Likely anyone who watched the St. Thomas rugby team maul Strake Jesuit 39-0 in its regular-season finale April 11 came away impressed at how fluid the Eagles looked.

Several coaches and players attributed that to it being the first game since five Eagles returned from playing in overseas tournaments.

But it wasn’t just that they were back.

It was what they learned 4,000 miles away in England.

“It made me pick up my intensity. When I came back here everything slowed down,” St. Thomas junior Conor Mills said. “Strake Jesuit was one of my higher-scoring game (two tries, a free kick and a conversion). It was exciting not just because it was our big rival but I could see stuff starting to work.”

And now the seasoned Eagles sit less than three days from the start of the national championships, Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh. They have parlayed their players’ extra experiences  into state and regional championships the past seven weeks.

Mills and Paul Rogers played on the U-17 national team, Andres Diaz played on the U-18 team and Joel Marek played U-19 during an international festival from England from April 1-10.

Teammate Byron Henry was scheduled to attend but did not make the trip because of a broken collarbone.

“I was completely shocked at the amount of rugby going on there,” said Marek, who originally was a backup but ended up playing all three games as a loosehead prop. “When we played games, people came because their team was playing the national team from America. That’s how they thought of us and they wanted to beat us. Luckily they were unsuccessful most of the time.”

The U-19 team went 2-1, losing its final game by a try.

“They just let you play there. With rucks … you could do whatever you had to do to get your opponent off the other side,” Marek said.

To acclimate to the physical nature of British rugby, the U-19 team conducted a drill called “Headbanger’s Ball” in practice, for about 30 minutes the first day and an hour the second.

“It took me about a day to realize the differences,” said Diaz, who called some of what he learned “the dirty secrets of forwards,” meaning techniques to gain an edge. “Our coach said either you buck up now or I’ll take your plane ticket and send you back to America. You have to adjust pretty quick. They don’t give you time.”

Time and again, the Eagles players said the overseas game is faster, that players have the ability to think on their feet better than those here.

“It was the level (at which) they knew the game,” Mills said. “The level at the U.S. isn’t quite up to that yet. They just seem to know everything about the sport. Most of the time they were way smaller than we were and we came out thinking we could beat them, but then they’d play us to a tie or beat us because they were doing a lot of little things. …

“Defenses over here don’t set as quickly or aren’t as organized as the ones in England. I can see where the holes are better, stuff like that.”

Said Diaz: “My game has improved astronomically. I see gaps I didn’t see before. Now I feel I can see everything. I have a broader perspective.”

The team flies to Cleveland Thursday morning, then buses 130 miles to Pittsburgh. The Eagles’ first game is at 9 a.m. (CDT) Friday against Sacramento Jesuit.

St. Thomas finished eighth at nationals last year in Utah.

“From what we learned over there, when you get back here and see (the opponent) you just want to say ‘Let’s go,’ ” Marek said. “Nothing’s gonna stop me now.”

***
One final step
WHAT: National Guard Boys High School, Club, and Boys and Girls U-19 Club Championships.
WHEN: Friday and Saturday.

WHERE: Founders Field, Pittsburgh.

OPPONENTS: St. Thomas plays Washington D.C.-area school Gonzaga at 9 a.m. (CDT) Friday. If the Eagles win, they’ll play again at 2 p.m. CDT Friday. The championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. CDT Saturday.
UPWARD SPIRAL: The Eagles finished 10th at the national tournament in 2002, then placed eighth last year when the event was in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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