Southern California's new-look single-school league is back after the winter break with three games this weekend.
A solid-looking Cathedral takes on a St. Augustine team that edged Mira Costa in December 27-26.
For Cathedral, this new, eight-team single-school league will be an interesting challenge. Potentially their main rivals will be Torrey Pines, a team they tied last year when the two programs were in different competitions.
But that doesn't mean other games are easy.
"We are looking forward to getting the season kicked off," said Head Coach Matt Hawkins. "Saints is always a great fixture and there is a lot of history between the two programs and schools, so a very exciting start for us."
Having graduated some talented players, the Dons have some work to do in order to combine the younger players coming in with the older players.
"We have a great blend of youth and experience; as a coaching group, we are looking to our seniors to really provide a foundation of consistency and then watch the younger players develop into their roles," said Hawkins.
Mira Costa takes on Loyola of LA, which made SoCal Youth Rugby's school final in 2025. That division has now merged with the SCIRF league into the new Southern California single-school league.
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Mira Costa has been getting good early performances by their halfback combo of scrumhalf Henry Frost and flyhalf Theo Mackaman. They beat Servite and Villa Park in December and, as mentioned, lost to St. Augustine 27-26. That was a league game but conference matches against other LA-area teams—Loyola, St. John Bosco, and Orange Lutheran—are key.
