EIRA U16s Named for Canada Tour
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy U16 team slated to tour British Columbia next week has been named.
The team includes players from 12 different states, as well as England. Among the players of note: Tyren Al-Jiboori is the third Al-Jiboori brother to play for a major touring select side. All three - Michael, Malon, and now Tyren - got their start at Union HS in Oklahoma.
Studying and playing at Reed Weybridge in England are Aidan and Shane Barry, brothers to UCLA standouts Niall and Cian Barry. Kaipono Kayoshi is a speedy, athletic No. 8/lock from Granite Bay who could be an interesting breakout player. Jupiter Sharks scrumhalf Kyle Lazera is an impressive halfback and another to watch.
Barnes, Lions, Look to More Travel, Winning
It’s going to be a globetrotting summer for Keagan Barnes as the Utah Lions and Bingham HS.
The scrumhalf/wing/utility back was part of the Lions team that dominated in the United World Games to win Gold in Boys U18 7s. But he’s not done yet, as a trip to Canada and a stint in South Africa are on the horizon.
“The United World Games was a lot of fun,” Barnes told Goff Rugby Report. “We came together pretty well. I don’t think we were superior athletically. The other teams were very good athletes. But we played at a higher pace and we worked as a team. The coaches wanted us to be cool, calm, and creative. And we were.”
Several of the teams in the UWG were national academies in Europe. And yet the Utah team won comfortably.
South Readies for RAN U19s
The Rugby Americas North (RAN) regional U19 championship is almost upon us, with the USA Rugby South set to face Bermuda on Saturday.
The Panthers will face Bermuda on July 9 and then Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, July 13. It's a pretty favorable draw for the South, as befits the top seed in the pool. Bermuda and T&T play on July 11 in between those two games.
2016 RAN U19 Championship schedule: All games at Vizacaya Park, Miami, Fla. |
EIRA Player of the Week - Karem Odeh
One of the best questions to ask any coach of a select side is - what players from lesser-known teams are playing well?
It’s a great question because many rugby players in this country have made it to the higher levels from relatively humble beginnings. It’s not just a case that you will find your stars on the most successful high school teams - otherwise, why have select sides at all?
Utah Cannibals Win Denver 7s HS Division
The Utah Cannibals claimed the Boys U18 division at the 49th Annual Denver 7s Boys High School Championship last weekend, defeating their own U16 team in a sudden death final.
Utah fielded a U18 side of players who had never played 7s before in hopes of making the final squad for the British Columbia 7s July 8th in Victoria Canada where they will join a corps of veteran U18 7s players who made it to the CRC Finals back in June. The U16s were another story, they came with an entire group of experienced 7s players for the Denver 7s and made an impressive run to the Cup Final.
South U19s Prepare for RAN U19s
USA Rugby South gets to step up for the United States once more this month as the Panthers enter the Rugby Americas North (previously known as NACRA) U19 championships.
The South Panthers entered two teams last year when one of the participating countries couldn’t make it. Their A team made the final before being shut out by Mexico. The B team, as expected, struggled.
Short Day Off for HSAA Players
The Boys High School All Americans pulled off an impressive win Thursday night, defeating Ontario U19s 27-14.
Since this was essentially a HSAA East team (a different group will tour BC later this month), it was pretty close to apples v apples - Ontario isn’t exactly all of Eastern Canada (the Maritimes might have something to say about that) but in terms of rugby talent, it’s close.
The win was that much more impressive given the fact that the USA players had five practices and a walk-through to prepare, while Ontario is in the middle of a summer camp that leads directly to a national provincial championship.
That, said center and try-scorer Jayden Demmy, was due in part to how quickly the group unified under the USA flag.
HS All Americans Win Opener
The USA Boys High School All Americans defeated the Ontario Blues U19 select side 27-14 Thursday at Appleby College in Oakville, Ont.
The Americans rode a strong scrum performance to relatively comfortable first-half lead, pinning the Blues in their end for most of the initial period. Ontario made some adjustments at halftime and battled back. The HSAA team led 20-7 late and then extended the lead with an interception for a try.
