St. Xavier 3-0 at Nash Bash
Nash Bash proved a good opening run-out for St. Xavier, as the Kentucky high school
The defending Kentucky state champs finished 3-0 at the Nashville, Tenn. tournament, barely getting by Harpeth 6-5, beating Clarksville 35-12, and finishing off the weekend with a 19-12 win over the Chiefs out of Illinois.
In that final game, the Tigers ran out to an early lead, but the Chiefs came back with two tries to make it a bit scarier at the end.
RBMA Upsets Tampa, Florida Shakeup Due?
When the Florida Youth Rugby Boys DI league merged all of its pools to form on conference, the conventional wisdom was that the season would make going undefeated very difficult - travel, injury issues, and various other distractions would all have an influence - and in fact that wisdom was correct.
Saturday, Riviera Beach Maritime Academy defeated the Tampa Krewe 17-15, giving Tampa their first loss of the season and ensuring that no team in the competition would be undefeated.
Tampa is now 5-1, and so is Jupiter, while RBMA sits at 4-1-1 and Orlando now at 4-1. Those four seem to be the top four at the moment, but with a third of the season still to go, you never know.
For RBMA, the win over Tampa was important.
Nash Bash Nice Kickoff for Moeller
Archbishop Moeller enjoyed a good weekend at Nash Bash in Tennessee, going 3-0.
Moeller defeated the Chiefs out of Illinois (29-5), Clarksville out of Tennessee (38-7), and Harpeth, also out of Tennessee, with a much closer score of 7-5.
“It was a great start to the season,” said Moeller Coach Steve Kuhlman. “Overall we looked alright. I think that the first two matches of the weekend we played our game and were successful, but there were many things we saw that we need to fix. The last game of the weekend we committed way too many penalties and couldn't retain possession of the ball long enough to get anything going. All in all we looked alright for knocking the dust off of our boots, but we have a long way to go to accomplish our goals.”
West End Thumps West Shore
In a result that has many raising some eyebrows, defending Virginia champion West End defeated West Shore United out of Pennsylvania 51-5 in a preseason game.
Both teams were missing top players who were with select sides playing at the Las Vegas Invitational - several of them the teams’ most electric attackers. So maybe this was a test of depth, and if so, West End passed.
West End started the game quickly, scoring three tries in the first nine minutes, with center John Freeman scoring two of them - one was a ramble of 70 meters.
Despite Absences, Gonzaga Sweeps Two
Top-ranked single-school boys team Gonzaga hosted two well-regarded programs this weekend as the Cumberland Valley Eagles and Doylestown, both out of Pennsylvania, came to town.
Gonzaga had to deal with these visitors despite missing a chunk of their starting lineup, with their entire starting back row, an three starting backs, and a prop absent due to playing for select teams in Las Vegas or (in the case of one) being gone Saturday on a college football visit. Three other reserves were also in Las Vegas.
“It was a good weekend to test our depth and give playing time to more players,” said Gonzaga Coach Peter Baggetta.
Charlotte Catholic Wins Top Bracket in Huge Ruggerfest
Charlotte Catholic made something of a statement by winning the Carolina Ruggerfest, defeating four impressive teams in the process.
Catholic shut out Moon Area out of Pennsylvania 15-0 for the opening win, and then defeated Wando, the leading team in South Carolina. Wando has not allowed a point in South Carolina league play, but Charlotte Catholic defeated them 26-14.
On Day Two, Catholic edged Phoenix out of Georgia 12-5, and then faces the Raleigh Rattlesnakes in the final. The Rattlesnakes had enjoyed a pretty good weekend, too, edging Myers Park 5-0, before shutting out top Tennessee team South Doyle 38-0.
On Sunday Raleigh beat the Tigers 24-12.
In the final, Catholic put on one of their best efforts of this young season, beating Raleigh 29-12.
Penn Unbeaten at Lindenwood Tourney
Penn HS ran the table in the Lindenwood High School tournament held at Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Mo. this weekend.
The tournament was a good kickoff for teams in the Midwest, and mercifully, it wasn’t a snow-fest like last year.
Eight programs entered varsity teams, while six also entered JV teams. Indiana-based Penn won both brackets, not losing a game.
Penn’s JV outscored opponents 103-0 on Saturday and then defeated St. Louis University High JV 48-0 to make the final against the Royal Irish JV. Royal Irish had been almost as dominant, outscoring three opponents 113-5 to make the final.
Day 1 at Lindenwood HS Tourney Complete
On Day One of the two-day Lindenwood High School tournament, Penn HS of Indiana has looked very strong.
In this first run-out for Penn, their varsity team beat Eureka 56-0 and Chargers 48-0. Penn was led by sophomore fullback Paul Moala, who scored three tries in two games and played well at the back, and brothers Will Vakalahi (at No. 8) and Cedric Vakalahi (center) combined for seven tries. Senior wing Sam Scholtes led Penn scorers with 36 points from four tries and eight conversions.
