Scottsdale Wins HS Desert Roundup

During the first weekend in March, the Scottsdale U18 girls’ rugby team traveled from Arizona to St. George, Utah, for the Desert Roundup Invitational. The Wolves combined with players from Red Mountain, Eclipse, Tempe and Northern Arizona, and it all came together for a successful 15s weekend.

The tournament occurred at Snow Canyon High School and Scottsdale opened up against Blaze Girls Rugby. It was a back-and-forth match that included three lead changes in the second half alone. The Wolves led 7-5 into the half, Blaze took the 10-7 lead after the break, and then the Arizonans went up 12-10. As time clicked off the clock, the Utahans put back-to-back tries on the board: 20-12 with two minutes remaining. The Wolves scored one more try: 20-17 to Blaze.

Standouts Lei Fulilangi, Brooke Taylor and Lucy Brandt scored Scottsdale’s tries.

Next up was Brighton, who traveled with 12 and added Blaze players to get fulfill the 15s format. Taylor led the way with the hat trick in the 73-0 win.

The morning clouds gave way to bright sunshine as Scottsdale battled Herriman-Kearns in round three. Taylor opened the scoring, smashing through a center gap for a try. Ariana Thomas and Lucy Brandt added a try apiece, and then the team was awarded a penalty try to kick off the second half. Thomas and Gezzy Espino added five points apiece, and Northern Arizona freshman Danielle Rolfe scored her first 15s try to cap a 37-0 win.

The final was a rematch of the Scottsdale vs. Blaze match from round one, and with hardware on the line, the Utah side scored first, but only after 12 minutes of a sheer dog fight. Scrumhalf Brandt and inside center Taylor answered back with tries for the 10-5 lead into the break. Blaze scored quickly in the second half, 10-10, and then neither team backed off during the final 15 minutes of the match.

The whistle sounded with the scoreboard still at 10-10. The tiebreaker went to penalty kicks. After near misses by both teams, Taylor slotted the winning penalty.

Captains Brooke Taylor and Charlotte Brandt did an excellent job as leaders and set the tone for determination. Catch them at Wheeling University and Central Washington University, respectively, next year as collegiate freshmen.

Megan Olson earned praise playing out of position and shoring up the centers, and a special shoutout went to Sabine Fuchs for world-class second row contributions. Lei Fulilangi, Hani Tonga’uiha, Rayanna Holmes, Zoe Schuster, Ariana Thomas and Danni Rolfe all had a great tournament.

Scottsdale is competing in the Rugby Arizona circuit and will supplement with tours to Tropical 7s in Tampa, Fla., in April and then a California trip in May.