A Different Kind Of Army-Navy Game Coming This Summer
by Paul Kurtz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Army and Navy will be clashing again but this time the game is rugby. The service academies will be among dozens of teams taking part in the upcoming Collegiate Rugby Championship in Chester.
The battleship New Jersey provided the backdrop for a Rugby Sevens primer, courtesy of members of the Army and Navy squads.
"You've got seven guys up there so they're running up and down pretty fast. It's high-scoring, it's high-impact, and every 15 minutes there's a new game. So they play seven minutes, a minute, and seven minutes. Then they turn around and play a new game," said Tournament Director Donald Walsh
24 of the nation's top Rugby Sevens teams will be at Talen Energy Stadium for the two-day tournament beginning June 4th. Locals include Temple, St. Joe's, and Drexel. But Navy Coach Mike Flanagan says the service academies are sure to be a featured attraction.
"People will line up to watch Army Navy play tiddlywinks. It doesn't matter," said Flanagan.
Rugby Sevens will make its return to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer.