More tournament photos at SportsWurlz

This last weekend the Vikings traveled to the Pacific Coast Invitational Tournament in Morgan Hill, California. The Vikings finished second in the Varsity Silver competition to a strong Santa Rosa team. A few of our guys hadn’t been on a plane before or even down to California. Upon arrival, we were greeted by sunshine that would stay with us the whole weekend. After a quick lunch in Palo Alto, the Vikings Van caravan was down the 101 to Morgan Hill, just 20 minutes south of San Jose. We stayed right across from the park, just a 10 minute walk to rugby. Very convenient. That afternoon we watched some great rugby from Jesuit the eventual NorCal champs as they beat a tough side from San Mateo.

Later that evening we explored the vast dining options Morgan Hill offered and were off to bed with a full rugby day ahead of us on Saturday. This would be a proper tour with plenty of preparation, team talks, walk throughs, team meals and of course...a Kangaroo court.

Santa Rosa – in a game that was evenly matched from the start, Seattle and Santa Rosa squared off as the late afternoon winds picked up. The Vikings played some excellent rugby, moving the ball well in the backs with tries to Jope Motokana. Santa Rosa countered with a strong forward pack that worked well to convert several tries as the Vikings dug a bit of hole and despite a late try went down 24 to 17.

Pleasanton – Just two hours later the Vikings played a second match against a team from Pleasanton. After a back and forth start to the match, Seattle put in some tries with had some hard running from Jope Motokana, Gabe Evans, Jack Moseley and Nick Solimano to take the game 19 to 5.

Motherlode – after some confusion on our next opponent tournament officials arranged a third match with Motherlode on Sunday…a team from El Dorado County. Motherlode played some tough gritty rugby led by their forward pack. Seattle had some nice breaks and near tries from Matt Brennan and Michael Doquilo but just couldn’t put the game away. Nick Solimano eventually iced the game with a penalty and the Vikings were in the final with an 8 to 5 win.  

Santa Rosa (again) – a tired Vikings team faced off against Santa Rosa again on the main field with a bigger crowd. With some early tries Santa Rosa put the game out of reach…the sun, the long weekend and a large Santa Rosa squad just wore us down. Santa Rosa 24, Seattle 7.

This was a very successful trip. Our players conducted themselves (mostly) like gentlemen and received praise from teams and organizers of the tournament for their conduct and play. The restaurant on Saturday called our group the best large group they had in the restaurant in a long time. A few minor tour offenses were handled in a Kangaroo court led by Steve Brennan in the airport coming backJ

Some thank yous:

Coaching Staff – Jim Gourley, George Peppin and Steve Brennan who handled all the coaching duties, plus dinner plans, snacks for players, driving duties, airport confusion...the list goes on and on.

Julie Agel – she is irreplaceable. We kept Julie busy as she cared for a number of mostly minor injuries and helped guide everyone on nutrition, hydration and staying out of the sun. Next time you see her please thank Julie (to the point of embarrassment) for her time this last weekend and throughout the year.

Players – everyone handled themselves well, particularly our group leaders Nick, Jack and Levi who took on some extra responsibility. You set a standard for future tours.

Parents – we know there is a cost for these trips and we appreciate the support you have given us this last weekend and throughout the season. It was fantastic to see a parents welcome as we cleared security late Sunday night.