.5’ minute mark (14-0);
- HT 14-0
- Drew Snyder scores a try to start the second half at about the 7.5’ minute mark (21-0);
- Hayden Martin scores at around 12’ minutes (28-0);
- Hayden Martin scores again at the death (35-0);
- FT 35-0
Tournament Notes:
(1) Including these two 7s games from this tournament, A&M has defeated t.u. six (6) straight times (in 7s) going back to November of 2015.
(2) Following this tournament, the RRRCC announced its 7s All-Conference Team.There were 12 people named as part of the team, and there were also three more as honorable mentions. Of the 12, four (4) were from Texas A&M including Hayden Martin; Jason Tidwell; Ryan McCauley; and Drew Snyder. There were three (3) from t.u.; two (2) from Baylor; two (2) from UNT; and one (1) from Texas Tech. Of the three (3) from t.u., one of them was Nicholas Navarro (Ross Navarro’s younger brother). Of the three (3) named as honorable mention, one (1) was from Texas A&M (Justin Orlando); while t.u. and Baylor also had one-each.
(3) The RRRCC also announced its 7s Tournament MVP for 2021-2022 as Jason Tidwell from Texas A&M.
(4) Finally, the RRRCC graphic that was posted online with the above information is incorrect as it states that the Aggies went 6-0 in the tournament; whereas they were actually 5-0.