Royal Irish also looked good, beating St. Louis University High 43-10 and Brownsburg 25-12. KS Jr. Blues also beat Brownsburg, by a score of 15-5, and SLUH 21-7. St. Thomas Aquinas beat Eureka 27-0 and Chargers 22-7.
So the 2-0 teams meet up Sunday morning, with Royal Irish playing KC, and St. Thomas Aquinas meeting Penn.
Atlantis Boys Impress at LVI
The Atlantis Boys select side teams enjoyed a very successful Las Vegas Invitational this weekend, both making their respective bracket finals, and winning one.
The Atlantis U16s defeated Rhino Rugby Academy 1 in the U16 Boys quarterfinals, Eagle Impact Rugby Academy 24-12 in the semis, and then Rhino Rugby Academy 2 - which had upset British Columbia in the semis - in the final 17-0.
Meanwhile, the U18s edged Eagle Impact Rugby Academy 17-14 in the quarters, hammered Atavus All-Stars 27-12, only to fall to BC in the final 25-5.
For the U16s, their weekend started with a 17-7 loss to EIRA on Friday.
“We made some mistakes in that game,” said Atlantis U16s Coach Greg Schor.
But they crushed the Mavericks and then got a forfeit win when Evolution 7s was a no-show.
Herriman Wins Boys Open 7s in Dramatic Style
Herriman HS of Utah won the Boys Open HS 7s Friday at the Las Vegas Invitational, going 6-0 and beating four select sides in the process.
Herriman defeated the Tennessee Tri-Stars, Mavericks, and Las Vegas Blackhawks Thursday to make the semifinals.
On Friday, the squad took on Eastern Ontario in the quarterfinals. Herriman showed patience against a talented and tough EORU outfit. Coach Jeff Wilson said they forced the issue somewhat on the first day of action, but that wasn’t the case on Friday. Herriman was also playing without Brig Rush - injured on Thursday - but filled in ably, winning 33-14.
HS Boys Games This Weekend
The weekend of March 5-6 has started early with two midweek games (see scores below). This weekend is also a big kickoff tournament weekend, with Oregon hosting their preseason tilt.
The Carolina Ruggerfest is massive, and will welcome teams from all over the East, and while it's technically not a kickoff tournament because league games in North Carolina have already started, it's kind of a signal that things are about to get serious.
Jesuit Showdown in Dallas
Jesuit HS of Dallas hosts the Dallas Jesuit Showdown this weekend, with four teams facing off in the Varsity level, and four more in JV.
All games will be played at Postell Stadium at Jesuit HS.
Jesuit Dallas faces off with Jesuit New Orleans in the first game. Katy HS plays Christian Brothers out of Memphis. Those teams will play a round robin through the weekend.
West End Hosts West Shore in Contenders' Clash
One of the top Rugby Pennsylvania teams will be facing a stent test at one of the top Virginia HS teams as West Shore United travels to West End.
For West Shore it will be an even sterner fast as they won’t have several starters - some of whom are off playing with Atlantis in Las Vegas, and others finishing up winter sports.
Their starting midfield of Alex Schlager and Jayden Demmy are in Vegas, and that, said Coach Sean Robinson, is just an “opportunity to test out some of our new players against a really good West End team.”
West Shore graduated 23 players from last year’s team, but they expect to reload and push on.
EIRA Player of the Week - Bailey Abercrombie
There are a lot of expectations every time the Jesuit of Sacramento rugby team takes the field, and leading a team with those expectations isn't easy.
For Bailey Abercrombie, that's his job. As a co-captain of Jesuit, Abercrombie leads by example, making the tackles, and winning ruck ball. But he can also do some flashy stuff, as he demonstrated this week against Kahuku, busting through the Hawaiian team's defense to set up attacking chances.
It was the same the week before in the close win over Granite Bay. When he's needed, Abercrombie will take charge and, more often than not, set someone up for a scoring chance.
Set to attend West Point in the fall, Bailey Abercrombie keeps the Jesuit team together whether he is playing in the back row or at center.
LVI Boys Open 7s Day 1
Five teams went 3-0 in the Boys Open 7s Thursday at the Las Vegas Invitational, with the Arizona Bobcats dominating and taking the #1 seed.
The Bobcats beat Rugby Royals, Loudon, and Medicine Hat, and allowed just one try.
The Bobcats are the official all-star team from Rugby Arizona, and this team was drawn from eight different teams.
"They did great," said Bobcats Coach Ian Gregor. "We had a lot of good teamwork. We needed to simplify it and told the guys not to panic - just work in groups of three and you won't need to panic. And if there's a half-gap, take it."
Big Nafi Maafu drew plenty of notice in the midfield, leaving space open for the likes of Julio Hidalgo, and Vitolio Teutupe (who has the added benefit of being USA 7s player Martin Iosefo's cousin).
