The USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championships are being held June 4-5 at PPL Park in Philadelphia. For tickets go to www.usasevenscrc.com

LSU is looking to break into the top 7s circuit this year and put the other, more established teams on notice. While the university is still new to the collegiate 7s game, the team has players, such as Adam Ducoing and Robert Johns, with a wealth of experience. Also, Julie McCoy has stepped in to help LSU. McCoy is a former USA Women’s 7s coach and coached the team to third place in the 2009 7s World Cup. Her vast experience will no doubt serve the Tigers well.

The team is well balanced, with a good mix of size and speed that can be deadly in 7s. The Tigers will have to give enough to top Penn State first though. Not an easy task considering the Lions recent run of form. And no team hopes to be in the same pool as Cal.

“There’s not really any nervousness, maybe among the younger guys, but we’ve been practicing for about three months,” Ducoing said. “I really think we have a solid squad going and I think we’re really going to surprise a lot of people. We’re not going up there to lose.”

If the Tigers play up to their potential, they can show the other teams what they’re made of and make a good showing at their first Collegiate Rugby Championship.

Player notes: Senior Cullen Glennon was a wrestler on Brother Martin HS team that won the state title, and he was also a rugby player at Brother Martin and later with the USA U20s that played in Kenya in 2009. His family’s home was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Talking about his family losing almost all their possessions, Glennon says his family developed a tighter bond. “The trials that we faced made us tougher and allowed us to develop a stronger bond to our city and state.”

Senior Bobby Johns will have to fly up to the CRC late Friday due to his summer job with Exxon Mobil – on his own dime. Johns and Ducoing have been friends since they were 6, but went to rival high schools (Johns at New Orleans Jesuit and Ducoing at Brother Martin).

Paul Rogers is another former USA U19; his father was an All American football lineman at Cincinnati University.