Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

from USA Rugby:

PALO ALTO, Calif. – USA Rugby is set to host the top men’s and women’s collegiate teams from around the nation at the 2009 National Guard Collegiate Championships at Stanford University’s Steuber Rugby Stadium on May 1-2.

Featuring non-stop rugby action from 10 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, with its LIVE Fan Festival coinciding with the competition, USA Rugby is again expecting this year’s College Championships to be one of its marquee events in 2008.

USA Rugby’s National Guard Collegiate Championships is also part of ESPNU’s expanded coverage of USA Rugby. A College Championships highlights show will be aired on Tuesday, May 12, at 9 p.m. (ET), while the Women’s Division I Championship match will be show in its entirety on ESPNU on Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. (ET) and the Men’s Division I Championship will be shown at 9 p.m. (ET).

Several California teams can be spotted battling it out for the top spot in their division as the perennial favorites, the top-ranked California Golden Bears (29-1), return to this tournament and hope to walk away with its sixth-straight Division I title. The Golden Bears will have their work cut out for them; however, as they must first overcome Army, on Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals before facing the winner of the San Diego State University and Brigham Young University match-up on Saturday at 5 p.m.

In the Division I women’s competition, Stanford University is no doubt itching to use the home-field advantage and repeat last year’s success. Stanford will first have to defeat Brown University in its semifinal matchup on Friday at 1 p.m., while Penn State will compete against the U.S. Naval Academy in Friday’s 3 p.m. game.

The Division II, the men’s semifinals will pit this year’s Cinderella team, #16 Wisconsin, against the #5 Miami-Ohio side in a 2:30 p.m. match on Stanford’s second rugby field. Middlebury return to seek a championship run like it had in 2007, and will first play #7 Georgetown in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Field 2.

In the women’s DII bracket, defending Champions, Shippensburg will face fourth-ranked Washington State in the first match of the day at 10 a.m. Then at 11:30 #6 Stonehill will face #7 Delaware in their semifinal face-off at Stanford.

Cost for the event is $15 for adult and $5 for students/military with valid ID. Tickets are available at the gate.

For more information on the USA Rugby National Championships, visit www.usarugby.org/goto/usar_championships. Media interested in attending, please contact Sara John or by phone at 719-310-2606.

Friday, May 1, 2009

10:00 am: Shippensburg vs. Washington St. 29 - 7
11:30 am: Stonehill vs. Delaware 27 - 12
1:00 pm: Georgetown vs. Middlebury 18 - 45
1:00 pm: Stanford vs. Brown 31 - 12 (thanks to Kali for the score updates!)
2:30 pm: Wisconsin vs. Miami-Ohio 14 - 12
3:00 pm: Navy vs. Penn State 0 - 33
5:00 pm: San Diego State vs. BYU 13 - 31
7:00 pm: California vs. Army 42 - 15

Saturday, May 2, 2009

1:00 pm: Division 2 Women’s Championship - Shippensburg vs Stonehill 29 - 5


3:00 pm: Division 2 Men’s Championship - Middlebury vs Wisconsion 27 - 11


5:00 pm: Division 1 Women’s Championship Stanford vs Penn State 46 - 7
7:00 pm: Division 1 Men’s Championship California vs BYU

Feel free to send scores, updates, pictures and videos to scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com or 405-802-2490. Thanks all!

I found some videos from the games this morning via the Mobilescore Live Scoreboard at USA Rugby (there are plenty other videos posted, just click on the little film strip looking icon next to the scores):



For results from the Round of 16 (or Sweets 16s) that determined the final seedings, go here. You can also view select archived videos from Round of 16s at the USA Rugby Media Center.

Your Scrumhalf Connection is proud to be included in the RuckingZone.com partnership. Our blog was chosen as one of the feature bloggers along with several other great sites. Make sure to join the site today!

USA Rugby is proud to announce its support of RuckingZone.com. RuckingZone.com is a dynamic new website utilizing web 2.0 to bring the Global Rugby community together.

RuckingZone.com is a tool for teams and players to get real time news, stats and information. RZ was founded to be a premier recruiting web site for teams and players around the world. RZ will also offer Featured Bloggers and news from around the world to give players and fans a global perspective of the sport we love. At RuckingZone.com we are committed to the growth of the sport of Rugby for the men and women of all ages!

