In a much-anticipated rematch, Live Oak High
’s rugby club team and Skyhawk Conference champion Silicon
Valley squared off on Saturday for seeding position in this
weekend’s NorCal Championships. And, still smarting from a 44-point
loss in the first meeting between the two squads in February, the
Acorn ruggers played a much-improved match
en route to a 15-5 loss to SV in Sunnyvale.
In a much-anticipated rematch, Live Oak High’s rugby club team and Skyhawk Conference champion Silicon Valley squared off on Saturday for seeding position in this weekend’s NorCal Championships.
And, still smarting from a 44-point loss in the first meeting between the two squads in February, the Acorn ruggers played a much-improved match en route to a 15-5 loss to SV in Sunnyvale.
The Acorn ruggers were determined to prove the first matchup was a fluke, while SV was ready to extend its 10-game win streak. And the victorious team would host a first-round game in the NorCal Championships, while the loser would have to travel to Santa Rosa and play the No. 3-seeded team from the tough Redwood Empire League. The stakes were high.
As play began, Live Oak found itself under heavy pressure near its own goal line. For the next eight minutes, the Acorn defensive line held, thwarting several SV attempts with bone-jarring tackles and powerful scrums. The pressure was finally relieved with a nice clearing kick after the Acorns won a five-meter scrum. After that, the momentum and field position began to turn in Live Oak’s favor.
Led by a forward pack that dominated the opposition in scrums and lineouts, Live Oak took a 5-0 lead into halftime on a try by junior center Dustin Muhn who received good ball after a quick ruck and outpaced the SV defense from 30 yards out. The conversion attempt by Erik Cifuentes was no good.
SV started the second half with the determination and spirit of a champion, and scored quickly on a well-supported run along its right side to knot the score at 5-5.
Then the game settled into a back-and-forth affair with no team gaining any real advantage.
Even though Live Oak was still dominating in scrums and lineouts, a misplayed ball and an errant pass turned into two unconverted tries for SV in the second half.
Silicon Valley (12-1 overall, 7-0 in conference) heads into the NorCal Championships as the Skyhawk Conference’s first seed.
Live Oak (4-4-1 overall, 3-3-1 in conference) is the Skyhawk Conference’s fourth seed.
