Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

This weekend was the 2008 West All Stars Local Area Union Tournament at Gateway Park in Ft. Worth, TX. Four teams from across the West arrived in Ft. Worth to battle it out and play their best for the selectors. Mark Bullock (West 15's Head Coach), Wendy Cook (West 15's Assitant Coach) and Laura Hertel (West 7's Head Coach) were in attendance to select players for the West All Star Senior team to compete at the NASCs in June.

Gateway Park has some amazing facilities, but don't try to sneak in gum, Gatorade, sun flower seeds or other food/beverage items! They have strict, strict rules when it comes to outside beverages and food, so it was fun to see players stuff their bags with food and then bust it out when they weren't watching!

So the day started off with Texas playing Missouri at 9am. The Texas Rugby Union was comprised of players from Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana. The Missouri team included teams from Missouri and Nebraska? I couldn't find any information on the Missouri Rugby Union website, so I am just grasping straws here.

The game was very highly contested as both sides had good strong packs with plenty of experience in them. Missouri scored first with a strong run up the middle, taking advantage of a few missed tackles. After this the scoring was very back and forth as Texas would score, then Missouri would score twice and Texas would score again to try and catch up. The game ended with Texas putting in three scores to button up the score and take the win.

Pictures from Ashley "Shalay" Mefford here.

The second game of the day was Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union vs the Heart of America. The ERRFU select side team includes teams from Colorado and Wyoming. The Heart of America team includes teams from Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

This was another great game as the Heart had big strong forwards that really wanted to ruck and work hard to get the ball. However the Eastern Rockies team liked to move the ball wide and into space, and the Heart was not able to stop the wide attack. Towards the end of the game we though the Heart might make a come back as they were able to score a few tries, but they couldn't quite get it in there.

From here the teams had quite a big break as the next game was at 4:30pm with Heart vs Missouri. This game was an outright battle as the score stayed at 7-7 for quite some time. The ball stayed mainly in the middle of the field as each team forced knock-ons and mistakes but couldn't quite capitalize on the mistakes. Good hard runs by both teams were brought down just short of the tryline and good tryline defense made scoring impossible. Towards the end of the game Heart was down by a try and had several good drives towards the line, but a hasty whistle by the official squashed their hopes of a try diving win.

The last game of the day pitted the Eastern Rockies team against the Texas team. Since the Rockies had such a strong showing at last years West LAU Tournament, Texas really wanted to have a good game to show what they could do. The game was very evenly matched with excellent defense on both sides. The backlines were literally flying up in each others faces and the ball rarely made it out past the OC as the defense was stifling.

79 minutes into the game it was still 0-0, it was a good clean game with plenty of oohs and aahs from the crowd, but neither team could put the ball down for a score. The game ended in an almost anti-climatic tie as the ref blew it up and there was not interest of overtime from the abiding officials. Several players were overheard saying that they would have kept playing since it was such a good game...

Pictures from Ashley "Shalay" Mefford here.

At the end of the tournament, selections were announced for the Sunday camp and for the team traveling to Glendale, CO on May 10-11, 2008. The West team will play the Midwest All Stars twice and this will also be broadcast from Infinity Park.

Elite Camp Wraps Up
from womeneagles.com

4.26.08 - BOULDER, Colo. - The Women's National Team wrapped up its first 2008 Elite Training Camp in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, April 23. Forty-three athletes attended the five-day camp, which emphasized positional skills for the forwards and backs and even allowed time for a meeting with former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.

While training at a local YMCA on Sunday, it was arranged for the team to meet and present a USA game jersey to Clinton, who was also at the facility for a town hall meeting during the buildup to the Pennsylvania Democratic primaries on Tuesday, April 22.

"The town hall meeting was packed and the crowd's enthusiasm was obvious. Camp captain Ashley English thanked Chelsea and presented her with the signed jersey from the whole team," said USA Women's National Team Manager Annemarie Farrell. "Chelsea accepted the jersey and immediately put it on - it was very exciting for the team to be a part of the event."