RuckingZone Benefits Teams

• Free Team Advertisement
• Upload a profile, Schedule, Team pictures, Video highlights of matches and a map of practice and game fields
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• Create a community for teams and players to communicate freely
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• Place to advertise Talent
• Want to play in another country? Find the teams here and help them find you
• Upload a profile with pictures, video highlights and rugby accomplishments
• Place to shop schools and teams
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RuckingZone Feature Bloggers and Proud Partners

· Your Scrumhalf Connection (US)
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· RefBlog.com (UK)
· And strength and conditioning blogs for men’s and women specifically for the sport of rugby

RuckingZone is also working closely with a number of non-profits (IRB Kit-Aid (UK), TAG Rugby Development Trust (UK), Try for Others (US), Golden Oldies Rugby (NZ) World Social Rugby Championship (SA). We have a global vision of rugby growth and development.

So we have had more and more readers in the year 2009 than ever before! We have broken the 10,000 visits a month for 3 months in a row now. Thank you for passing the blog on to your friends, families, coaches and teammates!

If you are just tuning in, we thought you might want to know how this all started and what we are all about!

About Us

This blog came about because I wanted to contribute to the sport that has given me so much. I started out reading as much on rugby as I could on Goffon Rugby, Planet Rugby and a few other blogs. I was always disappointed that there was very little to read about Women's Rugby. So I began this blog on March 31, 2006 and haven't stopped blogging since. I love the friends, networking and adventures I have been on while doing it, and look forward to the next adventure on or off the pitch!

The us in the About Us is pretty simple...the blog has two main contributors currently (we are always looking for more, email me!). Wendy Young, editor and creator of Your Scrumhalf Connection and my partner, The Girl. The Girl is the constant inspiration and challenger of what this blog could be and will become. For more on the The Girl and who she is....read below!

As for me personally, I currently play scrumhalf for the Austin Valkyries in Austin, TX. I started playing rugby at the University of Oklahoma in 2001. I love everything about rugby and wanted to write about it...so this is my blog about rugby and some small parts of my life. I was recently selected for the USA Women's National Team pool and I was also recently certified as a rugby referee in the Texas Rugby Union.

Note: The blog originally began as West Rugby Blog (http://westrugby.blogspot.com), but has since evolved to Your Scrumhalf Connection (http://scrumhalfconnection.com) which focuses on women's rugby in the USA.

About "The Girl"

The Girl's story...I started playing rugby in college at Texas A&M University (whoop!!!). For those of you who don't know our story, Wendy and I were mortal enemies in college!! Both captains and officers of our rival clubs... it was a sight when we played against each other.

To make a long story short... call it fate, a full moon, opposites attract, what have you... we both moved to Austin and soon after became a duo on and off the field.

Wendy started this blog in May 2006 and I've been her silent partner working behind the scenes collecting stories, scores, pictures and videos. I'm a bit private and therefore have the title "The Girl". Its kinda my alter ego :)

I hope you enjoy what we produce... feel free to contact me as well!

How to Contact Us

We welcome all of your feedback and comments, they can be submitted via email, Facebook, or left in the comments on the blog. Ruck on!

Twitter
Facebook
Facebook "The Girl's page"
thegirlysc@gmail.com
scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com

Anything Else?

YSC Tshirts

This week's Rugby Video Monday is a repost of some new breakdown techniques from Put Me in Coach:

Yesterday my club, Philly Women, had the pleasure of hosting Eamonn Hogan's second clinic. This session was designed primarily for adult players and their coaches, but we had several more experienced players from Princeton, UPenn, and Drexel, as well as men and women from Skuylkill River Exiles (our Philadelphia rugger brothers), Philly Women, and Brandywine Riot.

Part 1 of 2


Part 2 of 2

Host: MARFU U-23 Women's Rugby All Stars
Date: Sunday, May 10, 2009
Location: American University
City: Washington DC
Contact Phone: 215 421 1823
Email Contact: coachingrugby@gmail.com

Player will learn evasive running, play making, and open field support skills, designed to help create more line breaks, better decision making ball in hand, and support running skills. Support skills help convert line breaks to trys.

This workshop is appropriate for players in ALL positions and at all levels (it will not be a high contact session so younger players are encouraged to join in. This workshop is open to all U20 and U23 eligible players (born after Jan 2, 1986), collegiate and high school.

Since this is Mothers day, the workshop will start early and conclude by noon so players may celebrate with their families.

All coaches are welcome and can apply for one USA Rugby continuing coach education credit for attending.

Players and coaches are encouraged to RSVP via email or through the Facebook invite, however RSVP is not required for attendance. Please bring your own water and tape if you need it.

