Sports Front Page News
PV Rugby continues to grow, win tournaments
By Cristian Vasquez, Special to the News
Friday, August 3, 2012 5:56 PM PDT
Palos Verdes Rugby won the Rugby Sevens U19 championship at the VC Avengers Tournament that took place
Saturday, July 21.
It has been three years since Jeremy Wilkinson brought rugby to the Hill. There have been two full
seasons of competition, and the popularity of the sport continues to grow.
“There were enough players to create a junior varsity and the varsity team both seasons,” Wilkinson
said. “The first year there were 34 players, last year there were 48 players and I am expecting to get
about 60 to 70 kids for the upcoming year.”
As the sport is the fastest growing in the United States, more and more rugby teams are being
created. During the most recent season, there were 24 high school teams, and it is expected that 30
teams will be registered during next season. Wilkinson, who played rugby for 26 years has also
coached for several years, including at Belmont Shores in Long Beach, is excited with the growth of
the sport in PV and the success of the team in such a short period of time.
“Two years ago people were saying, ‘What? Rugby?’ but now they’re saying, ‘Hey, there is
rugby on the Hill,’” Wilkinson said. “What we did last year was something special. Varsity went
from a new club, since we are not CIF approved yet, to going undefeated and winning the North
Division in Southern California. We became the champions and we were ranked third of all
Southern California high school teams.”
PV Rugby’s most recent achievement came from the San Diego County Rugby Sevens Tournament,
where the team faced what is considered the best competition in the state, including several AllAmerican players. During pool play, PV Rugby went undefeated and beat the Young Aztecs and
Oceanside. In the semifinal, they beat Valley Center after being down three tries at the half. In the
final, they beat the Young Aztecs to become cup champions, marking the team’s first championship
in Sevens Tournament.
“We came from behind, and you have to give it to the boys. I told them at halftime that we were a
better team and that we were playing their rugby, so we needed to pull our heads together, focus on
playing our rugby, just have fun and to go out there and score tries. And we did; we scored four tries
in seven minutes,” Wilkinson said. “I have seen all of these kids grow. Some of these kids would
have never been considered athletes, but rugby offers an alternative sport for kids. There’s a lot of
physical contact, but it involves another skill and strategy. It’s about creating space, attacking space
and strategic place. The kids that play love it.”
Wilkinson is happy and excited about the parents’ response to the sport; however, he acknowledges
that it takes a while to learn the rules.
“We call ourselves a rugby family, and it is because they (parents) love it so much. They really are
enjoying it,” Wilkinson said. “The initial problem is the learning curve and understanding the rules.
They (parents) are brought up with football rules, but once they start to understand it, they come
alive.”
Wilkinson, who has been invited to and will begin coaching as forwards’ breakdown coach at the
University of Southern California, appreciates the impact that the sport has on the athletes’ lives off
the field.
“It’s a combined team. Our slogan is ‘One Hill. One team,’ which brings the two schools together,
and that’s very fun,” Wilkinson said. “The most important thing about rugby is hospitality. The home
team always truly hosts the visiting team, so you don’t leave the pitch after the game. You hang out
with them.”
Wilkinson, who has a deep love and appreciation for rugby and football, believes in the mutual
benefits of playing both sports.
“It’s a great opportunity because it’s such a different sport than football. I love them both, but football
is a power sport and focuses a lot on hitting, whereas rugby is very strategic and requires that your
conditioning be impeccable,” Wilkinson said. “There are no timeouts, so you’re running for 60 to 70
minutes, and there are limited substitutions.”
Wilkinson has been trying to schedule rugby programs and football programs so they work together
and so that during the off-season athletes can maintain their physical conditioning. He has seen
success in San Diego schools that have adopted such models, both for the football teams and the
rugby teams.
“You cannot get better tackling practice for football than by playing rugby. Our tackling is
spectacular,” Wilkinson said. “Open play takedowns are unrivaled. And in rugby you are taught to
wrap around the player and take the winger down.”
Cristian Vasquez is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to the News.
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