Before spring break kicked off, on the weekend of March 11, Jesuit rugby took a short business trip to New Orleans, a site of more than 10 teams across 3 skill levels and over 200 players. Jesuit refused to lose a single match across all 3 levels.
The freshman team, second 15, and first 15 all dominated both their games, leading to a clean sweep of the tournament. This tournament in question was hosted by New Orleans Jesuit. Teams across Texas and Louisiana were invited to come out and show their talents to schools they may not normally cross paths with. Schools in attendance were Jesuit Dallas, Strake Jesuit, Brother Martin Catholic, St. Pious, and, of course, New Orleans Jesuit, with many of these schools carrying up to 3 teams of different skill levels.
Jesuit’s varsity rugby squad had one of its toughest matchups of the season in New Orleans Jesuit, ranked #14 in the nation on March 11, 2023. The rangers fell down early in the first half, but key tries from Chase Brown ‘24 and Luke Lamont ’24 kept them in the running going into the second half. During the second half, Hayden French ’23 kept the game within reach with an astounding try early on. Finally, the Rangers delivered an excellent offensive rally, allowing Neil Lancaster ‘23 to score the final try of the game with 7 minutes left, putting Jesuit Dallas on top of a gritty, physical, opponent for the remainder of the game with a score of 26-20.
Next, Jesuit faced an easy matchup against Brother Martin, winning 74-0 on the blazing Saturday afternoon of March 12. These performances combined for a successful weekend for Jesuit Rugby, taking New Orleans Jesuit’s spot as the 14th-ranked team in the nation.
Next week, Jesuit faces off against an old rival, Strake Jesuit, who was also present at the New Orleans Tournament, and who beat the Jesuit New Orleans Bluejays much more handily than our Rangers did. Head Coach Matthew Upton credits this to the physical game the Rangers played against the Bluejays the day before they faced Strake, stating:
“They were beat up and tired, it would have been a different game, but they had us the day before, and were just exhausted.”
Coach Upton delivers an optimistic outlook for the Jesuit Dallas vs. Jesuit Strake matchup this Friday in Crusader Stadium of Houston, and with Strake now ranked #13, Friday’s contest becomes all the more riveting for your Jesuit Rugby Rangers.