Trip to Arizona nets victory for Snow Canyon rugby

Snow Canyon's Wyatt Parry, Snow Canyon vs. Red Mountain, Mesa, AZ. Jan. 27, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

MESA, Ariz. – Snow Canyon’s rugby club traveled a long way for match Saturday – but it was worth it.

The Warrior ruggers made their way down to the Phoenix area and battled the top prep club team in Red Mountain, beating RM 24-12.

Snow Canyon vs. Red Mountain, Mesa, AZ. Jan. 27, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“We have a great relationship with them and they have a very good team,” said Snow Canyon coach Michael Puriri. “They draw from the entire Mesa area, plus some schools outside of Mesa. And they are very gracious hosts. The families of the players host us at their homes and then they feed us. They put on a luau for us.”

The 9th and 10th-grade team beat up on Red Mountain 52-0, followed by the varsity game. Although it was much closer at 24-12, the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

“We came out a little flat and the kids know it,” Puriri said. “I think a lot of the kids stayed up too late last night. Although we started out slow, we got some good drives before halftime and then we got some scores in the second half and were able to start subbing in a lot of our b-side players.”

Puriri said that although the reserves didn’t score much, they did play great defense and kept the score under control.

“With the b-side boys in, we did not run the score up anymore on them,” Puriri said. “But those boys played well enough to defend and it was a good opportunity for them.”

The Snow Canyon squad put together the solid outing behind the usual solid play of guys like Wyatt Parry and Andy Day, but Puriri said it was a real team effort.

Snow Canyon’s Wyatt Parry scores a try, Snow Canyon vs. Red Mountain, Mesa, AZ. Jan. 27, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“It was a good team win,” he said. “No one guy stood out. All of them were outstanding. We could have done better and they know it. We’ll work on some things this week. But today was a total team win.”

The regular season begins for rugby club teams in March, though there are several tournament coming up before the season begins, including next weekend’s “Referee Warm-up Tournament” at SCHS (A,B, Mix, 9/10 teams participating).

For more information on Snow Canyon rugby, click here.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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