HS Boys

Midwest RCT Day One Scores

Scores from Day One of the Midwest RCT:

South RCT Day One Scores

Scores from Day One of the South RCT in Murfressbroro, TN:

Boys MS

Tennessee 22-24 Georgia
Central Ohio 0-20 Florida Jaguares
Tennessee 0-34 Florida Jaguares
Georgia 20-0 Central Ohio

Day Two matchups:
Central Ohio vs Tennessee
Georgia vs Florida Jaguares

#1 vs #2
#3 vs #4

Rugby Maryland Takes 1st Mid-Atlantic HS 7s

Rugby Maryland took the first tournament of the HS summer 7s season in the Mid-Atlantic, defeating West Carroll in an extremely tight final. 

Comprised of players from teams that didn't field their own sevens squads, RM demonstrated solid passing and aggressive pressure defense all day.

Rugby Maryland struggled through their pool matches, and had to come from behind to win two of them.  The team defeated the Bethesda Roosters 31-5, Howard County Hurricanes 20-19 and Loyola-Blakefield 24-17 on their way to the cup final.  

Midwest RCT Welcomes 18 Teams to Wisconsin

The Midwest RCT kicks off this weekend.

Not to be confused with the Midwest All-Star Challenge, which is smaller and was held on this past Sunday, the Midwest RCT is one of the official USA Rugby-sanctioned Regional Cup Tournaments (for Cup read All-Star or Select Side).

The RCTs were begun as a way for state-based organizations to field their all-star teams. That has morphed, over time, to include select sides run by groups that draw players from a subset of teams within a large state (Celtic Ohio, Indy Speed) or sides that draw players from a larger geographical area (EIRA Heartland, 5785). 

Now there's a new player in the game, Major League Rugby. The Houston SaberCats will field a Boys Tier 1 team in the Midwest RCT in Cottage Grove, WI. They will be in a pool with the Badger Selects and Illinois Tornadoes.

Mount Saint Mary's High Performance Academy Takes 2nd in CRC

The Mount Saint Mary’s University Men’s Rugby High Performance Academy finished second in the High School 7s Rugby Championship at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships May 31 through June 2 outside of Philadelphia. 

Jay Myles, Directory of Rugby at Mount St. Mary’s stated, “It was just an incredible opportunity for these young players to showcase their talent at such a professionally run event!”

All-Star Teams Gather In Midwest

Midwest teams converged on Elkhart, IN for a small all-star tournament on Sunday.

The games were designed to give players some select-side experience even if they are unable to make the trek to a more remote event.

Allegheny, Michigan, Celtic Elite (Ohio), Indy Speed, and Illinois all suited up in the Girls Varsity division.

Celtic and Indy Speed also fielded Girls JV teams.

For Boys Varsity, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Celtic Elite faced off, with Celtic Elite and Illinois also featuring JV teams.

Celtic Elite won fairly comfortably in the Boys Varsity and JV games, and the JV Girls swept their two games against the Indy Speed. 

Photos Allison Bradfield

Confused But Interesting In Places: RMC Wraps

Eagle Impact Rugby Academy Southern California defeated Rhinos Academy and EIRA Midwest Blue to win the Boys Tier 1 bracket at the Rocky Mountain Challenge.

EIRA SoCal won 38-14 and 55-15, finishing the weekend 4-0 with 123 points scored and only 36 allowed.

Rhinos Academy took 3rd, beating 5785 Blue 24-0. 

For SoCal, Miles McCormick captained the team and was a force at No. 8. Levi Summerland and Tiaan Mosconi were very good as the halfback combo.

The other five teams played an elaborate second day of competition. Here's how it panned out:

Colorado went 1-1, losing to Badger Selects 36-33 and beating EIRA Heartland 27-12.

EIRA Heartland also went 1-1, beating 5785 Green 32-12.

Badger Selects also went 1-1, losing to EIRA Midwest Red 31-24.

Rocky Mountain Challenge Day 1 Wrap-up

Nine Eagle Impact Rugby Academy teams went 11-7 in the Rocky Mountain Challenge Boys Tier 1 action on Saturday, with five of the teams winning or leading their pools.

