Canterbury HS Player of the Week Falelua Stowers /// Photos courtesy United Girls Rugby Club
The top-two ranked high school teams squared up on Saturday, as United and Fallbrook contested U16 and U18 games in Provo, Utah. The visitors won the U16 contest 38-12, and then United took down Fallbrook 51-15 in the main event. United head coach Matt Kanenwisher is happy for his team but also careful to temper the effects of the victory.
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“It’s a two-edged sword,” Kanenwisher said of Saturday’s win. “It’s confidence-building and inspiring, but it really has a danger of representing something that isn’t necessarily a fact. There are a lot of things going for us on our home field. … We’re really grateful for Fallbrook to come and play us, but it’s not a measure of what that game might be like on neutral ground and tournament style.”
Kanenwisher described Fallbrook as a well drilled, well coached, classy team that can score at any point from anywhere on the pitch. He singled out flyhalf Lilly Durbin, who led the attack in speed and agility and required a full-team effort to stop her.
“But I don’t want to take anything away from the United girls; they just played really well,” the coach added. “We are pretty experienced and solid in every position with a leadership corps that just knows their job but is also flexible and creative enough to use what the defense gives them.”
United has a diversity of experience that includes Girls’ High School All-Americans, select-side and academy players who have played in France, Austria and coast to coast in the U.S. in the last year alone. Kat Stowers, Charity Tenney, Cheyenne Nielson and Addie Horsley are among those familiar names driving United’s success.
And then there’s the younger breed of players coming through. Flanker Falelua Stowers was the hallmark of big, strong, fast ballcarriers who made ground with every carry. The Canterbury High School Player of the Week is Kat Stowers’ younger sister and cousin to Tenney and flyhalf Lewanda Aspinall, making for a nice family unit when they line up 7-9-10-12.
“One of the most dynamic players we have is actually a ninth grader,” Kanenwisher praised Falelua Stowers. “When we could still play U14s in the high school ages, she did have some experience with her older sister, but couldn’t play last year. She’s a very hard worker, too. She worked as hard in the first 10 minutes of the game as she did in the last 10 minutes.”
Kanenwisher also highlighted Nielson and flanker Sarah Kwok for keeping the physicality high on the day. They helped propel a forwards game that balanced the team’s solid wide attack.
“They make good decisions. They see things that are hard to coach and that comes from experience. That’s a benefit this year,” Kanenwisher said. “Sometimes you have a couple positions that are much stronger than others, but we really don’t have any holes in the lineup. It let’s you think about other things like strategy and team-wide things instead of how to defend against a particular player.”
The coach pointed to fitness and more flexibility in positions as areas of improvement, but was overall pleased with the achievements Saturday. Kanenwisher took the time to acknowledge United founder Colin Puriri, who has been instrumental in the girls’ development.
“He has worked with the girls and myself as a coach a lot this last few years, and his decades of experience are such a benefit to us,” Kanenwisher explained. “We just run the system he designed as best we can. The girls are so appreciative of the massive support we get from the entire United club and we understand how rare this is around the country.”
Looking ahead, United is looking forward to this weekend’s game against Kau Toa, likely the team’s best competition in-league this year, before state playoffs begin in May. United will make its sophomore appearance at the high school club national championship, which takes place Friday-Saturday, May 19-20 in Elkhart, Ind., overlapping one day with the single-school national championship.
“They’re really excited. At the [national championship] last year, we were walking around in the dark; we had no idea what to expect,” Kanenwisher said. “Now they – and I – feel like it’s a realistic goal and in reach.”