Throughout the weekend, athletes worked on overall conditioning and developed individual skills geared toward their respective positions with several national team coaches. The forwards were instructed on specific positional binding and scrum tactics with USA Scrum Coach Bill LeClerc and WNT Forwards Coach Alex Williams, while the backs worked through their attack patterns from the scrum with WNT Backs Coach Candi Orsini and Assistant Backs Coach Krista McFarren.

Leading up to a scrimmage match on Tuesday, the group also worked on line outs and spent time with USA Rugby Defensive Specialist Peter Baggetta, focusing on increased communication and player decision making.

"Over the course of the camp we saw many players really starting to understand the necessity of practicing the skills of their position on their own. As we don't have many assemblies, every player needs to have their mechanical aspects down so we are not re-teaching at every event," Women's National Team Head Coach Kathy Flores said.

"For forwards, it's their body position in the scrum particularly - something a player can practice every day in front of a mirror. For the backs, it's understanding the importance of the agility work to make them as evasive and powerful in contact as possible."

Players at the Philadelphia camp:

1. Kristin Aliberto (Philadelphia)
2. Stacy Baker (Philadelphia)
3. Kristin Baja (New York)
4. Amber Benlian (NOVA)
5. Libby Berg (Minnesota Valkyries)
6. Kristin Bonomo (Beantown)
7. Jamie Burke (Berkeley All-Blues)
8. Lisa Butts (Berkeley All-Blues)
9. Brenna Costello (Washington Furies)
10. Mel Denham (Beantown)
11. Liz Dilley (Washington)
12. Farrah Douglas (Chicago North Shore)
13. Carrie DuBray (New York)
14. Ashley English (Berkeley All-Blues)
15. Ashley Groefsema (Boston)
16. Blair Groefsema (Berkeley All-Blues)
17. Allyson Hemstreet (Berkeley All-Blues)
18. Angela Heifort (MN Valkyries)
19. Katy Hertel (Minnesota Valkyries)
20. Christina Hobson (Morris Pride)
21. Mel Kanuk (Maryland Stingers)
22. Phaidra Knight (New York)
23. Tess Kohanski (Syracuse University)
24. Lynelle Kugler (Glendale Raptors)
25. Kristy Lear (MN Valkyries)
26. Kim Magrini (Keystone)
27. Nathalie Marchino (Berkeley All-Blues)
28. Angela Marfisi (Philadelphia)
29. Desiree Markovich (MN Valkyries)
30. Vanesha McGee (Philadelphia)
31. San Juanita Moreno (ORSU)
32. Elise Myer (Maryland Stingers)
33. Tina Nesberg (Berkeley All-Blues)
34. Saburah Posner (Philadelphia)
35. Jillion Potter (MN Valkyries)
36. Naima Reddick (Berkeley All-Blues)
37. Beckett Royce (ORSU)
38. Jen Sinkler (Philadelphia)
39. Lara Vivolo (New York)
40. Sharyn Wacht (Beantown)
41. Mari Wallace (Berkeley All-Blues)
42. Sarah Walsh (Chicago North Shore)
43. Sheara Williamson (Philadelphia)

A few rugby bloggers blogged about the camp...
The Penguin Files
Put Me in Coach!

I remember when I was in high school and a girl on our basketball had torn her ACL for the second time. I remember thinking, wow that must absolutely be horrible to do it once, but twice?

Well now that I have been through it twice, I do have to say the second time is much easier, as easy as it can be. I know what to expect with pain, swelling, I know how much I can actually push myself and I absolutely KNOW I can come back. That was the majority of the fear with the first ACL injury, that I would never be able to play rugby again, or run again...cause that is what all doctors try to say to you. I think they tell you that so you won't ride your bike up a mountain (La Chaser! What what!) or go wake boarding the first month after your surgery, but still...its scary to think that you might never be at your full potential again.

But I and others are here to say, you will be back to your full potential, and if you work hard, you should be stronger than when you started. I mean really, my left ACL is a mere 4 months old and my right ACL is almost 3 now. Time is of course the hardest part, because these days athletes are exceeding expectations left and right...but time cannot be changed.

