HS Boys

Royal Irish, Penn in Dramatic Clash

Royal Irish scored on the final play of the game to defeat Rugby Indiana Super League rivals Penn HS 15-12 Saturday.

Royal Irish led 8-5 in a typically low-scoring game between these two teams made more so by the hard rain. 

Penn scored with five minutes to go to lease 12-8, and seemed to have the wherewithal to hold on, but the Indianapolis-based Royal Irish stole the lineout throw, and worked through eight phases before scoring to win the game 15-12. 

St. Edward Shocks Gonzaga

St. Edward scored a late try from Patrick Conway to pull off a shock 17-12 win over #1-ranked single-school team Gonzaga Saturday.

This game was the first of a two-game tour of Ohio for Gonzaga, with St. Ignatius coming up next.

The game was physical and contentious, with Gonzaga running into penalty trouble mostly in the rucks. Gonzaga looked to roll into the tackle to shield the ball as they placed it, but that led to several penalties. Meanwhile St. Ed’s got into trouble for repeated offside.

Bradfield kicked two penalties in the first half for a 6-0 St. Edward lead, before prop Antoinne Walker powered over with a try that, with Patrick Sheehy’s conversion, put Gonzaga ahead 7-6 at the break.

Boys HS Playoff Weekend!

The Deep South Boys HS final is set for this weekend with the Bayou Hurricanes taking on Jesuit of New Orleans.

Jesuit, led by big Will Waguespack and shift Case Ellis, and some big plays in the scrum, defeated defending champs St. Paul’s in the semis this week.

Meanwhile, Bayou Hurricanes hammered the Barbarians behind another big game from Zavier Triplett. 

These two teams met Feb 27, with the Hurricanes winning 31-19.  That game, along with the game against St. Paul’s, was Bayou’s closest game of the league season.

Watch Out for the West Valley Warriors

The regular season is coming to an end in Utah Youth Rugby, and the playoffs are looming, and if any multi-school teams are thinking about winning a state title, they best plan on getting through the West Valley Warriors.

The Warriors are 8-0 at present, having just logged a 34-21 victory over the highly-regarded Kau Toa team. They have beaten United in a non-league game, and look to finish off a perfect regular season against West Jordan this weekend.

Last year, West Valley won the JV state title, and those JV players - many of them at least - are now joining a core of veterans on the varsity team.

Gamebreakers - HS Boys This Week

Here are a few of the players who had strong performances in Boys HS rugby over the weekend.

Dondre Ross

The co-captain and fullback for Conestoga, he was an attacking force on counterattacks and inserting into the line as Conestoga beat Unionville and Bishop Shanahan in Pennsylvania.

Fermin Moraiz

The shifty flyhalf had a breakout performance for Greenwich in their dramatic win over Xavier. A good player last year, Moraiz has emerged as one of the team’s best.

Case Ellis

The Jesuit of New Orleans Blue Jays back scored a crucial try and was named player of the game by St. Paul's as Jesuit defeated St. Paul's in the Deep South semis.

Orlando Meets Tampa in Florida Final

The Florida Youth Rugby Boys DI league comes down to this weekend, finally, after a long season for all.

The big question has been whether teams could handle the new alignment, which required everyone to play everyone else - no geographic splits. This would mean more games, and more tough games for the upper echelon, and coaches have generally agreed that their teams have gotten better as a result.

Coaches have also agreed that sometimes the travel is tough, and sometimes finding a time and place to play a makeup game is tough, too. It’s supposed to be hard to win a championship, and this season no team ended undefeated. 

So now to the final and Orlando v Tampa. Both had their shaky moments, and in fact went into the playoffs seeded #3 and #4. But both are finishing strong.

For Orlando, winning their semifinal over Jupiter was a task in itself.

2016 Boys HS Club Rankings #11

With West Shore's solid showing at the Maryland Exiles tournament, that team moves up, and we make a few changes near #60 in the Goff Rugby Report Boys HS Club rankings.

Eastside tied Rainier in Washington state, and gets much, much closer. But for the most part, everyone's holding relatively steady. Florida and Texas playoffs may move things around this weekend.

2016 Boys Single-School Rankings #11

Not much in the way of changes as most teams did what was expected in the Goff Rugby Report Boys Single-School HS Rankings.

Conestoga gets to join the rankings, probably a week or two later than was proper. We do have some shifts up top, as Herriman put in a nice result over United, (hence the drop for St. Ed's), and Jesuit and Penn also recorded good wins over well-regarded opposition.

Xavier drops thanks to the loss to Greenwich. Greenwich rises, but as we've noted before, Xavier has some wins in their season and Greenwich some losses that need to be reconciled. Is Xavier secretly better than Penn, because they beat the Indiana team? Sure, maybe, probably ... but Greenwich lost to the Fairfield HS club team, and we need to see them do more to outlast that result.

West Shore Goes 3-0 at Exiles Tournament

Emmitsburg, Md. - The West Shore United Boys Rugby Club went 3-0 at the Maryland Exiles International Rugby Festival, held this weekend on the picturesque Mount Saint Mary’s University Campus, to claim the top honors in the High School Boys Premier Division. West Shore defeated West Carroll, Md. in their first match by a score of 15-7. Jayden Demmy scored both of the West Shore United tries in the match. 

Herriman Defeats United

Herriman defeated United 43-12 this past weekend in Utah Youth Rugby action on Senior Night.

The evening started with 13 Herriman seniors escorted onto the field by their parents through a tunnel of their teammates. It was a warm start to a chilly evening.

Deep South Finalists Set

The finalists for the Deep South HS Rugby Championship are set as the Bayou Hurricanes and Jesuit of New Orleans Blue Jays both won semifinals.

On Saturday in Raceland, La., the top-seeded Hurricanes hosted the NOLA Barbarians.
Bayous got on the scoreboard early with a try from outside center Zavier Triplett. The conversion was blocked, leaving the score at 5-0. Bayou pressured the Barbarians once more and lock TJ Folse would touch it down next with the conversion made by scrumhalf Hunter Breit. The Hurricanes started to open up the game a bit and both fullback Brandon Sanders and wing Demery Rener raced in for tries. Breit converted both for a 26-0 halftime lead.

Lightning Strikes as Georgia Plays Finals

On Friday night the Georgia state HS rugby organization held its championships, and it was a supremely successful evening, with one very noticeable complication.

The evening began in front of almost 600 fans at Roswell Area Park in Roswell, Ga. with a state Middle School championship, won by Alpharetta Phoenix 19-17 over the Rebels. There followed a showcase of Elementary School rugby, and then the JV Boys final, which Alpharetta Phoenix won comfortably over the Barbarians. There followed a showcase of girls rugby - still somewhat new to the state - in which the Titans beat the Harlequins.