USA Rugby South gets to step up for the United States once more this month as the Panthers enter the Rugby Americas North (previously known as NACRA) U19 championships.

The South Panthers entered two teams last year when one of the participating countries couldn’t make it. Their A team made the final before being shut out by Mexico. The B team, as expected, struggled. 

This year, it’s just the one team (see roster here), which is probably preferable for the program coaches. The South team was chosen through a series of camps and some scouting at the South Regional Cup Tournament in Matthews, NC. Head Coach Mark Williams said the team doesn’t actually restrict the roster to players from the South, although that’s kind of the expectation. But he did pick St. Ignatius prop/hooker Brock Yoho out of Cleveland, Ohio. That’s fine on the face of it, said Williams, but, added the coach, Yoho is slated to play rugby at the University of Kentucky in the fall, so “he’s a soon-to-be-adopted southerner,” joked Williams. “We usually take a player or two from the South RCT. They’ve got to have the right fit.”

What’s also notable about this Panthers team is how many are high school players. Of the squad of 24, only six are currently in college. That’s no different from last year, but considering the talent among freshmen in college, you’d figure there’d be more.

Williams said he doesn’t really care - college or high school, the age is the thing. But what he does care about it fitness, skill, and mental toughness.

“We made sure players are fitter this year,” said Williams. “We are more strict this year than last because in the past we’ve taken some players with marginal fitness, and that’s turned out to be an issue.”

Williams added that taking two teams last year was a struggle in many ways, but one of the positives was that some young players got some international experience. 

In fact, 11 of the squad of 24 were with the South U19s last year - Andrew Rappe, Austin Willis, Calvin Gentry, Cristian Calvillo, Deshun Richardson, Grant Broeder, Jean Roberts, Josh Inglis, Matthew O’Connell, Michael Curran, and Sean O'Driscoll. Of those, four played with the B side last year. Williams said O’Driscoll and Inglis, especially, will be providing leadership based on that experience.

“We have a really good side drawn from a good player pool,” said Williams. “There are some good players who we would have loved to have taken. We had a lot of good props, but they just weren’t fit enough. But now we have to focus on the players we have. A lot of these kids have never been away from home for ten days at a stretch. It’s tough. Players get homesick. We’ll be playing an international team in Bermuda in the opening game, and you never know. We’re still untested as a team.”

See schedule for the RAN Championships Super Week in Miami below.