Directions will be posted on both the Facebook invite and the MARFU U23 Women's All Star Blog

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=81926391852
http://marfu-u23s.blogspot.com

For more information, contact Lisa Rosen, MARFU U23 Head Coach at 215 421-1823.

Whew, what a crazy month April has been! Hope you are out there living your rugby dreams, personal dreams and having a blast! April was the month of winning here are Scrumhalf Connection with 2 Dollface Rugger Tshirts given away and 2 YSC Tshirts as well! See the winners below:

Betsy Hornstein of Oregon Rugby
Chelsey Ringsdorf of UNI Rugby

Please email me your postal address, full name and desired tshirt size and I will get it right out to you!


I am looking for more Twitter followers so I let everyone on Twitter know that follows me that if they helped pass the word on I would randomly pick a follower to win a YSC Tshirt. That winner is:

@amf7

Please email me your postal address, full name and desired tshirt size and I will get it right out to you!


TBD, the Championships have not been played yet!

Thanks for entering the April Raffle and for following me on Twitter (we are almost to 300 followers!) Have a great weekend!

If I find an awesome, funny or moving rugby photo I will post it here!

Send me your favorite rugby photos and I will post them...scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com

from USA Rugby:

BOULDER, Colo. - The U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Kathy Flores has officially named her player pool for the upcoming matches against Canada in June.

The USA Women’s National Team most recently gathered in February for a three-day camp in Florida, where the coaching staff was able to take a good look at the potential players. Having now named the sides, Flores won’t see her teams assemble again until June 19, when they arrive in Colorado.

The U.S. Women’s National Team will train for a week at the rugby complex in Glendale, Colo., before competing against the Canadian Women’s National Team on Saturday, June 27 at Glendale’s Infinity Park. The USA ‘A’ side, which arrives at the same time, will only have three days of training before their Infinity Park kick-off against Canada ‘A’ on Tuesday, June 23. Both matches will be played at 6 p.m. and tickets are just $15 for the match, or for groups buying 10 tickets, the 11 will be free! Children under 12 get in free, as well. Go here for more details on buying tickets and the events surrounding this match.

“This match is very important to our squad,” said Coach Flores. “We have yet to fully compete against Canada and we can wait no longer to prove we will be competitive in the next World Cup. Though the squad may be young internationally, we do have veterans from the last World Cup (in 2006), who we will depend on to step up and provide the on-field leadership needed to secure a competitive contest against our rivals.”

USA ‘A’ Coach Martha Daines reiterated the importance of the match for the USA ‘A’ side, saying, “The ‘A’ match is an excellent opportunity for our developing players. We'll be building on the work we did at the development camp in February, continuing to focus on player's abilities to make decisions when under pressure as well as their ability to apply pressure to the opposition. The intensity and pace of the match should provide a great arena for developing these skills.”

Another bonus is that the two squads will get more opportunity to train alongside each other and continue to strengthen the connection between the two programs. Providing the ‘A’ athletes with vital international experience is also a tremendous opportunity for them to make a strong case for inclusion in the squad for the 2010 WRWC.

“Players like Jillion Potter and Lynelle Kugler are strong, physical examples of the type of hard nosed rugby we must play for our future to be successful on the world stage,” Flores added. “We also have two players joining us from the Rugby World Cup Sevens, Amy Daniels and Christy Ringgenberg, and in order to allow them time to settle into international 15s and provide them some leadership opportunities, we have selected them for the A squad. We look forward to their participation and look to their possible future with the Eagles going forward.”

The Can-Am matches in Colorado will be the first of five matches this summer, as the team kicks off its journey towards the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010, which is held in England next August and September. The Women’s Eagles will see their remaining games in the Nations Cup in Toronto in August.

In addition to displaying the Eagles’ world-class rugby skills on the pitch, the June 27 match will give the team the opportunity to show their support for the Love/Avon Army of Women off the pitch. A moment of silence will be observed prior to the start of the match to honor those diagnosed with breast cancer and fans will have the opportunity meet and speak with Army of Women volunteers, as well as to sign up to support the initiative. The Army of Women will give out free t-shirts to the first 200 women who sign up at the match.

Please contact Alex Williams, Women’s HP Manager for more information or to request sponsorship packages.

