Salty Thompson Reviews HSAA Tours, Looks Ahead

We caught up with High School All-Americans coach Salty Thompson, who is currently in New Zealand shadowing the coaches at Taranaki, to talk about his team, up and coming players, the future, and more.

This Is American Rugby: Now that you've had time to think back on the summer, how do you think it went for you and your team? What were the positives? What were the negatives?

Salty Thompson: In many ways this was our best tour of the past 3 years. In terms of results we went 3-1 in South Africa (2011), went 3-2 in South America, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina (2012), and this July we finished 1-3. While it's flattering to win the learning experience and caliber of opposition was significantly higher in Argentina with two games against Cordoba regional academy and two test games against Argentina U-18s.

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Our squad was all on board from the start, they committed pre-tour to a strength and conditioning program weeks in advance, reported their scores, and arrived fit and resilient. This meant we could sustain a rigorous schedule of trainings and play hard in games. While you need an element of luck we came out of Argentina with no injuries apart from one hamstring!

Playing two games against the same opponent was a fantastic challenge to see where we stood in game one, work on deficiencies and strengths, then come back and have another crack at them. This allowed us to have a pre-test, post-test measurement of ourselves and gauge improvements. 

There was speculation even by me that Argentina's side in game 2 was their reserves however their staff told me they didn't select A and B sides but went for two balanced teams. That being the case our improvements in game 2, narrowing the gap to 15 points was valid.

The same in games one and two against Cordoba. We had a frame of reference in the first encounter then won the 2nd game. 

I really didn't see negatives while reflecting on the tour. We played the entire 28 man squad evenly, got pleasing buy-in from everyone and all worked towards a common goal to narrow the gap between us and Argentina.

I could have planned an extra day recovery between games however we felt 16 days was ideal for 4 games.

NOTE: The tour to Argentina was only made possible by the High School All-American's sponsor Aircraft Charter Solutions.

TIAR: How beneficial is touring a place like Argentina for your players?

ST: It's hugely beneficial.  Argentina is the best rugby nation in the Americas and capable of competing with the top tier nations. It's an amateur nation with an excellent club and youth system. A part of their success is rooted in their youth development where they formed regional academies to provide the best pathway forward. We need to compete with them on a regular basis and continue to narrow the gap.

TIAR: Titi Lamositele went from the High School All-Americans to the Eagles. Do you think he's an exception or do you think that the level of high school players is increasing to the point where more may have a chance at making the transition?

ST: Titi is an exceptional young player with talent and character. His HSAA experiences the past three years has really accelerated his development. He played on the 2011 South Africa tour, his first games at prop, then played in England for our U-17s, where he impressed professional clubs, then followed by a five game tour to Chile, Uruguay and Argentina in 2012. This summer he graduated high school having played on four overseas tours, with seven test games. This type of pathway allows potential to grow.

We are getting better skilled rugby athletes in larger numbers however, our high schoolers usually take 4-5 years to grow into Eagle prospects. Our 2008 and 2009 U-20s produced a lot of Eagles, in 15s and 7s, notably Pittman, Lavalla, Mokate, Murphy, Fenoglio, Dolan, Saint, Enosa, Tiberio, Thompson, Palamo, with more maturing (Nate Ebner NFL was 2008). Most have been capped at 22-24 years old.

Having said that we do have a couple of players that will compete at the Eagle level sooner rather than later.

TIAR: What are your plans for next year's team?

ST: We purposely have two sevens events and two fifteens in our calendar. The cycle kicks off with a Winter Camp, December 26-31st which brings in 60 prospects at varsity level and 60 at junior varsity, U-17 level (players born in 1997 and 98). From there we select two sides to play in the Las Vegas Elite U-18 division against the likes of British Columbia, Ontario, Argentina, Golden Lions (South Africa) the Canadian Howlers along with state all stars from Utah and Washington. 

In March we play in the Rosslyn Park England Schools Sevens Tournament, a massive 110 team event over two days and nine possible games.

In April we have our U-17s play at the Wellington Festival in England which has had us play the likes of Wales, England North, England South and Belgium over the past two years. 

The main event is our HSAA Summer Tour which takes our best high schoolers back to Argentina, July 16-30th for a two or three match series against Argentina U-18s. 

TIAR: How long have you been down in New Zealand and what have you gained out of being at Taranaki?

ST: Just over two weeks following them through three games in the ITM Cup. It's a professional environment below Super Rugby which helps nurture the next generation of Super players and All Blacks. I'm immersed in every aspect of the club from their youth academy to their top side.

It's been so welcoming with their coaching team, players, support staff and management. It's allowed me to assess best practice in developing players on and off the field, learn from Colin Cooper, Jono Phillips and Leo Crowley on how they see the game technically and tactically.

The goal is to learn then adapt what I've learned to help our young players get better.

TIAR: We've heard a rumor that some age-grade coaches won't be selecting a player that is not CIPP'd. Are these reports accurate and are overseas players CIPP'd?

ST: We will seek the best players period. Everyone attending any of our USA Rugby assemblies has been and will be Cipped. We routinely CIPP foreign based Americans 'at large.'