Joe Deinhart, a 2025 St. Ignatius graduate and new Rugby Riot contributor, gives us the scoop on the U19s performance in Mexico.
🇺🇸 U19 Eagles Go Undefeated in Mexico
A clean sweep in Mexico, but bigger challenges await the Baby Eagles on the world stage.
There was cause for celebration in Mexico for the U19 Eagles. They completed an undefeated campaign in the RAN championship with a dominant 48-8 win over Jamaica. Led by flyhalf Declan Cadden (former SD Mustang), the Baby Eagles exposed Jamaica's edge defenders with impressive ruck speed and seamless interplay.
Jamaica attacked the Eaglets with a distinctly island style of rugby, offloading and keeping the ball alive through contact. This worked to an extent, but the Islanders could not match the Eagles' power in the set piece despite their size. Phil Bottomley—a former Xavier (OH) standout—can take much of the credit in the scrum, as he anchored the Eagles from the loosehead prop and was dominant in contact.
World Rugby U20s Up Next
A win in the RAN U19 championship is impressive, but the Eaglets will face a much higher grade of competition next summer in the newly expanded World Rugby U20 Championship. World Rugby recently announced the addition of four teams to the tournament, where the USA will debut with Fiji, Uruguay, and Japan next summer in Georgia (the country).
Winning a single game in that tournament will be a tall task, but Ohio State scrumhalf—and friend of Rugby Riot—Mark French is confident in the Eagles' chances, explaining:
“It would take a lot of time together and preparation for us to get to the next level, but it is definitely an achievable goal.”
A Need for Stronger Competition
While time together is important for growth, the need for strong competition is a must. While the Eagles played in the Rugby Americas North championship, Canada sent a U20 side to the Oceania Rugby U20s Challenge, and played strong sides in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. This is a massive step up from third-tier nations like Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico.
While the Eagles' wins over these teams are impressive, blowout wins over countries without high-performance programs do little to create a national team that will be able to win a World Cup Quarterfinal, the goal that men's team coach Scott Lawrence has boldly laid out.
This is a theme that was evident among all three age-grade national teams, as the U18s dominated two Argentine select sides before being humbled by Uruguay, a strong rugby nation, but one that should not handily defeat the United States. It was also seen on the U23 level, as the Eagles dominated three South African clubs. While this might seem like a positive, these clubs fielded younger teams and in one instance, a D side.
Silver Lining
Despite the doom and gloom around the competition level, there is more than a glimmer of sunshine. The U19 Eagles went undefeated and are poised to go into the U20 World Championship with experience together as a squad. The bonding and growing pains that the team went through in Mexico will be massive for them in Georgia next year.
-Joe Deinhart
St. Ignatius (OH), Class of 2025