USA Women’s Eagle Roster
Sharon Blaney Beantown
Claudia Braymer Albany
Stephanie Bruce Berkeley All-Blues
Jamie Burke Beantown
Melanie Denham Beantown
Farrah Douglas Chicago - North Shore
Ashley English Berkeley All-Blues
Victoria Folayan Berkeley All-Blues
Blair Groefsema Berkeley All-Blues
Melissa Kanuk Furies
Ashley Kmiecik Emerald City Mudhens
Lynelle Kugler Glendale
Vanesha McGee New York
San Juanita Moreno ORSU
Elise Myer Northern Virginia (NOVA)
Jillion Potter Univ NM
Beckett Royce ORSU
Lara Vivolo New York
Kittery Wagner Beantown
Maurin Wallace Beantown
Sarah Walsh Chicago - North Shore
Kristin Zdanczewicz MN Valkyries

USA Women’s ‘A’ Roster
Stacy Baker Philadelphia Women
Libby Berg MN Valkyries
Ida BernsteinKeystone
Stacey Bridges Texas A&M
Anna Brown MN Valkyries
Lisa Butts Davis Women
Emilie BydwellBeantown
Brenna Costello Furies
Kathleen Daley Penn State Univ
Amy Daniels Beantown
Liz Dilley Furies
Katie Dowty Beantown
Katy Hertel MN Valkyries
Janay Lake Glendale
Kristy Lear MN Valkyries
Desiree Markovich MN Valkyries
Ramey Marshall ORSU
Jenny Menke MN Valkyries
Christy Ringgenberg MN Valkyries
Hannah Stolba MN Valkyries
Katherine Weber Iowa State

About the Army of Women
USA Rugby's Women's National Team (WNT) proudly supports the Love/Avon Army of Women, a wonderful initiative working to enlist one million women to participate in breast cancer research. The WNT encourages our family, friends to visit the website http://www.armyofwomen.org and be part of this important effort.

About USA Rugby
USA RUGBY, founded in 1975, is the national governing body for rugby and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Rugby Board (IRB). The organization is responsible for the development of boys, girls, high school, collegiate and club athletic programs, and ultimately, all of the national teams representing the United States in international competition. For more information on USA Rugby, please visit www.USARugby.org

Glendale’s Infinity Park
Opened in September 2007 with a 3,000-seat game-day capacity, Infinity Park is one of the only rugby-specific stadiums in the United States. Owned and operated by the City of Glendale, it is also home to the Division I Glendale Raptors Rugby Football Club, and boasts a state-of-the-art broadcast production facility (all home games are broadcast live on RugbyZone.com and also on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain), a natural grass turf system, and the Try Club, a uniquely-appointed pub-type clubhouse for players, VIP guests, and sponsors. The Infinity Park complex includes the Glendale Sports Center, a high-tech fitness center with a full range of cardio equipment, weight rooms, basketball court, and deluxe locker room facilities, and the new Infinity Park Event Center, featuring a virtual 360-degree video screen in the 800-seat International Ballroom, as well as smaller meeting rooms for training, board meetings, and conferences. For more information go to www.infinityparkatglendale.com.

Slowly but surely I will get all the matches up from the West U23 LAU Tournament! Currently I have 2 matches available and I was given 3 more matches this weekend. I will work on getting them uploaded throughout the week!

ERRFU A vs Texas - West LAU Tournament 2009 from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

Thanks to Infinity Park for hosting and taping this match. ERRFU A won by 4 or 5 tries.


ERRFU B vs Texas - U23 West LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

ERRFU B vs Texas - U23 West LAU Tournament

Thanks to Infinity Park for taping, I am not sure if this is the first half or second...doesn't look like they taped the whole match. Texas won the match by 4 tries.


View the video ERRFU A vs Texas and ERRFU B vs Texas here if you are using a RSS reader...

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
4/13/2009: Austin Valkyries vs DC Furies & Houston
4/6/2009: Glendale vs Berkeley Video from Infinity Park
3/30/2009: Dhani Tackles the Globe - Travel Channel
3/23/2009: Seigneurs
3/16/2009: Brighton Storm vs White Station - High School Girls Rugby
3/9/2009: Texas Rugby Union U23 Team Videos
3/2/2009: Are you Ready for Rugby?

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Make sure to check out my Vimeo Channel or my Youtube channel...and you can subscribe to both if you like, but keep in mind that all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

For scores, results, video etc of USA Rugby Collegiate Championships view this blog post!

The winning bracket or the closest winner will receive a YSC Tshirt! No cheating as I can view who has made revisions via the Google Doc!

I borrowed this idea from Rugby America, they are having a men's rugby bracket, but not for the women...so I made it up! This is a experiment and if it goes well we will do it each year for Collegaites, Club etc.

