Solid Start for Dwenger
Indiana’s Bishop Dwenger enjoyed some preseason success the last two weeks, first beating a XV from St. Ignatius, Cleveland (not their 1st side, but still) and then winning two at Archbishop Moeller’s tournament, beating the hosts and also Rockford out of Michigan.
Head Coach Taylor Serres spent last year reloading a program that had graduated about 19 seniors the previous spring.
“We had 10 freshmen or sophomores on our A side last year,” Serres told GRR. “The good thing out of that was that those guys were able to get a lot of experience.”
Serres noted that last year Dwenger attended Moeller’s tournament and lost both games
HS Boys School Top 50 Week 9
What do you fans think?
Should St. Francis be #1? It isn't a for-sure thing that the All-California winner would be the #1. But after all of the results we've seen, and the results we've seen nationally, and with St. Francis beating De La Salle and Torrey Pines. and Jesuit Sacramento, this is the time to move such a team to #1.
Xavier did just fine but drops to #2. St. Ignatius did just fine but drops to #3.
The other major movers are teams that won games—Regis Jesuit shut out Monarch; St. Thomas beat Dallas Jesuit; Fordham Prep got a couple of wins.
All of the rankings right now are very tenuous.
HS Boys Club Top 50 2025: Week 8
This is still early days in the HS Club rankings and you can see that in how this week's rankings changed.
The Southern California clubs are a week out and the Northern California teams are not quite in full force. So when there's a result here or there, that can have a massive effect.
Eastside moves up after a win, and in fact the team they beat, Rainier Highlanders, moves into the Top 50.
Marin moves up after beating Danville but we caution you that the NorCal situation could change rapidly.
New Trier vaults up after a win over Pendleton, but a lot could change there—it was a 17-15 result so we might push that aside at some point ... we'll see.
Cavemen produced a very good result against a tough team, while Rainier (as we said) and Camas move into the Top 50. We were all poised to put Wenatchee in the Top 50 and then Camas beat them.
HS Update: Eagles, Tigers, Cavemen, Pelham, and Woodlands
We have had a bunch of stuff go on around the nation in boys HS rugby.
Here are some of the reports we have already posted:
Lindenwood Tournament Key Kickoff For Several MW Teams
Xavier Impresses in Win over St. Edward in the Wind
Smart Game Plan Leads St. Francis Past Torrey Pines in All-Cali. Final
Lindenwood Tournament Key Kickoff For Several MW Teams
Teams in the Midwest took advantage of the annual Lindenwood Tournament over the weekend to get a good multi-game kick-start to the season.
"It was a good tournament, and we had the opportunity to get some time for a lot of guys," said St. Thomas Aquinas Head Coach Tim Kluempers.
Aquinas won two games, beating Eureka and St. Louis Jets. They lost to 901 out of Tennessee, which took the result 26-5. In addition, 901 took a 48-7 win over Oklahoma-based Bixby; they were led by senior forwards Garret Hagan (U. Memphis commit), who scored four tries on the weekend, Andrey Toy, who scored three, and No. 8 Riley Windschitl, who also bagged three.
Xavier Impresses in Win over St. Edward in the Wind
The Eagles of St. Edward High School in Cleveland never truly got off the ground in a match that saw Xavier of New York control mch of the run of play for the first half Saturday.
Xavier won 29-10 on a breezy day in New York.
“The wind was whipping and the elements were unforgiving,” said Xavier’s back’s coach Eamonn Matthews, who noted that St. Edward’s used the wind to put in a good amount of kicks. This got the ball behind Xavier’s defensive bosses, forcing the Knights into tough positions, but the Xavier attack carried the team through.
“We played a very smart game, picking and choosing when we wanted to attack direct, and when we wanted to try to get the ball wide,” Matthews added.
Smart Game Plan Leads St. Francis Past Torrey Pines in All-Cali. Final
St. Francis of Northern California is the undisputed All-California single-school champion after the Lancers beat Torrey Pines 33-24 Saturday night in San Diego.
With the SoCal school season splits between SoCal Youth Rugby on one side and SCIRF on the other, there might have been a debate as to who was the top team is Torrey Pines had won—the Falcons tied Cathedral Catholic in a non-conference game this season, and Cathedral won the SCIRF final on Friday.
However, St. Francis put all that aside. Having beaten Jesuit of Sacramento to make the NorCal school final and then defeated De La Salle to win NorCal’s school season, the Lancers brought a smart game plan and a nice mixture of rugby understanding and athleticism to the state final.
St. Ignatius Defeats New Trier in Cross-Border Clash
Saint Ignatius of Cleveland followed up their strong opening weekend with a well-taken win over Illinois-based New Trier Sunday.
The game was payed at Triny University in Angola, Ind. and followed on Saturday's New Trier vs Pendleton game which the Illinois side won 17-15. This trip for New Trier was designed to be this challenging as a way to try to replicate the pressure of the HS National Championships. They had no illusions that Ignatius, which defeated Pendleton last week, would be a stern test.
