Before rugby shut down for the spring, Goff Rugby Report put the Charlotte Tigers at #1 among High School clubs, and it’s a legitimate ranking.

The Tigers had just come out of a dominant performance at the Carolina Ruggerfest, winning games by large margins, often by shutout.

The team was set up for success. Four High School All Americans (USA U18s) returned to the team this year—Jack Brown, Eddie Van Heerden, Darius Law, and Donovan Law—two of them in the backs (the Law brothers) and the other two in the forwards. That gave the Tigers a high-performance basis for the 2019-2020 team, but there was more to it than that. Porter Goodrum has emerged as a very talented flyhalf, while No. 8 Brandon Harvey has been superb. 

“Having these players work through the system and then get experience with EIRA, Atlantis, or the HS All Americans has been really beneficial for us,” said Head Coach Erik Saxon.

But the success of the Tigers is more than that. Born out of the Charlotte Youth Rugby Association, the Tigers have their roots in rugby for young kids, and Saxon won’t forget that.

With the Tigers, Saxon also pushes the benefits of youth. He won’t make the team about the regular starters, the supposed stars. There are no stars. Instead, the Tigers coaches have encouraged the players to be mentors to the younger players. This is how they build the future.

“Our mantra is: ‘train your replacement,’” said Saxon. “We need to look at where we’re going to be in five, ten years. The players have bought into that.”

While it’s a shame that the Tigers have not been able to seal the deal on what looked like a season with massive potential, don’t write them off in the future. Those HS All Americans? They’ve been working with the guys who will be in their shoes next year.