In Boys Tier 1:

The extensive HS all-star event saw EIRA Midwest Blue defeat Rhinos Rugby Academy 40-21, and 5785 Green 55-5. EIRA Heartland eked out a 29-22 result over the Badgers Selects out of Wisconsin, but lost 31-5 to 5785 Blue. EIRA SoCal won its pool easily, beating EIRA Midwest Red 80-7, and Rugby Colorado 50-0.

EIRA Midwest Red was the only EIRA team not to win a game on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 5785 Blue won Pool B, beating the Badger Selects as well as EIRA Heartland. 

So that sets up today's knockout rounds in Tier 1. The top eight teams go into a semifinal bracket for the top four and the next four:

Cup Semis:

DC Old Glory Celebrates Youth Rugby In Curtain-Raisers

WASHINGTON, DC—On June 9, new Major League Rugby team Old Glory DC hosted a full slate of middle school and high school all-star curtain-raiser matches prior to their final match of their inaugural exhibition season against the Toronto Blues at Catholic University in Northeast Washington DC.

Touted as the Battle of the Beltway, the Rugby Maryland All-Stars took on the Rugby Virginia All-Stars in four matches. Fort Hunt’s JV side, dubbed the Road Warriors, also appeared in a pair of high school JV matches. More than 200 players participated across four and a half hours of rugby, entertaining the rugby crowd despite teasing rain showers for much of the day. 

Rocky Mountain Challenge All-Star Tourney Kicks Off

It's all-star season and the first of the tournaments are underway.

As reported on Goff Rugby Report, MetNY took home the Boys Varsity, and Rugby PA took home the Boys JV and Girls Varsity trophies at a tournament held last week in New Jersey.

This week, the famed Rocky Mountain Challenge is underway in Colorado.

EIRA Midwest, Rhinos, 5785, Badger Selects, EIRA Heartland, EIRA SoCal, and Colorado (who came in 2nd in the New Jersey tourney last week) are all in action for the Boys Varsity. 5785 and EIRA Midwest both have two teams in action.

It's a small Girls Varsity (or Tier 1) group with EIRA Midwest, Rhinos Academy, Colorado, and 5785 in a round-robin. 

The same teams are in the Tier 2 in boys, although Arizona is also there. Colorado and 5785 are the only Girls Tier 2 teams in action.

HS All-Stars: MetNY, Rugby PA Win NJ tournament

Rugby New Jersey held an invitational HS All-Star tournament this past weekend, with three brackets on the field.

In perfect weather, Met New York defeated Rugby Colorado 23-19 in a very hard-hitting and dramatic final.

Led by some great work from No. 8 and captain Nick Lapponese, scrumhalf Dylan Lewis, flyhalf Kojo Sheng, and center Elijah Billups, Met NY won the tournament despite not having a lot of time together.

Rugby Pennsylvania took the Boys JV bracket, beating Colorado 27-20 in overtime. This was perhaps the most thrilling game of the day.

In the Girls Varsity bracket, Rugby Pennsylvania beat New York and New Jersey to go 2-0 and take the title. Rugby PA's offensive pattern was well constructed and they put NY and NJ under tons of pressure.

Unselfishness Leads Edina To Minnesota Win

Edina defeated Eagan 22-17 to win the Minnesota Youth Rugby Boys HS title this past weekend.

After running through the season undefeated, Edina was the favorite here, but, as head coach Chris Babiash said, "you always hear the cliché that beating a team three times is a tough task."

And that's how it ended up.

"All the credit in the world to Eagan," said Babiash. "They had a great game plan and they took us out of ours. I think our kids really felt the pressure of playing for Edina and the expectation of winning. We let Eagan dictate the tempo of the game and they scored off of our mistakes in our own 22."

Eagan forced Edina into penalties and put pressure on from there. Babiash said that when his players played their system, they were effective.

Touring: It Brought Us All Together

At Goff Rugby Report we've been posting stories of how teams benefit from tours; this is part of our support and partnership with Irish Rugby Tours—this time around, we've got a video to show you.

Players from the Danville Oaks, who finished the HS Club bracket of the Boys HS Rugby National Championships in 5th place, said going on tour was a huge part of what helped build their team. And they used Irish Rugby Tours, but didn't go to Ireland.

Little-known fact, Irish Rugby Tours can help your team tour wherever, including where the Oaks went this spring, New Zealand.

See the video or check out the link here: https://youtu.be/HreyngYq8O0

Latest List Of State Champions

Here's our ongoing list of boys state champions: