Aspetuck Defeats Xavier
Aspetuck defeated Xavier 26-12 in a big win for the Connecticut team.
After a couple of tough results in which they were missing some key leaders, Aspetuck bounced back with a strong performance.
Three players were missing for both Berks and Woodlands (both losses), including dynamic flyhalf Pearson Hill, but with those players back, and the newer players learning, Aspetuck produced a good performance.
Xavier, for their part, weren't so happy.
“We let outside factors get inside our head,” said front rower Christopher O’Halloran-Gannon.
“We were physical, but we got frustrated too easily,” added front rower Anthony Dabao.
Herriman Needs Comeback to Beat tough Olympus
Herriman defeated Olympus 33-19 in a tense, competitive early-season matchup in Utah.
Leading the way for Herriman were the two current seniors who played in their team's 2021 National Championship team. Both players are co-captains. Josiah Dunn is coming off his first season in football in which he was All-Region as a punter and wide receiver. He is also a state champion in DECA academic competitions, winning in Business and Operations Management. Dunn also convinced his friend Carson Grundy, a captain in football, wrestling, and baseball at Herriman, to try rugby.
Brown is the team's emotional leader who runs the team's community service activities—he's also the student body president.
Danville over Motherlode
Motherlode made the trip to Danville to face the Oaks in their Rugby NorCal Premier Division league game.
Clear skies and a dry field help the Oaks play to their strengths with quick, sharp ball movement. Motherlode kept pressure through tactical kicking from their flyhalf Bryn Jones.
A quick run out of tries early by the Oaks allowed for them to work through their depth of players and afford the opportunity for many to get significant minutes and show themselves in game action.
Gregory Leitch led the scoring with three tries and a 7-of-10 day with his conversions, accounting for 29 points. Ethan Younger, voted back of the game by Motherlode, ran the show at flyhalf with both his hands and foot; he also found the tryline.
SCIRF All-League Boys Selections
SCIRF coaches today announced the 2022-2023 All League Teams.
This is the first year the girls team was announced and fifth year for the boys. The Player of the Year is voted on and selected by the coaches.
Cathedral Catholic scrumhalf Spencer Huntley was selected as the 2023 SCIRF Player of the Year by the nine SCIRF coaches. He joins previous Players of the Year, Miles McCormick (Cathedral Catholic/St Mary’s), Aiden Konja (St Augustine/ SDSU), Luk Otinero (Cathedral Catholic/St Bonaventure) and Dylan Fortune (Cathedral Catholic/Lindenwood).
Gamebreakers HS Boys Mid-March
It's Mid-March and time for another shot at our Gamebreakers in Boys HS Rugby.
Matt Staycer, Torrey Pines
The massive body up front has skills too and he scored the first two tries in Torrey’s 19-14 defeat of San Clemente in the SoCal Single-School semis.
Waisea Bainibure, Elsie Allen
The Lobos have been running in tries all over the place this season, and more often than not it’s Bainibure doing them. The Elsie Allen No. 8 scored four tries in each of his team’s first three games.
Sederik Saxon, Phoenix Alpharetta
Tries are one thing, and the big No. 8 for Phoenix has scored them, but it’s his leadership within the team’s pattern of play, his lineout work, and even his kicking that has elevated the Georgia side through a strong showing in Charlotte and in local league games.
More States Start as HS Games Heat Up
We already have a score in with Woodlands beating a very good Staples team on their northeast tour.
We have some big games coming this weekend, however. Torrey Pines plays St. Francis in the all-California school final. St. Francis is a newer program and has been playing some really good rugby. Their competition with De La Salle and Jesuit Sacramento was really tight, so they won't be fazed by tough competition. San Clemente plays De La Salle for 3rd.
Pendleton tours Louisiana in yet another stern test for the New Orleans-area teams as well as the Indiana tourists. Gonzaga is at Fort Hunt, a team that has some serious potential. A very improved Bishop Dwenger takes on St. Ignatius.
GRR HS Club Rankings Week 8
Much movement this week.
Woodlands takes over the #1 spot after two nice wins on tour. Belmont Shore hasn't really done anything wrong, but we haven't seen them play much so that means they drift down a little. Ranked teams are kind of like sharks—they have to keep swimming to stop themselves from sinking.
Granite Bay has been putting in the results and they could have been #1 this time around. Yes they beat Gonzaga, but there was an open subs wrinkle to that game and so that stops us just short. Danville, which tied Granite Bay earlier, stays close.
Woodlands 2-0 So Far on Northeast Trip
Woodlands is on tour this week in Connecticut, taking on Aspetuck, Greenwich HS, and Staples HS.
Traveling with 32 players to get A- and B-side games, and played Aspetuck this afternoon. Please see attached final score sheet and running score sheet. We will also play Greenwich on Tuesday and Staples on Thursday.
