HS Boys

SoCal Varsity White Latest

Top teams in the Southern California Varsity White are starting to show themselves after this weekend's results.

First off, here's what we know among key results:

Carlsbad beat Alta Vista to move to 5-0 (score unconfirmed).

Santiago got a forfeit win, which moved them to 1st place after Wilson won, but failed to secure a bonus point. Wilson beat Artesia 18-17 (you'll see below that Artesia doesn't have a bonus point listed; that's because they forfeited a game earlier in the season, and so were at -1 bonus-loss points before the close loss this weekend. That additional bonus point bumped them back to zero.)

South Carolina Latest - Season Kicks Off

Wando, Greenville HS, and Columbia Area (Irmo) all won in the opening weekend of the South Carolina HS rugby season.

Greenville edged their rivals, South Greenville, 13-10, while Irmo had little trouble with Lexington 27-3.

Even more dominant was Wando, the defending state champs. The Wando defense was superb, keeping Bishop England well away from any scoring opportunities. Head Coach Tod Shepherd said his team's performance, especially the cohesiveness of play, was much improved from their recent MSIRL loss to the Charlotte Tigers. That game, in fact, helped get the Wando players closer to mid-season form.

Sophomore flyhalf Caleb Calandra scored two tries for Wando, as did outside center Huw Meredith, playing in only his second game. 

Charlotte Tigers Defeat Phoenix

The Charlotte Tigers moved to 3-0 in MSIRL with an 18-3 defeat of Georgia-based Phoenix.

In this Mid-South Independent Rugby League, the Tigers have defeated three major out-of-state opponents in the opening weeks. In this game, Charlotte's defense was the star, as Phoenix got inside the Tiger 22 several times but was unable to convert that pressure into tries.

In the first half, Charlotte took the lead with a good series og phases culminating in HS All American prop Trey Reed going over. Flyhalf Jack Williams converted for the 7-0 lead. Williams added a penalty and that ended the first-half scoring with a 10-0 Charlotte advantage. In the second half, Phoenix put pressure on Charlotte, got a penalty, and took the three points to make it 10-3.

Boys HS Games Jan 27-29

Here are the matchups in Boys HS rugby this weekend.

Last weekend was rained out completely in Arizona, so this will be the opening weekend. We did check in with a couple of teams last week, but there's little to add right now. 

We have a look at some of the key matchups in Southern California, specifically San Juan v Tritons (Tritons v Stallions Possible OC Decider) and University City v Mira Mesa (University City v Mira Mesa - Undefeateds Meet Up). 

Boys HS Club Rankings Week #2

Still somewhat quiet in the club HS game, but we will see a lot more games in the coming weeks.

We did get some very good-natured ribbing of late on some rankings, and our answer is this - play outside of your league. Go on an out-of-state trip or host a team ... heck, let us know if you want to find someone to play on an off-weekend. Playing just inside your league can make it difficult to go high in the rankings.

Resurgent Lamorinda Faces Champs Danville

Northern California's Boys Premier season gets underway with defending champs Danville taking on Lamorinda.

And while Lamo was 0-6 last season in league play and Danville 5-1, it's not necessarily going to be the mismatch you might expect.

Lamo's numbers are strong, and the team is looking to put in some improved performances.

Tritons v Stallions Possible OC Decider

This weekend may not be the weekend that decides everything in the Orange County division of SoCal's Varsity White competition, but it will answer plenty of questions.

Two teams, the San Clemente Tritons and San Juan, sit at 2-0 right now, and they play each other this weekend. Both teams have defeated Dana Hills and Servite in previous weekends - Tritons 30-0 over Servite and 10-7 over Dana Hills; San Juan 21-5 over Servite and 28-24 over Dana Hills. The winner should be in command of the division after this weekend.

This has been a good start for the San Juan Stallions, which is in its first season. They only have 21 players, and 11 are completely new to the game.

University City v Mira Mesa - Undefeateds Meet Up

University City and Mira Mesa are a combined 9-0 in the Southern California Varsity White San Diego South division, and this weekend they get to see who is the better.

UC is 5-0, having taken maximum points from all their games. Players such as Patrick Madden, Ryan Shogan, Zachary Rohde, and Juan Pablo Cabrera have been solid - more than solid - but Head Coach Jason Lee isn't getting carried away. 

"We’ve managed to win our games - not as convincing as Mira Mesa but we are managing," said Lee. "Both teams know each other very well. Our players play club rugby together and the coaching staff have all coached together on other teams.  It will be a classic backyard brawl between brothers."

For Mira Mesa (4-0) Head Coach Bob McFadyen, the hope is just that his players enjoy the moment.

Apply to Play at HS Nationals!

Top boys high school rugby teams who want to play for a national championship need to apply to be invited.

While the Boys Rugby National High School Championship is an invitation tournament, the invitations are based on current record, past success, and ability to make the trip (this year the BHSRNC is in Kansas City).

But you hav to apply. So for more on the tournament, the venue, and the application process, go here.

Boys Single-School Rankings Week #2

It's still quiet times in the single-school leagues, but we've got some results, especially from Southern California. 

The SoCal single-school teams will finish up in the middle of the spring, so it's very difficult for them to keep a really high ranking, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt now and see how it all shakes out. 

A couple of notes on single-school v multi-school teams. We incorrectly had Myers Park as a HS Club last week, and we should have had them in this ranking. Myers Park is ranked here now. Charlotte Catholic plays in the club league in North Carolina, but is actually a single-school team - they take their players from Charlotte Catholic HS only - so they stay in the single-school rankings. Overall, we go by what a team says. If a team says it's single-school, then it's single-school; a team says it's a club, then it's a club.

Gamebreakers HS Boys

Rain hit the HS schedule pretty hard this past weekend, but we did get some games and some standout performances.

Here's a look at who played well.

Josh Schnell, Katy Barbarians

​​​The Katy threequarter scored two long-range tries in a 29-22 win over Westlake.

Issac Johnson and Will Smith, Charlotte Tigers

The two Tiger flankers didn't get on the scoresheet, but were a ferocious pair in every aspect of play, making tackles, winning rucks, and getting work done as the Tigers defeated Wando.

Katy Upsets Westlake in Texas

The Katy Barbarians pulled off something of a small upset in the early going in Rugby Texas, with a preseason 29-22 victory over defending state champs Westlake.

Keane Joins EIRA Full-Time

Eagle Impact Rugby Academy has announced that it has brought on Brendan Keane full-time to serve as Associate Director alongside Director Salty Thompson.

Keane has been working for several years with the EIRA program in various capacities, kick-starting the Carolinas chapter while he was a teacher and rugby coach at Charlotte Catholic HS, and then coaching the EIRA U16s and U17s.

Pen Green, Jesuit Enjoy Strong KOT Weekend

Peninsula Green rattled off six wins against one loss this past weekend at the Kickoff Tournament in Sacramento, but still found a formidable opponent in longstanding NorCal power Jesuit HS.

The results are a message that Pen Green could be a real player in the Northern California Premier. 

Even though Pen Green was missing U20 All American Bo Mailau due to other commitments, as well as several other key players due to a football awards banquet, the team played tough rugby against a strong Jesuit team and almost took home the championship trophy.