Warriors finish boys rugby season with 3-5 record

Fallbrook High School’s boys rugby team finished the 2023-24 season with a 3-5 record.

“This year was different,” said Fallbrook coach Sierra Arteaga.

The 2022-23 Warriors had a 7-1 record before losing in the Southern California Interscholastic Rugby Federation’s championship match against Cathedral Catholic. The SCIRF had only one division last season.

This year, the teams were divided into Division I and Division II. Fallbrook was in Division I with Cathedral Catholic and St. Augustine, which had two losses last year, and played each of those opponents twice. The other five teams were in Division II, and Fallbrook played four of those. The Warriors lost all four games against Cathedral Catholic and St. Augustine while winning three of the four games against Division II opponents.

“We had a pretty good season,” Arteaga said.

The Warriors had a total of 35 players who participated in varsity or junior varsity 15-a-side matches. Some players competed in both varsity competition and junior varsity games.

Fallbrook’s season began Dec. 2 with a 35-14 victory against Mission Vista and concluded Feb. 17 with a 24-15 loss to La Costa Canyon. “It was very competitive,” Arteaga said.

During the first round of play, Fallbrook lost a 29-5 match against St. Augustine and a 68-0 contest against Cathedral Catholic. During the second games between teams, St. Augustine won by a 38-17 margin while Cathedral Catholic prevailed by a 46-21 score.

“I had more time to work with the players,” Arteaga said,.

“We bounced back better,” Arteaga said. “Even though we lost, we made it much more competitive.”

Fallbrook followed the Warriors’ second loss to St. Augustine with a 24-14 win over Mira Costa High School of Manhattan Beach. The Warriors also had a 28-0 victory against Warren High School of Downey.

“The ultimate initiative is to promote high school rugby,” Arteaga said. “Our goal is to make rugby a CIF sport for boys and girls.”