So my amazing roommate turned me on to a Sports Illustrated Article about Dennis Dixon, a Heisman candidate and all star quarterback from Oregon. This website is unique in that Dennis tore his ACL December 2007 and is a hopeful NFL prospect, so he has been documenting his recovery, rehab and workouts. It seems to be updated weekly, but hasn't really been updated for the month of April. Its a great site and I am going to start visiting more often it and stealing some of his rehab!!

Anyways, I played touch for the first time at practice on Wednesday, and I have to say...it was amazing! Finally to get out there, run, "hit" (as much as you hit in touch) and feel like a part of a team...I have missed that feeling the most. My teammates have been building, growing and its been exciting to watch, but I always have that feeling that I am not quite involved. After touch we did a cool down and we played the West U23's favorite game...Chicken in a Hen House!! Love this game, and the old gimp here got second place with the help of Kraft, losing to the speedy Bags and and Tiffany!

Good times, so training and rehab have been going well, hitting the gym more frequently (my work hours changed and that helped gym time alot) and have been training with Jake as well. He is back into the routine where running shoes or a rugby bag means he gets to play. For the first month or so of recovery, he didn't understand why tennis shoes meant he couldn't come. So now that I am able to be almost as active as I want, he is back in heaven! However, it doesn't stop him from trying to entice me to go outside ALL the time, see pic to the right. Could you say no to that face, body language and sunshine?

I also have to write about a semi-sad event that happened to Jake the other day. His favorite toy by far is a yellow soccer ball that survived puppy hood, Oklahoma and now it has gone on to a better place. See how banged up and ragged it is (pic to left)? It didn't matter to him that it was ragged, he would play for hours with it, begging you to kick it in the front yard.

He has gotten so good at blocking the ball (catching it) that I have really gotten good at chip kicking it over his head. 15 year of soccer is not wasted as Jake makes good use of my skills. Once he was over losing his yellow ball, I purchased him a replacement, another bright red soccer ball and so far he seems to be enjoying it!

Okay, what other news? Oh yes! Since I have been back in the gym more, I was surprised and pleased to find that I had reached my pre-surgery weight already! I know I had a goal of reaching it before my release date, but I am almost 2 months ahead of time! I was shocked when I did single leg press and 80pds was WAY to easy and 100pds was easy...but 120pds was doable. Also on the hamstring front, I am up to 30 pds on single leg and 60pd on both legs. Progress is good!

I think that is all for me at this point, next week look forward to OIL WRESTLING pictures from the Austin Valkyries fundraiser, updates from the WNT team camp in Philly, a post on my trying out for West Selectsides (just doing drills on Sunday after the LAU tournament), scores from the West All Star Selectside LAU Tournaemtn and more!

Emerald City Mudhens vs Belmont Shore - April 19, 2008
Jill from the Mudhens let me know a brief update of the Challenge Match against Belmont Shore:

The Emerald City Mudhens beat Belmont Shore in double overtime, sudden death 15-10. It was cold and periodically hailing and raining with brief sun breaks. It was a very hard fought match for both sides. Incredibly intense match with a big fan turnout. Scrumhalf, Kammi Lopez, scored the winning try running off the weak side of a maul to win the match. Very exciting game!!

Thanks for the update Jill!

And another update from Liz:

USA Women's Challenge Match

EMERALD CITY MUDHENS 15 - Belmont Shore 10 Referee: Preston Gordon

A 0445 wake-up call had me out of the house and on the way to SFO to catch my early morning flight to Seattle, where I was met by one of the ladies from the local team and driven to the pitch in Redmond, WA. The field was in very good shape, but a little short. Other than the rogue gopher(s) at work, everything looked good.

However, getting to the game 2 hours early meant that I got to inspect the pitch and then get changed while being first rained, then hailed, and finally snowed on (no shelter at Marymoor Park). The sun then filtered through the clouds for a bit before the entire process was repeated (all of this at between 35-45F). However, I had paid close attention to the forecast and was prepared for the weather and cold.