In the opening match of the tour, The Woodlands A side defeated Aspetuck 42-17. The B-side beat Aspetuck's Bs 55-5.
No. 8 Ethan Scott was man of the match for the A-side match and No. 8 Grant Raper was man of the match for the B side.
Scott was massive defensively, tackling ferociously through the game. He was the lineout thrower and used a long throw to get his side going forward. Scott also scored a try. Rapter scored two tries and was a lineout-stealing force.
Next Phase Rugby, Rugby Indiana Partner Up on College Recruiting
Next Phase Rugby and Rugby Indiana have announced a college recruiting partnership.
Next Phase Rugby and Rugby Indiana have joined forces to support the thousands of Indiana boy’s and girl’s high school rugby players as they look towards collegiate rugby. As the only sole rugby recruiting app, Next Phase Rugby, connects high school rugby players with collegiate rugby programs across the nation. Through this partnership, Rugby Indiana athletes will have access to premium memberships at a discount, allowing them access to the hundreds of colleges on the Next Phase Rugby platform.
GRR HS School Team Rankings Week 8
Gonzaga may well not deserve to be bumped from #1, but right now we are doing just that.
A loss to Granite Bay was, surely, facilitated by an open subs option in that game. But too bad ... the loss is there. We may well soon see Gonzaga do something that bumps them back up. Herriman wins well against an admittedly rebuilding United side and they take #1. St. Ignatius? Well, yeah, their result against LaSalle was better than Gonzaga's result against LaSalle.
We do actually think that one could take the "we're reloading" story from Cleveland a bit too literally. SIHS could well still be tops in the nation. But we will wait for a more definitive result. Say ... March 25 at Gonzaga? Yes, that might be the one.
Pendleton Logs Impressive Win in Tennessee
Pendleton Rugby's tour to Memphis and New Orleans began with a very good showing over the weekend.
The Indiana HS club defeated #13-ranked 901 (formerly Germantown) out of Tennessee 29-5.
The evening began with an exciting JV curtain raiser that saw a back-and-forth tussle finishing with Pendleton won 41-31. Prop Eli Libler scored a try and made several rumbling runs to cause 901 trouble. He was named JV man of the match.
Invitations to Boys HS National Championships are Out
The Boys HS Rugby National Championships Committee has announced the list of teams invited to attend the 2023 tournament.
To be held May 25-27 at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., the Boys HS National Championships will feature three brackets: Single-School, HS Club, and a Tier II. Ultimately 24 teams will be invited with the top eight-seeded Single-School teams going into the Single-School Bracket and the top eight-seeded Club teams going into the HS Club bracket.
The other eight teams, whether school or club, will be in the Tier II bracket.
Here’s who has been invited so far, with some team notes:
HS Club
Granite Bay (2022 HS Club Champions)
Woodlands (4th in 2021-3 of last 4 HSNC losses by a try or less)
Danville (2018 HS Club Champions and current NorCal contenders)
Four Play in NJ for Round-Robin
Christian Brothers of New Jersey hosted a round-robin of shortened games over the weekend, with with local rivals Union and Morris, plus Rugby PA side Berks County, facing off.
The season has been a tough one for Morris already as captain Isaac Gamboa suffered season-ending injury and this weekend a few other key players were not available due to college visits. That made for a fairly inexperienced side. Two of their more experienced players, Charley Colvin and Evan Rothery, suffered injuries but patches themselves up and returned to the fray to help lead the newer players.
Here's how the games went:
Around the Nation in HS Rugby March 11
California’s single-school competition enters its final phase, and some key cross-border games highlight the weekend; here’s what’s been going on.
Trips Tours and Cross-Border Games
Defending national single-school champs St. Ignatius ran out to a commanding 43-0 lead over LaSalle College High of Pennsylvania and held on to win 57-0.
The Ignatius defense, coupled with their ability to hold onto possession for long periods, helped produce the shutout. Sophomores Jake Papesh and Conor Bender, along with senior Cole Sutkus, led a strong forward effort and were imposing in contact. Ryan Putka continues to be the pendulum that keeps the backs in rhythm, but the second half slowed down some as Ignatius was hit hard with penalties and cards.
Phoenix Alpharetta Backs Up Start With Win Over AYR
Phoenix Alpharetta defeated AYR Inman Park 33-22 Friday in Georgia high school action.
AYR is fielding two high school teams that, as a program, are very effective. AYR plays as a unit outside the region. This Inman Park side, populated largely by players from the Atlanta neighborhood of the same name, was solid, testing Phoenix at the breakdown and forcing plenty of penalties in that area of the game.
Their forwards battled well and were aggressive, and while they have talent out wide, the connections weren’t quite there to hurt Phoenix too much.
For the Alpharetta side, they made several long breaks that were usually hauled down by the AYR Inman Park cover defense. However, Inman Park were hit with several penalties on those occasions.
