In a battle of unbeaten teams, Mira Costa’s rugby squad will host St. John Bosco Friday in a game that will determine the top two seeds in the Varsity White Division of the SoCal Youth Rugby playoffs.
Prior to the 7 p.m. start, Mira Costa (6-0) will recognize its senior players. The Mustang program continues to excel in the rapidly growing sport of rugby.
Mira Costa is coming off a 30-3 victory over host Long Beach Wilson but will have its hands full against St. John Bosco, the defending State Champions who eliminated the Mustangs in last year’s semifinals after the two teams tied during the regular season.
“St. John Bosco has an extremely big forward pack, most of which are over 300 pounds,” Mira Costa coach Duke Dulgarian said. “They easily outweigh our forwards by about 100 pounds. Their backline is very good and have a scrum-half that likes to run the ball but their real strength is in their fly-half and inside center. They are very strong and very fast.”
Matching up against them will be Mira Costa’s fly-half Brandon Espeso and inside center Justus Tavai, both of whom are extremely capable in their own right. The Braves like to pound the ball with their forwards and then spin the ball out to their backline in an effort to exploit gaps.
The Mustangs are led by the Tavai brothers. Justus enjoyed his best game of the season against Long Beach Wilson while sibling Jonah plays the Number 8 position. His combination of athleticism and rugby intelligence provides a force that is difficult for opposing teams to deal with.
Lock (and forwards captain) Justin Johnson has been the leader of the Mustang forwards who Dulgarian describes as an intangible using his rugby knowledge and athletic ability to create matchup problems for the opposition.
“One of the unsung heroes of the squad is Gunnar Kissman,” Dulgarian said. “Gunnar plays flanker and is always around the ball. He is a fierce tackler as well as a fine runner and is going to be a key to the match as he will be charged with helping to shut down the Braves’ fly-half.”
Dulgarian said the key for Mira Costa will be ball control.
“If we can keep the ball away from the Bosco backs and at the same time begin to fatigue their large forwards, then the chance of success will be good.”
Mira Costa seniors to be honored before the game with be Greg Boras (prop), Makai Elep (outside center), Brandon Espeso (fly half), Justin Johnson (lock and forwards captain), Ryan Paquette (prop), Shawn Stachowiak (lock), Justus Tavai (inside center and backs captain) and Ryan Toomey (prop).
Mira Costa concludes the regular season Friday, Jan. 29 at St. Monica, a team whose only win this season came via a forfeit by Palos Verdes.
