Photos & Video: 2017 Atlantic Rugby Cup

August 11, 2017

The 2017 Atlantic Rugby Cup was held last night [August 10] at the National Sports Centre, with the event beginning with the URugby Collegiate All-Star Cup, followed by a match between the USA Islanders and renowned Saracens from London.

The URugby Collegiate All-Star Cup is a first-ever match for the Cup and took place at 5.30pm, just before the highly anticipated USA Islanders vs. Saracens.

Slideshow of the event:

The first match featured two collegiate all-star teams from the USA. The Republic of Texas All-Stars coached by Rick Medina took on Jerry Mirro and the newly formed Liberty Rugby Conference All-Stars. Eventually, the Republic of Texas All-Stars defeated the Liberty Rugby Conference All-Stars 33-12.

Following the Collegiate Cup, the USA Islanders took on the Saracens.

The USA Islanders are described as “a band of brothers with island heritage including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii and islands of the Caribbean,” while the Saracens are described as “simply one of the best professional rugby teams in the world and winners of the European Professional Club Rugby championship two years running.”

In the end, the Saracens recording an overwhelming victory, defeating the USA Islanders 92 – 0. The Saracens jumped out to an early 29 – 0 lead in the first half and then scored an additional 63 second half points.

94-minute live video replay of the Saracens vs USA Islanders match

The Saracens were led by Captain Chris Wyles, Henry Taylor and Ben Earle who all scored a hat-trick, with Mike Ellery, Max Malins, Tom Griffiths, Alex Lozowski and Ben Earl all adding a try each, while Ben Spencer was able to convert on six conversions.

The match between the Saracens and the USA Islanders was used as a charity platform to raise money for the Beyond Rugby Bermuda.

According to the URugby website, “Beyond Rugby is an organization started by WWE Star John Layfield that helps teach children the importance of staying in school and everyday life lessons through the sport of rugby.”

BRFU Chairman Gareth Nokes, who was instrumental in getting the Saracens to use Bermuda as their training ground said: “The primary focus is to raise funds for our charity, however, in doing so, we get to watch world class rugby being played on our little island. What’s not to love?”

Click to enlarge photos: