HS Boys

Aircraft Charter Solutions PoW - Bronson Teles

For many top high school rugby players, football season is upon us. For Bronson Teles of the Katy Barbarians in Texas, it’s no different.

An imposing football player as a defensive end, and in rugby as a No. 8, the tall, big-striding athlete is one to watch.

Teles began playing rugby at nine years old, and has played with Katy ever since.

“I fell in love with rugby watching the Springboks as I was growing up. My heroes are Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha,” said Teles. 

Two Top Georgia HS Programs Merge

Alpharetta Phoenix Rugby Club and Roswell Rugby Club are pleased to jointly announce today that they will merge for the 2015/2016 rugby season and following seasons with immediate effect.

(Note - news of this merger produced immediate response from the Georgia HS Rugby Association, which opposes it. See details here.)

The merged entity will play and be known as Phoenix Rugby and will operate from North Park in Alpharetta, Ga. The club colors of green and black (Roswell) and red and black (Alpharetta) will be incorporated into a new club strip with both the Phoenix and Roswell names included. It is anticipated that the new club will field three U19 boys teams, a new girls team and several 7s teams. The club will operate year-round.

Rugby Utah Launches Fall HS 7s Series

Salt Lake City, UT (Rugby Utah Release) —Rugby Utah and Utah Youth Rugby (UYR) are teaming up to host an elite-level Fall 7s Rugby Championship Series for the high school and men’s divisions.

The program will commence on September 16th and will culminate with a series championship October 31st. The RU/UYR Fall 7s Series will feature hundreds of high school and men’s division players vying for coveted state championship honors.

Rugby Utah, the governing body for the senior division in the state and the sponsor of the USA Rugby-sanctioned regional Olympic Development Academy, will field this important assemblage of men’s club teams during the series with the intent of reinvigorating the Men's Division while also unifying the development pathway for all levels of rugby play within the state.

Aircraft Charter Solutions PoW - Juwan Johnson

Southern California’s HS 7s season wrapped up with the San Pasqual 7s at the beginning of August, and, no surprise, Los Angeles won.

It’s been a weird summer for LA, as the team itself was organized by players. Captain Juwan Johnson got the kids together to play, and registered for the tournaments, but what Johnson didn’t know was that the Serevi-sponsored Serevi Series required a separate registration. So while Los Angeles won in San Pascual, and the Gator 7s, they did not feature at all in the Serevi Series standings, which were won by Back Bay.

Atlantis Wins RugbyTown in Dramatic Fashion

The Atlantis U18 boys team won the Serevi RugbyTown 7s U18 bracket in dramatic fashion in Infinity Park Saturday afternoon, with Mike Dabulas scoring the winning try with no time left to defeat a superb Utah Lions team 31-26.

Atlantis started the scoring with their impressive wing, Royall Jones of Hudson Catholic in New Jersey, dancing down the sidelines. Jones was taken down, but wasn’t held in the tackle and was able to get up and canter in under the posts. Sam Devine (Doylestown, Pa.) hit the conversion for the 7-0 lead.

But the Lions responded immediately. In a game of stark contrasts in approach, the Lions were combative, spying into contact and challenging the smaller Atlantis team to evade the hits. Utah forced a turnover and worked it out to Keagan Barnes (Lowland), who shrugged off a high tackle to go over. Colton Swapp’s conversion tied the game 7-7.

Atlantis Leads RugbyTown U18 7s

The Atlantis U18s went 4-0 in action at the Serevi RugbyTown 7s U18 bracket, defeating two teams that finished the day 3-1, and putting themselves in prime position to make the final on Saturday.

Atlantis is playing the tournament down a player as St. Edward, Ohio, star Ryan Bradfield was found to be too old for the competition (players had to make age by tournament day, not an earlier date, as the Atlantis coaches thought).

Despite losing one of their big bruisers, the slight, elusive-running Atlantis team scampered their way to a 4-0 day, opening Friday’s play with a 29-19 defeat of the Utah Lions, shutting out the Utah Cannibals 17-0, getting by the Glendale Raptors Academy 22-14, and edging Canada’s Upright Rugby Rogues 10-7.

Resurgent Cannibals Set Sights on RugbyTown 7s

After a two-year hiatus from national and international competition, the Utah Youth Rugby official select side, the Utah Cannibals have been back in competition this summer, and it's been a good summer.

The Cannibals won the U16 bracket of the Victoria 7s, and also won the Rocky Mountain Challenge 15s all-star tournament, going 8-0 in Varsity and JV combined. The 7s team then went on to win the Denver 7s.

