Slowly teams in Utah Youth Rugby are getting going and the traditional kickoff event has for years been the Ra Puriri Invitational in St. George, Utah.

Named after the father of the coaches for Snow Canyon and United (Michael and Colin Puriri), the invitational is less a litmus test of how the season will end and more a chance for game experience and coaching opportunities. Still, there's nothing wrong with having a look at the results and drawing some conclusions.

Perhaps the team that showed the most progress was Genesis which was ranked #26 by GRR when everything ground to a half last spring. Genesis beat Herriman 22-14 and also East HS 38-0 (although, in their defense, East was missing several starters). The Genesis team is full of players who have gone through their youth program and have been playing together for years. They play a dynamic, wide game and don't make mistakes.

Herriman didn't look at polished as they often are at this time of year. They played a younger side against Rhinos, and were thumped around  bit. Finally against Red Mountain out of Arizona, and in a tough clash Herriman overcame two tries being called back to win 5-0. Herriman's defense looked solid enough for early days, and with Mason Barker, Caden Syddall, Strider Fountaine, and Sam Adamson starting well, they should be OK. Herriman will play a full 70-minute game against Genesis March 13.

Meanwhile, United was also pitted against Red Mountain and lost another close one for the Arizona team 26-14. United did beat Utah opponents Olympus 17-5 and East HS 14-5. Snow Canyon took on Rhinos, Olympus, and Genesis. Genesis looked very good in beating the hosts, while the other two games for Snow Canyon were tight affairs.

"Not a bad weekend," said United Head Coach Colin Puriri. "By the third game attrition got to us a little as well as conditioning. It's still early and we hadn't had a chance to start regular organized practices. We're excited just to be able to play."

Numbers have been good for United even as the practices have been mostly the players getting together to play.

Herriman should be strong again and Genesis, as well as Red Mountain, certainly made some noise.