Mira Costa boys Rugby falls to St. Augustine

Costa Boys Rugby stands ready in a previous match. The Mira Costa boys rugby team fell to Saint Augustine High School, 55-15, on Feb. 17 at Saint Augustine in San Diego during the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation championships.

Online Sports Editor

Alde Nguyen

After two halves of continuous rushes and tackles, the boys rugby team fell short against St. Augustine’s Saints to conclude their season.

The Mira Costa boys rugby team fell to Saint Augustine High School, 55-15, on Feb. 17 at Saint Augustine in San Diego during the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation championships. The top performer of the game included senior eight-man Jonah Tavai for his try that helped Costa remain competitive against the Saints.

“I thought we played hard from the beginning to the end and we all gave it our best on the field,” sophomore wing Jackson Fischer said. “Unfortunately, the other team came out on top in the end.”

In the first half of the game, Tavai and senior flanker Robert Fiene both scored an individual try, accumluating 10 points for the Mustangs. This offensive pressure from Costa was not enough to match St. Augustine, who scored numerous tries. Costa was unable to capitalize for the extra points on both tries which led to a Saints lead at the half.

“I think we should have played better than what we did on Saturday,” Fiene said. “We didn’t make enough tackles in key moments and we weren’t ready to defend a team with the ball moving skills of St. Augustine.”

The Mustangs were not able to gain any momentum in the second half of the game, only scoring once with a try from senior Kaden Loversky. Again, Costa didn’t finish the kick for the extra points and allowed the opposing team to execute offensively resulting in a loss with a final score of 55-15.

“It was a rough game because they had came out very strong and it was difficult to keep them from scoring,” junior fullback Aidan Martinez said. “We tried hard but fell short.”

The Mira Costa boys rugby team ended their season 3-3 overall, and despite the conclusion of their season, multiple of the players will go on to compete in the USA sevens boys rugby postseason tournament in Las Vegas on Mar. 1.

“The season was a lot of fun and a great experience,” Fischer said. “Throughout the season more and more friendships were made and the coaches taught us things not only about rugby but also about life lessons that we can use daily.”