Goff Rugby Report Opinion/Analysis—Here are a few thoughts from the Boys HS Rugby National Championships.
In no particular order:
The Moose Rugby Grounds is one of the most beautiful rugby facilities in the USA. The underlying solid is not sandy, which means it stays relatively soft even in dry conditions, but it drains (or holds water) sufficiently so heavy rains don't pool there. This was in evidence over the weekend as much of the month before in Indiana had been wet, and the day this writer drove to Elkhart, which was the Wednesday before games began on Thursday, the trip was made in a solid wall of rain. That told me that the rain had already passed over Elkhart.
Despite this, the fields were in excellent shape and stayed that way. The players loved the 70-meter-wide fields and the lush grass. It meant fewer scrapes and pitch-related injuries, and it made for some exciting rugby.
Should the Moose Rugby Grounds host the National Championships every year? We actually think they should, but not everyone does, and we're not even sure the venues grand jefe, Bart Bottorff, thinks that. But USA Youth & HS President David Pool was very impressed because the venue has the fields, the space, the place for teams to rest up, and the town has a lot of hotel rooms that are inexpensive. (Elkhart is right on I-90 and an overflow town for fans of Notre Dame Football, and so there are a lot of hotel rooms.)
Yes, the venue does require a bit of a drive from Chicago or Indianapolis airports. For some that makes it a bit tough to get to. However, most venues are far from an airport (Salt Lake City's RAC is not—it's very close).
The competitive balance of the games was pretty impressive. Of the 36 games played, 14 were decided by a try or less, and 10 more were decided by two tries or less. So two-thirds of the games were close or very close. The seeding, of which this writer is part of the committee, was pretty spot-on. The first-round games you'd expect to be closest: #6 vs #6 and #4 vs #5, in the School and Club brackets produced scores of 26-22, 19-17, 17-12, and 36-19.
Of the big winning margins (three tries or more), there were only 11, three of which were in the first round of Tier II, four of which were won by St. Ignatius or Gonzaga.
