Latest Commits with Drury, Bonnies, Siena, and McKendree in the List
Here's our latest list of commits with Drury, St. Bonaventure, Siena, and McKendree featured heavily.
Next Phase Rugby is an app that helps high school rugby players connect with college rugby programs. Get the app and get started for free at NextPhaseRugby.com.
Check out the players we previously listed here>>
If you don't see your name there or below, let us know what you're up to in the fall here>>
Six Boys Champions and U23 Winners Too at NAI 7s
Seven champions were crowned in Boys and Men brackets at the recent NAI 7s, showcasing some pretty skilled rugby along the way.
Men U23
This bracket is an interesting one as it is not a common one in 7s tournaments and it's a bit of a one-off for many of the teams.
Tsunami Misfits are a little more dialed into this circuit but they ran into a very talented Mustangs side.
Mustangs won two shutouts in Pool Play and the San Mateo Wolverines were also unbeaten. Silicon Valley and Oregon Sharks ended up tied 2-1, but Silicon Valley won the head-to-head.
Smart Tactics and Good Vibes Lead to EIRA U16 Win
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy boys U16s have had little time to revel in their 15-12 victory over Munster.
Even though the EIRA players were up against an older group (a mixture of U16s and U17s to make up for the greater size of the American players), the tourists came away with an impressive victory.
Flyhalf Vince Keller took charge of the attack and was very impressive in the game; Flynn O’Connell shone in the back row and Cade Gilbert was outstanding at prop.
“When I realized the back three was playing a little bit up, especially the wingers, we decided to kick especially since we had the wind at our backs,” said Keller, who plays his rugby with the Charlotte Tigers. It worked.
Big Day for EIRA on Tour in Ireland
Eagle Impact Rugby Academy logged a busy and fruitful day in games against three Irish provinces Saturday on their multi-team tour.
The girls U18s and U16s went 1-1 vs Leinster, with a 60-meter breakaway try by Annie Henrich the highlight. That try, scored at the end of the game, secured a dramatic 15-14 win for the U18s.
The U16s lost 18-14.
The boys U16s notched a 15-12 victory over Munster. More on that game in another article.
And our feature here is a 24-10 loss for the boys U18s vs Ulster. This game was much closer than the score indicates.
"They had a maul that was really good," said No. 8 Wes Stone succinctly. "There was one that really made a difference where we thought we had it contained but we didn't fold around to the back quickly enough and they scored. That was big."
NAI 7s U18 Elite Boys Lives Up to Expectations
Rebel Rugby pulled off the very difficult task of repeating as Boys U18 Elite champions, although they needed a little good fortune to get there.
Throughout the tournament it became clear that Rebel and the new Next Phase Rugby team were going to face off in some fashion.
New Kids on the Block
Next Phase Rugby is a GRR sponsor and which created the team to kick off a select side/camp system to further its college connection plans built around its college recruiting app. This was the first salvo in that plan and Head Coach Greg Stelluti put together a team of sturdy, quick kids from HS programs from around the USA.
NAI 7s Day One Wrap: Boys Brackets
Here's a quick look at the Boys brackets in the NAI 7s.
U14s
Toko Malosi, Woodlands, Mountain View, and SacPal are all unbeaten in the U14 Tier II.
Ball movement and speed was the order of the day in Tier I with Atlantis, San Mateo, and Belmont Shore all finishing 3-0.
U16s
Two SacPal teams lead their pools in Tier II, although the Pool 1 was a weird one with SacPal being somewhat up-and-down and then two teams, Atlantis and Liberty, going 1-1-1.
Hawkeyes and San Mateo also lead their pools.
Gorilla and Belmont Shore tied and ended up 2-0-1. Layton Christian's U16s was powerful and hard-hitting, going 3-0; Tampa Bay Stingrays unleashed saw head-turning pace and controlled their pool. Try-Time excelled in a tough pool.
Latest College Commits
Here's our latest list of commits with St. Thomas out of Florida and Thomas More out of Kentucky getting a number of players.
It was a big haul for Babson, too, and they have had a very strong presence on Next Phase Rugby, which sponsors this column.
Next Phase Rugby is an app that helps high school rugby players connect with college rugby programs. Get the app and get started for free at NextPhaseRugby.com.
Check out the players we previously listed here>>
If you don't see your name there or below, let us know what you're up to in the fall here>>
U16s at NAI 7s Carry Baton of the Future
Some might say the future of American men's rugby will be in ther two tiers of the NAI 7s U16 boys.
Certainly some of that future is there. Tested in a pretty hot crucible in Salt Lake City, these players find out pretty quickly where their weaknesses are.
