SM Rugby: Women and U18 Boys Win SoCal Championship Titles

This past Saturday, the Santa Monica Women defeated both the San Diego Surfers and Tempe Women to claim the SoCal Division I title and berth to the the USA Rugby National Quarterfinals in Dallas, Texas.

With the #1 seed going into playoffs, Santa Monica faced the San Diego Surfers for their qualifying match, with a final score to 31-15.

The championship game began with Tempe coming out and immediately utilizing their speedy backs, notching a try just 3 minutes into the game. The second half was a gritty, but SM scored score a try with no time left on the clock. The game closed with tears and celebration by Santa Monica with a final score of 19-14.

The Women travel to Dallas in 3 weeks to represent Southern California and looks to cap this landmark season with further success at a national level.

Santa Monica Rugby Club’s U18 Boys defeated the San Diego Mustangs on Saturday at Cal State Long Beach, 21-15, in a tough and thrilling encounter. The rematch of last year’s championship final had all the exciting elements of high-caliber rugby, though with a different result from 2013.

Dolphin Coach Charlie Lydon was very complimentary of the Mustangs: “They are a fabulous team and it was just Santa Monica’s day in a game that could have gone either way. The coaches are so proud of all our players today. To come back from 15-7 down in the second half into a breeze and without one of our key players, flanker Tom Heaney, and hold the opposition scoreless is an incredible achievement, but to do this against a team like Mustangs is just exceptional.”

Both the Dolphins and the Mustangs will travel to Elkhart, Indiana, this week to participate in the Boys High School National Invitational Tournament.