NIKE Legion Selects Tour Australia
Over the summer, Nike Rugby Camps San Diego partnered with the MLR’s San Diego Legion to create the NIKE Legion Selects age-grade select side.
The NIKE Legion Selects, a high school aged touring side, warmed up with games against SoCal EIRA and the Arizona Bobcats before playing in the Great NW Challenge. Following that, the team traveled to Australia for an 11-day tour.
The team consisted of 28 of San Diego’s top players and was coached by Ethan Willis, Ian Denham, and Kalei Konrad. In partnership with the Legion, the Selects had training sessions with Legion Head Coach Rob Hoadley and Legion Academy Director and USA Legend Zack Test.
EIRA Goes 5-1 In Ontario
Eagle Impact Rugby Academy finished up its busy summer of 15s tours with a trip to Ontario.
EIRA took teams of U15, U16, and U17, playing Ontario provincial age-grade opposition.
The teams overall went 5-1, easily the most successful as judged by wins and losses. Among the players who shone were Grady Pope out of Katy HS in Texas, and Aspetuck product Pearson Hill.
(Rugby Ontario photos)
The key to this trip, though, wasn’t about winning, but about how EIRA changed the format.
“We ask players and parents for feedback after each tour,” said program director Salty Thompson. “What we got from Ontario last year was that the players wanted more playing time.”
EIRA Takes Team To Argentina
Eagle Impact Rugby Academy took a team to Argentina in the same summer the program sent two teams to Ireland.
The Argentina group were slightly older—U18s and U19s—but the competition was very stiff. The teams lost all three games, but program director Salty Thompson said the experience was hugely valuable.
With Dai Morgan and Paule Barford providing intense game-based coaching, the players got a solid taste of international competition.
Several players showed well.
Mafi Mahuinga of Herriman in Utah has followed nicely in the footsteps of his older brother Gabe. Kaleb Asmussen is a powerful, 260-pound prop out of Eagle HS in Idaho, and he partnered nicely with Greensboro Barbarians (NC) front-rower Charles McPherson.
EIRA's Busy Summer-Off The Ireland
This is the second piece we have about Eagle Impact Rugby Academy’s summer tours.
Mid-July saw an EIRA U17 and U16 team travel to Ireland in what is becoming an annual trip. Both teams played three games, and both came away 1-2. The U16s played and lost to Munster U16s and Connacht U16s, while the U17s lost to Ulster Clubs U17s, and Connacht U17s. Both teams beat Ulster Schools in Belfast.
One of the interesting standouts was Logan Weidner, a 6-5 No.8 who had actually played against the HS All Americans in Canada. A student at Carson Graham HS in British Columbia, he qualifies for both the USA and Canada, and wanted to tour with an elite American team this summer.
He was a handful.
(Photos by Mariela Gorzkowska Pattinson, Leslie Blair, and Andy Byrne)
Eagle Impact Summer Reports: British Columbia
Eagle Impact Rugby Academy toured three countries on four different tours this past summer, and we’re having a look at how they did.
British Columbia EIRA Tour
EIRA took four teams to British Columbia in July, passing up the usual destination of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver for Shawnigan Lake Schools on Vancouver Island.
The location was picturesque and certainly had its wild side. Players were given warnings of apex predators nearby twice—once for a bear, once for a cougar.
But they survive, and with coaches Sean O’Leary, Tim Kluempers, Sean Dufy, Steve Jones, Andrew Brischke, Jeff Bonnett, Gary Anderson, and others, the program got much-needed experience.
Washington Loggers U14s Beat Young British Columbia
The Washington Loggers U14 State rep-side played the British Columbia Representative XV on Saturday, August 10, at the ChuckanutRugby Grounds, near Bellingham, Wash.
Against Young BC, the Loggers claimed a 41-17 victory — though the scoreline slightly favored the Washington side, with a fierce back-and-forth exchange in the 2nd period. The two sides were evidently committed to open, running rugby. Despite the physical upfront encounters expected in a cross-border match, the teams demonstrated the elevated skills, communication and fitness needed at the representative level.
Photos by Dennis Cairns
Fairfield Downs Greenwich to Win New Haven 7s
The Fairfiield Rugby Club HS team Won the New Haven 7s last week, going 4-0-1 and beating Greenwich HS in the final.
Fairfield won their pool by tying Greenwich 2 and beating MidState and Aspetuck. In the other pool, Greenwich 1 beat Fairfield 2, New York, and Staples.
The top two teams from each pool advanced to the semis, but they were seeded according to record, so Greenwich 1 took the top seed with Staples taking seed #4.
In the first semifinal, Greenwich 1 beat a very strong Staples, while in the second, Fairfield had to come from behind to beat Greenwich 2.
