Nationals Day 1 quick hits👊

⚔️Collision course continues?
The SD Mustangs and the Charlotte Cardinals each put up 53 points yesterday to make it to round 2. They were the highest-scoring teams on Day 1. The Cardinals defeated the San Mateo Wolverines, while the Mustangs were victorious over Woodlands. Today’s a huge test for these squads. Cardinals take on Belmont Shore—who beat LCA in a tight battle. Mustangs will face the Cavemen in what should be a bruiser.

👀La Salette moves on.
The entire student body showed up to support their squad—bagpipes included—and they made plenty of noise, both on the sideline and on the pitch. With an organized defense and opportunistic attack, the La Salette lads defeated Sacramento Jesuit to move on to round 2. Today they face St. Ignatius—their biggest test of the year by far.

🦅The Raptors will battle today against…the Raptors.
The SOC Raptors defeated St. Edward 28-12, and the Tennessee Raptors beat St. Thomas Aquinas 38-0. So…now we’ve got a bird brawl on tap for day 2.
This one could go either way—the TN Raptors move the ball at a rapid pace and find gaps to exploit, the SOC Raptors are highly skilled and have playmakers who can tear through defensive lines. Should be a good one!

🔥Intense battles across brackets.
There were some nail biters throughout day 1:
- Fort Hunt and KC Jr. Blues went back and forth in Tier 2, with the Blues clinching the W in the last few minutes.
- Belmont Shore and Layton Christian duked it out in the Club bracket and it couldn’t have been a tighter match. With zeroes on the clock, and tied 34-34, LCA looked like they were about to strike out wide. But a dropped pass was scooped up by Belmont Shore’s flyhalf. He took it to the house, and the crowd went wild. The final whistle blew after the conversion and Belmont Shore took the victory 41-34.
- Gonzaga and Herriman was another edge-of-your-seat match. Gonzaga played inspired rugby for 60 minutes. It was probably the best we’ve seen them look all season. But Herriman means business this week. With no time left on the clock, and Gonzaga holding a 5 point lead, the Utah boys punched in a try off a lineout to tie the game and go into overtime. Then Herriman went wild. They scored three tries during the ten minute overtime period and clinched the win emphatically.

😂Funny Moments
What’s high school rugby without a few chuckles?

• Eastside (WA) and New Trier (IL) took the field…in nearly identical uniforms. The two green squads played for about ten minutes like this, and it was facepalms all around on the sideline as parents tried to distinguish between players, especially during rucks. Luckily, Eastside found their white kits somewhere and the ref stopped the clock so everyone could get changed. And order was restored. Btw, New Trier won the match 28-5 in what might have been the upset of the day.

• A St. Ed’s player lobbed this line at an SOC Raptors player before a scrum: “Does your mom cut your hair?” to which the SOC player responded “Yeah she does, right mom?” *yells to the sideline. Not the best comeback, but a second later, the SOC player received the ball and cruised past the same St. Eds player for a diving try. There ya go, bud—that’s a good response.

💪A few stand-out fullback performances.
This is not a complete list, just a few fullbacks who caught our eye so far:

• Ethan Heim, Gonzaga. 
  Gonzaga may have lost in the first round, but Heim had himself a game. He scored the first try, set up their second try with a nice run and pass, and had an outstanding individual try down the sideline—breaking tackles and willing his way in for the score. Great stuff from this kid—he left it all on the field.

• Jesse Torres, SOC Raptors.
  The fullback is electric. He slices through the smallest gaps with the ball in hand and also made some serious tackles during their opening match.

• Lucky Fisi’ipeau, Herriman.
  The Herriman fullback—recently back from injury—showed some serious leadership chops during their win over Gonzaga. He made big plays when he needed to, and you could tell that the team personality runs through this guy. Poised and confident, Lucky plays a huge role on this Herriman team.

😯Surprises so far

• New Trier beating Eastside (WA) raised some eyebrows. But like we said in a previous edition, Eastside hadn’t been tested much outside Washington State. New Trier has some fire in their belly this week.

• Greenwich vs St. Ignatius was a closer match than many expected. St. Ignatius has been rolling through teams this season, so a 24-17 result over the Connecticut lads was surprising. Nationals is different—and Greenwich came to play.

• La Salette over Sacramento Jesuit. The La Salette boys are relentless and capitalize on mistakes. We’re still surprised they were able to keep Jesuit’s studs in check.

• Kansas City Jr. Blues—We honestly didn’t have too much intel on these guys, but their win over a very good Fort Hunt team was eye opening. They’re a cohesive, fun team to watch. And their fans made a lot of noise, adding to the excitement.

🏉 Final notes, in no particular order.

• The Cardinals’ defense is AGGRESSIVE. They absolutely swarm ball carriers and everyone makes their tackles.

• The Mustangs’ support on line breaks is a thing of beauty. There’s always a teammate nearby to dish the ball to. Multiple tries were scored by the San Diego squad via timely offload.

• The officiating has been 👌. Games move along swiftly, and I’ve barely seen any questionable calls. Good on the nationals committee for bringing in solid referees.

• Max Colson (Cardinals flyhalf) has an enviable boot. The guy makes 50 yard penalty kicks look routine.

• The Charlotte Tigers had a tough draw playing the Cavemen out of the gate. They hung close for most of the game, but the Cavemen took advantage of a few mistakes to put up points and ultimately take the W.

• Ilen Menon (Woodlands) did the best job of anyone taking advantage of the wind. His kicks went a mile high and he was precise in his placement.

Oddball musings, induced by borderline hypothermia.

🏉 The wind has been a huge factor all spring. I’ve seen kicks nearly boomerang right back to the kicker. I’m telling ya, spiral kicks look way cooler AND cut through the wind!

🏉 One of my favorite things to do is to walk behind the try zone after a team has been scored on. Catching bits of their conversation really tells you what a team is made of. Lucky for me, the walking path at Elkhart runs right behind a couple try zones. So many cool pump-up talks. And lots of young men becoming leaders in real time.

🏉 I’m surprised not to see more vendors at nationals. I’m sure there’s a reason for it, but it feels like a missed opportunity—both for rugby brands and for the fans here who might want to buy rugby products. Someone could’ve made a killing with windbreakers and hot cocoa this year.