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Lineup of Teams for Boys HS Rugby Nationals Finalized

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Lineup of Teams for Boys HS Rugby Nationals Finalized

Herriman vs Xavier in the opening round of 2021's tournament. Tonia McPeak photo.

The 24 teams slated for the Boys HS Rugby National Championships have been finalized.

As has been the case for the last several years, teams applied to the tournament, submitting their resume of success and also showing proof that they have the ability to make the trip and compete.

As has happened in the past years, some teams are initially accepted only to have to pull out due to injuries or a realization that the financial side won't work. There are prominent teams that either chose not to apply or were accepted and then opted not to attend for a variety of reasons.

But this event still has six of the top-10-ranked school teams, and the club bracket has all of GRR's top nine teams. The seedings for the championship are influenced by, but don't strictly follow the GRR rankings. 

The finalists from all three brackets in 2021 return for 2022. In addition we see the return of Jesuit of Sacramento, which has won the school bracket six times since 2008. Returning also is Gonzaga, which has won the school bracket four times since 2014. The history of the club bracket is less stable as clubs rise and fall, and sometimes morph into other clubs. But along with last year's winner, Thunder Rugby, United (winners in 2010 and 2013 and finalists four other times), Royal Irish (eight-time finalists, four-time winners), and Granite Bay (finalists 2015-2016, winning in 2016) return.

Boys HS National Championship Historical Finishes

Relive 2021 HS Nationals in Video

 

The 24 teams will be divided into three brackets:

The top eight School teams will be in the School Bracket.

The top eight HS Clubs will be in the HS Club Bracket.

The remaining eight teams will be in Tier II, which remains a highly-competitive tournament.

Here is the list in alphabetical order, with their designation (School or Club):

Aspetuck Club
Belmont Shore Club
Bishop Dwenger School
Charlotte Tigers Club
Gonzaga School
Granite Club
Greenwich School
Herriman School
Jesuit School
Pendleton Club
Penn School
Raleigh Redhawks Club
Royal Irish Club
San Diego Mustangs Club
South OC Raptors Club
St. Ignatius School
St. Thomas Aquinas School
Staples School
Tempe Club
Thunder Rugby Club
United Club
Vienna Club
Woodlands Club
Xavier School

The Boys HS Rugby National Championships will be held May 19-21 at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind. Each team will play one 60-minute game per day with teams playing in a bracket format.

In 2021, Herriman defeated St. Ignatius for the school championship, Thunder Rugby beat the Charlotte Tigers for the club championship, and the San Diego Mustangs defeated Tempe to win Tier II.