Club rugby was nationwide over the weekend with over 90 games spanning six regions. Tests in the Frontier, Mid-Atlantic, Pacific North, Pacific South, Red River, and the South were played on Saturday and Sunday with plenty of upsets, blowouts, and surprises.
RED RIVER
Men's
Saturday was an Austin triple-header where the Huns hosted the Blacks in a showdown of DI, DII, and DIII. The Blacks completed the three-game sweep with scores of 39-22 in DI, 22-20 in DII, and 94-14 in DIII.
Asked for his thoughts on each game Austin Black’s coach Tane Jericevich said, “We had a composed DI performance, still a lot to work on but the improvements were there from previous weeks which is encouraging. In DII, this was a do or die game for both teams. We were down by a couple of scores for most of the game but showed the belief to fight back. Hats off to Augustine, our 12, for slotting the crucial goal in the 80th minute to win the game. It was another convincing DIII win and a good performance leading up to playoffs. Still, a lot to work on, but we are content with where we are at this stage in the season.”
In Dallas, there was a double feature as the Reds swept West Houston in their DI and DII affairs. First, DII blanked the Lions 28-0 and then DI won 57-10 for their second straight win. Dallas DI is on the road for its last two games at the Harlequins and finish at the Blacks. If they can extend their winning streak, the Reds have a chance to catch the Huns for second place.
Down in DIII, Corpus Christi earned a forfeit win versus Alamo City, Grand Prairie shut out OKC Tribe 52-0, Shreveport beat Dallas 38-24 on the road, DARC forfeited to the Dallas Harlequins, Galveston squeaked by BARC 35-32, and HARC dominated Kingwood 43-3. In the battle for second in the South, the Woodlands thumped the Houston Arrows 49-19.
“We knew they would come at us first 20 minutes,” head coach Woodlands Garry Owen said. “Our defense was top notch. The tackle count was impressive, especially from the back row. We utilized our superior pace out wide on counterattacks and [the Arrows] had no answer to that. The game could have gone either way. We also knew we are younger and fitter, we just had stay with them physically and we did.”
Women's
The Utah Vipers (1-2) traveled to Texas for a DI Frontier Red River double-header and started the weekend with a big 95-5 win over the Dallas Harlequins. The hosts prevented the shutout with a Maria Garza try in the 60th minute. The Austin Valkyries, however, dominated the Sunday showdown with a 42-5 win. The 4-0 Valkyries moved the ball around, sending fullback Chelsey Arambula, No. 8 Geraldine Thomas, flanker Jacqueline Tobar, prop Jessica LaMoe, lock Julia Fortkort and wing Amethyst Gamez in for tries. Flyhalf Jordan Heller kicked two penalties in addition to the majority of conversions.
San Antonio is 6-1 in DII Red River after a 60-0 win against Dallas. Fullback Christine Valliant led all point-scorers with 25 on two tries, six conversions and a penalty kick. Halie Green and Caitlin Burkhart scored two tries apiece, and Keeley Coker, Antea Dedic and Emily Fillmore crossed for five points each. The Riveters take a two-week break before facing Austin in a rematch of the team’s only league loss. Little Rock hosted Dallas Athletic (1-5) in a 67-15 win and is now 3-1.
SOUTH
Men's
The True South DII took center stage in the South. The first match saw Baton Rouge barrage Memphis, 81-7, for 12 tries including a hat trick from Jacob Verret. In the second game, New Orleans handed Birmingham its first loss of the season, 43-24.
“We approached this game differently,” NORFC head coach Chalie Baleirara said. “We played them so many times, we know they are well-drilled team with lots of talent and X factors. It wasn’t an easy game for us but we stuck to the plan and keep fighting until the last whistle. Playing territory was massive for us and capitalizing their mistakes helped us a lot.”
Women's
Tampa Bay (4-1) logged another bonus-point win in DII Florida and defeated Indian River (0-5) 48-7. Jesse DePaolo, Marie Anceaux (2), Victoria Jarrett, Trelawney Baisden, Sam Black, Latrisha Jarrett and Jessie Premet scored tries, and Robyn Oliveri kicked four conversions. Ruby Sheets prevented the shutout with a try in the 65th minute and Regina Gaglione kicked the conversion for Indian River.
Meanwhile, Orlando put 20 points between itself and Jacksonville (2-2-1) and improved to 3-1-2. The Sinners scored four tries through scrumhalf April Fogel (2), flyhalf Maya Officer and outside center Erica Long, who also added three conversions.