Also thanks to K-Train for helping me figure out the Google Doc!

UPDATE 4/29/09: For Final Four and eventual Championship results go here.

RE POST: this was originally posted on 4/3/2009, but I wanted to make sure it was at the top of the blog posts.

Fantasy Rugby: Who Will Go All the Way? Submit your Fantasy Rugby Bracket for the USA Rugby Collegiate Championships Div 1 & Div 2 Women's Rugby here.

The USA Rugby Collegiate Playoff and Championships for Division I & II are quickly approaching...final seeds for the tournament will be determined this weekend! This tournament is technically called USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Playoffs Round of 16, but since so many people still call it USA Rugby Collegiate Sweet 16s...lets be as confusing as possible right?

**RED matches below will be streamed live via the USA Rugby Media Center**

Friday, April 17

Match 1 11:00 am Texas A&M (West # 1) vs Virginia (Mid Atlantic # 4) 5 - 27
Match 2 11:00 am North Carolina (South # 1) vs Brown (Northeast # 1) 0 - 34
Match 3 1:00 pm BYU (Pacific # 3) vs Northern Iowa (Midwest # 1) 22 - 15
Match 4 1:00 pm Dartmouth (Northeast # 3) vs Penn State (Mid Atlantic # 1) 0 - 65

Saturday, April 18

Match 5 10:00 am Loser of Match 1 - Texas A&M vs Loser of Match 2 - North Carolina 10-19
Match 6 10:00 am Winner of Match 1 - Virginia vs Winner of Match 2 - Brown 13-29
Match 7 12:00 pm Navy (Mid Atlantic # 2) vs Indiana (Midwest # 2) 62 - 5
Match 8 12:00 pm University of New Mexico (West # 2) vs Chico (Pacific # 2) 15-17
Match 9 2:00 pm Stanford (Pacific # 1) vs UCLA (SoCal # 1) 81-10
Match 10 2:00 pm Army (Northeast # 2) vs West Chester (Mid Atlantic # 3) 55 - 22
Match 11 3:30 pm Loser Match 3 - Northern Iowa vs Loser Match 4 - Dartmouth 32 - 0
Match 12 3:30 pm Winner Match 3 - BYU vs Winner Match 4 - Penn State 5 - 27

Sunday, April 19

Match 13 10:00 am Loser Match 7 - Indiana vs Loser Match 8 - University of New Mexico 10 - 55
Match 14 10:00 am Winner Match 7 - Navy vs Winner Match 8 - Chico 32 - 12
Match 15 12:00 pm Loser Match 9 - UCLA vs Loser Match 10 - West Chester 22 - 17
Match 16 12:00 pm Winner Match 9 - Stanford vs Winner Match 10 - Army 29 - 15


Friday, April 17th, 2009

Match 1 11:00 am Shippensburg (Mid Atlantic # 1) vs Marist (Northeast # 2) 25 - 5
Match 2 11:00 am Michigan (Mid West # 2) vs Wayne State (West # 1) 77 - 0
Match 3 1:00 pm Delaware (Mid Atlantic # 2) vs Central Florida (South # 2) 24 - 15
Match 4 1:00 pm Wyoming (West # 2) vs Slippery Rock (Mid West # 1) 22 - 46

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

Match 5 10:00 am Loser Match 1 - Marist vs Loser Match 2 - Wayne State 30 - 0
Match 6 10:00 am Winner Match 1 - Shippensburg vs Winner Match 2 - Michigan 17 - 10
Match 7 12:00 pm Eastern Carolina (South # 1) vs Arizona (So Cal # 2) 31 - 10
Match 8 12:00 pm LaSalle (Mid Atlantic # 3) vs Washington State Univ (Pacific # 1) 5 - 36
Match 9 2:00 pm Claremont (So Cal # 1) vs Univ of Minnesota-Duluth (Mid West # 3) 7 - 15
Match 10 2:00 pm Sacramento State (Pacific # 2) vs Stonehill (Northeast # 1) 5 - 46
Match 11 3:30 pm Loser Match 3 - Central Florida vs Loser Match 4 - Wyoming 26 - 10
Match 12 3:30 pm Winner Match 3 - Delaware vs Winner Match 4 - Slippery Rock 24 -21