Ontario came back with a try of their own to make it 27-14, which is how the game ended.
The HSAA team had many opportunities to score in the early going, getting two lineouts at five meters and a scrum five meters as well. However, the lineouts didn't quite work out, and while the tourists won that attacking scrum, the ball popped out on the wrong side and Ontario was able to defend what happened next.
Rugby Indiana Boys All-Academic Picks
Rugby Indiana has named its All-State Academic team.
Here is the Boys roster - players were chosen based on their academic achievement and success on the rugby field.
South U19s Named for RAN Championship
The USA Rugby South U19 all-star program has finalized its squad to play in the Rugby Americas North (what used to be NACRA) U19 Championships.
As has happened in the past, the South will represent the USA in this tournament, which includes U19 national teams from around the Carribean. The South Panthers roster was finalized after scouting at the South Regional Cup Tournament in Matthews, NC.
The South is in Pool B along with Bermuda and Trinidad & Tobago. The Panthers play Bermuda July 9 and T&T on July 13 in Miami, Fla. as part of Superweek, a festival that will also include a RAN women's U19 10-a-side tournament.
Here are the players and coaches:
HS Stories of the Year - Lightning Strikes
Lightning intervened in at least three state championship high school games this season, and to us, this constitutes a major story for the 2015-16 season.
Here’s why:
The response to each of the lightning incidents were all different, and resulted in some complaints, some shrugs, and perhaps a lot of questions.
Incident #1: Georgia state final. The Lassiter Trojans had just scored to take a 21-19 lead. The conversion was yet to be kicked, but looked to be relatively makable (not sure if that’s relevant or not). Then the lightning began, and the game was halted.
Here’s where the problems ensue. The venue was only secured for a finite amount of time. The game was played on a Friday night, and local laws say the lights have to be turned off at 11pm. The storm didn’t go away in time, and the game wasn’t finished.
Boys HS All-Star Rankings
Being gluttons for punishment we at Goff Rugby Report World Headquarters have ranked the top 20 Boys HS Varsity all-star teams.
This is enormously difficult to do since most of these teams play just the one major tournament. So we judge them based on how they do in those tournaments, and then try to get a gauge, based on observations from witnesses as much as anything else, on the relative strength of the tournament and the opposition. Then we add in some stats, mostly judging the strength of the wins.
It's a flawed system, we readily agree. Could a tournament we think wasn't quite a strong actually have been stacked with the best players and best-coached squads? Yes, certainly.
Atavus Rugby Techniques Helping Football Tackle Effectiveness
SEATTLE, June 28, 2016 - Atavus Football, a Seattle-based sports education and technology company, launches the Atavus Tackle SystemTM aimed at changing the way tackling is taught, practiced and executed. The system, built by coaches with decades of collective experience in rugby and football, uses custom drill progressions and practice and game film analysis to improve tacklers’ confidence and instincts. The rugby-inspired system emphasizes both effectiveness and safety.
Sac Valley JV Wins GNC
The JV brackets in the Regional Cup tournaments are becoming as hotly-contested as the Varsity brackets, and in the Great Northwest Challenge that was certainly the case.
With the HS All Americans and Eagle Impact Rugby Academy touring sides often looking at the JV all-star teams for their players, JV teams realize they are being watched.
Tornados Win in Midwest Cup
The Illinois Tornados North won the Midwest Challenge Cup Boys Varsity bracket Sunday.
Which Tornados team - North 1 or North 2 - doesn't really matter. Both teams went 2-0 against other opposition, and were set to play in the final game. However, given that the entire Illinois Tornados North program will be touring South Africa in a couple of weeks, they decided to not play that game and avoid injury risk.
Head Coach Lou Raymond was pleased, overall, with the teams' performances, as they both beat Indy Speed and Des Moines.
"They performed well," said Raymond. "I've been with this program for ten years, and this has been tough because we changed some things. We put more pressure on the boys to take on more responsibility, and that was a bit of a struggle. But they came through and they are developing."
