Richmond, VA  the Hampden-Sydney Rugby Football Club traveled to Richmond for the third weekend of the Spider 7's tournament series, with this Saturday's tournament serving as a qualifier for the National Championship. Seven teams joined the Tigers: #4 Catholic University, #6 Susquehanna, #17, #18 and reigning national champs Christendom, 18^th VMI, Loyola, Duke, and the University of Richmond.

H-SC opened their round robin matches with #6 Susquehanna. The Riverhawks opened with three straight tries to lead 15-0. Sophomore Graeme Ebert countered for the Tigers with a try and the successful kick brought the score to 15-7. A try and kick by Susquehanna increased their lead to 22-7. The Tigers countered again with another score, this one by freshman Alex Barth. The successful kick set the final score at 22-14. In round two the Ruggers upset #4 Catholic 19-12. Sophomore Joe Newcomer scored a try and the successful kick gave the Tigers an early 7-0 lead. the Cardinals then scored the next twelve points to lead 12-7 before Junior Bryson Smith evened the score at 12-12 with a successful try. A sensational upset was secured when sophomore Bruton Peacock scored on the final play of the match. The successful kick set the final score at 22-14 . In round three of the round-robin format, the Tigers faced #18 VMI, falling 33-0. Following the conclusion of the round-robin, the Tigers played a friendly with Richmond. In a back-and-forth match, the tournament host Spiders scored the first 12 points before Bruton Peacock got the Tigers on the board. The kick was successful, bringing the score to 12-7. Sophomore Jordan Payton then evened the score at 12-12 with a try followed by an unsuccessful kick. The Spiders then took a 19-12 lead. Junior Thomas Kinter answered for the Tigers, his try and a successful kick evening the score at 19-19. The final score was then decided by a Richmond try, making the score 24-19. The Tigers work on the day resulted in a 6th place finish.

Over the last three weeks the Tigers have competed well against nationally ranked competition and will look to make adjustments for the next national qualifier event on March 25^th at VMI. Along with H-SC, other favorites in Lexington will include VMI, the University of Richmond, and Washington and Lee. The VMI tournament champion will qualify for the national 7's tournament held on April 29th in Washington, DC.