Atlantis Rugby NAI 7s Recap - U16 Tier 1 wins the title in utah!

Atlantis Rugby U16 Tier 1 Boys Won the Championship at the 2026 North American Invitational

Atlantis Rugby sent 5 sides to the North American Invitational in Salt Lake City, Utah the weekend of July 31 - August 1 and three of them brought home hardware!

The U16 Tier 1 side led the way by winning the Championship. They got there by finishing 2-1 in pool play to earn the number 1 spot in the pool and then sweeping the knockout rounds to bring home the Cup.

The first match was against the SacAIR Islanders who got the better of us in a 5-14 loss for Atlantis. The boys bounced back with a 26-12 win over Revel and a 21-10 win over TOA. That set up a quarterfinal against Belmont that Atlantis won 26-12 and then a very close 15-14 win over Utah Select put us into the final where TOA was primed for a rematch. Atlantis was able to take it 21-17 and bring home the title.

Our next podium finish came from the U14 Teal side who ended up in third place. Their tournament began with a 10-17 loss to Westlake Drua followed by a very strong response leading to 40-14 and 59-0 wins over the EPA Razorhawks and Eagle.

The first match in the knockout rounds was a 14-12 win over Utah Select in the quarters to set up a rematch against Westlake. The Drua were a strong side once again and claimed a 17-25 victory over us which set up an Atlantis Teal vs Atlantis Academy showdown for third. Teal was able to take the bronze with a 17-7 victory.

Our final piece of hardware went to the U23 Men who came together for the first time, worked their way through a slow start, and managed to put it all together on day 2 of the tournament to bring home the Bowl. The U23s first match was against the University of Utah, playing as the Roothogs, and it was a 14-28 scoreline in favor or Utah, the other day 1 matches were a 14-34 loss to Silicon valley and a 22-24 loss to Pacific Navigator.

The close result in the final match gave the men some confidence heading into day 2 and they were able to claim a 21-15 victory of Titans Rugby in the bowl semifinal and then a 19-17 win over PNW Selects in the Bowl Final.

While our second U14 side didn't bring home hardware, the Academy did perform well throughout the weekend to earn a top 4 finish. Game 1 was a 21-7 win with tries from Ryatt Skipper, Emmett Malley, and Aaron Arline and 3 conversions from Reuben Eley. That was followed up with a 35-7 victory over TOA featuring tries from Malley, Matthew Selgrath, Arline (2), and Graham Windle. Eley (2), Toby Pond (2), and Harvey Haycock combined to add 5 conversions.

The final match of day 1 was a 5-52 loss against USA West with a try from Nicolas Abrams which seems to have lit a bit of fire under the boys who came out on day 2 and earned a 19-12 victory over Laie in the Cup Quarterfinal with tries from Windle, Skipper, and Arline to go with 2 conversions from Eley. The next match was a rematch against USA West and the Atlantis Academy gave it all they had to make it a 19-19 match at the end of regulation and turn it into a sudden death showdown a day after losing to the same team by 47 points.

When all was said and done USA West claimed a 24-19 victory but the Academy held their heads high and showed an extraordinary improvement. Tries were scored by Malley, Skipper, and Arline with Eley slotting 2 conversions. The last match for the U14 Academy was against the Atlantis Teal side for 3rd and the Academy ran out of steam in a 7-19 loss featuring a try from Arline and a conversion from Pond to put the boys in fourth place.

Aggregate scorers for the Academy side were:

Tries: Aaron Arline (6), Ryatt Skipper (3), Emmett Malley (3), Graham Windle (2), Matthew Selgrath (1), Nicolas Abrams (1)

Conversions: Reuben Eley (9), Toby Pond (3), Harvey Haycock (1)

Our final side in action in Utah was the U16 Tier 2 side which finished in 6th place with a 4-2 record and a 155-83 aggregate scoreline. The first match of the tournament was a 31-7 win over TOA featuring tries from Angus Cahalane (2), Connor Blair (2), and Chase Hopkins (1) with Angus making 3 conversions. The next pool play match was a 33-7 win over Titans with tries from Brady Flynn (2), Gavin Doyon (1), Reed Charlesworth (1), and Cahalane (1) as well as 4 more conversions from Cahalane. Pool play closed out with a 33-10 win over USA South Panthers and tries from Cahalane (2), Joey Boyles (2), and Blair (1). Cahalane added 3 more conversions and Blair got one as well.

