Life Holds Off Boston To Advance To Final Four; Complete Virginia Scores

Life held off a strong Boston side to escape with a 20-18 win and advance to the DI final four. The Running Eagles once again rested some of their key players. Kris Headlee, Tom Katzfey, and Tui Osborne all started the match on the bench as head coach James Issacson wanted to keep them fresh for next week's Elite Cup final. That decision didn't seem to impact the match early on as Life got a quick try courtesy of Zach Simkins. Aza McMaster's conversion put Life up 7-0 just a few minutes into the match.

But Boston wasn't about to be pushed around. With a combination of physical play and smart decisions they by and large contained Life's movements and forced them into a number of penalties in poor spots. Boston fly-half took advantage of those poor penalties to hit two penalties to edge the score to 7-6. Life had numerous chances the rest of the half but were unable to convert anything other than one penalty as Boston continued to stay strong. Boston would equal that penalty to bring the halftime score to 10-9.

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Ireland Announce Roster For North American Tour

Ireland have named their squad for their upcoming tour of North America. Rory Best will lead the team that features only six new players. The team is withouth the service of it’s British and Irish Lions players, including Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell, Sean O’Brien, Cian Healy, Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearny, Jamie Heaslip, and Jonathan Sexton. Also not considered for the tour due to injury or other reasons are players like Stephen Ferris, Luke Fitzgerald, Luke Marshall, and Gordon D’Arcy.

The U.S. will play Ireland on June 8th in Houston. The two teams last met in the 2011 World Cup. Ireland came away with a 22-10 victory but the physicality of the U.S. surprised a few people, including the Irish. Considering that Ireland is taking a weakened squad and the U.S. looks to have it’s full squad healthy and ready to go for the Ireland match, it could be a closer than expected results. That said, Ireland’s tour squad features plenty of quality players. Paddy Jackson, Ian Madigan, Tommy O’Donnell, Andrew Trimble, and Simon Zebo are all in the squad and should give the U.S. plenty of trouble.

Ireland team: Rory Best (Ulster), Issac Boss (Leinster), Darren Cave (Ulster), Tom Court (Ulster), Declan Fitzpatrick (Ulster), Jamie Hagan (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Robie Henshaw (Connacht), Paddy Jackson (Ulster), Felix Jones (Munster), David Kilcoyne (Munster), Ian Madigan (Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Paul Marshall (Ulster), Mike McCarthy (Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Kevin McLaughlin (Leinster), Tommy O’Donnell (Munster), Stuart Olding (Ulster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Mike Sherry (Munster), Richardt Strauss (Leinster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Dan Tuohy (Ulster), Simon Zebo (Munster) 

Favorites Advance In DI Western Bracket

Seattle-OPSB, the Denver Barbarians, and OMBAC--all favorites--won their round of 16 matches in the western side of the DI bracket. Joining them in the elite eight is the Glendale Raptors, who beat SoCal camps Belmont Shore. In a match of two halves, Glendale rode out to a big score in the first half before Belmont Shore chased back in the second. However, Glendale's lead was too much and they came away with a 34-27 win. Glendale had the benefit of playing with their national team call-ups--James Paterson, Shaun Davies, and Zach Fenoglio. Those players will return to Glendale tomorrow for Eagles camp. Glendale will play Seattle-OPSB for a chance to play in the final four. Seattle-OPSB beat the Austin Blacks 62-32 to advance.

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Audio: Boston and Life Head Coaches React To Wins

Take the jump to hear Boston head coach Mike Diamantopolous.

Women Eagles Take Plate In Amsterdam

The U.S.A. Women's 7's have finished the inaugural IRB Women's Sevens Series in fourth place after capturing the Plate in Amsterdam. The team went undefeated on day one (read a recap here) and that set up a match against rivals Canada in the Cup quarterfinals. Canada trailed the U.S. by two points in the Series standings heading into the match, meaning that if the U.S. won they would ensure a top four finish. Unfortunately for the Eagles it didn't go according to plan, resulting in a 19-5 loss.

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Life, Boston Advance In DI Playoffs; Updates From Virginia Beach

Palmer vs. Boston

In soggy conditions Life defeated Old Blue 43-17 to advance in the DI playoffs. They will play Boston, who beat Palmer 29-15, on Sunday for a chance to advance to the final four. Due to next week's Elite Cup and a potential Sunday match, head coach James Issacson decided to rest several starters (Tom Katzfey and Kris Headlee), or leave them home all together (Benny Mateialona and Phil Thiel).  Old Blue were also missing players as neither Luke Hume nor Elite Cup standout Adam Siddall were with the team. Both were invited to the Eagles assembly.

It looked as if the absences would hit Life more early on as Old Blue were the first to get on the board. However, Life responded with a quick try of their own through Scott MacDonald to level the score at 7-7. Life then took the lead for good when Aza McMaster hit a penalty. McMaster was the standout player for Life on the day not only in his kicking, but in his defense and the way he directed the offense.

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Northeast ODA Details Released

From the Northeast ODA:

"We are delighted, with the approval of USA Rugby, to be launching this program in the Northeast to provide the best possible pathway for ambitious athletes in our area. To that end, we believe we have established a superb team who have elite level experience in three distinct areas of Sevens rugby; playing, coaching, and strength and conditioning. These coaches and administrators are determined to provide our athletes with the best possible learning experience, and to accelerate their development as players with the explicit goal of placing athletes on the USA Eagles squad within the very near future" Says Academy Director Sean Horan.

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