On Saturday, June 17th 2017, the Monmouth Rugby Football Club will host the 2017 Monmouth 7s: Showdown at the Shore V Tournament at Thompson Park in Lincroft, New Jersey, sponsored by Ritch and Page Distributers. Now in its fifth year, Monmouth 7s is one of the biggest showcases for rugby in New Jersey, drawing participation over 45 playing sides from throughout the Northeast. The Monmouth 7s Tournament serves as a kickoff for the summer rugby 7s season in the Northeast as it is the first leg of the USA Rugby Northeast Qualifier Series.  Teams will compete to earn points throughout the summer, with the top 2 teams advancing to the USA Club 7s National Championships. The tournament also marks the start of Empire 7s Series in which Men’s and Women’s playing sides will compete in a series of 5 tournaments in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut hoping to capture the Empire Union 7s Championship. Men’s and Women’s social brackets will round out the field as over 500 athletes are expected to participate.

This year’s tournament features one of the most competitive fields in the history of the tournament. In the NRU bracket features Northeast powerhouses Old Blue and NYAC out of New York and Mystic River for Boston, but will be challenged by the likes of a growing program from Bulldog Rugby out of Connecticut as well as White Plains and Lions NYC. All NRU action will take place on Thompson Park’s main rugby pitch.

In the Empire Series, on the Men’s side Monmouth Rugby looks to capture the Cup for the second straight year and build upon a strong 2nd place finish in last year’s series. They’ll be challenged by last year’s series champ Morris, who is coming off a deep 15s playoff run. Brooklyn, NYRC, and Princeton all return and are sure to make this a highly competitive bracket.

In the Women’s pool, Monmouth enters as the reigning Empire Series Champ, but will face stiff competition from a pair of Old Blue and NYRC sides.  The Village Lions, Morris, and Danbury round out the bracket, which promises plenty of excitement.

The High School pool is wide open with sides from Morris, NYRC, Greenwich, Play Rugby and Aspetuk Valley.  NYRC and Play Rugby will play a 3 match series for the girls.

Finally, the Empire and NRU series are complemented by a pair of social brackets for the Men and Women.  These pools will feature a mix up and coming talent, alumni sides, and rookies getting their first taste of the game.  Be sure to catch these matches, if only to see who is still standing beyond the 3rd match of pool play.

So join Monmouth Rugby for a full day of top rugby at Thompson Park.  Monmouth 7s matches are FREE to attend for spectators.  Full details for the event and more information on our club are available on our website at http://monmouthrugbyclub.com/ and facebook page http://facebook.com/monmouth7s