Great Day for HR
Wednesday saw a successful day for HR's top 3 teams, with three shutouts posted. Below are match reports:
U19 v. Skyline
The Black Planet wasted no time in setting the tone for its title defense. Following some early play off of the kickoff, the boys found themselves near the goal line almost immediately, and the pack took charge. Four or five phases of knocking the opposition on their heels with pick and charge saw Prop Moises Peraza reach over for the first try of the season. The sideline conversion was narrowly missed by Lock Sam Brookham, who had a fantastic game despite some early-season rust with the boot. Highland continued to pressure Skyline, playing almost the entire half in opposition territory. A Skyline penalty and a kick in to touch set up a lineout from about 15m out, and the HR forwards were once again up to the task, driving the lineout all the way for a Kesni Tausinga score.
Not to be outdone, the backs got in the mix soon after. Relentless pressure led to another Skyline penalty, this one near the posts. After coming up just short on a tap to the big guys, scrumhalf Sean Harwood spun the ball to #10 Danny Tuai, who then found Center Eric Pauni on the burst for a nice try. The boys continued to play hard, but first-game mistakes meant too many points were thrown away with bad decisions and ball mishandling often inside of 15 meters, and the half ended with a 15-0 lead.
Determined to clean up the often sloppy play from the first half, HR came out hard and fast, and the second half saw several long breaks through the Skyline defense, including impressive runs by Danny Tuai and Tali Houma. Tali got the wind knocked out of him when he was hit after chipping ahead following a 60-meter jaunt, and although the sideline felt that a yellow card or penalty try was warranted, a simple penalty was all that was called. Not to worry, though, following a near score on another drive from lineout, Break Ara Elkington kept it in tight and touched over for his first try. Elkington was the theme of the next try as well ,but fans may have thought they were seeing double, as Ara made a nice open-field break following another run by Tuai, then offloaded to twin brother Wini, who raced the final 25 meters to put in the try. Scrumhalf Sean Harwood, whose quickness in open play left Skyline players grapping at air all day, complemented a superb open field kicking day on his debut with a try just a bit left of the posts to close the scoring.
It was a typical first game, which means there were a lot of bright spots and a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps the brightest spot was the play of Blindside Aaron Hanson. Hanson, who was dynamic off the bench last year, staked his claim to the #6 jersey with a performance reminiscent of the energizer bunny. He played at full pace all game and despite his small stature made several big hits in a very impressive performance. Scrums and lineout were dominant, and the defense was solid all game long in posting the shutout, 30-0.
Areas for improvement include the placekicking game, with not a conversion to be found, fitness, and overall cleanliness of play. Had the boys finished even 50% of the scoring opportunities in close, the margin may well have been double. And credit goes to Skyline for having a well-prepared team who played hard all game.
1- Moises Peraza, 2 - Levi Card(c), 3 - DJ Ferris (Seni Fauonuku @ 50:00), 4 - Sam Brookham (Zach Dean @ 48:00), 5 - Kesni Tausinga, 6 - Aaron Hanson, 7 - Ara Elkington, 8 - John Kacinski, 9 - Sean Harwood, 10 - Danny Tuai, 11 - Tali Houma (Tevita Bloomfield @ 42:00), 12 - Wini Elkington, 13 - Eric Pauni, 14 - Josh Andersen, 15 - Dane Madsen
Scoring: Peraza(T), Tausinga(T), A. Elkington(T), Pauni(T), Harwood(T), W. Elkington(T)
HS 1 v. Wasatch
It's always nice to get the first one under the belt, particularly when so many first-year players are on the field. The game was interesting from the get-go, as we found ourselves unexpectedly down three scrumhalves due to various reasons. In stepped sophomore hooker Kingston Liavaa, whose 3 practices at #9 earlier this year constituted the depth of the experience we had left at the position, and although his performance will probably not dictate a permanent move to the position, he turned in a very admirable performance at a very difficult position and earned the admiration of coaches and teammates alike. Sloppy play was the theme of the day for the HR boys, who nevertheless made enough plays to put a nice score on the board. The star of the day was Matt Jensen, a 6'6" Lock who moved in from Pennsylvania in the offseason and, in his first ever rugby game, showed remarkable aptitude in scoring a hat trick with three tries on the day. Among these was a 70-meter jaunt in which the big man showed great pace in outrunning most of the Wasatch backline!
After Jensen opened the scoring with a 30-meter run, converted by #10 Kepu Lauti, wing Tyler Byrge showed some great athleticism by reaching to snag a difficult pass and then outracing his opposite number around the corner for a 65-meter try. A try by monster prop Seni Fauonuku (also playing his first-ever game), who punished the defense all day and left many a defender on their back, closed out a sloppy-but-productive first half. The big Highland scrum was dominant, several times pushing the Wasatch pack on to their backs, and Zach Dean was a ballhog in the lineout, deciding that he needed to take the balls for BOTH teams! Kepu Lauti was strong with the boot in the first half, pinning Wasatch down several times with adept booming kicks in to open space.
The second brought on a few subs, and they paid immediate dividends. First-year sophomore center Leva Bloomfield made several nice runs, including a cutback for his first-ever try from about 30 meters out. Reserve break Josh Nilsen was spot on with the conversion to extend the lead. With the boys once again threatening, it was another sub, break Nate Fairbanks, driving across the line for a score after some strong forward play. A second try from Jensen and a second conversion from Nilsen, and the blowout was on. Prop Michael Western would touch down for a try of his own, followed by Jensen's aforementioned 70-meter gallop to close the scoring at 46-0.
Scoring was plentiful and defense was solid, but fitness, place kicking, and inconsistency must be improved upon for this inexperienced but promising group of young men.
1 - Seni Fauonuku, 2 - Iniki Tauveli, 3 - Michael Western, 4 - Matt Jensen, 5 - Kap Pauni(Justin Hill @ half), 6 - Jaxon Phippen(Nate Fairbanks @ half), 7 - Zach Dean(c)(Josh Nilsen @ half), 8 - Clyde Reaveley, 9 - Kingston Liavaa, 10 - Kepu Lauti, 11 - Jace Petersen, 12 - Sione Folaumoeloa, 13 - Tevita Bloomfield(Leva Bloomfield @ half), 14 - Tyler Byrge, 15 - Alec Diao
HS 2 v. Kearns 2
Capping off the day was a 32-0 drubbing of Kearns by the High School 2 team. Although a full match report is not available, standouts on the day included Cody Jensen, Cy Holt, Misi Afeaki, Jade DeGraw, Blake Marshall, and Mitch Larsen.
