SCIRF Latest: Cathedral Wins Big One
The SCIRF goes on as rivals Cathedral and Torrey Pines, two teams less than a mile apart, renewed their rivalry last Saturday.
Cathedral, off to a blistering start, jumped to a quick 12-0 lead thanks to two tries by Miles McCormick. Chris Buonarati converted one of the tries from a difficult angle.
Torrey Pines fought back with effective pick and goes off their rucks. The tactic worked as prop Alex Brown was able to put Torrey on the board with a try from the base of the ruck on Cathedral’s goal line. Torrey fullback Oren Cargill converted the try and added a penalty making the score 12-10 Cathedral at the half
Phoenix Alpharetta Opens Strong With Win Over South Greenville
The Phoenix Varsity squad followed up on their impressive December win against Jacksonville Wolverines with a solid 36-0 win over MSIRL champions South Greenville at North Park on Saturday to remain unbeaten.
South Greenville arrived at a very cold but surprisingly dry Alpharetta for the first game in a home-and-away series between these two elite southeast programs. Phoenix fielded a strong but young team with a number of squadmembers making their club debuts, while South Greenville was missing three players due to a wrestling conflict.
SCIRF: Saints Go To 4-0
St Augustine came back to pull off a huge victory over St. John Bosco and emerge as the team to beat in the Southern California IRF league.
The game was a very physical affair and Bosco looked to take control early. This they did, going over for a try and a 7-0 lead. The Braves continued to pressure the Saints into a number of mistakes and played in the Saints end for the majority of the half. The Bosco forwards ran the ball hard with numerous pick and goes and controlled possession, scoring four tries to take a 24-12 lead into the break.
HS Nationals Applications Due Soon!
The Boys HS Rugby National Championships is still accepting applications for the 2019.
There have been, reportedly, a large number of applicants. As a result, it's important for teams that want to compete apply as soon as possible.
The BHSRNC Panel accepts teams based on their long-term success, their recent success, and ability to commit and make the trip.
The 2019 tournament will be held at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah, May 16-18.
Applications for the tournament can be found at: https://
Cathedral Catholic Finally Kicks Off, Faces Mira Costa
Due to participation in the California State football playoffs, San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic had to delay its start in the inaugural season of the Southern California Interscholastic Rugby Federation, but now Cathedral is ready to go.
The Dons are eagerly awaiting their season opener this Saturday versus Manhattan Beach’s Mira Costa. It will be the first meeting between the two teams and is a much anticipated matchup. Cathedral’s original opening test versus Fallbrook has been rescheduled to February. Even with only a handful of practices under their belt, the Dons are looking to build upon their successful trip to Ireland last April. The majority of this year’s squad made the trip as they held their own (1-1-1) versus St Munchins (Limerick), Bective (Dublin) and Malone (Belfast).
MSIRL Back For Another Season
The Mid-South Independent Rugby League is back for another go, as seven boys HS teams from several states look to face off in order to get more consistent tough games.
Chapel Hill, Phoenix Alpharetta, Wando, Charlotte Tigers, Union County Lions, South Greenville, and Charlotte Catholic will all compete in the league.
As has been the case in the past, some MSIRL games will be played as part of Carolina Ruggerfest.
All teams will play each other once, for a six-game MSIRL season.
The top four will then enter a playoffs (#1 vs #4, and #2 vs #3).
Apply To Boys HS Nationals
The 2019 Boys High School National Championship will be held in Salt Lake City May 16,17 & 18 and applications are open.
The event will feature the 24 top boys high school rugby teams from across the country in three brackets of eight teams each: Single-School, Multiple School Club, and Tier II.
Saints, Bosco Atop SoCal
The Southern California Interscholastic Rugby Federation is about to end its Christmas/New Year break and get back at it, and right now it seems to be a St. Augustine and St. John Bosco on a collision.
Dec 8
St. Augustine 70-0 Fallbrook
San Clemente 54-10 Mira Costa
Torrey Pines 19-16 La Costa Canyon
Dec 15
Mira Costa 5-57 St. Augustine
San Clemente 14-16 La Costa Canyon
Torrey Pines 12-45 St. John Bosco
Dec 21-22
St. Augustine 45-24 La Costa Canyon
Mira Costa 50-12 Fallbrook
St. John Bosco 52-14 San Clemente
5785 To Play In New Orleans
The 5785 select side has named its squad to face the NOLA Gold Academy in a game that will serve as a curtain-raiser for NOLA's preseason game.
