Gonzaga won the 2016 Boys HS Rugby National Championships single-school final Saturday at the Rugby Athletic Center in Charlotte, NC.

The game was achingly close and almost ended with a Jesuit win on the final play. More here.

Xavier took third 19-14 over Penn in another thriller. Penn ran up to a 14-0 lead, but Xavier’s team play and dogged and unflinching defense saw them score twice to tie it, and later in the game they got over one more time.

St. Edward defeated Greenwich 17-15 to take 5th. It had been a tough week for both teams as they battled back from losing the opening games. St. Edward pulled it out late. Greenwich Coach Joe Kelly said his team, as always, got a lot out of the weekend.

And in the 7th/8th game, Mira Costa defeated Notre Dame de La Salette 29-21 in the 7th/8th game.

“It was really tough for us to come all this way and not having played much for several months,” said Mira Costa Coach Duke Dulgarian. “But it was a great learning experience to play these different teams in different conditions. I would have loved to have seen how we did on a dry field.”

That was a sentiment shared by most coaches.

In the HS Club bracket, Granite Bay produced an outstanding performance in beating Royal Irish 14-8 in a rematch of last year’s final. The difference was that this time, paced by a try from wing Anthony Wiley and three penalty goals from wing Jon Rogers, Granite Bay got a player-of-the-game effort from flanker Jagger Maderos, and their deep three of Wiley, Rogers, and Sam Cusano negated the Royal Irish kicking game with their effective running.

In the third-place game, United and KC Jr. Blues were tied 5-5 at halftime, but a tap-and-go try from scrumhalf Mica Matua and then a long run from wing Suene Tauanuu to win 15-5. 

Fifth place went to Doylestown, as they handled South Greenville 25-5. Phoenix defeated the Chapel Hill Highlanders 19-7 (score to be confirmed) to take 7th.

In Tier II, the final was exciting, as well, and with John Lefevre scoring a huge try, and hooker Ieuan Israel powering through for the winner, West End defeated Pelham HS 19-15.

Brownsburg defeated Charlotte Catholic for 3rd 33-17. St. Thomas Aquinas finished off 5th place in convincing fashion 41-0 over Union County. And for 7th, North Bay beat South Doyle 34-19.

Of the 12 final placement games on Saturday, seven, including all three finals, were decided by less than a try.

So here are the orders of finish from nationals: