All-Star Rugby 2017 - a Rundown
USA Rugby has selected four host venues for the High School-level Regional Cup Tournaments in the summer.
One more venue will be announced later.
The four venues are:
South Regional Cup, Life University, Marietta, Ga. June 16-18
Rocky Mountain Challenge, Aurora, Colo. June 17-18
Midwest Regional Cup, Fishers, Ind., June 24-25
Great Northwest Challenge, Portland, Ore., June 23-24
Jesuit Sacramento Starts Strong
Jesuit HS of Sacramento is looking ahead to the beginning of the Marauders' NorCal Premier season, but the buildup so far has been solid.
As with most high school teams in California this year, Jesuit High School rugby is struggling with rain, field space issues, sickness and injuries. Regardless of the early season challenges, Jesuit has progressed over the past month.
In the Kick Off Tournament held in Sacramento during one of a series of storms, Jesuit went 3-0 in shortened games. They were able to beat Santa Monica in the opening game 14-3, then overcame a tough Beaverton, Oregon team 12-5, before besting an athletic Peninsula Green team 13-10.
Charlotte Catholic Opens NC Season
Charlotte Catholic opened their 2017 campaign with a trip to Wilmington, NC to face off against the Cape Fear Flytraps.
The Catholic team has moved to the North Carolina HS Club (or Open) league in order to get tougher competition, but remains a single-school team. The Cougars opened the scoring with a try by junior Will Clouden and then captain Reid Brandt touched down twice to stake Catholic to a 17-0 lead.
Cape Fear battled back with a line break and long run for a try. The Flytraps converted bringing the score to 17-7 midway through the first half. From there on it was all Catholic, and with tries from Brandt and Jacob Smith bringing the halftime score to 27-7.
Highlanders Start Season Strong
The Chapel Hill Highlanders opened up their defense of the North Carolina HS club championship with a 42-5 defeat of Clayton.
After a slow start and only leading 5-0 at halftime, the Highlanders opened up their style of play and eased to victory scoring a total of seven tries. Standout performances from Ian Hirsch jumping in the lineout, and Manny Seyon's aggressive throughout the game, helped the Highlanders to victory
“It is fantastic to see so many high school age kids taking to the game of rugby," said Chapel High Coach Gavin Cook, whose B teams also won on Friday night. "It was a great contest today and Clayton should be recognized for what they doing to build the game from grassroots. The commitment from their players, coaches, supporters and community will mean that they will become a real rugby force in the area in the not too distant future.”
SoCal Varsity Red Playoff Picture
One more week in the Southern California Varsity Red divisions - the division for 100% single-school teams.
We know who will be in the playoffs, and Mira Costa and St. John Bosco lead the Los Angeles division, and La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines lead in San Diego. It now all comes down to who will be 1st.
St. John Bosco defeated Citrus Valley 52-5 to move to 4-0.
Mira Costa, meanwhile, thumped Roosevelt on the road despite being somewhat shorthanded. No. 8 Jonah Tavai was player of the game, and opened the scoring. Flanker Gunnar Kissman was a monster, and scrumhalf and captain Harrison Dulgarian was strong, too.
La Costa Canyon Survives Saints Attack
La Costa Canyon are now 4-0 in the Southern California Varsity Red San Diego division after the Mavericks beat Saint Augustine 22-13 this past weekend.
The Saints got off to the start they needed when they dominated possession almost exclusively for the first seven minutes of the game, playing structured rugby and recycling the ball well. Ethan McVeigh, the Saints scrumhald, backed himself and crashed over in the corner for the opening score, but missed his own conversion attempt. The Saints continued to control the majority of possession and LCC was forced to maintain discipline and defensive structure.
Torrey Pines Slams Cathedral
Torrey Pines defeated Cathedral Catholic 46-7 in SoCal's Varsity Red league, pulling off an excellent display against a very good Cathedral team.
With an undefeated league record on the line, Torrey Pines needed to play well against Cathedral, and they did, hardly putting a foot wrong against their San Diego-area rivals.
Torrey Pines is a large public school with an excellent sports record across the board. Cathedral is a well-funded private school less than three miles away, and whose football team just won the state championship.
Carolina HS Latest
Myers Park enjoyed an especially successful weekend in South Carolina, beating two strong teams in as many days.
On Friday, Myers Park defeated West Meck 36-10. And then on Saturday, playing a very strong Irmo team from Columbia, Myers Park got thee tries from Ty Graham and two each from Luke Kabrich, Adam Phifer, and Matthew Start. Phil Patterson and Evan Macobdi both scored one each.
