The EPRU is happy to announce that we will be having a 7s series and championship for the summer of 2022. For those of you who have done summer 7s in the past this won't be much of a change as the circuit consists of 4 tournaments that have been going on for decades. You'll still sign up and compete in the events you know and love like you always have with the main difference being that teams will earn points for how they finish in each event that will be accumulated throughout the summer with a men's and women's champion being crowned in July.
We want to be clear from the onset that this is NOT the pathway to Nationals. If you want to compete in Club Nationals for 7s you should participate in the MAC events taking place on June 18, July 9, and July 23. The purpose of the EPRU Circuit is to create a competitive, but social and fun, environment for teams that wish to play 7s without the commitment or formal club structure necessary to compete for a National Championship.
The dates are:
June4: Montgomery Bucks 7s. John S. Clemens Memorial Park, 500 Fairgrounds Rd, Hatfield PA 19440. Contact msciarra02@gmail.com
June 11: Lehigh Valley 7s. 1554 Schoenersville Rd, Bethlehem PA 18018. Contact lvrfc7s@lvrfc.org
June 25: Harrisburg 7s. Dauphin County Vo-Tech. 6001 Locust Ln. Harrisburg PA 17109. Contact HRFC.Strelec@gmail.com
July 9: Cheesesteak 7s hosted by Brandywine Riot. Alapocas State Park in Wilmington, DE. Contact president@brandywinerugby.org
You may sign up for as many, or as few, of the tournaments as you would like and non-EPRU teams are also still allowed to sign up and participate in these tournaments like they always have. There is no requirement that you play in all 4 and there is no requirement that teams need to be from the EPRU to play in the events.
The points system that we are using is:
6 points for winning
4 points for runner up
3 points for third place
2 points for fourth place
1 point for winning any consolation bracket
1 bonus point awarded for each EPRU tournament entered
We know there will be questions so we tried to answer some of the FAQs that we've seen so far.
FAQ 1:
What happens if a Club enters multiple sides?
We award the points to the highest finishing side per club and then basically pretend the other sides don't exist.
Example: Let's say the finish at Montgomery Bucks is:
- Phoenixville A
- Media
- Phoenixville B
- Blackthorn
- Gryphons
In this scenario Phoenixville will only get the 6 points for winning and not the extra 3 points for third, Media will get 4 points for runner up, and we will then slide Blackthorn into the 3rd place spot and award them 3 points with the Gryphons getting 2 points (in other words we are removing the second sides AND sliding everyone up). We are doing this to make sure that the circuit remains competitive throughout the summer.
FAQ 2:
What happens if a non-EPRU Club finishes in the top 4?
We do the same thing that we would do under FAQ 1. We re-calibrate the standings after the fact and award points to the highest finishing EPRU sides in order to keep the circuit competitive.
Example: Let's say the finish at Montgomery Bucks is:
- Reading Tulips
- Scion 1
- NOVA 1
- Scion 2
- NOVA 2
- Brandywine
In this scenario Reading gets 6 points and Brandywine slides all the way up to 2nd place and takes 4 points. Experienced EPRU folks know that we get extra Capital (and probably Empire as well) sides early on in June because their events haven't started yet. It would be pointless to basically allow a team to clinch the series in week 1. Sorry to be a broken record but we are designing it so that it remains competitive and fun throughout the summer.
FAQ 3:
Who is eligible to play in these tournaments?
Everyone is eligible to play in these tournaments just like you always have. We are not asking our hosts to do anything extra or different in terms of registration and we absolutely welcome teams from outside of the EPRU to participate in the events.
FAQ 4:
Who is eligible to earn points and win the series?
Winning the actual series itself is limited to EPRU teams. However, non-EPRU teams can still win individual events and the prizes that go along with that from the host teams. If there's any question about whether your club is eligible for the series just let us know but if you've been playing in all of these events for years then it is likely that you are eligible. To be clear, in addition to our Club sides (the ones that just played 15s from August-May), we are also allowing the EPRU Women's Collegiate sides to compete.
If your collegiate team can't field a full side over the summer by themselves and you want to do a combo then let us know. Collegiate players should also give consideration to joining a club side for the summer.
Other eligible teams, and this is not an exhaustive list, include Oasis who is registered with USA Rugby as an EPRU team and has participated in our events for years and the Molly Maguires who have similarly supported our clubs for years by participating in these events (and could just call themselves Wilkes-Barre anyway so we're going to use a little common sense here).
Hopefully that's enough info for now. The basic idea is straightforward - sign up for the same events you've always played in - someone will be awarded a title in July. See you soon!
