Warriors finish fourth at national championships

The Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club lost only once during their trip to the High School Club National Invitational Tournament in Murray, Utah, last weekend but finished fourth in the tournament.

Leading up to the season-ending tournament, which the Warriors have won five times previously, critics questioned the use of a pool play format in such a prestigious event. The results of the rain-soaked play in the tournament would only further critics’ arguments.

The No. 2 seeded Warriors opened the tournament Friday, May 17, against defending High School Single-School champion Kahuku, a tough draw for sure, but it was the Warriors who led for most of the game.

Freshman Tiahna Padilla put the Warriors in front in the first half with a try, and Abbey Savin’s conversion made the score 7-0.

That score would hold up beyond regulation time until a Warriors’ penalty by mistakenly throwing the ball out of play as the clock wound down gave Kahuku one last chance to score.

A hard-driving push by Kahuku was successful, however controversial, and the team from Hawaii was able to convert the kick, ending the game in a tie.

The first-game tie meant the team that would emerge from the pool would be decided by points differential in the two teams’ remaining games.

In their second game, another hard-fought battle, the Warriors scored first on a Padilla try before the Sacramento Amazons responded with a score of their own to tie it at the half.

But the Warriors were too much for the Amazons with tries by Nevaeh Rivera, Morgan Bitner and freshman flanker Julia Tippin with conversions by Savin, and they pulled away for a 28-7.

The Warriors went into the third pool play game against Lamorinda Friday, May 18, with a slim 1-point margin in point differential between it at Kahuku, who was playing the Amazons on an adjacent field.

Though the Warriors handily beat Lamorinda 38-14, Kahuku pulled away late to defeat the Amazons 37-0 and advance out of the pool and into the finals.

Kahuku would go on to lose 22-10 to No. 4-seeded South Bay Spartans, who advanced out of the other pool group, a team that the Warriors had beaten last week in the Southern California Youth Rugby Championships and earlier in the year at the Fullerton Invitational Tournament.

After unsuccessfully qualifying for the NIT final, the Warriors were uninspired for their match with No. 1-seeded United from Utah and were never really in the game, losing 38-0 and finishing in fourth place.

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