St Thomas' Red v White match

St Thomas HS Varsity Rugby Team - Red and White Game, January 26, 2012

Despite getting off work late and dealing with some horrendous Thursday night Houston traffic, I arrived at St. Thomas HS to catch the second half of their Red and White game! It was well worth the effort! I got to see some exciting high school rugby AND catch up with two of my favorite ruggers, Coach James "Wolfie" Wolfinger and dual-school Coach Brett Mills (accompanied by his lovely wife, Sonya)! 

Heads up Texas High School Rugby! St. Thomas is loaded for bear this year!

Eagles waiting for their chance to shine

To begin with, wing Cole Richie showed some brilliant footwork notching conversions. Whether the Eagles dot the ball in the far left corner of in-goal or drive a maul in-goal from a five-meter lineout, the angle seems inconsequential to Richie. While no PKs were taken in this scrimmage (penalties were played out or kicked for touch for experience purposes), the conversions kicked flew a good distance, as well. Conceding penalties to St. Thomas within 40 meters of goal is inadvisable.


On the left wing, the Eagles have Roderick Blouin, who channeled his inner-Ngwenya enough during this scrimmage score a hat-trick. Coach Mills says "Blouin is the real deal." There is no doubt about that! With a tricky lateral step, he leaves a tackler diving for air. With a naturally low center of gravity and some meaningful core strength, he drives through the tackles that chance to connect.  And don't let Blouin get one step past you or you'll just be chasing a red and white blur! Roderick showed some maturity when he began to draw multiple defenders with timely offloads to his support. If Blouin stays in the game past HS, RuckBottom predicts his future holds a stay in Chula Vista!

Parker White, the St. Thomas open-side flanker and HSAA camp attendee, showed phenomenal work-rate and a quiet leadership in the scrimmage. Coach Mills thinks White is a "league MVP kind of kid...if he plays to the standard" because "he's great in the line-out, he's at every breakdown, and he has skills in the loose." Parker's a junior, so Texas flyhalves will have to put up with his stalking presence for a couple more seasons. This big, rangy fellow looks as if he's a got a few inches to grow yet, too! 


From the back of the scrum, Captain Danny Amsler made his presence felt all over the pitch. Coach Mills has switched players around at the back three in the past, but he thinks this #8 has made his mark on the position for his senior year. Amsler is tough to take down when he's got the rock, but he looks like a punisher when the opposition does!

Varsity driving.

Coach Mills' pleasant surprise of the day is his BIG tight-head, Alejandro "Buddha" Chavez. At 5'9" and 240lbs, Buddha played the whole match. Last season, he was Mills "10-minute man" but he's found a new gear for this year. Near the end of the second half, Buddha was still jumping for restart ball and making some big hits. Mills was delighted with Buddha's work-rate on the night and hopes to see such all season long!


Of course, Keegan Mills at flyhalf runs a good backline and is rarely seen catching a pass flat-footed. He can zip the ball out wide at will and then be right there in support. However, the Eagles' backline struggled to maintain their angle and this is something Coach Wolfinger definitely wants to get right - quick, now and in a hurry. 

Eagles' 2012 Seniors

The Eagles open their season at Stony Point HS in Round Rock. Coach Rock's boys are no push-overs and Coach Mills knows Rock always finds talented playmakers for key positions. Beyond that St. Thomas seems anxious to face-off with rival Jesuit Dallas, where Mills says he can always expect a good battle. St. Thomas is touring at Spring Break to the Philly Classic to take on the top HS teams on the East Coast and has just confirmed a match with perennial National Finalists, Xavier HS, that week, as well.

Ruggapalooza

I chatted briefly with Wolfie about Ruggapalooza and its outcome. Ruggapalooza's new status and sudden occurrence raised some questions about the event, but the Wolf said a few things stood out that will likely bring about a its recurrence. The turnout was better than expected. This ensured that enough playing time provided all the young ruggers a good day of rugby. The head-turner of the day was Lake Travis HS out of the Austin-area, who brought some big, athletic players and enough numbers to make the statement, "Hello RugbyTexas! We're here and ready to play!" Finally, the St. Thomas Athletic Department was impressed with the spending power of rugby players. $1700 in concessions and $500 in gear sales is enough to make any HS Athletic Director beam with anticipation for next year! 


All-in-all, St. Thomas stands poised for another very successful and FUN year! Coaches and players, with all my heart, I think JB would be proud!