SAN DIEGO – The USA Rugby Men’s Club Championships for Division I, II and III wrapped up today at the Little Q Rugby Stadium in San Diego, Calif., and in the end, it was Hayward, Raleigh and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds all taking home their first respective division titles.

In the Division III Championship match, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds Men’s ‘C’ side met the Mission Rugby Club for the second consecutive year. After a loss to the Mission in 2006, the Boston Irish won the Division III championship title this year with a final score of 55-5 and marking the Boston c-side’s first title win in Division III.

In an extremely exciting Division II matchup, the Championship title match came down to a clock-beating drop goal as the Raleigh Vipers edged out the Red Mountain Warthogs, 29-27, Sunday. The ninth-seeded North Carolina team was propelled to the title off the boot of captain Mike Groenewald in the closing seconds of an extremely aggressive match.

Raleigh shot off to an early lead, following a quick drive over the try line and conversion by Groenewald just moments after the opening kick. Red Mountain, who toppled Los Angeles, 35-0, in the semi-finals, struggled to put down the Vipers fierce offensive attack for much of the first half and Raleigh found themselves leading 19-10 at half.

Nevertheless, it would be a fight to the finish, as the physical intensity on both sides continued to mount throughout the second half, resulting in disciplinary action from officials. Raleigh initially benefited from penalties in the game’s final minutes, but with six minutes remaining, the Viper’s big man Winguard was tossed from the match.

Following the reversal of fortunes, Red Mountain blew past their man-down opponents to take the lead for the first time in the match, 27-26. Raleigh would maintain their forward surging style, though, and with less than a minute remaining, the Vipers pressed for one last try before placing their fate in the foot of team captain. Against the clock, Mike Groenewald kicked the game-winning goal to make the Raleigh Vipers the 2007 Division II Champions with a final score of 29-27.

In the Division II consolation finals, the third-ranked Los Angeles Rugby Club bounced back from being shut out the following day and handed the 13^th seeded Tulsa its first loss of the tournament, winning the consolation match 39-8.

And in the feature match of the day, the Division I Men’s Club Championship, Hayward returned to the final rounds, after being shut down in the semifinals last year, to finally have its day in the sun and walk away with the victory over Austin 30-16.

Although the halftime score reflected a much closer match with Hayward narrowly ahead at 17-16 and momentum looking to be in Austin’s favor, Hayward was able to shut down the Austin offense and build back a lead with shining performances by both flyhalf Moepau Faamamafa and hard charging center Semisi Finau. Finau earned the Division I Most Valuable Player honors for his strong and consistent performance throughout the weekend and Hayward, who has been a regular at the DI Championships, earned its first title.

In the Division I consolation match, Olympic Club claimed third place in the nation with a convincing 56-3 win over the Cincinnati Wolfhounds with several changes from Saturday’s starting lineup against Austin.  Olympic held Austin to only three points on the day.

For more information on the USA Rugby Men’s Division I, II and III Club Championships, please visit www.usarugby.org.

Sunday, June 10

Division II Consolation

Los Angeles 39, Tulsa 8

Division I Consolation

Olympic Club 56, Cincinnati Wolfhounds 3

Division III Championship

Boston Irish Wolfhounds 55, Mission 5

Division II Championship

Raleigh 29, Red Mountain 27

Division I Championship

Hayward 30, Austin Blacks 16