For the 7th year in a row the Washington Boys JV team won the JV bracket at the Great Northwest Challenge regional all-star tournament.

The victory was notable in part because the team just looked younger than everyone else. They were small, for the most part, all freshmen and sophomores, and yet outplayed bigger, often older teams by executing superbly. They showcased correct technique in the rucks and the scrums, worked together in other aspects of forward play, made their tackles, and spun the ball effectively.

Flanker Kyle Saalfeld of Kent stood out as a field-roaming menace, and scrumhalf Tristan Ingold, also of Kent, just kept the ball moving. These two players are very good news for a Kent program that was, at one point, one of the best in the country, but has struggled to match the efforts of other teams in Washington in recent years.

Loren Wallace of Eastside was excellent at inside center, moving the ball nicely and challenge defenses to keep up with the Logger passing. Bruce Finlay of Seattle was outstanding in the lineout.

"All of the guys are just solid," said Marc Sullivan, part of a highly-capable Washington coaching staff that included Pete Sullivan (the guy in charge), Jeff Candler, Ian Franks, Tony Pacheco, and former Eagle Kevin Swiryn. "They don't really look like a team that would win - they're certainly not big - but they are just really good rugby players."

The victory capped off an impressive weekend for Rugby Oregon, which hosted the GNC, and especially the fact that so many all-star programs took well-stocked JV teams to the event. When you start talking about developing the future of the game, it is the growth of the JV select sides around the country that is the real story.