The wind was a big factor in the game. The opening kickoff from New Trier went right into the try zone where Ignatius touched it down. This gave St Ignatius a scrum at the 50 right from the jump.
Eastside Pulls Our Thriller in Washington
In an early meeting of two top teams in Washington, the Eastside Lions defeated the Rainier Highlanders in a thriller.
Eastside struck first, setting the tone just five minutes in when tighthead prop Peleki Vuatalevu, a wrecking ball in contact, jackled at the breakdown before rumbling 10 meters forward. Two quick rucks later, captain Lewis Chambers took matters into his own hands, crashing over for the opening score. Flyhalf Jerry Fleming added the extras for a 7-0 Eastside lead.
Dramatic Finishes in HS Games Around the Nation
Here's a quick look at some of the HS results around the nation.
On a very cold Saturday in Connecticut, Fairfield Prep defeated Aspetuck 32-27.
Fairfield Prep defeated Aspetuck 32-27 in the first game of our regular season.
It was a fairly typical opening game for both teams as they tried to hit the ground running. Their forwards were probably better than the backs on the day—ball handling and kicking suffered in the conditions.
The game was back-and-forth throughout and finally Will Kelly scored at the death to win it for Fairfield. Billy Mitchell, Alex Iadarola, and John Morris also scored for Fairfield. Cole Westerlund scored a try also and added seven points with the boot.
St. Xavier out of Cincinnati won two games on the day, beating the Louisville Crash 37-10 and then HSE Mudsock out of Indiana 42-7.
Cathedral Catholic Takes SCIRF Title Over LCC
Cathedral Catholic has won the SCIRF league, defeating La Costa Canyon in Friday night's final in San Diego.
The Dons took the game 28-17—LCC competed well and made Cathedral work for it.
It was Senior Night for Cathedral which provided a little extra emotion.
"Our seniors rose to the occasion," said Cathedral Head Coach Matt Hawkins. "It was a battle against a determined LCC team looking to finish their season with a statement performance."
And certainly LCC has been improving through the season.
Friendship Cup Provides High-Level HS Competition
Top HS teams from around the nation will be converging on Knoxville, Tenn. for The Friendship Cup later this month.
The Friendship Cup began three years ago, when the Charlotte Cardinals (NC) and Raptor Rugby (TN) sought to play a single match outside of their respective homes for two of the best performing high school teams in the southeast. Three years later, the Friendship Cup has grown into a rugby festival featuring some of the best high school teams in America.
The original friendly match in 2023 sparked the flame that quickly spread to attract other top-quality teams. In 2024 the event featured teams from Ohio (St. Xavier), Indiana (Pendleton), and Tennessee (901 Rugby, Father Ryan, and Raptor Rugby).
California Finals; Midwest Showdowns Lead HS Weekend
March is here and we do have more and more leagues kicking off.
The weather can be a bit dodgy at this time with snow certainly still possible in the Midwest and Northeast. But the games are on the slate.
St. Ignatius out of Cleveland could well have come out of last weekend as the #1-ranked team, but they stay at #2 for now. Ignatius won their opener against
Right from the start it looked very good for Pendleton as they got a very early turnover near the 5-meter line. St Ignatius's rush defense held up strong keeping Pendleton away from the tryline, and even as Pendleton got yet another penalty in their favor and tapped, Ignatius caused a knock-on with their defensive pressure.
HS Boys Club Top 50 2025: Week 7
Well we did see a bunch of changes in the HS Club Top 50.
Not at the top. Charlotte Cardinals were brilliant in the Carolina Ruggerfest and they don't budge. People seem to be a bit wary of playing The Woodlands, which is a shame. They deserve some challenges, so if you're looking for a game this year, hit them up.
Valor, 901, Richmond Strikers, Roswell Rebels, Tempe, and the Charlotte Tigers all move up significantly.
Charlotte Tigers Impress at Carolina Ruggerfest
Now, many of the big changes come from the Carolina Ruggerfest. Those are shortened games, so we do take it all with a grain or two of salt. But right now we're using it for rankings.
HS Boys School Top 50 Week 8
We're coming to the end of the period where some teams play a lot and others don't.
North Carolina, SoCal, and parts of Northern California all finish their single-school seasons next week, or already have. Other teams are starting to play so it's going to be tough for those teams to hang on to higher rankings because other teams are playing. There is a pretty solid chance next week that the winner of the All-California final, or perhaps Cathedral Catholic if some things fall into place, will be #1. They won't last—they can't last when they're not playing—but they will have their moment.
At the same time, it remains difficult to keep other teams in the Top 50 when they won't play for a long time. Witness Xaverian Brothers, who drop out mostly because more teams are now getting results and XB don't play for a month.