When Memphis (2-1) and Knoxville (1-2) met for their fall matrix match in DII True South, the Flamingos won 31-20. In Saturday’s rematch, the Minx served as hosts and responded with a 34-0 victory. Knoxville logged Alyson Pointer, Alexi Eidam, Chelsea Robi, Kristen Coulston, Caitlin Molyneaux and Haley Forman tries, while Coulston and Amy Satkowiak kicked the extras.
“It was clear that Memphis has been putting in work. We saw that last year and again this weekend. They upped their game, and it helped us to not become complacent. It’s so easy to do when you’ve won the union a few years in a row,” Knoxville president Haley Forman explained. “The beating we took from them last year was the wake-up call we needed, and we put in the effort to make sure it didn’t happen again. We couldn’t have done it without our captains, Kristen Coulston and Amy Satkowiak. They are adjusting our drills and style of play to match each team we play, incorporating fitness, and implementing more advanced strategy every practice. Their dedication outside of practice to researching and planning is what’s led us to be the team we are today.”
PACIFIC NORTH
Men's
The top two teams in the DII NorCal remained undefeated on Saturday as Olympic Club edged Vacaville, 38-29, and SFGG crushed the Diablo Olde Gaels, 93-0. Olympic Club outscored its opponent 14-5 in the second half to earn the comeback win while SFGG notched its third shutout in a row.
“After trailing at the half 24–14, we made an effort to get back to our basics and try not to do too much in a single phase or play,” Olympic Club president Andrew King said. “We maintained possession of the ball and worked Vacaville through phases which allowed us to dominate possession and mount a comeback.”
As for SFGG, head coach Johnny Naqica stated, “We’ve had a couple of weeks of rest and the fellas needed to recover. On Saturday, they were really anxious to go out on the field and execute what we’ve been practicing suiting the bye weeks. Focusing on making first-up tackles and limit the turnovers. Just looking to play balanced attack with spread and punch when the opportunity is there. And it’s been working nicely for us.”
Also, of note, it’s the end of an era for SFGG’s home field at Treasure Island in San Francisco, Calif. According to Director of Rugby Neil Foote, “It was SFGG’s last official home game on Saturday ever. We are being moved from our current site due to the island’s development into high rise apartments. We will hopefully see SFGG play again in playoffs as they are scheduled to be held with us. Obviously, a huge loss for club NorCal and West Coast rugby… We are still exploring options to move but obviously losing a massive amount of history with the clubhouse as it has been so unique here in the USA.”
Up in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a logjam at the top of the standings in DII. Four teams are clustered, with three tied at (4-2), with the other at (4-3). Boise United is currently in first but was upset by ORSU by a score of 23-22. In a three-way tied for second, the Eastside Tsunami served up a 57-0 goose egg to the Valley Kangaroos, and Portland edged Tacoma 27-24.
In NorCal DIII, Life West clobbered Sacramento, 97-31, in the Blue Division. Almost everyone on the team had their name on the scoresheet with 12 players scoring 15 tries and King Dazeem Stevenson earning a hat trick. B.A. Baracus held onto first place in the Yellow Division with a 64-12 bludgeoning of Napa Valley. Robert Sullivan and Jack Guiney scored two tries apiece to push their team’s record to 6-0.
The Budd Bay Buffaloes opened up their spring season with a 24-17 victory to remain in first in the DIII Pacific Northwest. The Buffaloes battled back twice from behind to win.
Budd Bay coach Shayne Oldfield said, “Chuckanut is a great tackling team. They excel at lineouts. We were able to beat them in the scrum and phase play in open field.” Captain Jamie Barnwell added, “It was a good evenly-contested game. Chuckanut went up early but we battled back and won it late. We had to rely on a few goal line stands to grind the match out.”
In an inter-league match, Seattle Saracens traveled to Glendale to play the Merlins on Saturday. It was a great game and the final score was 39-36 to the Merlins. Saracens president Kevin Flynn believes this type of match-up is good for the growth of the game. “We believe we need to find ways for clubs who don’t often compete with one another to play each other. We will need to be creative and help each other make these games happen."
Flynn continued, "We hope this will help develop US players and clubs. We also hope this will get the leaders of these clubs who are vested in developing American rugby the opportunity to meet and discuss and share ideas on how to help develop US rugby and community engagement.”
Women's
Berkeley is now the firm leader in DII NorCal, improving to 5-0 with a 51-7 win over the Sacramento Amazons (3-2). All Blues hooker Monica Marquez, lock Elise Bonfiglio (2), wing Teru Baker, No. 8 Jazmyne Spear, outside center Madeline Cannan, wing Maria Victoria Abrenica, fullback Sally Shatford and reserve Cathy Cai scored tries, and flyhalf Kat Chasakara added four conversions.