This U16 bracket includes yet again a team from Guam, eager to challenge themselves yet again.
Wild Day One In Boys U18 Brackets at NAI 7s
The NAI 7s Boys U18 competition is in two brackets and both will be hugely competitive.
U18 Boys Open
Many of these teams are club or school teams that play in 15s leagues. Several of these teams, such as Belmont Shore, Elsie Allen, Kansas City Blues, East HS, and Herriman, have played some excellent 7s and some of those have challenged for a title at NAI 7s.
NAI 7s U14 Boys Bracket: Everything Up In the Air
The NAI 7s is set to kick off Friday, July 21 with a variety of brackets.
Here's a quick look at the Boys U14 brackets.
This bracket, like many of them, will ave two tiers, usually with teams usually informing the tournament where they think they fit.
Tier 2
It's good to see the likes of New Mexico back as that state has embarked on a plan to rebuild participation levels through youth. The Tier 2 is heavily Utah-based, with Layton Christian, Richfield Broncos, Mountain Ridge, and Toko Malosi all from the Beehive State. They are rounded out by New Mexico, Mountain View (Idaho), SacPal (California), Hawkeyes (Idaho), Woodlands (Texas), and Atlantis (all over).
USA South Holds Off New-Look Jamaica to Win RAN U19 Championship
The USA Rugby South U19s once again won the Rugby Americas North championship, beating hosts Jamaica 18-15 in the final.
The South, which represents the USA in this tournament every year, opened up pool play with a 19-0 shutout of Cayman and a 17-5 win over Trinidad & Tobago.
Perennial challengers Mexico were not at this tournament (although they did send their women's team to the women's competition, where they took 3rd). This opened up things for anyone looking to challenge the South, and Jamaica stepped up, beating Bermuda 29-3 and Guyana 36-0.
That set up the semis with Jamaica beating Guyana 37-0 and USA South shutting out Cayman 20-0.
Canada U18s Tie USA in Dramatic Finish
The USA U18s tied Canada 32-32 Wednesday in a wild game at the Corendon Summer Tour.
The game was certainly one of momentum and, in the end, the USA have only themselves to blame for not winning the game. But for a U18 team, that can be taken as a lesson and even though the game ended on a somewhat disputable note.
The USA started the game scoring very quickly. They pressured off the kickoff, got a penalty, won the lineout, and mauled it over. Hooker Seth Smith touched it down for a 5-0 lead.
Moments later the U18 Eagles ran a play off a lineup and put No. 8 Papa Matelau through a gap. He charged on for about 35 meters before being hauled down just before the tryline. The Americans swarmed in and after a couple of surges to the line Smith picked up and was over. Jonty Lee converted and it was 12-0.
Latest College Commits for This Fall
Here's our latest group of college commits including several from the Maryland Exiles and Raptor Rugby in Tennessee.
Here's our latest commit list for players who will be playing rugby in the fall.
This list is brought to you by Next Phase Rugby, which is an app that helps high school rugby players connect with college rugby programs. Get the app and get started for free at NextPhaseRugby.com.
Check out the players we previously listed here>>
If you don't see your name there or below, let us know what you're up to in the fall here>>
Minutemen Take HS Division at Surfside
The Minutemen RFC summer 7s HS team defeated Berks County in the final to win the HS Division of the Surfside 7s in Stone Harbor, NJ this weekend.
The Minutemen is a select 7s club comprised of players from the DC area. This year’s side included players from Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga, and St Johns College High School.
They opened pool play against a strong St Augustine side and fell behind 12-7 in the first half before bouncing back to win 28-12. Their second pool match was against crosstown rivals, the Roosters out of Bethesda, Md. The Minutemen prevailed 17-0, setting up a Cup semifinal match with a speedy Bishop Shanahan side.
In this match, the Minutemen held possession for the majority of the match, not allowing Bishop Shanahan to exploit their high-tempo, agility-based game.
Goff Rugby Report Player of the Month Scholarship Awards Are Back
Goff Rugby Report is bringing back our Player of the Month award.
We launched this in 2022 and asked for nominations for high school rugby players who are great players on the field and accomplished off the field as well.
This year, while we've waited until summer to not get lost in the clutter of all the news during the spring, we have expanded the process. Four student-athletes will be chosen this year for August, September, November, and December.
Each high school rugby player we choose will receive $500 toward their post-high school education or training in conjunction with the sponsorship from Next Phase Rugby. Then, at the end of the year, we will have an extra $1,000 for a special recipient, who could be one of the previous winners, or one of the nominees who perhaps took the extra step.