We started on time at high noon, and before too long each side had notched one unconverted try. Sideline support was plentiful and boisterous, and we even captured the attention of many of the people there to watch a lacrosse game on the adjacent field. Both sides were playing a very even and well-contested game, although I had to have a few words with the captains twice to prevent some repeated silly play (offside at the breakdown, players leaving their feet, etc). Some of this stuff was probably due to the wet pitch.

The second half began just as another leading edge of a thundercloud was passing through. There was no lightning, but the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in a minute, it nearly got dark, and 2mm hail was being blown sideways down the long axis of the pitch at about 30mph. Of course, that's when one of the players needed a minute for an injury, so we all stood around freezing in the miserable weather for a little bit while she was attended to.

Once that was out of the way, two more tries were scored. The Mudhens got on the board first in the second half at 44', followed in the 50th minute by Belmont Shore. Neither kick was good, but one did bounce off the uprights (although that may have been the penalty attempt later; I can't recall exactly).

A frenzied contest ensued as each side tried to put the game away, but came up short. There were more than the usual number of knock-ons - again, this was probably because of the wet weather. One ball was held up in in-goal, we spent about 20 minutes camped inside the 22's, but the closest attempt was saved for the penultimate play of regular time, when one of the Belmont Shore backs broke through a couple of tackles and went 30 meters, getting within about a foot of scoring a try before she was finally pulled down by an opponent. The Mudhens recovered, kicked to touch, and that was it at 10-10.

Challenge matches can't end in a draw, so it was a good thing I had asked the match organizer what to do in this case. We played 2 more 10-minute halves (just like the second half, but with no scoring), and then it was time for sudden death. Again there was an even contest, until at 105' the Mudhens were awarded an attacking scrum 5 or 10 meters from their opponents' goal line. One of their players picked up from the base, dodged a tackle, and grounded the ball on the goal line with a couple of opponents hanging on, right at my feet.

A wild celebration ensued after the try was awarded to end the game with the score at 15-10 to the local side. The USA Rugby paperwork was signed, warm/dry clothes were put back on, and after a while we retired to the Kangaroo & Kiwi for the post-match function. In addition to the women's teams, both OPSB and OMBAC showed up after their Super League tie. I was reminded again how small of a world rugby really is when I ran into 2 former teammates from Arizona, one now playing for each of those sides. After absorbing some good refereeing philosophy from Tom Coburn, it was time to head back to the airport for the flight home (which was slightly delayed due to bad weather, of course).

Many thanks to Jon Leehr and Mark Roberts, the PNRFU referees who came out to touch judge on this day of strange weather, and also to Shannon Nielsen, the match commissioner, who (happily) nearly stepped in and ran touch herself. I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to fly up to Seattle and back the same day to be a part of this outstandingly well-contested match.

Glendale vs Boston - May 3, 2008
Glendale Women's Raptors vs. Boston WRFC 12:00pm @Infinity Park, will be broadcast from their website here.

Come watch these sporty women get slicked and set against one another!

There's bound to be beers, boobs, themed match-ups, hooting, hollering and wet women smelling of coconut oil.

There is simply no better way to spend a Thursday night. Come out, support your local rugger, and bring friends.

4.24.2008 at 9pm, 7 bucks at the door, at Elysium.

Facebook Invite, Myspace Invite and Austin Valkyries Rugby


Saturday May 10th, Kangaroo and Kiwi pub, 5:30pm Doors 7pm Wrestling

Tickets are $15 and includes a beer ticket. This event often sells out at the door.

I have 10 presale tickets at $15 each. Just shoot me an email or call me to reserve yours!

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!

So I thought I would start a new segment/section for my blog today. Every Monday I will post a new and interesting rugby video that I have found the week before.

Have a favorite video, slideshow...multimedia element that you love? Leave it in the comments or email me!

The first one ever, will be one of my favorite compilations, such a pump up video!!!