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

Match 13 10:00 am Loser Match 7 - Arizona vs Loser Match 8 - LaSalle 17 - 41
Match 14 10:00 am Winner Match 7 - Eastern Carolina vs Winner Match 8 - Washington St. U. 20 - 26
Match 15 11:30 am Loser Match 9 - Claremont vs Loser Match 10 - Sacramento State 15 - 5
Match 16 11:30 am Winner Match 9 - Univ of Minn.-Duluth vs Winner Match 10 - Stonehill 8 - 64

Division 1 Seeding
1 Pacific #1 Stanford
2 Mid-Atlantic #1 Penn State
3 Mid-Atlantic #2 Navy
4 Northeast #1 Brown
5 West #1 Texas A&M
6 Pacific #2 Chico
7 Pacific #3 Cougar Rugby
8 Mid-Atlantic #3 West Chester
9 Northeast #2 Army
10 Midwest #1 Northern Iowa
11 West #2 University of New Mexico
12 Mid-Atlantic #4 Virginia
13 South #1 North Carolina
14 Midwest #2 Indiana
15 Northeast #3 Dartmouth
16 Southern Cal #1 UCLA

Division II Seeding
1 Mid-Atlantic #1 Shippensburg
2 Midwest #1 Slippery Rock
3 Southern Cal #1 Claremont
4 Pacific #1 Washington State University
5 South #1 Eastern Carolina
6 Northeast #1 Stonehill
7 Mid-Atlantic #2 Delaware
8 West #1 Wayne State
9 Midwest #2 Michigan
10 South #2 Central Florida
11 Pacific #2 Sacramento State
12 Southern Cal #2 Arizona
13 Mid-Atlantic #3 LaSalle
14 Midwest #3 University of Minnesota-Duluth
15 West #2 Wyoming
16 Northeast #2 Marist

VENUE
David Maus Soccer Complex
7390 Markham Rd.
Sanford, FL 32771
(407) 321-5264

PARKING
$6 day pass/$10 three (3) day pass - Each team will receive 3 complimentary weekend passes at registration.

**RED matches below will be streamed live via the USA Rugby Media Center**

For Final Four and eventual Championship results go here.

**The Girl and I just bought our ticket for this event and we are SO excited!!

Along with the USA WNT vs Canada, I also just heard that earlier in the day (thanks Mary G.!)that the Women's U19 International LAU Rugby tournament will be taking place as well on June 27, 2009! More info on that tournament is below. ALSO there is a 7s tournament that the Glendale Women's Rugby team is hosting, all that info is below...

USA Rugby and the Women's National Team cordially invite you to watch as the Eagles take on Canada on June 27th, 2009 at Glendale, Colorado's, Infinity Park! (6 P.M. MST)

You won't want to miss this international test match packed with action, athleticism, amazing ticket deals and an opportunity to see your favorite Eagles represent the USA!

Be there to watch women's rugby at its best and take advantage of the incredible offers below.

Just $15 per ticket or buy 11 tickets for the price of 10. Children under 12 get in free! CLICK HERE to purchase tickets now!

Check out this post to see the selected USA and USA A sides for the matches.

* An opportunity to watch an incredible match up between the USA and Canada
* A chance to bring your daughter or son to watch the amazing female athletes of representing the USA in women's rugby
* A chance to visit one of the nation's finest rugby stadiums
* Unbeatable ticket discounts for you, the family or your team!
* Every ticket sold goes to benefit the Women Eagles!

PURCHASE TICKETS NOW!

Also, the WNT is sponsoring the opportunity to win some great prizes at the match and anyone can enter to win.

GRAND PRIZE: $200 travel voucher to help cover airfare to Denver to watch the match, 2 VIP passes, a USA jersey signed by the team and a photo op with the the Eagles!
FIRST PRIZE: A USA signed jersey and photo op with the team
SECOND PRIZE: An official match ball signed by the Eagles and photo op with the team
THIRD PRIZE: An official match ball signed by the team

Teams - Manitoba, Washington, Oregon, Northern Califoria, Minnesota, and Colorado

Two pool (3 teams per pool) - 2 games on Sat and one full length game on Sun. Sunday's games will be played on the Infinity Park stadium pitch.

The National U19 Girls LAU (Local Area Union) tournament is an event that has teams from all of the country traveling to play once a year. Wisconsin, Oregon, California, and even a team from Canada. The girls that make up this team are the best of their area and compete for pride as well as a look from the National U20 Team coaches.

Glendale is excited to have this tournament running around the CanAm game. This is a great opportunity for these young players to see the Senior Side National Team compete in their home land.

