Thunder Wins Pacific Coast Invitational
Thunder Wins Pacific Coast Invitational
Thunder Rugby backed up last week's 3rd-place win in SoCal with a 2-0 performance at the Pacific Invitational this weekend.
Thunder beat a very tough SFGG side 34-32 on Day One. The Thunder forwards got their team on the board first, and SFGG responded, and that exvhange was a harbinger of how the game would go.
It was windy and both teams struggled with their kicking game as a result. In the second half SFGG stretched to a 10-point lead, exploiting some handling mistakes by Thunder.
But once Thunder started to keep the ball a bit more and work through the phases with their forwards, they made inroads on the SFGG defense.
A try under the posts made it a three-point game at SFGG 32 Thunder 29. Thunder then received the restart and through Kingston Faatili, Quinton Johnson, and then Ray Teale, they thundered through a tired SFGG defense to score the game-winner.
"Not a pretty game by Thunder or SFGG but tought, physical, well-fought match by both teams," said Thunder Head Coach Josh Williams. "I am grateful for the opportunity, the quality hosting, and the top-notch youth rugby Coach Mateo and SFGG brought to the pitch."
In another edge-of-your-seat result on Day One, the SOC Raptors edged Danville 20-19, outscoring the Oaks four tries to three, but missing all four conversions.
On Day Two, SFGG rebounded with an impressive 45-17 win over a young Raptors team. (Raptors left some players off their roster to rest for the upcoming Boys HS National Championships).
"Lots of good lessons for that young group," said Head Coach Sam McMillan. "Now on to Indiana. It was a big lessons in how to play two days in a row and not only be physically ready but be mentally ready while sleeping in a foreign hotel with three other guys in the room!"
Thunder, meanwhile, defeated Danville 43-26 to win the tournament. Things are definitely looking up for that program as their U16s won the SoCal championship.
"It was a great tournament," said Williams "Mateo Medrano at SFGG did a great job organizing, the games were competitive and physical, and the teams were solid."
It was a very competitive contest. The SOC loss was the biggest margin of victory and that wasn't exactly a blowout. Two of the four games were decided by two points or less.
| Pacific Coast Invitational | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Thunder | 2 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 58 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| SFGG | 1 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 51 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| SOC Raptors | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 64 | -27 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Danville | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 63 | -18 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
