Photos: Todd Horsley and Christine Yee
It’s been a good month for the Utah Cannibals, and for those all-star members who also hail from United, the past 30 days have been exceptionally good. The Cannibals repeated as the High School Rugby Championship (HSRC) 7s titleholders in early June, defeating opponents 185-37, and then switched to 15s to win Tier 1 of the Great Northwest Challenge, a Regional Cup Tournament (RCT). Those Cannibals who are also United players kicked off the trophy season by winning the high school club National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in late May.
Nine of the 12 players from the HSRC 7s – a satellite tournament that occurs alongside the USA Sevens CRC in Chester, Pa. – transitioned to the all-star program’s 15s squad. Addie Horsley, who scored 69 points at the HSRC and was named MVP, was joined by Mikayla Gamangasso, Delaney Rakuita and Nafanua Fitisemanu (MVP of the NIT) as RCT captains.
“The girls were very excited to get on the road and play again and be tested in a 15s setting,” asserted Cannibals head coach Patrick Whalen, whose team readied for four matches in Boise, Idaho. “We went into the [RCT] focused on our ‘pressure’ defense with the goal to regain possession of the ball at the breakdown and contesting set piece. In attack, we worked hard to maintain continuity with numerous offloads to take away the breakdown battle and soften contesting from the opposition when possible. Then we would switch into ‘steady’ with slowing down pace/possession and controlling breakdowns.”
The tournament began on a Friday and the heat stressed teams’ fitness and endurance. The Cannibals’ first opponent, NorCal 1, ended up being the squad’s toughest competitor, and the Utah squad found itself trailing early in the game. Whalen noted NorCal’s ability to turn over breakdowns and power ballcarriers who necessitated double tackles and forced quick realignments on defense. But the Utah side adjusted and eventually pulled away with a 44-7 win. Saylor Thomas, Patsy Heaps and Taleah Fisi’ipeau scored their first tries as Cannibals.
The second match occurred against Northwest Idaho’s Toa, the Cannibals’ fastest opponent, both in straightaway speed and in transitioning from turnover to attack. That game ended in a 34-12 victory, and Salote Longi scored her first try as a Cannibal. On Saturday, the Cannibals accepted the request from NorCal 2 to play some of its NorCal 1 players due to injuries. The physicality was still there, but more injuries saw the Californians struggled for continuity, 39-10 the final. The three-day event ended against Oregon, and Whalen credited the Red Hawks’ defense for forcing more creativity on offense.
“They had good ball movement and they did a good job of kicking ahead to space to apply pressure and forcing us to work our counterattack, which they defended well,” Whalen reflected on the 29-10 win. “Penalties throughout the game also kept Oregon from getting into any executable rhythm.
“Competition was pretty solid, with the Tier 1 teams all being very physical and playing at a quick pace with fast ball out and good defense,” Whalen surveyed the tournament. “Our primary tactical goal for the weekend was to win the time-of-possession battle, which we accomplished with an average of 72% time of possession per game.”
The RCT didn’t name an MVP, but the team voted on four awards:
• MVP: Graduating senior Addie Horsley, who is heading to Southern Utah University and accounted for 41 of the team’s 146 points, 15 tackles, 18 positive carries, 2 turnovers, 4 assists
• Most Impactful Rookie: Freshman Taleah Fisi’ipeau, who scored 4 tries, 14 tackles, 2 turnovers
• Most Improved Rookie: Junior Patsy Heaps with 1 try, 12 tackles, 10 positive carries, 2 assists
• Best System Support Player: Graduating senior Delaney Rakuita, with 2 tries, 14 tackles (2 try-saving), 14 positive carries, 3 assists.
“This is a big award for our players,” Whalen gave context to the support player award. “Without this player as a leader/director, making sure players maintain the structure and setting up/supporting our attack, we don’t execute. Delaney filled this role excellently and was a unanimous vote by players and coaches.”
Many players distinguished themselves over the RCT and drew attention from scouts from Boise State, Central Washington, Dartmouth and Harvard. Aniya Matina is already heading to Lindenwood University in the fall, but she stood out with 4 tries, more than 20 tackles, 16 positive carries, 3 turnovers and 3 assists. Additional distinguishable performances included: Lewanda Aspinall (2T, 10 pos. carries, 10 tackles, 1 assist), Emily Trunnell (3T, 10 pos carries, 10 tackles), Makenna Taumoepeau (12 pos carries, 15 tackles, 4 turnovers), Nafanua Fitisemanu (2T, 13 pos. carries, 17 tackles, 1 turnover), and Saylor Thomas (2T), who “showed tremendous speed and charged down two kickoffs to force mishandling by opposition and resulting in turnovers.”
As for the rest of the summer, the Cannibals are hoping to enter its developmental squad into a few regional 7s tournaments, although that has proven difficult at some turns.
“The Lady Cannibals have requested acceptance into the Elite division of the NAI 7s in August and we are awaiting approval from the tournament directors to allow us to enter as an all-star program,” Whalen explained. “However currently we are being told we can’t enter in that division as the Cannibals.”
GREAT NW 15s ROSTER
* On HSRC 7s Championship team
Lewanda Aspinall – United *
Sydney Bargeron – United
Maxine Dalton – Wasatch
Taleah Fisiipeau – Provo
Nafanua Fitisemanu – United *
Mikayla Gamangasso – Wasatch (c) *
Donna Giles – Brighton
Patsy Heaps – Wasatch
Addie Horsley – United (c)
Emmalee Horton – United
Salote Iongi – Provo
Kaloni Kafoa – Herriman
Graci Lamb – Wasatch
Ilaisaane Latu – Brighton
Reina Lavulavu – United
Zoie Mabey – United *
Aniya Matina – Provo (c) *
Sunshine Packer – United
Delaney Rakuita – Lowland (c) *
Princess Tafiti – United
Liz Tafuna – Brighton
Makena Taumoepeau – United *
Saylor Thomas – United
Lilly Thomas – United
Emily Trunnell – Wasatch *
#UtahCannibals RCT