OMBAC, North County win titles

Two club teams out of a 10-team field emerged with division championships Saturday at the 25th annual Huntington Beach Veteran’s Day Rugby Tournament at Fulton Middle School in Fountain Valley.

The day long event served as the unofficial start to the rugby season in Southern California. In addition, the Southern California Rugby Referees Society used the tournament as a major training and recruitment tool for new and up-and-coming referees. The 25th anniversary of the event made the tournament the longest-running annual tournament in Southern California rugby history.

The 10 teams, divided into two brackets, competing for titles were the Huntington Beach Unicorn Rugby Club, Santa Monica, OMBAC (Old Mission Bay Athletic Club, San Diego), Back Bay, Riverside, South County Gators, Orange County Bucks, OC Young Guns, Eagle Rock and North County Gurkahs. Each team played four games in pool play and the division winners were determined by best overall record.

In Division I, OMBAC went undefeated (4-0) and outscored their opponents, 87-27. Both Back Bay and Huntington Beach finished tied for second at 2-2 and Santa Monica and Riverside each were 1-3.

In Division II, the North County Gurkahs went 3-0-1 to win the division. Last year, the team qualified for their first trip to the USA National Division II championships. The rest of the bracket saw Eagle Rock finish second, South County Gators third, the Orange County Bucks fourth and the OC Young Guns were fifth.

It was the first competition for the Young Guns, made up mainly of former South County Under-19 players.

The Huntington Beach Rugby Club is next in action on Dec. 6 when the local team hosts Back Bay Rugby in a full preseason match at Fulton Middle School.

The league season for Huntington Beach begins Jan. 17 against the Santa Monica Dolphins Rugby Club at Fulton.

For further information, contact Huntington Beach Rugby at hbrugby@gmail.com, call (714) 791-0489 or visit www.unicornrugby.com. New and experienced players are welcome. The club practices on Tuesday and Thursday nights and plays a full schedule in the Southern California Rugby Union Division I competition on Saturday afternoons.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.