Day One in the Great Northwest Challenge is in the books and here's what has happened.
The Utah Cannibals went 2-0 over a tough Idaho Grey Wolves team and the well-regarded Rhinos Rugby Academy to lead Pool A. In Pool D, NorCal Sacramento Valley is 2-0. With Inoke Waqavesi leading the attack at flythalf and two forwards putting in special performances, Sac Valley defeated SoCal 29-17 and the Oregon Red Hawks Selects 32-5. No. 8 Kooper Mogan, out of Vacaville, has been a revelation at the back of the scrum, while lock Chase Jones (Solo Falcons) broke out Friday and was player of the game against SoCal.
That was a tough pool for SoCal and Sac Valley, especially considering that Pool C included Oregon Red Hawks, Colorado, and Montana. Oregon beat their opponents to go 2-0 and win the pool, but some were scratching their heads at the pool alignments. Oregon was 5th in last year's GNC, while Montana was 8th. Meanwhile, NorCal Bay Area (1st and 4-0 in 2016) and Washington (4th and 3-1 in 2016) were pit against each other in Pool B.
And that made for an exciting day of action. NorCal Bay Area defeated Toas out of Idaho to open the day, but ran into a huge, physical Washington Loggers team.
"I thought we were big," said Bay Area Head Coach Jon Straka. "But Washington was way bigger."
The Loggers defeated Bay Area 54-12 and then handled Toas 36-12 to finish 2-0. Center Cole Semu (Chuckanut) was very solid on attack, while No. 8 Nate Scanlan was a powerful present at the back of the scrum. The Loggers have been training for a long time, and they looked it.
In Girls Varsity Rugby Oregon went 4-0, defeating Rugby NorCal 21-7 in a clash of unbeaten teams. In Girls JV Rugby NorCal swept Oregon and SoCal, and should not have trouble with Idaho on Saturday.
In Boys JV, NorCal Bay Area, Washington, and Rocky Mountain went 2-0. Washington got some good work from Calvin Liulamaga (Rainier). NorCal was dominant, especially defensively.
So Saturday sees Washington play Oregon in one Boys Varsity Cup Semi, and Sac Valley take on Utah.
In Girls Varsity, Oregon plays Washington in one semi, and NorCal plays SoCal in the other. The 5th team, Idaho, plays the loser of Oregon v Washington.
For Boys JV, Bay Area plays Rhinos Rugby Academy in one semi, and Washington plays Rocky Mountain.
| Boys Varsity | |||||||||
| Pool A | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Utah Cannibals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 22 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Rhinos Rugby Academy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 34 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Sacpal Boys Varsity | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Idaho Grey Wolves | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 84 | -64 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pool B | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Washington Loggers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 24 | 66 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Rugby NorCal Bay Area | 1 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 61 | -14 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Toas Varsity | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 71 | -52 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pool C | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Oregon Red Hawks Varsity | 2 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 5 | 83 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Rugby Colorado | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 40 | -16 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Montana Selects | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 86 | -67 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Pool D | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Rugby NorCal Sac Valley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 22 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| SoCal Griffins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Oregon Red Hawks Selects | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 51 | -41 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Girls Varsity | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Rugby Oregon Red Hawks | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Rugby NorCal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| SoCal Griffins | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Washington Loggers | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Idaho Grey Wolves | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Boys JV | |||||||||
| Pool A | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Rugby NorCal Bay Area | 2 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Rugby Colorado | 2 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Rugby Oregon Red Hawks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 71 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Montana Selects | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pool B | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Washington Loggers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Rugby NorCal Sac Valley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| TOA Idaho All Stars | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| SoCal Griffins | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Pool C | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Rocky Mountain RFC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Rhinos RA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 87 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Utah Cannibals | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Girls JV | W | L | T | PA | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| Rugby NorCal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 29 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| SoCal Griffins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 87 | 29 | 58 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Rugby Oregon Red Hawks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 22 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Idaho Grey Wolves | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 118 | -118 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
