Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club performs well at Las Vegas Invitational 7s tournaments

Three teams from Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club traveled to Henderson, Nevada, last week to compete in the Las Vegas Invitational, which is part of the HSBC USA Sevens Rugby tournament.

Playing Sevens for the first time in 2019, the Fallbrook teams fared well against some of the best girls rugby programs and select teams from all over the country and Canada.

The Fallbrook U18 team finished in third place after beating BC Celtic Barbarian Selects 19-15 after falling to Utah Cannibal Selects 26-5 in the semifinal of the tournament.

Nathalie Celis, Sammy Stern and Shelby Tippin each scored tries in the third and fourth-place match with Tippin’s two conversions providing the winning points.

In pool play last Thursday, Fallbrook went undefeated, beating Evolution Rugby Academy 29-14, St. Hyacinthe 40-0 and East High School Salt Lake 41-5.

On day two, the Warriors slipped past USA South Selects with a 24-21 win.

Stern led the way with three tries, Celis added one and Tippin again provided the winning points with two conversions.

Stern led the U18 team with 12 tries in the tournament, Celis scored 7 times and Tippin had 3 tries and 11 conversions.

Phoebe Anderson, Morgan Bitner, Tiahna Padilla and Jordan Duncan each scored a try apiece during the tournament. Padilla chipped in with one conversion.

Celis and Stern were singled out by coach John Duncan as MVPs of the tournament for Fallbrook: Celis for her leadership and defensive pressure and Stern for her great hands and unmatched speed and agility. Duncan praises Tippin for her leadership and conversions.

In the U16 division tournament, Fallbrook entered two teams – Red and Blue – with the red team featuring more high school-age players and the blue team with more middle school-age players.

It was the Fallbrook red team that recovered from an early setback on day one of the tournament to make it to the cup final before losing to BC Elite 1 19-12 in the closing minutes of the game Saturday.

Padilla led the way for the red team with two tries and a conversion kick in the loss.

In order to make it to the final, the red team had to avenge a pool play loss to Eastern Ontario Rugby Union on Day 1 by taking on the same team in the semifinals of the tournament.

In the second match, the red team came out on top, winning 15-12 and avenging the 28-17 loss a day earlier. Nevaeh Rivera scored two tries, and Padilla had one in the semifinal win to put them through to the finals.

In the quarterfinals, the red team defeated BC Elite 2 20-5 with Padilla notching 2 tries, Duncan and Anna Timmerman adding one.

In pool play on Day 1, Fallbrook red team defeated the Foothill Lions 38-0 and Danville Oaks 50-0 after dropping the match with EORU 28-17.

Duncan named Padilla and Duncan tournament MVPs for the red team.

“Both players showed great leadership to bring the team back after a hard-fought loss,” Duncan said. “They both showed great rugby vision, strong elusive running and pressure defense consistently attacking the breakdowns for turnover balls, and putting other players in a scoring position.”

Padilla had 10 tries and 4 conversions, and Duncan scored 6 tries with 3 conversions during the tournament.

Duncan singled out Julia Tippin for pressure defense and good tackling, and Rivera for having a positive attitude and exceptional running.

Duncan said Analiese Dalton was able to overcome some early handling setbacks for some quick, elusive running and good defense.

Rivera finished with 4 tries, Dalton added 3 and Tippin scored once, as did Ashlee Hernandez and Timmerman.

The Fallbrook blue team, consisting entirely of middle school aged players, also competed in the U16 tournament, finishing 1-2 in pool play on day one before losing to EORU in the quarterfinals and BC Elite 2 in the plate semifinals.

On day one, the Fallbrook blue team lost to Oshawa 19-14 and to BC Elite 1 43-0 and beat the Arizona Bobcats 28-0 in a forfeit.

In the quarterfinals match with EORU, AJ Emma Haughey scored a try and Jane Ballif converted the conversion in the 22-7 loss. Maricel Hearn scored the lone try in the Fallbrook blue’s loss to BC Elite 2 in the plate semifinal match.

Haughey scores 2 tries to lead the way for the team with Solana Shimura and Hearn each notching a try each in the tournament. Liberty Benitez converted two kicks and Ballif added one.

“Captain AJ Emma Haughey showed great leadership to keep the team fighting hard throughout the tournament,” Duncan said. “She showed strong running and pressure defense.”

Duncan singled out Lucy Powell for her positive tackling and pressure defense, Shimura for running hard through contact, Benitez for good conversion kicking, hard running and stiff defense and Cora Haughey for her reading of the field, hard running and defense.

Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club’s Abbey Savin played with the Redshirts, a select side, that won the Girls High School Elite Division over the Utah Cannibals, a Utah select team.

The Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club will play host to visiting Canadian BCI Team, followed by a Prom Dress Rugby match, Saturday, March 9, at Fallbrook High School.

Admission to the game is $5, and the money raised will go toward the team’s National Championships fund. This year’s National Championships will be held in Utah.

For more information about Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club, email [email protected].

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].