Danville Oaks Rugby Varsity Boys Take 3rd at National Championships

May 16-18, 2013
Written by Jonathan Straka

Elkhart, Indiana played host to this years’ Boys National Invitational Tournament, and Danville was selected to represent Northern California in the Club Division. Amazingly, 2013 was the first year the Oaks played in the top tier Gold Division of Northern California, competing with perennial powerhouses like Marin, San Francisco, Lamorinda, and Hayward.  Danville would beat them all and finish the regular season undefeated, arriving in Elkhart as the unknown “new kid on the block”.  By the end of the weekend, however, every rugby team in town would know about the Danville Oaks Rugby Football Club (RFC).

 

In their first match, Danville took to the pitch against the Southern California Champion San Diego Mustangs; a big, physical team that had skyrocketed past the Oaks the previous week in the national rankings.  The Mustangs were on fire and the pick of many to win the tournament, but the Oaks were able to control the game and win 17-15.  The Oaks forwards dominated possession throughout the match, limiting San Diego’s touches to take a 12-5 lead at the half.  Winger Grant Sherrod put down the first try, receiving a pass from Number 8 Vili Helu on a nifty set piece scrum move which started with a pass from Helu to scrumhalf Rhys Watkin.  Later in open play, fullback Kevin Woo scored a brilliant try after faking out multiple defenders with dummy passes and running straight into goal.

In the second half, outside center Justin Bangay set up winger Cameron Marek for what would be the game winner on a run half the length of the field.  San Diego never quit though, scoring near the end of regulation but missing the 2 point conversion kick.  The Oaks pulled the upset and were off to the ice baths, readying themselves to take on the Cathedral Royal Irish from Indianapolis the next day.

 

Cathedral were heavy favorites to win the tournament, never relinquishing their #1 ranking all season on their way to the top seed in Elkhart.  In fact, they had won the previous three National Championships but would get all they could handle from the Oaks.  Danville took the semi-final match’s opening kickoff and worked their way methodically down the field to score first.  Vili Helu finally put the ball down in goal to put the Oaks up 5-0 with a missed conversion.  Almost immediately, shortly after receiving the ensuing kickoff, the ever dangerous Cameron Marek would strike again to put the Oaks up 12-0 in the first 10 minutes.  A shocked Royal Irish team gathered themselves and fought back to score at the end of the half to make it a familiar 12-5.  

The second half was marred by Danville penalties and yellow/red cards, forcing the Oaks to play first one and then two men down for the last 20 minutes. Still, the Bay Area boys had a chance to seal the match with a five minutes left but turned the ball over near the Cathedral goal.  The defending champs wound up keeping the ball and scoring in the last minute, converting the try to tie the match at 12 and force overtime.  In the 10 minute overtime, a tired Oaks side played with 13 against 15 and couldn’t keep the Royal Irish out of the goal. At the final whistle, Cathedral had prevailed 17-12.

After the match, two worn out groups of young men showed great sportsmanship and came together to applaud each others’ efforts. The Cathedral Captain voiced that Danville “had them really scared” and an Irish coach echoed the sentiment by saying that they had “never seen anything like you guys” and the Oaks were the best team they had played against in years.   In the championship on Saturday, the Royal Irish lost to a fresh Utah United who had cruised through the other side of the bracket against inferior competition.  Cathedral’s coaches quietly told Oaks coaches after that they were beat up from playing Danville and unable to play their best rugby on Saturday, a rematch of the 2012 final which Cathedral won big.

 

In the consolation match for 3rd, Danville took on second seed and #2 ranked Colorado Springs Grizzlies.  Big and powerful, the Colorado champs looked to give the Oaks a run after a close loss to United the day before.  The match was all Danville though, playing with a chip on their shoulder and looking to prove that they belonged in the conversation of elite high school programs in the country.  
Cameron Marek opened up the scoring with two tries on assists from Vili Helu and sophomore inside center Simi Hingano. Later, lock Mahe Fifita powered his way in after some great forward play. Near the end of the half, Bangay finished off another nice drive to put the Oaks up 28-0 at the break. In the second half, Woo mirrored his try from the San Diego match before Captain Rhys Watkin finished off his 5 year career with the Oaks by scoring the final try. Watkin was also 6 of 7 on conversions to give Danville a convincing 40-5 victory and 3rd place finish.

Happy with the results of the season but not satisfied, Danville hopes to return to the Nationals in 2014 with the goal of winning the tournament. “We may have won this year if we limited our mistakes”, said Oaks Head Coach Roy Helu. “This year’s tournament was great experience for our Juniors and the Sophomores we brought with us. Hopefully we understand for next year the discipline and level of fitness it takes to win three games in three days.” In hindsight, the Oaks’ staff would also like to have left California a day earlier to get acclimated to the conditions and be fully rested for the first match.

Although the Oaks lose 8 starters to graduation, they will return a number of core players next year including All-American probable Vili Helu. Coming up from the Junior Varsity are a number of prospects who helped their team to the Northern California championship final before losing by three points to Sacramento powerhouse Granite Bay. The Oaks also hope that their fairy tale 2013 season will attract new, talented recruits in 2014.