Halloween 7s: Dressed Up and Ready

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – Saturday will see the Halloween 7s kick off in St. Petersburg, FL. The tournament is offering $10,000 in prize money and serving as a warm-up to the HSBC 7s series for the USA, Canada, and Argentina.

For US fans, this is a chance to start looking toward Rio and to focus on a men’s national side that is competitive with the world’s best.

For the Halloween 7s, Mike Friday and USA Rugby are sending two teams, the Hawks and the Falcons, while Canada and Argentina are each sending a squad. The rest of the field is made up of Ohio 7s, Rugby Utah, New York City 7s, and Denver 7s.

For those heading to Al Lang Stadium in person, the Fan Fest starts at 11:30 with a Rugby World Cup Finals viewing party at 12:00. Play begins at 1:00 while the live stream starts at 2:55.

For US viewers, the stream will be on USA Rugby TV. Commentary on the stream will be provided by Al Caravelli, Dan Power, Chad Erskine, and Tatum Walker. Those outside the US can watch on eversport.

h7s-schedule-web — Full Schedule – Click to Enlarge

The two big matches on Saturday will be USA Falcons v Argentina at 4:51 and USA Hawks v Canada Maple Leafs at 5:40.

The Hawks, with Madison Hughes, Carlin Isles, Perry Baker, and Maka Unufe must be the favorites. Canada are also bringing a strong squad, but if last year’s form holds, it won’t be strong or – more accurately – speedy enough to beat the Hawks. Argentina also have many experienced and likely first-choice players on its squad – 7 of the Halloween 7s squad also played in London last spring.

With Will Holder, Andrew Durutalo, and Kevin Swiryn, the Falcons squad is not all shiny and new, but there is plenty of youth. Alex Faison-Donahoe is still at Kutztown University and will be hoping to impress. ConRoy Smith will offer plenty of pace.

Andrew Durutalo is part of the Falcons squad, but the rest of the 7s players from the 15s World Cup are missing. No Danny Barrett, Zach Test, Brett Thompson, or Folau Nuia. It will be interesting to see when those players are back in the mix for Mike Friday. The HSBC series starts December 4-5 in Dubai.

Karyne Bazzano, the force behind American Rugby 7s and this tournament, says that the tournament will be profitable.

It is important to point out that “professional rugby” in America is not something that will just appear fully formed. A tournament like this, offering fans high-level rugby and athletes high-level competition is, in many respects, professional rugby. There is still a long way to go before players and staff are compensated equal to the work they are putting in, but a successful Halloween 7s is another brick in the road in the right direction.

Rosters for the squads are below. Before checking them out, watch this report from Rugby Wrap Up’s Johnathan Wicklow Barberie on the scene in England.