Boys HS Select Side Rankings-JV
Here are our HS Select-Side rankings for JV boys teams —also known as Tier 2.
We looked at how teams performed in the tournaments and gave some losing teams credit for close losses. But if you are inconsistent, that drops you down.
The consistent winners went to the top, and while you'd have a point saying the Northeast RCT wasn't huge, Connecticut's history of playing strong rugby deserves to be recognized.
Mount St Mary's HPA Wins Surfside 7s
The Mount Rugby High School High Performance Academy returned to action this past weekend at the Surfside 7s Tournament in Stone Harbor, NJ. The team looked to continue their strong summer campaign after a 2nd place finish at Collegiate Rugby Championships in the high school division.
Coach Mike Williams and the squad arrived in New Jersey on Friday evening in preparation for the single day tournament on Saturday. The Mount Rugby HPA returned a core of 5 players from CRCs and introduced 6 new players that were invited to make their Mount Rugby HPA debut.
EIRA Splits Games In Ontario
Eagle Impact Rugby Academy U16s lost 22-12 to Central Ontario U16s Saturday at the University of Guelph.
The Central Ontario team was a bit bigger and put EIRA on the back foot in what was a back-and-forth match for most of the game. Eventually, however, Central broke open a 17-12 game with a try and then held on by dominating possession.
Meanwhile, EIRA U17s won 36-19 over Central Ontario U17s in a game where the Ontario team ran out to a 19-7 lead. But eventually EIRA's superior speed won out. With the score 19-19 Central Ontario launched a clearance kick that didn't find touch. EIRA countered, made it almost to the line, and then the forwards pounded it over after that.
From there on in EIRA held the run of play and ran in two more tries.
The games can be seen here:
EIRA U16s Named To Face Munster
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy U16 eam on tour in Ireland has named its lineup to face the Munster U16s
EIRA is touring with multiple age levels, following on after a mostly different group toured British Columbia. The BC tour ended with the teams going .500; the U15s and U16s both split two games with their BC counterparts, the U17s swept both games, and the U18s were beaten twice by British Columbia U18s.
See one of the games here: https://youtu.be/qvt0W45LOAE
Now, as another group of 75 players is in Ontario —EIRA U16s won their opener 34-7—EIRA's Ireland tour games begin.
EIRA U16s to face Munster U16s
Woodlands Sweeps The Table At Hell Or High Water
The Woodlands HS program won the Hell or High Water 7s boys high school bracket over the weekend.
Woodlands went 5-0, never allowing more than two tries and never scoring fewer than four.
Woodlands 35 Cy Fair 12
Tries: Orrin Bizer 3, Mattox King 2
Woodlands 24 West Houston 10
Tries: Mattox King 2, Landon Smith, Orrin Bizer
Woodlands 38 Rock Rugby 0
Tries: Orrin Bizer 3, Mattox King 2, Will Honerich
Woodlands 24 Allen HS 5
Tries: Orrin Bizer 2, Landon Smith, Mattox King
Final: Woodlands 27 Cy-Fair 5
Tries: Orrin Bizer 4, Mattox King
USA South, Mexico Start RAN U19s 2-0
USA Rugby South and Mexico emerged 2-0 from Day One of the Men's U19 competition at the Rugby Americas North championships.
The competition has changed to one in which teams play two shortened games on Day One and also on Day Two, getting everyone through Pool Play and through the semifinals.
The final day of competition, July 21, will feature full-length games for all the placements.
So the key thing is to get points, which is what the Panthers did against a strong Bermuda side, kicking for points when on offer and winning 16-5.
In the second game of the day, the South beat Barbados 46-0.
Mexico has a relatively easy time of it, beating Trinidad & Tobago 24-0 and then Curucao 86-0.
PAC Rugby Tour Ignites Entire Club
Hugh Miller figured he’d maybe finally reached his goal when he couldn’t figure out who his players were.
Miller and his PAC Rugby HS club out of Colorado was on tour in England when he went into the clubhouse after a game, and found that every player with a PAC Rugby shirt he looked to usher onto the bus was actually from the Cheshunt RFC U18 team. They’d all swapped swag, and in so doing had crossed one of those boundaries of stranger hood that a good rugby tour is supposed to help you cross.
Using Irish Rugby tours, PAC toured England and Wales during the spring in a venture that made huge strides in bring the players closer, the parents more excited about the game, and also making the team as a whole better.
Maryland Youth Rugby Hosts Warm School Of UK
Maryland Exiles Youth Rugby hosted the Yarm School this past weekend in their first match against the Rugby Maryland Select XV, as Yarm completed the first leg of their 18-day, five-fixture tour of the United States and Canada.
One of the top-tier high school teams in the UK, Yarm brought a tour party of 31 players and five coaches and administrators.