Myers Park showcased some smooth ball movement and good skills throughout the game. Phifer and Graham, the two centers, were especially good in the 67-14 defeat of Irmo. For Irmo, injuries have hit them, and while they are big and imposing, they struggled to contain the Myers Park backline.
Irmo also had a second game this weekend, losing 20-7 to Wando. Charlie van Vliet was player of the game for Wando, who had a bit more depth and a bit more pace.
Jesuit New Orleans Handles St. Paul's
Jesuit New Orleans moved to 3-0 in Rugby Louisiana league play this weekend with a 29-19 defeat of 2015 state champs St. Paul's.
St. Paul’s jumped out to an early lead when senior No. 8 Bam Barreiro quick-tapped a penalty from about seven meters out and bulldozed his way in for five points. The conversion was good and St. Paul's led 7-0.
Texas Latest - Woodlands over Katy
Having both beaten the Rugby Texas defending champion, The Woodlands and the Katy Barbarians met this weekend.
In a tight game that could have gone either way, The Woodlands emerged 30-26 victors.
Katy continued to get good work from center Josh Schnell, who has been a try-scoring machine. and Paul Burgogne in the backs and Simon Cormack in the forwards have been outstanding. However, Woodlands kept Katy to only three tries (one converted) and three penalty goals - basically enough in check to win it.
Katy put Woodlands under pressure early and led 6-0 thanks to two penalty goals. But Woodlands replied with a try to come within a point, and then took the lead at 28 minutes with a penalty goal. Katy’s first try of the day, just before halftime, made it 11-8 Barbarians at the break.
SoCal Varsity White Playoffs Set
The playoff picture in Southern California’s Varsity White Conference is clearing up.
Wilson HS took charge in the LA division with a convincing win over Santiago Wilson Tops Santiago. That win puts Wilson at 5-0 and clinches the #1 seed out of LA, with Santiago #2.
In Orange County, Los Alamitos continued its late run, beating previously unbeaten Tritons 42-15. It was an impressive showing for Los Al, which is now 3-0 and only has a game against Servite left. However, that game, which was rescheduled due to exams week at Los Alamitos, isn’t necessary - Los Alamitos has 15 points from their three games, and Tritons, in 2nd place, has 13 from the full slate of four games, so Los Al has #1 clinched regardless, and Tritons is #2.
Wilson Tops Santiago
Wilson HS and Santiago HS met up this weekend to decide the top team in the SoCal Varsity White LA Division, and Wilson came away with an emphatic victory.
Wilson scored two quick tries to take an early lead, but struggled to build on that early advantage until just before halftime. Two more tries just before the break made it 20-0, and in the second half, Wilson took charge.
The outside backs looked very good, moving the ball and showcasing some snappy ball handling. Fullback Ryan Dowgiewics, outside center Jeremiah Nunez, and wing Roberto Hernandez were especially good with their running and ball handling.
"Going into the playoffs with an undefeated record is more than I could have asked for from the boys," said Wilson head Coach Tony Balasuriya. "I'm very impressed with the freshmen that are starting us now."
Danville Defeats Pen Green
In a clash of two of the top HS teams in the nation, the Danville Oaks defeated Peninsula Green 57-35 Saturday.
The Oaks started quickly and kept up the pace throughout. They led 33-14 at halftime. Peninsula Green had some good attacking movements, but eventually the Danville defense was able to turn them over. Tyler Nunnery was outstanding in this respect, and repeatedly stole Pen Green ball, and was also a tough runner.
Meanwhile, Danville’s continuity wore Pen Green down.
“Once we got through three or four phases, it was pretty hard to defense against us,” said Danville Coach Jon Straka.
Peninsula Green scored three tries late to close the gap. Straka said some of the tries his team gave up were due to poor decisions on their own half, but, he added, “Pen Green made us work for it.”
Boys Single-School Rankings Week #3
A bit ate, here's our latest Boys single-school rankings.
Not a lot of shifting, although a few more SoCal teams push into the rankings, and they will sort themselves out during playoff time. We've got a good feeling about la Costa Canyon, and Greenville HS also makes a move.
Player Waiver Beef Sinks Carlsbad Playoff Hopes
Undefeated Carlsbad Thunder will not be able to play in Southern California’s Varsity White playoffs because the team suited up two players who required a waiver to participate, and failed to get them a waiver until well into the season.
Here are the facts as we understand them:
SoCal’s Varsity White division is a single-school division, but allows up to 30% of the players involved to be from another school as long as that other school does not have a rugby team.
Carlsbad has followed this rule, and currently is well above the 70% minimum of players coming from Carlsbad HS. However, two of their longtime players come from San Dieguito Academy, and San Dieguito formed a team this season.