The 5785 program draws mostly from Colorado, with some players from Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Texas.
USA U18 Boys Finish Camp 3-0-1
The Boys HS All American/U18 winter camp finished off with a win and a tie over Canadian opposition to finish off the camp games with a 3-0-1 record.
USA Blue took on Canada White and dominated, winning 33-0.
No. 8 Russell Lemaster scored the first two USA tries in that game, with Lewis Gray converting. Captain Will Chevalier added a try to make it 21-0 with Gray's conversion.
Marcus Schumacher's try made it 28-0 with Gray's conversion, and then Carson Shoemaker scored at the end in a very convincing performance.
On the other side of the ledger, USA Red tied Canada Red 20-20.
St Augustine Takes Down Mira Costa In SoCal
Saint Augustine defeated the Mira Costa Mustangs in San Diego this past weekend in Round 2 of the new SCIRF league.
In a game that showed a fairly big difference in size between the teams, the small Mustang forwards weathered the Saints' interior game early on and the teams changed ends 19-5. But the much larger Saints forwards started to pull away in the second half, repeatedly pounding the Mira Costa line. The result was a 57-5 St. Augustine win.
The Saints came out firing and scored two tries through Jake Armenta, and then one from Mike Colucci. Mira Costa responded with a nifty play off a scrum - fullback Giuseppe Meola raced onto a ball, and then used wing John Darcy as a decoy as he dummied and went in to touch down.
SoCal Latest: Saints, Tritons, Pines
The new independent SCIRF got underway this past weekend in boys HS action.
St Augustine played Fallbrook on Saturday. It was a physical affair between the two squads. The Saints worked hard to keep an advantage in territory and wanted to play in the Fallbrook side of the field. The Saints did a pretty good job of forcing Fallbrook to play in their side of the field.
That pressure allowed the Saints to force turnovers and produce scoring opportunities. It all worked beautifully for St. Augustine. Michael Cross scored five tries. Aidan Konja had three. Michael Colucci scored a try and was a perfect 9-for-9 on conversions for 23 points. St. Augustine won 70-0.
The Saints will host Mira Costa next Saturday at Mission Bay High School, in a rematch of the semifinals from last season.
Roadrunner 7s Builds Arizona Rugby, With A Little Help
The Arizona Bobcats HS select side program is running a preseason 7s tournament in Phoenix.
The tournament, which includes some teams from out of the state, is part of an ongoing effort to raise the level of play in Arizona.
"We want to help all of the teams get better and for the game to grow," said Ian Gregor, who is helping spearhead the tournament, now in its second year. "We have had various initiatives, like having [USA WNT 7s head coach] Chris Brown come in and work with teams. And we've received a lot of support from other states, especially Utah. We're trying to develop what we can in our back yard, and this is part of that."
Utah Cannibals Boys and Girls, Snow Canyon, Las Vegas Black Hawks, and theYoung Woman's Learning Academy Transformers are all coming in from out-of-state to participate.
Rivalries Revisited As SoCal's SCIRF Starts Up
Southern California kicks off its high school season this weekend with some key early matchups, not least of which will be Torrey Pines hosting La Costa Canyon.
these two teams know each other very well and have formed an excellent rivalry, albeit one in which La Costa has had a slight upper hand in recent years.
NA Lions Win In Dubai
The North American Lions took home the Boys International U19 championship at the Dubai 7s over the weekend.
The NA Lions for short, is an Elite Invitational team created by four core academy programs in North America: EIRA, Atlantis, Upright Rugby, and Utah Rugby Academy, with players coming from primarily those four teams.
The 2018 edition had coaches Tyler Leggatt of Upright, Salty Thompson of EIRA, and Michael Cressler of Utah handling coaching and managerial duties. The final roster for the tournament included Co-Captains Ryan James Jr and Thomas Isherwood, with Shane Rikley-Krindle, Collin Smibert, Braden Bruce, Jordan Ng, Noah Wright, Dominic Tianga, John Grande IV, Liam Moran, Kyle Van Tonder, and Elijah Billups.
