Maccabiah Team Takes 7's Gold

The players joking around before the tournament. Photo from Dallen Stanford.

The U.S. Maccabiah rugby team got their games off to a great start with a gold medal win in the 7's competition. The team finished pool play with a 1-1-1 record but it was enough to advance them to the gold medal match against Israel where they won 17-14.

That match began with the U.S. gaining a huge advantage when an Israeli player picked up an early yellow card. On the restart Taylor Howden took the quick tap and found Dallen Stanford out wide for the try. However, Howden couldn't convert and the U.S. led 5-0. Israel evened the score before halftime with some strong play of their own. Running clean lines they managed to find themselves nearly free for a try. The U.S. looked to have held up the player in the try zone but the referee awarded the try anyway. The U.S. nearly had a second try of the half when a great offload from Kevin Swiryn found Stanford but a knock on halted the movement and the half. Halftime: Israel 7-5 U.S.A.

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The U.S. wasted no time getting on the board in the second half with some nice running of their town. The try and conversion put them up 12-7 with hardly any time gone in the half. They then picked up another crucial try when they forced a turnover at midfield and swung the ball out wide where Willie Rudman touched down the corner. The conversion missed putting the score at 17-7.

With their backs against the wall Israel began to apply pressure and did a good job of putting the U.S. on the back foot. Eventually that pressure resulted in a try that would put the score at 17-14. But from then on the U.S. experience showed through. They played strong defense and took care of the ball to eventually wind out the clock, securing the gold.

The day started off decently for the team as they fought to a 12-12 draw with South Africa. However, they then came up against a very strong Israeli side that beat them 12-5. Israel takes the Maccabiah Games very seriously and did some heavy recruiting ahead of the tournament, including taking at least one player away for the U.S. team.

With one loss on one draw that meant the U.S. had to beat Great Britain in order to advance. Luckily for the U.S. the Great Britain side struggled throughout the tournament and the U.S. had no difficulty putting on the points. Kevin Swiryn had two first half tries while Dallen Stanford added another before the break. In the second half the U.S. came out equally as strong eventually earning a 35-0 win.

With the 7's tournament now over the team will concentate of the 15's competition, which begins with a match against Great Britain on Friday.

Dallen Stanford was named MVP of the tournament.

Squad: Matt Crawford, Ross Biestman, Max Levine, Joji Kurosaki, Dallen Stanford, Taylor Howden, Jarred Braun, Joel Cohen, Kevin Swiryn, Elliot Herzog, Willie Rudman, and Jarett Brotz.