HS Boys

Gamebreakers - Taysan Hammer

Herriman HS back Taysan Hammer is leading the team in tries so far in the Utah Youth Rugby Fall 7s Series.

Hammer has scored 18 tries in ten games so far, and his coach said Hammer has made strides this fall.

"Taysan has made the jump from key reserve to elite caliber player in just a few short months," said Jeff Wilson. "He had a terrific summer of development with the Cannibals in Denver and Victoria and showed well in the NAI 7s as well. Most importantly, he is a 4.0 student and a young man of impeccable character, and is providing senior-caliber leadership even though he is just beginning his junior year."

Pelham Leads NY HS 7s Series

The second round of the New York State HS 7s league is in the books and Pelham HS won this past weekend’s Boys tournament, beating Keio Academy in the final.

Teams earn points for where they finish in each tournament, and so far Pelham leads the series, with New York’s 1st team in 2nd place. New York beat Keio’s 2nd team for third this past weekend.

Pelham was led by Luke Persanis, who scored four tries and kicked nine out of ten conversions. This followed a five-try, 9-11 performance in the first week.

James Carney, Yoann Rolland, and Sam Louman also played well for Pelham.

Herriman Wins Utah Fall 7s

The Herriman HS Gold team has won the first two tournaments of the Utah Youth Rugby 7s series, setting themselves up nicely for the next two events.

In the 1st leg, Herriman Gold started somewhat shakily against the East Side Barbarians, led by Ezequiel Garcia, but they held on to win. After that, Herriman hit their stride. They handed Kau Toa a 34-7 loss, and then beat United (playing a little shorthanded as it was Homecoming) 54-5. 

USA Rugby Soliciting HS-Youth Eligibility Opinions

USA Rugby is working on a review of Youth and High School Eligibility, including age breakdowns, youth variations, as well as weight restrictions and other restrictions.

The National Governing Body is also reviewing when contact should be introduced to players.

Current USA Rugby rules include breakdowns based on school grade, rather than age. In addition, a progression of contact levels is recommended (Bronze, Silver, and Gold, although the current Youth Variations Vision do not specify what those are. 

(Update: New documents from USA Rugby do specify those levels of contact:

Bronze Variation.

Marin Highlanders to Join NorCal HS Premier

Rugby NorCal has announced that the Marin Highlanders will join the Rugby NorCal Premier League in 2017.  

The Premier League was created before the 2016 season for larger clubs who can commit to fielding three high school sides every weekend: Varsity A, Varsity B, and JV (frosh/soph). After a successful inaugural year with seven teams, the league plans to expand to ten clubs in 2017 with five clubs each from the Bay Area and Sac Valley Conferences. In 2016, three teams in NorCal Premier were ranked in the top ten by Goff Rugby Report.

EIRA Player Spotlight - David Hannon

Flyhalf and scrumhalf are important positions on a rugby field - they’re all important, sure, but these two have special responsibilities - and perhaps that’s why we so often see players trained overseas fill those positions at the national, pro, club, and even college level; but there are capable halfbacks in the HS ranks coming up who need to be looked at.

One of those is part of what could be a halfback dynasty. David Hannon is the younger brother of Brian Hannon, who was flyhalf for Royal Irish when they won their last two HS Club National Championships in 2014 and 2015. David was a freshman wing on that 2015 team, and then took over at flyhalf in 2016, leading the Royal Irish to another national final (where they were defeated by Granite Bay).

NJ HS 7s Kicks Off

Rugby New Jersey kicked off its fal HS 7s series this past weekend, with tournaments at Christian Brothers Academy on Sunday, September 11.

Two full-size grass fields and a bright, sunny day made for an excellent day of rugby.

Pat Moroney Rugby NJ 7’s Director was well prepared for the event. With the assistance of Henrique Ribeiro, a college intern from the Sports Management Department at Kutztown University the days games started promptly throughout the day. Six seasoned referees managed the games.

Midway through the day, the games were stopped to honor those who lost their lives on 9-11-2001. All the players, coaches and referee’s locked arms midfield for a moment of silence and the signing of the National Anthem. 

2017 Boys HS Nationals Slated for KC

The 2017 Boys High School National Rugby Championship will be held May 18-20 in Kansas City, Mo. at the Swope Soccer Village, organizers announced today. 

