Michigan Rugby is back.
This month marks the start of 2023’s spring 7’s series. During the season, Michigan will travel to the University of Pittsburgh, Notre Dame — twice, as the Big Ten tournament will be held there — before heading to the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Washington DC. The Wolverines will host their own tournament in mid-March.
This is the second season of the current “series” format in Big Ten 7’s. In its inaugural showing last year, Michigan finished fourth in the conference tournament after falling to Penn State in the tournament’s semi-final match. This year, the Wolverines will look to improve their standing in the conference that currently holds nine teams — though three additional teams may be added to the pool according to a release by the Big Ten.
On Feb. 18, the season will begin in Pittsburgh, PA in the Pitt Dome 7s. With teams like Nazareth and Westchester also competing, a CRC rematch is likely to occur. Only the first side will travel for that tournament.
Nearly a month later, Michigan will host its own tournament for the second and third side at Mitchell Field — the site of last year’s Big Ten tournament. In that series a year ago, the Wolverines’ second side had a dominant showing. They finished with a 3-1 record and a 71 point differential, falling only to Indiana after the final play. The third side — the only of its kind in the conference — went winless on the day, falling to the conference’s second sides. This year, Michigan is optimistic that the field of competition will be even broader.
The first side is working to find a competition for mid-March as well. The latest information on that search can be found on the team’s website.
The Wolverines’ next stop is in South Bend on Apr. 1 for the Fighting Irish sevens, the first of two trips to Notre Dame’s campus. Michigan will look to rebound after a tough showing against the Irish in the fall, dropping back-to-back games. This tournament will be the last before Big Tens, which falls on Apr. 15. All sides will attend as the Wolverines attempt to improve upon last year’s showing.
Michigan will have just two weeks rest following the conference championship, before traveling to the Collegiate Rugby Championship for the weekend of Apr. 28. Held in Washington, DC, the event will host college rugby’s top programs for an inter-conference tournament. Last season, the Wolverines sent a young squad to the tournament in New Orleans, finishing 2-3 on the weekend.
This time around, the Wolverines have reason to be more optimistic.
Much of last year’s squad is returning for this seven’s run, and there is hope that their experiences last season will be advantageous. That 27th place finish a year ago will hopefully be improved upon.
After a challenging fall season, this spring will reveal much about the Wolverines’ program — and marks the first step towards improvement on last year’s fifteen’s season.
