Rugby South Carolina goes into its second week with Greenville HS having already recorded a key win.

Greenville took on rivals South Greenville last week. These two teams used to be one, but split when Greenville HS went single-school, meaning South Greenville would remain a club. Several veteran Greenville HS players opted to stay with South Greenville, and South Greenville was, naturally, the stronger team. But both sets of coaches expected younger Greenville HS players to stick with their school team. This is what has happened, and they evened out this year.

Greenville won 13-10, thanks in large part to flanker Ben Flashpoeler, who scored a try on a quick tap, converted a try, and added the game-winning penalty as he filled in for the team's regular goalkicker.  Flashpoeler was the team's inside center last year, but when he and then-flanker Joe Christian went to Head Coach Lawson Ballard and requested a position change, Ballard listened.

"Ben's one of our best tacklers, and Joe is one of our best passers, so it made sense," said Ballard. The move has made both better. Meanwhile, scurmhalf Connelly Mitchell has been excellent for Greenville, and this small but tight squad of players is starting to play together. They take on a tough Lexington team that finished 2nd in DII last year. Bishop England, the 2016 DII winners, lost 38-0 to Wando, but the consensus seems to be they hung tougher than the score might indicate, and Bishop England will look to rebound against another difficult team in South Greenville.

Irmo will play Wando in a game that could tell us a lot about who is the best in the state. Irmo has a core of players who have been playing together since the 7th grade.