Texas Season Begins at Ruggapalooza
Sixteen boys HS teams got in on the action this past weekend at the Rugby Texas Ruggapalooza.
The event featured a series of controlled scrimmages, which allowed the coaches to work with new players, but it was also some serious rugby. Among the players who had good days were St. Thomas center Griffin Maat, Cy Fair back Keoni Francis, St. Thomas prop Sam Yeboa, Cy-Fair wing Jacoby Rogers, and St. Thomas flyhalf Riley Bishop.
Boys Single-School Preseason Rankings for 2017
Goff Rugby Report has our Boys single-school preseason rankings out.
The rankings are mostly based on how last season ended, with a little nudge here and there due to various tiny factors, or some early results. Everything is expected to change rather drastically as the game start.
We define single-school as a team that says it's single-school. As far as the Southern California teams go, if a team is in the single-school (Varsity Red or Varsity White) conferences, they are regarded as single-school.
Jesuit New Orleans Win in Early Start
Jesuit HS of New Orleans kicked off their Louisiana HS league season with a workmanlike 27-5 defeat of new team Captain Shreve Saturday in New Orleans.
Storer Gives HS Teams Some Feld Time
It was a useful weekend of games for several top high school at the Storer Classic on the UCLA campus.
For the Danville Oaks, it was an impressive weekend, with a 47-8 defeat of United of Utah, and a 27-7 defeat of the Irvine Rhinos. Program Director Jon Straka said his team made too many mistakes - especially penalties and turnovers, but the team defense was good enough to repair the damage. All-in-all, though, it was early-season rugby, and Danville acquitted itself fairly well. Flyhalf Christian Toetuu was superb, directing the attack and setting up his teammates for scores.
For United and Snow Canyon - two top Utah programs coached by brothers Colin (for United) and Michael (for Snow Canyon) Puriri, just getting outside was a nice change.
Bosco Edges View Park Prep in SoCal
More drama in the Southern California Varsity Red as St. John Bosco held off View Park in a thriller in the Los Angeles division.
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Bosco and View Park Prep traded tries throughout, with View Park leading twice in the first half, and Bosco taking the lead once and then tying it at 12-12 at the break.
Phoenix Holds On in MSIRL Clash
Georgia's Phoenix club battled through for a 30-26 win over Columbia Area (aka Irmo) in the third game of the Mid-South Independent Rugby League (MSIRL) this weekend.
In a game played in good conditions after some rough winter weather in the region in previous days, neither team could pull too far ahead.
Barbarians Start Strong in Louisiana
The New Orleans Barbarians opened up their Louisiana HS Rugby season with a pretty comprehensive 48-0 defeat of new team Capt. Shreve HS on Saturday.
Captain Shreve kicked off its first league season with two shortened league games on Saturday - this is common for Shreveport-based teams as the six-hour travel time to New Orleans makes a one-game day difficult to justify. The Shreve team is new (New Team Kicks Off Louisiana Season), although many of the players are experienced, as the program has splintered off from the Shreveport Area club, which remains in action. Barbarians Head Coach Matt Austin said Shreve showed flashes and plenty of commitment by making the long trip.
Cathedral Downs Del Norte
The Cathedral Catholic Dons rugby team opened the 2017 regular season with a tough victory over the Del Norte Nighthawks Friday night.
From start to finish both teams displayed extraordinary effort as both teams moved up and down the field on a rainy night in San Diego.
The Del Norte 10-12 combination of Jared Ho and John Hale started the game with a series of intense punches up the middle which the Cathedral defense was able to repel. Del Norte repeatedly executed these moves eventually scoring. Cathedral fought back with outstanding phase play among the forwards, resulting in tries of their own. Both sides moved the length of the field during the first half trading tries allowing Del Norte to be on top at the half, 21-17.
Roosevelt Logs 1st League Win
Roosevelt High School rebounded from last week’s close loss to View Park Prep with a 29-16 defeat of Citrus Valley Friday.
The win bumped Roosevelt to 1-1 in the Los Angeles division of the Southern California Varsity Red.
Wilson Looks Good in SoCal
Wilson HS took control of their destiny in the Southern California Varsity White LA division with an impressive 59-5 win over Crespi.
With the victory Wilson is 2-0 and the only team in the LA division that has not lost a game. Wilson Coach Tony Balasuriya said his team is starting to integrate the newer players and the experienced players. With some players tied up with the Wilson football team in the fall, Balasuriya ran out some younger athletes in some preseason games. Wilson lost a couple of those, but, said the coach, "you learn more when you lose."
Torrey Pines Holds Off St. Augustine in the Rain
Torrey Pines logged a 21-7 defeat of Saint Augustine Friday night in the Southern California Varsity Red San Diego division.
On a rainy, cold night at Ed Burke Field at Torrey Pines HS, it took a while for both teams to really open it up. Saint Augustine started the game on the front foot, sending the opening kickoff deep and pinning Torrey Pines in their own 22 for most of the first eight minutes.
But then Torrey Pines turned it around. HS All American lock Blake Richards-Smith - playing No. 8 on the night he broke through for a long, rambling run that got TP over halfway. Thundering along in support was lock Tanner Wyandt, who took the offload from Richards-Smith to cap off the movement, and score the opening try of the game. Flanker and captain Jackson Baere put the conversion over, and Torrey Pines led 7-0.
HS Boys Weekend Preview - Jan 13-15
Well that's more like it. This weekend is a busy one
It's getting a bit more active in the Boys HS season, with games through Varsity Red (see our notes on those games here - SoCal Varsity Red - League Games for Everyone). View Park (View Park Escapes Scare) v St. John Bosco is perhaps the most compelling game in that bracket.
New Team Kicks Off Louisiana Season
The Louisiana Rugby HS season kicks off this weekend with a new team takes on two top opponents.
Called the Deep South HS League last year, this competition has reverted to calling itself Louisiana Rugby, despite the fact that they have a team from Mississippi (the Mississippi Royals), and Florida (Niceville) in the competition.
In fact, nine teams will be in play this season: Jesuit New Orleans, NOLA Barbarians, Brother Martin, Mississippi Royals, Shreveport, Niceville, St. Paul's, defending champs Bayou Hurricanes, and new team, Captain Shreve.
SoCal Varsity Red - League Games for Everyone
The Varsity Red competition in Southern California is for teams that have 100% of their roster from a single school, and it’s a competition that has been growing.
Six teams in the San Diego Division have been joined by seven teams in the Los Angeles Division, and this weekend begins a torrid run to the playoffs in late February.
In LA, Mira Costa, the 2015-16 Varsity White champs, gets their first league game started against new team Redondo Union. This Redondo team was kick-started by Mira Costa Head Coach Duke Dulgarian because he wanted a local rival for his Mira Costa Mustangs. So this begins what could be an intense rivalry. Mira Costa has won non-league games over Torrey Pines, Servite, and Saint Anthony.
Ruggapalooza Kicks Off Texas Action
Rugby Texas gets some action going this coming weekend with a controlled-scrimmage jamboree called Ruggapalooza.
It’s a great way to ease players into live rugby. Memorial HS Coach Jeff Burns said the event is “baptism without the fire. We get a lot of players who are completely new to the game, and so this is an opportunity for them to get out there, make a real tackle, and see what playing against opposition is like.”
The experience of playing in live situations is often one that energizes those players, and gets them to recruit more to the team, said Burns.