Glendale, Colorado- The Glendale Raptors Women’s Rugby Club will be hosting a Women’s 7’s tournament the weekend of June 27, 2009. The tournament will be held at Joseph Cook Park in Denver with an entry fee of $50 for each team. All teams are guaranteed a minimum of three games and interested parties can email Laura Hertel at hertellmh@hotmail for more information.

This is the Glendale Women Raptor’s first year of competition in Women’s 7’s rugby, which is played with seven players instead of the standard fifteen. The game is quicker and faster paced than a standard Rugby match. The rules are altered to match the shorter game which consists of two 7-minute halves rather than the 40 minute halves of a customary Rugby match.

Help me get to 250 followers and I will randomly choose a winner for a YSC tshirt from the most recent followers! Pass on http://twitter.com/scrumhalfblog or @scrumhalfblog to your friends!

Thanks for all the love...this is another way I am giving it back to you!

All,

I was approached by the TOLA Rugby 7s Series Board to see if we could get some interest in setting up a women's bracket for TOLA. TOLA was started last year by a few different teams and seemed to really be a great success as the teams played a ton of 7s and had a lot of fun! TOLA stands for Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas and is comprised of a 7s tournament from each of those states.

I think the best part of the series is that we get to travel to fun rugby tournaments, meet new people and the points system is designed to make the Series fun and competitive:

Points System
* 6 Points are awarded to the winning team of each TOLA Series Tournament
* 4 points are awarded to the runner up team of each TOLA Series Tournament
* 3 Points are awarded to the third place team of each TOLA Series Tournament
* 2 points are awarded to the fourth place team of each TOLA Series Tournament
* 2 Points are awarded to the winner of any consolation bracket of each TOLA Series Tournament
* 1 bonus point is awarded for each tournament entered. This includes all tournaments (TOLA and Social) registered on the TOLA website
* 2 "at large" points may be awarded at each TOLA Series events by the TOLA board for a team or teams (1 pt. each) that display character that exemplifies the spirit of rugby. Examples of behavior that will be considered for these points include travelling a great distance, entering multiple teams, assisting the tournament hosts in some way, playing up a division to fill a bracket, etc.

The tentative schedule that we would consider for the women's series would be:

• June 6- Lone Star 7s (Dallas)
• June 20- Bloodfest 7s (Austin)
• July 11- Varano 7s
  
• July 18- Oklahoma Tornado Alley 7s (TBD)
• July 25- Ark 7s (Little Rock)
• Women's final TBD

Let me know your thoughts etc and we can all chat to see if we are interested. BTW I sent this message to Texas Tech, Houston, A&M, Satiated Beavers (Austin), Baton Rouge, Arkansas, Kansas, New Orleans Half Moons, Dallas, Univ of Oklahoma, Little Rock and the Univ of Texas. Let me know if I forgot any teams or if anyone needs to be added.

Thanks,
Wendy

I have only heard back from 3 teams on this invitation...please let me know if you are interested in joining the TOLA 7s Series this year. Please get back to me by MAY 1, 2009 so I can begin making plans.

FAQ

1) There is no cost to join TOLA, it is free for your team, you will need to pay the tournament entry fees though for each tournament you attend.
2) There is no penalty for not showing up to a tournament, make sure to review the Points System because you get points for showing rugby spirit, just attending a tournament etc...this is meant to be fun and competitive, so the points are geared towards that.
3) Club and Colleges will compete in the same bracket unless we get a good number for each and then I will separate them out.

Please let me know if you have any other questions and please pass this on to any teams that you think may be interested! Check out the Google Doc for the TOLA 7s Series here for more intense details.

Thanks,
Wendy

from Matthew Lathrop, Tournament Director:
I would like to see if we could get a few women’s Team for a Round Robin pool is possible; your thoughts? Ideally, I would like to College Men’s, HS Boys and Women’s division.

I am born and raised Austin and nothing means more to me than the continued development rugby in Austin, so needless to say this event is very personal to me and I look forward to watching the event grow year after year.

The format will remain open as we receive more feedback from coaches and understand what is best for each club. We simply want to provide an ‘open-minded’ environment/platform for Team’s of ALL ages to participate. Could by 15’s, could be 7’s, could be a hybrid – the model is malleable to suit competition and desire of the clubs.

