Gonzaga HS is 5-1 so far in their tour of Spain organized by Varsity Sporting Events & Team Travel.

The team opened up against Barcelona’s top high school club, Sant Boi, the oldest rugby club in the country. Sant Boi had played their toughest league game on Saturday, so Sunday’s run-out was a difficult test for them, and Gonzaga’s A-side ran out comfortable 61-5 winners. The B-side won also, and the Gonzaga U16s lost in a close one 36-29.

On Wednesday, the DC-area defending NIT champions took on defending Spanish national u18 champions CAU Valencia. The Gonzaga B-side won fairly comfortably, however it wasn’t that easy with the C-side (U16s), who finally beat the Valencia U16s 48-41 in a barnburner that featured eight lead changes.

So on to Wednesday’s A-side game under the lights.

Gonzaga went up 5-0 about ten minutes into the game on a try by junior prop Johnny Jordan from a lineout move. Then Jordan added a second try about ten minutes later that senior flyhalf Patrick Sheehy converted to make it 12-0.  

CAU Valencia then showed why they were national champions with some excellent handling and scored in the corner to make it 12-5. Gonzaga added a try from a wiper kick to the corner by Sheehy. Junior wing Tyree Randolph raced in to score on the last play of the first half to make score 17-5.  

The second half started with end-to-end action, with both Gonzaga and CAU Valencia threatening to score, while the other defended ferociously. The defense would then steal the ball or somehow work their way out of trouble, and then it would all start again at the other end of the field.

CAU Valencia finally broke through after Gonzaga’s Jordan was sin-binned for a late hit. That made it 17-10. Gonzaga responded a few minutes later with a sustained series of attacks and Tyree Randolph scored his second try of the game. Patrick Sheehy converted to take the lead to 24-10. The last 15 minutes of the game CAU Valencia continued to attack Gonzaga's line and finally broke through with about five minutes left with a converted try to make it 24-17.  CAU Valencia had one more chance with the ball inside the Gonzaga 22, but Gonzaga won a penalty and kicked the ball out to touch for the win.  

CAU Valencia was extremely skilled - great handling skills, smart tactical kicking and very good tacklers. 

“This game was something we needed,” said Gonzaga Coach Peter Baggetta. “We were pushed hard by a very skilled and tactically smart team.”

Fullback Mark Lewis was named Gonzaga’s best player on the day, but props Dante Lopresti (also the captain), and Johnny Jordan were outstanding, while loose forwards Joey Freeman and Patrick Hesse, and backs Tyree Randolph and LJ Koi-Larbi also played well.