Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The first half of the new California Cup competition is on the books, with Round 3 bringing three high-scoring affairs and handing one team a clear lead while leaving three sides within one point of each other in the race to the final. Round 4 takes place on January 7 with the clubs given a couple weeks off for the holidays, and to do some fine tuning for the home stretch.
Old Mission Beach took a giant step back into contention with a huge victory over top competition Golden Gate. A late change to the OMBAC lineup saw US Eagles skipper Todd Clever given a starting spot and he injected plenty of enthusiasm, touching down for three tries in the 62-36 win at Little Q. Also notching a hat-trick was Australian center John Grant, with single from Chris Turori, Tim Stanfill, and Nick Evans.
Isoa Donaldson led the way for SFGG, with 16 points including one try for the Fijian to go with five successful kicks at goal. Singles from skipper Brendan Daly, Pila Huihui, Danny LaPrevotte, and Joe Fukofuka gave them an important bonus point but it wasn’t nearly enough to make up the deficit. A five-try burst in the second half put OMBAC through to the finish.
Belmont Shore got another one in the win column with a 44-31 result over Old Aztecs at Robb Field. Two tries each from Max Paronelli and Rob Newcomb did the damage though Aztecs managed to get a bonus point with four tries of their own. Shore are now level with SFGG on points and one ahead of the resurgent OMBAC.
Now clear with 15 points are Life West, who continue their perfect start to the campaign with a 48-23 win over Olympic on Treasure Island. Tongan speed demon Pila Iongi set a new California Cup record with four tries in the eight-try bonanza. Anthony Munoz also touched down for a double while PRO Rugby exports Devereaux Ferris and Martini Talapusi accounted for the remainder of the scoring for the Gladiators. Olympic remain winless and came up one short of the try bonus leaving their season tally still without a single point.
OMBAC 62 vs 36 SFGG
Sat, Dec 17, 12:00, Little Q Field, San Diego
SCORING
OMBAC 62
Tries – T. Clever 3, C. Turori, J. Grant 3, T. Stanfill, N. Evans
Cons – K. Konrad 4, Z. Pangelinan 2, I. Cassidy
Pens – Z. Pangelinan
SFGG 36
Tries – I. Donaldson, B. Daly, P. Huihui, D. LaPrevotte, J. Fukofuka
Cons – I. Donaldson 4
Pens – I. Donaldson
TEAMS
OMBAC
1 Josh Bart, 2 Jed Gillespie, 3 Ethan Willis, 4 Jay Harman, 5 Tai Tuisamoa (capt.), 6 Chris Turori, 7 Todd Clever, 8 Josh Vainikolo, 9 Jamie Purcell, 10 Ben Batger, 11 Tim Stanfill, 12 Kalei Konrad, 13 John Grant, 14 Matt Long, 15 Zach Pangelinan
16 Tai Te’o, 17 Nick Zajda, 18 Derrick Broussard, 19 Bryce Baker, 20 Shane Moise, 21 Ian Cassidy, 22 Nick Evans, 23 Ian Denham
SFGG
1 Jacob Nelson, 2 Neil Barrett, 3 Saimone Laulaupea’alu, 4 Brendan Hardiman, 5 Tom Rooke, 6 Opeti Okusi, 7 Danny LaPrevotte, 8 Brendan Daly (capt.), 9 Colby Stevens, 10 Isoa Donaldson, 11 Pila Huihui, 12 Eae Okusi, 13 Isimeli Ratumaimuri, 14 Fatai Vailala, 15 Jack Halalilo
16 Grant Hyjer, 17 Sam Tofi, 18 Joe Fukofuka, 19 Nick Grass, 20 Drew Hyjer, 21 Ricky Reynolds, 22 Tevita Vehikite, 23 Tevita Okusi
OLD AZTECS 31 vs 44 BELMONT SHORE
Sat, Dec 17, 12:00, Robb Field, San Diego
SCORING
OLD AZTECS 31
Tries – R. Stortz, T. Toilolo, J. Diggs, L. Edwards
Cons – T. Howard 4
Pens – T. Howard
BELMONT SHORE 44
Tries – M. Pedersen, M. Paronelli 2, C. Reed, R. Newcomb 2
Cons – A. Jackson 3, H. Mexted
Pens – A. Jackson, H. Mexted
TEAMS
OLD AZTECS
1 Tristan Pickering, 2 Pat Blair, 3 Tasi Toilolo, 4 Joe Ramonas, 5 Lucas Edwards (capt.), 6 Leon Hayward, 7 Bryan Barnard, 8 Jeff Diggs, 9 Robert Stortz, 10 Tim Howard, 11 Cleeandre Ross, 12 Connor Mariani, 13 Jon Prickett, 14 James Niblock, 15 Jaco Breytenbach
16 Chris Gonzales, 17 Alex Blair, 18 Joe Wesolek, 19 Joe Wesolek, 20 Matt Foster, 21 David Persson, 22 Justice Cummins, 23 Jose Lugo
BELMONT SHORE
1 Mason Pedersen, 2 JP Palaita, 3 Brice Schilling, 4 Timothy Mendoza, 5 Ian Carpenter, 6 Rob Newcomb, 7 Cameron Reed, 8 Pita Semeane, 9 John Gray (capt.), 10 Hilton Mexted, 11 Andy Jackson, 12 Ed Pitts, 13 Max Paronelli, 14 Greg Daniels, 15 Peter Sio
16 Valentine Meachan, 17 Adam Channel, 18 Daniel Va’afuti, 19 Greg Justyn, 20 Sione Tu’ihalamaka, 21 Peter Nifo, 22 Ben Weischedel, 23 Mafi Seanoa
OLYMPIC 23 vs 48 LIFE WEST
Sat, Dec 17, 13:00, GAA Fields, Treasure Island
SCORING
OLYMPIC 23
Tries – J. Anderson, T. Moscone, M. Haley
Cons – K. Engelbrecht
Pens – K. Engelbrecht 2
LIFE WEST 48
Tries – P. Iongi 4, A. Munoz 2, D. Ferris, M. Talapusi
Cons – D. Ferris 3, M. Talapusi
TEAMS
OLYMPIC
1 Tanner Mohr (capt.), 2 Travis Moscone, 3 Will Johnson, 4 Zack Purdy, 5 Jack Seymour, 6 Kyle Peterson, 7 Josh Gold, 8 Matt Frederickson, 9 Will Johnston, 10 Keegan Engelbrecht, 11 John Gallo, 12 Mike Haley, 13 Josh Tucker, 14 Torsten Christian, 15 Jake Anderson
16 Tom Bernardi, 17 Alex Drake, 18 Josh Galant, 19 AN Other, 20 Nick Jones, 21 Matt McCarthy, 22 Paul Saccomano, 23 Connor Rosenbaum
LIFE WEST
1 Fancy Namulau’ulu, 2 Jay Finau, 3 Holo Mo’ungaloa, 4 Alex Pedjase, 5 Rich Knight, 6 Siupeli Sakalia, 7 Naibuka Tawake, 8 Akuila Uaisele (capt.), 9 Devereaux Ferris, 10 Naima Fuala’au, 11 Junior Helu, 12 Suli Holani, 13 Pila Iongi, 14 Anthony Munoz, 15 Martini Talapusi
