Texas Boys Set for Exciting Year
The Texas Boys HS season begins January 9 and spans four exciting months with the final on May 1.
St. Pius hosts Alamo Heights in a non-league game this coming weekend, and in fact it will be non-league games for a couple of weeks until the league play behind on January 29.
In 2015, Westlake was somewhat dominant, going 8-0 in league play and then winning the semi and final 17-12 over Lake Travis.
Westlake, whose rugby players had a big influence on the school’s football playoff run, should be one of the favorites again. Westlake opens with a non-league game against The Woodlands, which won the South Division with a 6-1 record. State runner-up Lake Travis, which beat Woodlands in the 2015 semis, will look to the February 25 clash with Westlake as a game to circle.
SoCal Varsity White Latest
The Southern California Boys Varsity White season got back on the field Saturday as teams bounced back from the winter break.
In the Inland Division, the Dead Rabbits improved to 3-0 with a workmanlike 38-10 defeat of previously unbeaten Citrus Valley.
Six different Rabbits scored in a game where Citrus Valley led 10-5 at halftime.
Scrumhalf Dakota Reames was instrumental for the Dead Rabbits in keeping the offense flowing.
“It was nothing flashy,” said Coach Steve Lohmeyer, “just good decisions, [and a] balanced attack between forwards and backs because of [Reames’s] decision-making.”
The strong, athletic Rabbits backline started coming together and poured in 33 unanswered points in the second half. Still with a lot to learn, the Rabbits are improving.
2016 HS Nationals Venue, Date Set
The 2016 Boys HS National Championships will return to the Rugby Athletic Center (RAC) in Charlotte, NC on May 19-20-21, 2016.
As has been the case since the HSNC went back to an independent event in 2013, this will be an invitational, with participating teams having to apply and get through a selection panel to compete.
Applications to register your team for consideration will be posted at on or around January 10, 2016 (check back with Goff Rugby Report for the link), and the application will also be sent directly to past participating teams. Applications are due back for consideration by February 15.
Trend in Private HS Select-Sides
The news that the Southern California Eagle Impact Rugby Academy will field its own select side is just the latest in a trend in HS rugby.
State-based rugby organizations have not always been set up with all-star teams in mind, although most put one together. But even as the all-star tournaments (now called Regional Cups) have become more formalized within USA Rugby, select sides that are not state-based have grown in number.
We’ve seen the growth of Atlantis from a touring program for men and women to one that serves high-schoolers are the U18 and U16 level. We’ve seen the Celtic Elite perform well out of southern Ohio, and the Glendale Raptors have, at the U19 level, reimagined themselves as a touring side rather than a club to play in the Rugby Colorado league. We will see more.
La Costa Canyon Over Torrey Pines
La Costa Canyon made something of a statement this past weekend with a 40-12 defeat of Torrey Pines in the Southern California Varsity Red conference.
The Varsity Red features teams from the San Diego area with 100% of their players from a single school.
In this game, Torrey Pines sought to assert a physical advantage with their bigger forward pack, but the experience LCC backline was a little more polished. Torrey Pines had the lion’s share of possession with Ben Ruffolo, Cole Maes-Valley, and Nick Zimmer doing good work up front.
But it was La Costa Canyon that opened the scoring when flyhalf Justin Petersen took a quick tap penalty and sent it wide to Sean Lumkong, who drew his man and passed to speedster Jon Ditto. The wing did the rest and touched down in the corner for a 5-0 lead.
NYC EIRA Wraps Up Fall Sessions
The New York City chapter of the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy wrapped yup its first season this past week with a session at Iona College.
This is the first year for the NYC chapter of EIRA and it went well - top high school players in the region assembled for six three-hour sessions over the fall. The idea was not to work on trick plays or fancy new moves, but instead the focus was on the basics of rugby - catch, pass, track, tackle, scrum, kick, defensive setup, and positional play.
Mira Costa Wins, Rivals Loom
The Mira Costa Mustangs thumped rivals Palos Verdes 82-12 Friday in the annual South Bay Scrum Down in Southern California.
The hard-charging Mira Costa side improved to 3-0 (2-0 in league play) and now enter their winter break.
The Costa side was constantly on the attack as they managed to recycle the ball nicely and used their backs well. Smooth balle movement led to tries for No. 8 Jonah Tavai (who scored three) and outside center Makai Elep (who also scored three), while inside center Justus Tavai, outside center Jermal Williams, fullback Sean Walker each scored tries. Forwards captain and lock Justin Johnson got one try.
Mira Costa looks to be among the top teams in the Varsity White LA division in Southern California, with View Park Prep and St. John Bosco also solidly in the hunt.
Honey Badgers Take Care of San Pasqual
The University City Honey Badgers continued their solid start with a 53-5 defeat of the San Pasqual Eagles Saturday.
The Honey Badgers play in the San Diego Division of the Southern California Varsity White competition (requirement of 70% players from one school), and have put their hands up as a potential contender after beating always-wrong Torrey Pines 19-12 in a preseason game. This weekend’s clash with in-conference rivals San Pasqual featured the scoring ouch of flyhalf Patrick Madden, who notched a try and four conversions for 13 points, and two tries each from No. 8 Brandon Cole and center Lole Veimau.
