Saturday
June 29, 2024 
The Doylestown Rugby Academy high school boys team traveled to the first rugby 7s tournament of the summer, Delco 7s, on June 1. Doylestown went 3-0 in pool play with victories over Media, West Chester and MD15.
Doylestown then defeated defending 7s state champ Conestoga in sudden death overtime in the semifinals by a score of 19-12. The Dragons came up short in the championship match against a solid and experienced Berks side, but got to 15-14 midway through the second half before falling 29-14. With four wins, one loss and a tournament runner-up finish, it was a great way to kick off the summer 7s season.
Doylestown Rugby hosted both junior (eighth to ninth grade) and high school boys divisions for the second leg of the summer rugby 7s season, the Dragon’s Breath 7s, on June 15. In a classic home performance, both the juniors and the high school boys went 5-0 and won their division championships at Dragon’s Breath 7s.
The juniors were never in doubt as they outscored their opponents 210-47 and beat Elizabethtown Rugby Club 36-14 in the championship match. The high school team was also dominant in pool play and outscored their opponents 190-42 on the day. But the high school team had to contend with a very mature and strong Berks side in the championship that had defeated Doylestown in the championship of Delco 7s two weeks prior.
The championship match was a display of fast, intense, back and forth, well-played 7s. The score was tied 7-7 at half and Doylestown trailed 21-19 with no time on the clock in a match in which they had never led. Doylestown held possession for an extended period of time and traveled 80 meters with the ball through passing and rucking. The patience paid off and a gap opened in the center of the field, and the Dragons took it for a 30-meter game winning try for a final score of 26-21 and a championship at Doylestown’s home tournament.
Doylestown Rugby entered both a junior (eighth to ninth grade) and high school boys team for the third leg of the summer rugby 7s season at Coventry 7s. The juniors defeated West Chester Rugby Club 38-0 and Berks Rugby Club 40-0 in pool play, earning the No. 1 seed to the playoffs. Doylestown then defeated Elizabethtown 21-12 in the semifinals and Coventry Rugby 21-7 in the championship match to win the title.
All junior players then switched jerseys and played in the afternoon in the high school division with their 10th and 11th grade teammates. Doylestown high school dropped its first match to Downingtown 26-7, but bounced back to defeat Delco Rugby 28-7 to earn a spot in the semifinals versus defending state champion Conestoga. The Dragons would drop that match 21-7 to the more experienced Conestoga side on a stifling day, but could hold their heads high as they battled valiantly in defeat.
The fourth leg of the summer 7s season is at Elizabethtown Rugby Club on June 29 and the final leg is at Surfside 7s in Stone Harbor, N.J., on July 13.
Doylestown Rugby hosted the youth division (fifth to seventh grades) for the first leg of the Youth Summer Rugby 7s season.
The Doylestown Youth 7s Rugby team had a bit of a rocky start to their summer 7s season when they matched up with an unfamiliar, out of state opponent from Morris, N.J. They dropped their first game to Morris Youth Rugby, 5-19.
In their next game, the Young Dragons bounced back from their initial defeat by outscoring Coventry Youth Rugby, 22-5. They followed that game with a familiar foe in Berks County Youth Rugby. Very similar to their showdown in the 15s spring season, the Young Dragons tied Berks County, 21-21.
The final pool play game pitted the Doylestown youth team against a formidable Delaware County Youth Rugby team. In the end of that game, the Young Dragons scored a sudden death try to seal the victory, 10-5. This victory saw the Young Dragons guarantee the No. 1 seed in the tournament final game against that same Delaware County Youth Rugby team. However, the storybook ending was not to be as the Young Wolfpack rugby team rebounded from their earlier defeat to the Doylestown Young Dragons and secured the 2024 Dragon’s Breath 7s trophy for Delaware County Youth Rugby.
Hoping to bounce back from their defeat in their own Dragon’s Breath Rugby tournament final on June 15, 2024, the Doylestown Youth Rugby 7s team entered the Coventry Rugby Club’s Wildcat 7s Tournament on an extremely hot Saturday on June 22 in Chester Springs.
Doylestown’s youth team started out hot, as well, by securing a first pool game victory against the tournament hosts, Wildcat Youth Rugby by a score of 24-10. However, next up for the Young Dragons would be that Berks County youth team, again. And, yes, again, that pool game ended in a tie, 14-14. However, that tie game, along with the first-round victory, was enough to advance the Young Dragons into the semifinals against the youth team from Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Valley Youth Rugby.
After much back and forth play in this semifinal, the Young Dragons were able to overcome a slow first half to earn their victory in the second half of that game. The Young Dragons held on to a victory over the Young Eagles of CV, 19-12. Once again, the Young Dragons would face a familiar opponent in Berks County in the final game. Would or ... could this final game end in a tie like the previous three games between these two teams? In the end, one team had to emerge as victorious and that was the Doylestown Young Dragons. The Dragons played brilliantly to (finally) defeat Berks County Youth Rugby by a score of 28-19. This was Doylestown Youth Rugby’s first summer 7s tournament victory in over two years.
The fourth leg of the summer 7s season is at Elizabethtown Rugby Club on June 29.
For more information about Doylestown Rugby Football Club, go to https://doylestownrugby.com/.
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