San Francisco Golden Gate played its final game at the Ray Sheeran pitch and club house, and celebrated with a 12-10 win against San Jose. Lindsey Kinsler scored all of Gate’s points, while Teagan Hughes and Maxine Fonua scored tries for the Seahawks.
Tacoma is still undefeated in the DII Pacific Northwest and beat South Sound (2-2) 100-5 on Saturday. No. 8 Madison Feddersen, flyhalf Audrey Falconi (3), scrumhalf Blaine Martin (3), outside center Noelle Heiser (4), wing Deirdra Tooker, fullback Shannon Parker and reserves Hea Makaafi, Monica Leoso and Jessica Scott all scored tries. Parker added 10 conversions.
“The team has been working really hard in the off-season around organization and patience,” Tacoma player-coach and Denver Black Ice transfer Martin noted. “We have been focusing on creating space and earning our attacking options, and the team really executed on that against South Sound. The Assassins have some really good pace and some lethal attacking options, so we knew we had to starve them of ball. All in all we are happy with the game we played and will continue to build on that momentum throughout our season.”
Emerald City (5-0) still leads the 10-team league and will return to play this weekend.
PACIFIC SOUTH
Men's
In the four matches in SoCal DII, Oceanside and Santa Monica prevailed in Group A while Belmont Shore and Tempe took home ‘Ws’ in Group B. Belmont nailed Pasadena 50-10 to stay undefeated, while Tempe kept pace at (4-1) with a 41-3 trouncing of Los Angeles. It’s a three-squad race in Group A as Oceanside is in third after beating Las Vegas 54-19 and second place Santa Monica knocked off first place Ventura County, 15-11.
Speaking on the win, Santa Monica head coach Steve Stagg said, “Since playing Ventura at home [in January], our set piece has improved dramatically and along with our defensive shape and line speed. We were able to apply significant pressure. Off the back of this, we were able to identify space and exploit them out wide largely thanks to efforts from our back three, particularly winger, Frazer Baron [who ultimately scored the game-winning try on Saturday].”
With only two weeks left in the regular season in the Arizona DIII, the battle for the top two positions in each division is fierce. In the Blue, the NAU Landsharks have a firm hold of first with a 6-0-1 record and a 41-26 win over Camelback. Red Mountain looks to have locked up second with a 36-21 triumph against Tucson.
It’s a bit muddier in the Red division. Phoenix is at the top of the division as of now, but it suffered a big defeat versus second place Las Vegas, 42-22. Phoenix and Las Vegas are tied with 21 standing points each despite Phoenix having a better record but Vegas has more bonus points. Scottsdale in on the outside looking in after pounding Old Pueblo 86-7.
Asked for comment about his team’s double-up versus Phoenix, Las Vegas head coach Mike Hutch said the key to the game was to “Always hard to travel with your best side. Our backs exploited some overloads and our forwards tried not to overcommit to the lost ball.”
The season is winding down for SoCal DIII too and the top four are jockeying for playoff seeds. Eagle Rock suffered its first loss to the San Diego Old Aztecs, 43-5. San Diego’s keys to the upset were ball retention and defensive pressure. “The gents put on a clinical performance founded on possession, pressure, and structure,” head coach Adam Kreutter said. “We had confidence going into the second half of the season, but we are not yet satisfied.”
Joining Eagle Rock for a tie for first place, Santa Barbara hammered Huntington Beach, 52-18. Head coach Tiaan Bezuidenhout described his team’s effort saying, “Santa Barbara defense was very effective, forwards secured first phase ball and created space in the backline. [Scrumhalf Mathew] Amador was the Man of the Match for his team play, distributing the ball effectively between forwards and backs, and also scoring two tries.”
The North County Gurkhas kept pace with a 55-14 win over Ventura County and Beaumont is in fourth picking up an easy forfeiture from San Luis Obispo.
Women's
San Diego served Tempe (3-1) its first loss of the DI Pacific South championship season, 54-31. Surfers fullback Diana Griessler led in the way of tries with three, and Ninjas flyhalf Heleni Kuma also crossed for multiple scores. Meanwhile, Santa Monica (2-2) toppled Belmont Shore 78-14. There are two more round of league play before the title match.
In Division II, Las Vegas (2-1) banked a 31-17 win against Old Pueblo and surpassed Pasadena, also 2-1, in the standings on point differential.
“Our win over our respected foe, the Tucson Lightning, was a test of our team's resolve to pull off an away victory,” Las Vegas head coach Bruce Tolley enthused. “As usual, the Lightning pushed us to our limit through the first half with the match even at 12-12.”