The venue will feature four lighted, turf fields that will be set up exclusively for rugby. As has been the case in previous years, the tournament will last three days, with 60-minute games for every team on each day. 

"Kansas City has a great rugby history both at the HS and men's level," said BHSNRC Committee Member Bart Bottorff. "They have participated in this event for as long as I can recall and are deserving of the host selection. We wanted to pick a city that hasn't hosted but has supported past tournaments. Also moving west after being central and east the last four years was important."

Mid-Atlantic HS Teams Forming League

Some top Boys HS teams from the Mid-Atlantic area will be coming together to form an independent league, much in the same model as the Mid-South Invitational Rugby League.

Like the MSIRL, the Mid-Atlantic HS Premier League will not take teams out of their normal state competitions, but rather augment them and formalize a playing schedule among the teams involved. 

Five teams are known to be involved at the moment: GRR's Single-School #1 Gonzaga HS, HS Club #4 Fort Hunt, HS Club #19 West End, HS Club #9 Doylestown, and HS Club #58 West Shore. While ranked well below the other teams, West Shore has a long history of good results and would expect to be ranked higher in 2017. 

JV Squad Wins RugbyWa State 7s Title

In an interesting turn of events this summer, the Rugby Washington Boys HS 7s championship was won by a JV team.

In the final tournament of the season, the Rainier Highlanders, the program that also won the Boys 15s title, fielded two teams, a Varsity and a JV squad. 

It wasn't too much of a surprise that the Rainier JVs were solid. They had played well in previous tournaments, going 3-0-1 in the first of the summer's events, and 2-0-1 in the second - both ties were against the Rainier Varsity team.

Under Coach Kino Auvaa the Highlanders JVs continued to improve. Auvaa told Goff Rugby Report that the players love the game, are a close-knit group and so play well as a team, and are committed to their preparation and their fitness.

New HS League Forming in South

A new Boys HS league is being set up in the Southeast, with nine teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia committing to play in the new competition.

The idea behind the Mid-South Invitational Rugby League is to give top teams in the region tougher competition in a format that guarantees that the games will be played and played for a championship. Nine teams have committed: Lassiter and Phoenix from Georgia - the two top teams in that state; Wando and South Greenville from South Carolina - the two top teams from SC; Union County, Charlotte Catholic, Myers Park, and Charlotte Tigers from North Carolina - four of the best from that state. In addition, the Midland Marauders is a new team from Columbia, SC that will compete.

EIRA NY Opens Registration

The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy New York chapter has opened registration for fall sessions.

Eagle Impact Rugby Academy was created by USA High School All American coach, Salty Thompson, as a program to develop young players' core skills in a competitive environment. The Academy in the NYC area will hold five three-hour sessions using multiple coaches and guest coaches in an effort to develop the basic core skills of players in the area.

Last year EIRA NYC saw five players selected to the HSAA winter camp and two players selected to tour with the HSAA to Ontario.

Coaches who will be participating this year are:

Matt Persanis of Pelham HS and formerly of NYAC, who heads up the program;

Chance for Travel Perk with EIRA Fundraising Drive

Eagle Impact Rugby Academy is running its fundraising drive, and has a nice potential perk for donors.

Anyone who donates $25 or more will be eligible to win four e-passes from Southwest Airlines wherever they fly - one e-pass is good for a single-, one-way trip, so four e-passes is like getting two round-trip tickets. Your name is added to the drawing for every increment of $25 you donate.

This is made possible because one of the EIRA coaches, John Banarhall, among his several jobs, is a pilot for Southwest, and his volunteer time with nonprofit organizations (including EIRA) earned him two tickets from his employer. Banarhall has donated those tickets back to EIRA.

This fundraising drive will help EIRA work with talented up-and-coming players and give those kids opportunities to play overseas. 

EIRA Player Spotlight - Devin Short

One of the breakout players for the Boys HS All Americans this summer was a a young player who just a few short months ago had never played rugby.

This young man is Devin Short. And while many of the other players were from well-known HS programs, Short came from the relatively new program of the Las Vegas Black Hawks. Short, a No. 8 and sometime lock is a tall, athletic, smooth-running forward. At 6-3, he is an accomplished defensive end in football, who is slated to play football in college this coming fall. 

But rugby has taken hold in his heart, and you can see it by the way he plays.