Also touching down for University City was center Ryan Shogan, flanker Gabe Raichart, wing Belix Guerra, and hooker Jared Stahl.
EIRA SoCal to Launch Select Teams
Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA) Southern California has announced plans to field EIRA High School Boys All Star teams in the USA Rugby 2016 Regional Cup Tournaments (RCTs).
Under this new initiative, EIRA SoCal will create Junior Varsity, Varsity, and Developmental squads for the June 2016 RCTs in either Denver, Colo. or Portland, Ore. For EIRA SoCal Director Jeff Bonnett, this is a big step for the strong rugby region.
“In the last three years, we have gone from a handful of juniors and seniors to now a 28-player varsity and a 28-player junior varsity squad that competes at a very high level.” said Bonnett “SCYR is growing the game at such a rapid rate, we believe more spots and opportunities need to be opened up so that more players have the chance to showcase talents for HSAA and collegiate coaches.”
Rugby Players Lead Texas High Schools to Football Success
Lake Travis is playing Katy Friday Saturday night in the final of the Texas State 6A D2 football championship, and Westlake will play North Shore in the 6A D1 final.
While we don’t normally cover high school football in these pages, it’s worth noting that several key players on both Lake Travis and Westlake are from their very strong rugby programs.
For Lake Travis, defensive end and rugby No. 8 Derrick Womack has been a big part of the team’s success, and linebacker and flyhalf Patrick Medina is a linebacker for the football team.
Realignment in NorCal HS Season
The Northern California Boys HS season will kick off at the end of January, with some significant changes.
The big shift is that the Varsity Single School Gold and and Varsity Gold divisions have been eliminated in favor of a merged division of the strongest programs from both single-school and club.
The teams aren’t necessarily the programs that always win, although most are; rather, it’s a league of teams that have significant depth and can field A- and B-sides, and more, on a regular basis.
In fact, the Premier Varsity division actually has three levels - A, B, and JV, so each team is expected to field three teams each game day.
The Premier Varsity includes annual single-school top dog Jesuit, as well as defending club champion Danville, along with the team they barely beat for the title in 2014, Granite Bay.
LCC v Pines Tops SoCal V-Red Openers
All eyes are on the second season of the single-school boys HS competition in Southern California, as the Varsity Red gets going once more.
The seven teams are committed to fielding 100% single-school rosters, and adhering to California interscholastic sports requirements, thus trying to spark sanction of the sport in schools throughout the state, eventually.
Last year’s champion, Fallbrook, is back on the field after a bit of an admin struggle, which is good news, but they graduated some impressive talent and will be hard-pressed to get back to that level immediately.
This weekend Torrey Pines opens against La Costa Canyon, and for many that game may well direct how the division will go. Torrey Pines has a solid outfit, said coach Matt Sandoval. They’ve had a solid three weeks of training, and will again feature a solid backline.
Dead Rabbits Start on the Hop
The Dead Rabbits opened up their SoCal Varsity White season with an impressive 32-0 defeat of Desert Sands to start 1-0.
For Head Coach Steve Lohmeyer it was a nice league opening for a team that all sorts of athletic potential, but maybe not a lot of rugby knowledge, yet.
The Rabbits return five or so veteran players. The rest are new to the game.
“We’ve got a lot of athletic talent,” said Lohmeyer. “But it’s a case of putting it together.”
Lohmeyer said his team left some tries unsecured due to knock-ons and forward passes. The biggest problem, he said, was that players were too eager and came up too flat. They were in the right position, but not the right depth.
“Hopefully we’ll get better at that,” said the coach.
Citrus Valley Welcomes Roosevelt to SoCal League
The Varsity White season in Southern California is underway and the Inland Conference has expanded to four teams.
Rossevelt HS has joined the Dead Rabbits, Deserts Sands, and Citrus Valley in the conference. This weekend, Citrus Valley opened up with a 24-12 win over Roosevelt.
"Roosevelt has many talented athletes and will be a strong program in our area," enthused Citrus Valley Coach Pete Smolin. "They played very well in thier first game ever."
Citrus Valley has some exciting takent. Captain and flanker Jason Lucero was player of the game and center Voi Fata combined nicely with outside center Stephen Plaisted and the two are big, imposing, and athletic.
Mira Costa Wins Opener
Mira Costa opened their Southern California league season with a 46-19 victory over Dana Hills in the SoCal Varsity White Divison, LA Conference.
Brothers Justus and Jonah Tavai were hugely influential in the game, with Justus, the senior inside center, a physical force with the ball in hand, and running the offense as well, while sophomore No. 8 Jonah created all sorts of havoc.
"Justus makes all of our play calls and has become a leader on the pitch," said Mira Costa Coach Duke Dulgarian. Meanhwile, the younger Jonah has been playing since he was seven years old, bringing an experience to his position most high school players don't have. Both Tavai brothers scored two tries.