The 7s Program sent three sides to the Victoria 7s in British Columbia in July, and in addition to winning the U16 bracket, they finished 5th in the Boys U18 Elite and 3rd in the Boys U18 Open.

ATAVUS U18s Picked for Glendale

The ATAVUS U18 All-Stars are set to compete in the seven-team Serevi RugbyTown 7s U18 bracket in Glendale, Colo.

The players come from seven different states, including both coasts, and are led by HS All American Alfonso Cornu, and Eagle Impact Rugby Academy player Sean Lumkong. Several have played select-side, mostly at the younger age levels.

The U18 bracket is comprised of seven teams, including the Utah Cannibals, Atlantis, Utah Lions, Upright Rugby Rogues, Glendale Raptors Academy, and Rocky Mountain Rebels.

ATAVUS All-Stars 

Rian Lee, Beaverton, Ore

William Fifita, Aurora Saracens, Colo.

Joe Kamara, Central Terrors, Colo.

Santiago Mascolo, Rye Rugby Club, NY

Kasey Self, Eastside Lions, Wash.

Kyle Saalfeld, Kent, Wash.

Maxwell Darst, North Penn, Pa.

Atlantis U18s Head to Glendale

The Atlantis select touring program has named its U18 team to compete in the Boys U18 bracket of the Serevi RugbyTown 7s in Glendale, Colo, this weekend.

The seven-team tournament includes the Utah Cannibals, Utah Lions, Atavus All-Stars, Glendale Raptors Academy, Rocky Mountain Rebels, and, out of Ontario, the Upright Rugby Rogues.

Several of these teams have already met each other at the Las Vegas Invitational in February, but the lineups are now somewhat different. The majority of the Atlantis players come from the Mid-Atlantic region. Overall it is a relatively small, but highly-skilled team that moves the ball well. Mike Dabulas, Daniel Callahan, Soh Nakayama, and Noah Nuimataiwalu epitomise the team's game-making approach, as all are halfback types with good passing and elusive running skills.

Justin Hickey AD at Pa School

Former Clemson University head rugby coach Justin Hickey has taken a job with the Moon Area School District at Director of Athletics and Activities.

Hickey announced earlier this summer that he would be leaving Clemson, and discussed then the fact that he had just earned his PhD in Educational Leadership, and was looking for a position in the athletic director field.

The Moon Area school board approved the appointment during its regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 10.

East Coast Rugby Combine Wraps Up

About 30 student-athletes attended the East Coast Rugby Combine August 1 and 2 at the United Sports Center in Downingtown, Pa., with young players showing their talents to several top college rugby programs.

Young Washington Loggers Sweep in Canada

The Washington Loggers’ U14/15 Development squad completed a 4-0 sweep of four Canadian rep-sides during mini tour to British Columbia, August 6-9.

The squad of 22 promising U15-eligible boys opened their account defeating British Columbia’s 'C' team by a decisive 63-0 score, followed by a 55-0 success against Alberta’s 1st XV Rep Side.

On Saturday, under the late-afternoon heat of the Okanagan sun, the Washington boys unleashed a torrent of running rugby, downing British Columbia 'B' by a 104-0 total.

Chuckanut U15s Dominate

The Chuckanut U15 boys team not only won the Washington State Games U15 Rugby 7s championship on Sunday, they clinched early and dominated the competition.

Chuckanut had the gold medal wrapped up well in advance of the final game, and coach Darin Hamm said that’s because of team unity.

“We’ve got some experienced kids who go to the same school and decided to stick together

to play rugby during the summer,” said Hamm. “They are a good group of talented players - really athletic. Often they’re outsized, but they play together well and spend time together off the field.

They practice hard, are fit, and don’t have a lot of weaknesses.”

The summer’s roster included:

Julien Fitzstrawn

Mel Ketteridge

Jeremy Samuelson

Tommy Davenport

Zachary Tucker

Alex Cleary

Declan McGhee

Liberty U17s Win Washington State Games

The Liberty Patriots won the Washington State Games Boys U17 rugby 7s gold after running the table in the final tournament of the four-tournament summer series.

Liberty played a very smooth style of 7s, unleashing a team-wide level of skill that saw them outstrip a  very strong Prairie team.

In fact, for Prairie, the season hung on a difficult second tournament that left them with only seven points. So even though they won four games in the third tournament to close the gap, they entered the day two points behind Liberty. Liberty went 3-1 and Prairie went 4-0 to leave both teams tied on points, but Liberty the winners on total points difference. Chuckanut took the bronze despite a difficulty day in Covington, Wash.