16 Lopeti Liu, 17 Tone Ngaluafe, 19 Kalafitoni Pole, 19 Anthony Aranda, 20 Nua Vete, 21 Guillaume Cazenave, 22 Tyler Harrison, 23 Tavita Lopeti
2016-17 CALIFORNIA CUP LEAGUE TABLE
| CLUB | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | BP | PTS |
| Life West | 3 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 68 | +34 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 15 |
| Belmont Shore | 2 | 1 | 0 | 95 | 74 | +21 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 11 |
| SFGG | 2 | 1 | 0 | 106 | 88 | +18 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 11 |
| OMBAC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 136 | 77 | +59 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 10 |
| Old Aztecs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 75 | 113 | -38 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 2 |
| Olympic | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 134 | -94 | 5 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
2016-17 CALIFORNIA CUP SCORING LEADERS
| NAME | CLUB | PTS | T | C | P | D |
| Andy Jackson | Belmont Shore | 35 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| Kalei Konrad | OMBAC | 27 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Tim Howard | Old Aztecs | 25 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Pila Iongi | Life West | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Volney Rouse | SFGG | 25 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Pangelinan | OMBAC | 22 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| John Grant | OMBAC | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pila Huihui | SFGG | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Newcomb | Belmont Shore | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isoa Donaldson | SFGG | 16 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Todd Clever | OMBAC | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Halalilo | SFGG | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Stortz | Old Aztecs | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guillaume Cazenave | Life West | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Devereaux Ferris | Life West | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Anderson | Olympic | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ben Batger | OMBAC | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Daniels | Belmont Shore | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lucas Edwards | Old Aztecs | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keegan Engelbrecht | Olympic | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Junior Helu | Life West | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Munoz | Life West | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Max Paronelli | Belmont Shore | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tasi Toilolo | Old Aztecs | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Martini Talapusi | Life West | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Pele Toelupe-Tuisila | Life West | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Neil Barrett | SFGG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Bart | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jared Braun | Olympic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brendan Daly | SFGG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ian Denham | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Diggs | Old Aztecs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Evans | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Siokatame Falatau | Life West | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Finau | Life West | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Fukafuka | SFGG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Gallo | Olympic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Haley | Olympic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny LaPrevotte | SFGG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manu Laqai | SFGG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Long | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hilton Mexted | Belmont Shore | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shane Moise | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Travis Moscone | Olympic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mason Pedersen | Belmont Shore | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jon Prickett | Old Aztecs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isimeli Ratumaimuri | SFGG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameron Reed | Belmont Shore | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Boomer Roller | Old Aztecs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pita Semeane | Belmont Shore | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Stanfill | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Turori | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Vainikolo | OMBAC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nua Vete | Life West | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manu Volavola | Life West | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ian Cassidy | OMBAC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
