Danville Oaks Varsity Gold Dominates SoCal at UCLA

Oaks Report- Varsity Gold @ UCLA’s Dennis Storer Classic Jan 19-20

 

The Oaks went 3-0, outscoring opponents 94-5 over the holiday weekend. After arriving late Friday night to the hotel in Santa Monica, the team played two 40 minute games Saturday and one Sunday morning.  Weather was great, over 70 degrees the whole time. 

The venue was spectacular! Right in the heart of the UCLA campus, on the intramural fields below the rugby stadium  where the UC rugby tournament was on simultaneously.  Warming up next to the college sides, the Oaks played disciplined and skilful rugby throughout the weekend.

Thanks to their hard play and early successes, some of the Varsity players are now being considered for All-American selection. Many are also now on the radar of college coaches and high performance selectors. 

 

First Match- 32-0 SMRC, Santa Monica Rugby Club

 

The Oaks secured the kickoff on the left and gave it to the forwards to run towards the middle.  Winning the ruck quickly, Scrumhalf Rhys Watkin gave a nice pass back to Cameron Marek on the left wing, who beat a defender and ran 60 meters for a try.  It would be a familiar theme of the weekend for Oaks fans.  Cam would score the first 3 tries, returning a kickoff coast to coast barely touched for the third. 

Still, the match was hardly a one man show.  Forwards would maintain possession over long periods of time, wearing down the defense.  Most of the time, the backs would be able to convert when the overlap was available.  Better than the week before, at least. 

On the other wing, Grant Sherrod would get involved thanks to some great work from his teammates.  Playing a man up off a 7 man scrum, Rhys gave to Number 8 Vili Helu, who threw a dummy and broke a tackle before offloading to Grant in good support for the try.  Later, Andy Kocir made a tackle and stole the ball, batting it back.  There, it was gathered by Jack Adams and moved quickly to the outside where Grant fended away his opposite number and ran half the field for the try. 

Scrums and lineouts were solid but there is still a lot of work to do.  The Defense needs to be more organized, come up together on their man, and have a better read on when there is an opportunity for a steal. 

 

Second Match- 22-5 Back Bay Rugby Football Club (RFC)

 

The lone blemish on the scorecard for the weekend, and it happened playing a man down after Rhys was yellow carded for an illegal tackle.  Rhys sincerely apologized to the team and all is well, as the boys rallied through a tough opponent around their Captain.

Same start as the game before, but this time Hooker Spencer de Urioste gathered a tough kick right at the 10 meter line.  The Oaks won the ruck, and then it was Rhys to Cam for the 60 meter run. 

Down 0-5, Back Bay was threatening with a penalty tap at the 5 meter line.  A couple of great team tackles later, the ball popped out of the ruck and Number 6 Matt Mulholland smashed the Back Bay scrumhalf trying to pick it up.  The Oaks drove over the ball when Matt picked it up and gave to Rhys, who drew a defender and gave to Cam.  The transition move went all but 2 meters of the Pitch for the try. 

The play was a heartbreaker, and the advantage the Oaks needed to get up on the other team.  Rhys would later finish them off with a couple dazzling moves off the scrum.  First to Grant on the weak side for the try, then again to Flyhalf Jack Adams  who linked up with Number 7 Oscar Robertson for perhaps the most brilliant try scored by any high school team all weekend. 

The coaching staff was pleased with the players’ composure at the end of the game.  There were some extracurricular activities showcased by the other side, and the Oaks were able to keep their play hard and clean.  The referee did well to end the contest 5 minutes early, or endanger the teams with red cards or injury, as number 12 for Back Bay was no longer playing rugby.

 

Third Match- 40-0 Trabuco Hills Rugby Club

 

After a fun Saturday night on the town in Santa Monica, it was already getting warm as 1040 kickoff approached.  The day would be dominated by the forwards, as was the theme of the weekend.  The rucking is superb and the players are “technically sound” according to SMC coach Tim O’brien, who watched the games on Hudl.

After endless phases all weekend, the forwards finally got their big break through the defense.  Mulholland stiff armed a defender to the ground and broke away from everybody else, diving in for the long score.  The break happened after some great team play and a couple phases of quick ball.

The scrum moves were mostly working for the Oaks, running Vili off the side for big gains and flips to Rhys to work with the wing.  A couple tries were scored in this fashion, including a stolen scrum which Vili picked and ran for the try. 

The Wingers had a number of scores, set up well by the rest of the backs.  As their experience builds, the backs figure to be featured more in the offense at some point of the season. 

The defense from fullback Kevin Woo was spot on all weekend, and highlighted by a save in this game.  Trabuco’s Number 8 took a quick tap after a penalty and beat a tired Oaks team around the corner.  Kevin tracked him down and took the ball away on the way down as he tackled the big man into touch.  Kevin also secured the place kicking duties, going 6 of 7 after the Oaks were dreadful the day before. 

After Mulholland stole a lineout, the Oaks executed a long maul that could not be stopped legally.  Trabuco was penalized for pulling it down, and the penalized player was injured on the field.  With 5 minutes left and a match to play still, the other team petitioned to cut the game short to which the Oaks had no complaint.  

A near perfect second half made for a nice drive back to the Bay Area.  The boys responded to a lazy start in the first half and raised their games in the second, particularly the reserves.