Catrin Turner and Haylee Holsclaw scored tries and Danielle Schumacher kicked the extras for the Slots. Kristina Aprahamian and Jessica Szakacs dotted down for the Lightning, and Alex Rath added the conversion.
“Focusing on the game plan and exercising better discipline in the second half pulled the team together and allowed us to pull away with three additional tries and two conversions,” the coach continued. “Our deep sub pool helped tremendously with fresh legs and understanding the game plan. It was a wonderful team effort.
“Our wrecking ball award went to one of our subs, Tamerus Griffin, who pummeled the opposition with counter-rucks and hard running,” the coach continued. “Forward of the match went to Jeru Ako. Her tackling and rucking simply stood out along with two tries. Back of the match went to Danielle Schumacher. As captain, she distributed the ball, communicated across the board along with solid defense and several breakaway runs.”
Santa Barbara improved to 3-1 in DIII after posting 42 points on Riverside. Santa Barbara prop Susanne Saldivar and flyhalf Courtney Applewhite scored two tries apiece, and hooker Christie Pasamonte, scrumhalf Amanda Kelley, fullback Kathryn Culhane and inside center Danielle Morrison added a score apiece. Brittany Rickman added the conversion. Northern Arizona also defeated San Fernando Valley in DIII.
FRONTIER
Men's
The marquee DII match in Mid-America was between the two clubs at the top of the table in the North and South. Little Rock hosted the St. Louis Royal Ramblers and in a physical match, St. Louis shut out its opponent 57-0. The Royal Ramblers scored nine tries and captain Lungile Tshuma took home Man of the Match honors for his leadership at flyhalf and scoring a total of 15 points (a try and five conversions).
“The game against Little Rock saw strong performances across the board for a solid win against a strong side,” head coach Colin Heath said. “We knew going in that Little Rock would be strong in their forwards, so we used the width of the field and the dry conditions to successfully breakdown their defense with our backline.”
The Royal Ramblers didn’t have the same success in their DIII match against Springfield. Coach Mark Owings returned to the sideline for Springfield after a heart attack and his boys brought the thunder. Springfield took out St. Louis, 54-8.
“We won a merit table match against the #2 team in our division,” Owings said. “I feel that we pressured the #9 and #10 early in the match and that pressure led to poor passes and decisions throughout the match.”
Ameto Galu and Josh Evans each scored a pair of tries, but the game ball went to blindside flanker Sam Golden. “From hard runs breaking the gain line to making tackles, maintaining defensive line integrity and pressuring ball carriers into bad passes, Sam was a thorn in the side of the Royal Ramblers all afternoon long,” Owings stated.
Women's
St. Louis (4-0) and Queen City (1-2) restarted DII Mid-America league play, and the Sabres exited Saturday with a 66-7 win.
“We’ve been somewhat limited on time and space for practices, and perhaps that played a part in it, but we started the game pretty flat and were definitely rusty,” St. Louis head coach Amy Holtsclaw recapped. “As they always do, though, the players turned it around and ended with a much better flow and improved ability to play off of each other.”
St. Louis sent Jennifer Pautz, Brittany David (2), Jessica Gannon and Sarah Wheeling in for first-half tries, and Meredith Schwartz and Sloane Hecimovich added conversions for a 29-0 lead at the break. Schwartz, Grace Hovde (3), Dominesha Newton (2) and Jessica Weston added second-half tries, and the game ended with a Chaos penalty try.
“We’ve implemented some new concepts and strategies for this season, and Springfield showed us that we definitely have quite a bit of work to do,” Holtsclaw added. “Additionally, for this match, we mixed up the roster to get some less-experienced players time on the pitch and had some others in secondary positions. Quite a few of our experienced players stand out in every match, but of the less-experienced, two who really stood out to me were Jess Gannon and Lindsey Kren. Both played aggressively and challenged the defense when they had the ball.”
MID-ATLANTIC
Men's
Before the upper divisions start this coming weekend in the Mid-Atlantic, DIV had the floor all to itself on Saturday. The frontrunner, Patuxent River, cracked the Washington Scandals 55-12 and Prince William County was handed its second defeat in a row at Severn River, 43-7, to remain in second place.
“We had worked hard on rucking since the break and those efforts were rewarded on Saturday,” Severn River head coach Dave Egar said. “Our two Joes were joint Men of the Match. Joe Milluzzo and Joe Asselin had a constant work rate over the entire 80 minutes.”
Phoenixville White Horse is in third with a narrow 26-24 win over the Washington Renegades. Wilmington took one step closer to the top four by beating North Bay 40-7. It’s going to be a battle in the final four weeks of the season with seven teams bunched at the top of the standings.