If you are interested and/or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly:
· 512-539-1077 (w)
· 512-565-8900 (c)
· Matthew.lathrop@rackspace.com / matthewlathrop@gmail.com

High School Boys & Collegiate Men’s Open Division
Women’s Open Division (High School and College)

15’s Matches: 20minute halves with 5 minute half-time breaks
-OR-
7’s Matches: 7minute halves with 3 minute half-time breaks

** Division Winners receive kit/equipment from Red Rhino **

Entry Fees:
** Entry Fees are negotiable contingent upon guaranteed number of games **
Entry Fees received before April 20th - $75 (for the 1st Team if entering multiple Teams)
Entry Fees received after April 20th up to/before May 2nd - $125 (for the 1st Team if entering multiple Teams)

Checks and PayPal Payments Accepted
Checks to be sent to the following address:
Austin Rugby Football Club
Attention: Michael Noonan
401 Congress Ave, Ste 1540
Austin, Texas 78701

Whew, I am way behind on my personal updates! Here is a quick writeup of the Texas team and my West U23 LAU Tournament weekend. This tournament was a collection of teams from regions across the West including Heart of America, Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union, Texas Rugby Union, and the West U19 team was also present.

The Girl (Texas U23 Forwards Coach) and I (Texas U23 Trainer) met Anna Kunkel (Texas U23 Head Coach) in Colorado Friday night. The weather was a stark difference from Texas as we had been experiencing high 70s and even some 80s...but no CO was freezing and had a chance of snow! So out came the long underwear, fur coats (Jessie), beanies and mittens (The Girl).

Once we adjusted to the freezing cold weather...ok we never really did...we spent the night huddled in our hotel rooms with the heater on...early Saturday morning we played the Heart of America (HOA) and got off to a sluggish start. Perhaps it was the cold, perhaps it was the 9am kickoff, but we just didn't show up to knock any heads off! I am not sure of the score of that game but HOA played very well and won at least 30-5 or so.

That night Infinity Park put on a great dinner where all the teams were present and we were privy to several rousing skits! I do have to say that the Texas skit was the best though as they made fun were in costume and spoofed Jerry Springer! I also gave away 6 YSC tshirts (all shirts are 11% off until 4/15/2009) to players that the coaches and I thought played really hard and had earned the recognition. If you have a picture in your new tshirt...send it my way!

On Sunday, we played a great game against ERRFU B and were victorious! This time we were awake and prepared for the challenge ahead. I liked the directing from the scrumhalves, and really enjoyed watching the backs bust through the back line over and over with forward support on their heels. Again, I am not positive of the score, but I know we won by 3 or 4 tries.

ERRFU B vs Texas - U23 West LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

Later in the afternoon after we had sampled the snacks from the Grubber Grill we played against Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union A (ERRFU). The first half the game was very even as each team battled to score, the half went to ERRFU A as they put one score down to make the score 5-0. Unfortunately the fitness and the altitude took its toll the second half and we ended up losing by at least 5 tries.

ERRFU A vs Texas - West LAU Tournament 2009 from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

Overall the weekend was great, the team learned about higher paced play and we are hoping that they will bring this back to their own teams and raise the level of Texas Rugby for all! If you missed the tryouts this year, be sure to make time for it next year. Your rugby will only get better and you will make friends that you will never forget!

Visit YSC Rugby Gear

BONUS! Two videos for Rugby Video Monday! Woohoo! Ok, so it still is Monday...but lets try to be positive right? The Austin Valkyries hosted the Washington DC Furies and Houston last weekend and both games were taped. Due to schedule switching only the first half of the Houston game was taped, but the whole DC Furies game was taped.

Thanks to my brother Jeff for taping the match...we had high winds and extreme heat...thanks for sticking it out!

Austin Valkyries vs DC Furies from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

Great match, thanks go to DC for flying in and to UT, Tx State and Alamo City for helping fill their side in. It was quite hot and windy this day so the video and audio are slightly off because of the conditions. Thanks to my brother Jeff for videotaping! Final score: Austin 22 DC Furies 10



Austin Valkyries B vs Houston from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

Only the first half because we ran out of memory...I am buying a bigger memory card this week!! Windy and hot day, but nice for rugby! Final score: Austin B 24 Houston 12


View the video Austin vs DC here and Austin B vs Houston here if you are using a RSS reader...

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
4/6/2009: Glendale vs Berkeley Video from Infinity Park
3/30/2009: Dhani Tackles the Globe - Travel Channel
3/23/2009: Seigneurs
3/16/2009: Brighton Storm vs White Station - High School Girls Rugby
3/9/2009: Texas Rugby Union U23 Team Videos
3/2/2009: Are you Ready for Rugby?

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Make sure to check out my Vimeo Channel or my Youtube channel...and you can subscribe to both if you like, but keep in mind that all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.