This is a huge weekend in Boys HS rugby with games all over.
The Charlotte Ruggerfest has over 80 teams there, at a number of levels. We list the main HS Boys games and even there it's a lot. We're curious to see how the Charlotte Tigers, St. Edward, Roswell Rebels, and Neuqua measure up there.
The Lindenwood tournament is smaller but has a number of highly-ranked teams. SLUH (School #27), St. Thomas Aquinas (#31), Notre Dame de la Salette (#29), Bixby (#33), Archbishop Moeller (#29), and HS Club #20 KC Jr. Blues are all there. So are the STL Jets, a newly-formed club out of the merging of two teams. They are not ranked yet but we will watch closely how they do here.
Defending National School Champions Gonzaga are in action. Paced by several players who return from last year's championship team, Gonzaga won fairly comfortably over Gregory the Great this past weekend. Gonzaga Head Coach Peter Baggetta said GGA played well and if you watched the game without seeing the scoring plays you wouldn't think it was particularly lopsided.
"Our ability to turn turnovers into points very quickly is one of our biggest strengths," said Baggetta. "Every time they made a mistake we punished them. We’re pretty good at doing that."
With flyhalf Kieran Downs, outstanding flanker Andrew LaFrankie, power-running center Will Dombo, and several players who had Young Glory experience, this is a team with game experience. They take on regional rivals Fort Hunt.
Getting on the field for the first time are two top teams in Ohio. St. Edward goes down to the Carolina Ruggerfest, and fields multiple teams there. St. Ignatius, which is fielding six (!) squads this season (three varsity teams, two JV sides, and a freshman side) is basically running against a least two varsity opponents on a weekend. This weekend it's 2023 Ohio D1 club champion Olentangy for one squad and Georgetown Prep for another.
Okapi and Boca Raton meet up in Florida. Okapi logged a good win over Key Biscayne last week but Head Coach Juan Orfila said it was Sunday's game against Georgia's AYR War Eagle that was a surprise.
Against Key Biscayne, said Orfila, Okapi was solid. Wing Matt Arteta scored three tries and No. 8 Kris Poux was player of the game. But KB challenged them, too, and led 6-0 after 25 minutes before succumbing 40-17.
On Sunday Okapi beat War Eagle 34-10.
"That was our toughest game of the season so far," said Orfila. "War Eagles is a very physical team, with strong backs in the center and a solid lineout."
Miguel Villarreal and Nano Fernandez led a strong Okapi defensive performance.
"We are really happy to have played two consecutive days at a high level," said Orfila.
And finally California's single-school championship happens with De La Salle taking on Los Alamitos for the title, and St. Francis playing Orange Lutheran for 3rd. We've seen different teams, especially from Southern California, compete for this every year, which is an indication of some level of competitive balance.