The Cup Quarterfinal was a 15-28 loss to a strong Central Texas side that played a great match. Tries were scored by Cahalane, Charlesworth, and Will Fitzgerald. The boys bounced right back with a 31-17 win over the Provo Steelers thanks to tries from Hopkins (2), Cahalane (1), Boyles (1), and Blair (1) as well as 3 conversions from Cahalane. The Plate Final showed how razor-thin the margins can be in 7s as the boys lost 12-14 to the Rhonins with tries from Hopkins and Tristan Haycock to go along with a conversion from Cahalane.

The overall scoring for the U16 Tier 2 side went:

Tries: Angus Cahalane (7), Connor Blair (4), Chase Hopkins (4), Joey Boyles (3), Reed Charlesworth (2), Brady Flynn (2), Gavin Doyon (1), Will Fitzgerald (1), Tristan Haycock (1)

Conversions: Angus Cahalane (15), Connor Blair (1)

This tournament exhibited a lot of depth at the younger age grades with both U14 and U16 fielding multiple successful sides. We are looking forward to seeing these players continue to develop through the age grades!

Here are the rosters for this tournament:

U14 Teal:

Killian Meehan

Eben Leung

Rocco Tersigni

Trent Preece

Josue Ngoyi

Mario Palena

Brayden Somers

Keagan Janse Van Rensburg

Mike Gonce

Jameson Meehan

Veka Kasenina

Quinn Fragner

Coach Mark Weir

Coach Bob Cassidy

U14 Academy

Toby Pond

Harvey Haycock

Costello Keenaghan

Matt Sanders

Matt Selgrath

Graham Windle

Maika Heimbach

Emmett Malley

Aaron Arline

Reuben Eley

Nicolas Abrams

Ryatt Skipper

Coach Jaron Fragner

U16 Teal

Nathan Chambers

Charlie Fitzgerald

Jonah Gonder

Graham Haney

Jacob Haudenshield

Deacon Pesce

Austin Pond

Magnus Smail

Drew Smith

Cuan Snyman

Jayden Wiggins

Coach Mike Williams

Coach Tyler Myles

U16 Black

Connor Blair

Joey Boyles

Angus Cahalane

Conor Cassidy

Reed Charlesworth

Gavin Doyon

Will Fitzgerald

Brady Flynn

Griffin Glock

Tristan Haycock

Chase Hopkins

McCann Keenaghan

Coach Tim Jaques

Coach Dave Codell

U23 Men

Max Buckingham

Carey Cortes

Nicholas Cyganik

Jayden Hall

Austin Hughes

Bryce Miller

Logan Miller

Brayden Park

Ethan Ramsey

Michael Volavola

Marshall Wiseman

Coach Tim Smith

Coach Perry Pence

The following Atlantis Rugby Player Numbers were awarded for this trip:

2269 - Mike Gonce

2270 - Eben Leung

2271 - Killian Meehan

2272 - Josue Ngoyi

2273 - Brayden Somers

2274 - Rocco Tersigni

2275 - Nicolas Abrams

2276 - Aaron Arline

2277 - Reuben Eley

2278 - Harvey Haycock

2279 - Costello Keenaghan

2280 - Emmett Malley

2281 - Matt Sanders

2282 - Matt Selgrath

2283 - Ryatt Skipper

2284 - Graham Windle

2285 - Nathan Chambers

2286 - Magnus Smail

2287 - Joey Boyles

2288 - Tristan Haycock

2289 - Max Buckingham

2290 - Carey Cortes

2291 - Jayden Hall

2292 - Bryce Miller

2293 - Brayden Park

2294 - Ethan Ramsey

2295 - Michael Volavola

2296 - Marshall Wiseman

Next up is the Atlantis U23 Women in South Africa the weekend of September 4 and then our Player Development and ID Camp at LaSalle College High School on September 19. We hope to see you there!