To no one’s surprise, the British Army conquered all at the International Defense 7s Sunday at Infinity Park, in Glendale, Colo.

In a competition that saw international military teams in one bracket, and domestic military teams in another, the ten teams competed separately on Day One, and then played in a playoff bracket to decide their own championships.

Then Sunday afternoon saw the brackets cross over and compete.

The British Army, long an avenue for Fijian athletes to gain British citizenship, was superb, allowing one try in pool play as they crushed two Australian Army teams, the Royal Air Force, and the French Military side.

In the International Championship on Sunday morning, they smashed the French 63-0, and followed that up with defeats of the US Air Force, the US Marines, and the French once more to win the entire tournament. Overall, the British Army played eight games, won all eight, and scored 370 points while allowing 27.

Meanwhile, the US Marines defeated the US Air Force in a thrilling US Armed Forces final 33-31 to win that championship. Air Force has dominated the Armed Forces Championship in recent years, played, as it was, in 15s format. But with the US Military converting emphasis to Olympic rugby, this tournament was changed to 7s.

“Anything can happen in 7s,” said Air Force assistant coach Marc Ward. “This was a heck of a game, a barnburner. I don’t think either team got more than two tries from the other. It was amazing, and we just couldn’t pull it out at the end.”

Air Force missed a conversion with time up that would have forced overtime.

For the Marines, this was a massive improvement in their placing in Armed Forces rugby. Head Coach Tom Wagner decided to move the team’s training to San Diego when he was able to get former USA 7s team captain Matt Hawkins to help out.

“Matt was what we call a force multiplier,” said Wagner.  “He’s an excellent coach and I think the ability to practice for a week in San Diego with him coaching us every day was huge.”

The Marines were able to scrimmage against the USA team and also the San Diego Old Aztecs.

“We gave them about two days of 7s 101, and then we threw them to the wolves,” said Wagner.

The squad of 20 was pared down to 12, a process that was painful for all concerned. The result, however, was a hardened team ready to playing winning 7s rugby.

It wasn’t easy. In pool play the Marines tied Army, lost to Air Force , and just barely edged Navy 21-17. That win was the key, as Navy also tied Army, and thus ended up tied with the USMC in the standings. However, the Marines got the head-to-head tiebreaker, and took 2^nd and a place in the US final.

Air Force, meanwhile, went 3-1 in pool play, losing to Navy, but beating everyone else.

Then the thriller, which was intense and exhausting – ten-minute halves at altitude. The Marines won, but then had a game against the French Military and the British Army in a sort of medal round pool.

“We weren’t really able to bounce back after that final,” said Wanger. “It wasn’t a good showing. Those British Army guys look like they’re playing in slow motion.”

Both the Marines and Air Force managed to score against the British Army, something the French, RAF and one of the Australian teams were unable to do on Saturday. The Air Force then put a scare in the French, pushing them to a tight 21-19 result.

The Air Force left with no trophies, but were two points from the US title, and two points from making the international final.

The international teams shut out the US teams on Sunday.

Leading the Marines championship effort was captain Mark Terrell, a Marines Special Operations sniper who carried a rather noticeable scar on his chin from shrapnel flying off his rifle when it was hit by a tracer round. Terrell, remained at his post using his other rifle.

“Those are the kinds of guys you make captain of the team,” said Wagner. “We think rugby players are tough – these guys are tough.”

Such as Chuck Smith, who had spent the preceding weeks in sere Training, where servicemen pretend to be POWs and undergo severe treatment in order to prepare them for the real thing. Dehydrated and under-weight, Smith played a superb scrumhalf for the USMC team.

John Lockard was outstanding for the Air Force squad. A longtime standout for Air Force in 15s, he was the Air Force sweeper and played exceptionally well. Also solid for Air Force was recent Air Force Academy grad Reed Fleming.

Three players from the Marines were named to the seven-man All-Tournament Team: 1^st Lt. Elliott Joses, and  2^nd Lt. Sean Rohrs. Both were a big part of the US Naval Academy team, and both had 7s experience playing at the USA 7s CRC. They were joined by 19-year-old Josh Barry, who played with a maturity above his years.

Barry, on his first day of training, earned the ire of Coach Wagner, when it became evident that he had been born one month after Wagner had started playing rugby.

“He got in trouble for that,” joked the coach.

US Armed Forces Final
Marines 33 Air Force 31

US Armed Forces 3^rd/4^th
Navy 26 Army 12


International Defense Final
British Army 63 French Military 0

International Defense 3^rd/4^th
RAF 26  Aus Army Gold 12

International Consolation
Aus Army Green 24 Coast Guard 12

Bronze Tier         Navy 7, Aus Army Gold 19
Bronze Tier         Army 7, RAF 38
Gold Tier              AF 5, British Army 43
Gold Tier              Marines 0, France 47
Bronze Tier         Navy 10, RAF 28
Bronze Tier         Army 19, Aus Army Gold 22
Gold Tier              Marines 5, British Army 45
Gold Tier              Air Force 19, France 21
Bronze Medal Final         Marines 7, RAF 54
Gold Medal Final              British Army 68, France 12