The San Diego Conference of the SoCal Varsity Blue seemed settled after the first weekend, when Valhalla dropped a 12-5 decision to San Marcos, but in fact things were just getting started.

Now more than a month later, San Marcos seems to be in trouble as they forfeited this coming weekend’s game, and it’s Valhalla poised to win the conference if they beat Point Loma. Since that loss, Valhalla has gone 4-0, winning games by an average score of 40-11. Lew Bore, who coaches the Valhalla boys alongside Tamamalosi Dino and Faataape Lee-Noa under the eye of coaching mentor and New Zealander Andy Seeley, said it was his fault for the early-season loss.

“I don’t think I prepared them correctly,” said Bore, who started playing rugby in the 1980s at West Point. “We had beaten Mira Mesa in a scrimmage two weeks before and I don’t think I did a good job setting the expectations for a league game. We took a hard look at ourselves.”

The result was a lot more work at practice. Dino and Lee-Noa (known as Coach A’ape), started running the kids harder, reasoning that fitness would allow them to close out games and finish promising attacking movements.

“We’ve got everything from football and lacrosse players to band guys,” said Dino. “We realized we needed to make drastic changes in their fitness plans, and reverse a lot of bad habits.”

“We drill them in the traditions of rugby - the camaraderie and the sportsmanship - because we went them to fall in love with the game,” added Bore. “But everything is fundamentals. We would rather lose and play with good fundamentals, than win just running over people. Dino and Aape instituted a rigorous fitness program, and it’s works. We might be evenly-matched with a team early in the game, but then the fitness kicks in.”

Both Lee-Noa and Dino still play, and bring their experiences as players to the training field for Valahlla. 

“Some of the kids enjoyed the fitness work and some of them really hated it,” said A’ape. “From our background, we know that hard work is important, but we had to adjust to how the kids were reacting. We decided to let them complain, but we keep going, we still play rugby. They know now that conditioning is part of the game.”

Valhalla is in its second year of existence - the Blue Division is for teams that are just starting out - and they went 3-3 last year. This year, despite being under the impression that 1st place was likely out of their reach, they battled on to improve. The coaches pushed the love of the sport - the idea that you can travel the world and find a kindred spirit in fellow rugby players.

“They don’t know the tradition they’re getting into,” said Dino, who grew up in Samoa and played both rugby and football and coached football for years. “They get out in the world and will find that there are all these rugby players who will show them love just because they play rugby. It’s a family.” 

Leading the way for Valhalla is captain and flyhalf/fullback Ryan Burke, center and top scorer Dante Carnessale, and outside center Elliot Weiland, known as the “silent assassin” because of his finishing ability and his quiet nature.

In the forwards, Jacob Nanton can play prop or lock and is a powerful present, while Filemoni Filemoni is a smart, tough No. 8 who gets them go-forward. Dylan Marsh can play prop or flanker and is a talent. Eli Quinn is a thin 6-6 lock who is their go-to man to set the tone on defense. He is strong and rangy and covers the ground well.

“We younger coaches can get in and work with the kids and get into contact with them,” said Dino. “We show them how it’s done, and they get to take us on. They learn that if they can take us on, they can take on anyone.”

And so it is. With San Marcos idle after their opening win until this coming weekend, it was hard to figure where everything in the league would shake out. There is no playoff in the Blue Division, just a straight standings championship. But San Marcos, but forfeiting to Helix, loses a bonus point and won’t be able to make up the points in the final weeks. Meanwhile, Point Loma has quietly racked up the wins, 22-17 over Carlsbad, a forfeit over Westview, 45-10 over Helix, and 37-12 over Patrick Henry. It all comes down to Saturday now, with Valhalla against Point Loma, with the winner finishing 1st in the league.

Valhalla has, overall, better results against common opponents, but it will still be one of the biggest and tightest games of the season … maybe the tightest since the opening weekend.