See more event photos here.
One year ago, the Milwaukee Barbarians won the championship at the 2015 Lighthouse Sevens rugby tournament in Fond du Lac, WI.
Yesterday, the Milwaukee area rugby club returned to defend their title in perfect yet hot conditions.
The Barbarians offered up two teams (Division 1 and 2) to challenge other local rugby clubs such as the Celtics (Green Bay), Gargoyles (Appleton), Mighty Pigs (Oshkosh), MRFC (Milwaukee), Wisconsin Rugby Club (Madison), and Wolfpac (Fond du Lac) who also hosted the tournament.
Seeding Round, Division 1
In Pool A, the Barbarians D1 were grouped with MRFC 2, Celtics 2, and Wolfpac 1.
The Barbarians racked up a trio of shut-outs with scores of 52-0, 43-0, and 32-0, respectively.
With 21 tries and a points-differential of +127, the Division 1 side captured the first seed overall among the four teams that would made it to the semi-final round.
Seeding Round, Division 2
In Pool C, the Barbarians D2 side were grouped with the Gargoyles, Wisconsin Rugby Club, and Celtics 3.
The Barbarians started strong with 38-7 win over the Gargoyles but lost a close match to Wisconsin Rugby Club 12-20. With a 1-1 record and all other matches in the Seeding Round complete, the Barbarians Division 2 side were a win and 58 points back from the wild card spot in the semi-finals.
In a truly heroic effort over Celtics 3, the Barbarians scored four tries in the first half and another six in the second half.
At the final whistle, the score was 60-0 for the Barbarians: enough to advance to the semi-finals as the fourth seed.
Semi-finals
The Barbarians Division 1 and Division 2 sides faced off in the first semi-final of the day.
Fatigued from the huge effort over Celtics 3 and with only a short rest, the Division 2 side struggled to keep up with their club mates. The final score was a lop-sided 47-7 win for Division 1.
In the second semi-final, Celtics 1 (second seed) defeated Wisconsin Rugby Club (third seed).
Consolation match
In a repeat of the pool match, the Barbarians Division 2 side faced off against Wisconsin Rugby Club with a similar scoreline. Wisconsin Rugby Club won 24-12 to take third place for the day with the Barbarians Division 2 side finishing fourth.
Championship match
In the championship match, the Barbarians Division 1 side squared off against a determined Celtics 1 side.
The Barbarians were again perfect on defense, causing frustration for the Celtics. The Barbarians were clinical on offense and at halftime lead 26-0.
After the break, Barbarians crossed the chalk twice more to bring the score to 38-0 and complete the defense of their 2015 title.
Looking ahead
On Saturday the Barbarians head to Madison, WI for the Madtown 7s where they will start their campaign to qualify USA Rugby's National Club 7s Championship.
"The boys on both teams really performed well and have given us a lot to think about going into the qualifier events", said Head Coach Dominic Crotty.
Following training this week the Barbarians will select their team to compete in the Qualifier and Open brackets at Madtown 7s.
"Encouraging performance. I am excited to see the pieces fall into place", said Assistant Head Coach Ewan O'Donnell. "Our defense was very solid today and we'll use that as a platform next week in Madison."
Lighthouse 7s Division 1 Roster
- Mike Albert
- Rob Bartlett (C)
- Robby Sindic
- Justin Patterson
- Nick Albert
- Trevor Hergert
- Luke Ellis
- Adam Regini
- Matt Drzewiecki
- Jeff Cebe
- Nick Vigder
- Kyle Cwiklis
Lighthouse 7s Division 2 Roster
- Zach Setum
- Anthony Sims (C)
- Ryan Duklas
- Alex Mross
- Zach Albert
- Keenan Leahy
- Brian Klein
- Vincent Esteve
- Garrett Shibiliski
- David Gray
- Zach Price
- Steve Meyer
