HS All-Americans Cap Winter Camp With Strong Results vs. Canada

HS All-Americans Cap Winter Camp With Strong Results vs. Canada

The Boys HS All Americans went 3-1 v Canada U18 teams during the winter camp in Arizona.

Jan 1, 2018 by Alex Goff
HS All-Americans Cap Winter Camp With Strong Results vs. Canada

The USA Rugby Boys High School All-American program wrapped up its winter camp with a 3-1 record against the Canadian U18 program. 

The camp, which ran from Dec. 27-31 in Casa Grande, AZ, wasn't just about those games, but it served as an interesting window into how the players are progressing.

"The camp is about development and play evaluation," HSAA head coach Salty Thompson said. "But we had to come together and within a day, play a game. That was very different for us, but also something we were excited about."

Negotiations on getting some games between the USA and Canada outside of the summer have been going on for a while. Thompson and Canada U18 head coach Michael Curran seemed to have had a meeting of the minds, and Curran brought his squad of over 50 players to Arizona to take advantage of the warm (ish) weather and play some strong competition.

See full list of HSAA winter campers

Both Thompson and Curran agreed to split their squads evenly, and for the most part this served to create very competitive games.

On Dec. 28, Canada White defeated HSAA Blue 32-29. Meanwhile, HSAA Red defeated Canada Red 25-24. The red teams appear to have been slightly more experienced for both countries. 

(Note, there's some discrepancy in the Red vs. Red score, and some reports have it a Canada victory. However, Thompson told FloRugby that the HSAA team won this game.)

On Dec. 31, the teams met again. HSAA Red edged Canada Red 21-19 in a game that many said was as exciting and well played a matchup as you might see in North America. The HSAA Blues rebounded from the earlier close loss to win the only runaway result of the camp, 48-14 over Canada White.

For the HS All-Americans, superiority in the scrum saw them through, as they were much more adept than the Canadian teams. Both countries struggled in the lineout in the first day of games but sorted it out with more time together. The HSAA Blue's lineout corrections helped them to a big victory.

"We all looked like teams that had just come together," Thompson said. "But for the second games, we were 200 percent better."

Dec 28: 

HSAA Red 25, Canada U18s Red 24

Canada U18s White 31, HSAA Blue 29

Dec 31:

HSAA Red 21, Canada U18s Red 19

HSAA Blue 48, Canada U18s White 14