For the 2008 season we will have an LAU tournament as in 2007. The tournament will be in Ft. Worth at Gateway Rugby Park on April 26 & 27 , in conjunction with the men's DI, DII and DII club championships. It will be a big weekend- so plan to attend! There will be a trophy for the top team.

There will most likely be 4 LAU teams- ER, HOA, TX and MO. OZ, RG and GP, as unions will combine with one of these 4 teams, depending on numbers.

Match Schedule (in pdf):

9:00am Missouri vs Texas
10:30 ER vs HOA
4:30 Trial Match TBD
5:45 Trial Match TBD

Click here for the Participants Packet.

**I will be attending as an injured reserve (IR) for the TRU Women's team...and may be doing a bit of touch judging, so of course I will bring your scores!

Combined write-up by Head Coach of the Austin Valkyries, Meg Pace and Forwards Captain, Traci Schmidtke. The Austin Valkyries took 18 B side players (with a few A side helpers) to Woodlands, TX for our second to last match of the season. Before our match the TCU High School and Houston High School teams matched off. Their game was spirited, well matched and it was wonderful to watch the newest talent in Texas play rugby.

And now the writeups...

This past weekend the Valkyries took a squad down to Houston for a little friendly rugby competition. Unlike the scoring event against the Jazz, I will be unable to provide a complete play by play. Why? you ask. This match was the most back and forth / up and down affair I've been in for a long time. I may be wrong, but I don't think either team scored more than twice without the other side matching. HARC would score, the Valks would tie, the Valks would put another one in, HARC would tie. It was a great match to play in. In the end, Houston prevailed with a tiebreaking try with a minute left for a final score of 40-33. Obviously, with 5 more minutes to work, Austin would have tied it yet again. A few highlights for your edification:

The Valks scrum dominated scrumdowns and lineouts with many significant wins: 2 such early performances allowed a play to the weak side for a score by Heidi. The ref must have decided this was unfair because he allowed (or even encouraged) the Houston scrumhalf to play off side from this point and even awarded two penalties to Houston for an 8 and then a flanker "having their leg set too wide". Huh?

Kitty played spectacularly at flyhalf and the Kitty to Krafty to Heather line got the ball out to the wing well and gelled quite nicely. On one such play, Pony decided to take it in herself with a nice move to the outside then back in against the fullback for a try from the 50meter. She looked awesome.

Nice goal line defense a couple of times by the scrum - lining up properly and stopping a try with a "held up" ball - good work.

Beautiful kicking day for the Krafters - truly impressive. Great 60 minutes to Jo at prop who was overheard upon finally subbing out "I don't know how you do this for 80 minutes." Nice hooking and throwing by Shalay, they didn't stand a chance. Wonderful aggression by all the new flankers - ya'll are awesome.

I just wanted to add a few things to Meg's write up...

A huge thank you for all the players who stepped up this weekend... THall and Amy taking charge of the forwards... Kitty and Heidi commanding the backs... the first 40 minutes was played without either position captain, but the communication and discipline never lacked, so thank you.

It was a very hot sunny day and everyone kept pushing... like Meg said it was a very back and forth game... huge tackles from Angela and Alexis... there was a definite improvement from last weeks mauling with KC.

Clearly the offense was not a problem because we scored 33 points!! Thank you for being patient with me when i was playing scrumhalf, it was definitely fun!

DI Women Friday's Results

Stanford 95, Northern Iowa 5
Virginia 25, Colorado 5
Brown 50, West Chester 12
UC Davis 50, UCLA 12

Saturday, April 19th

9:00: Penn State v Florida (DI WOMEN) 67 to 3
9:00: Chico State v Indiana (DI WOMEN) 36 to 10
9:00: Texas A&M v Cal (DI WOMEN) 54 to 12
9:00: Vassar v Navy (DI WOMEN) 5 to 21
11:30: Norwich v Shippensburg (DII WOMEN) 12 to 27
11:30: Wayne State v UC Santa Cruz (DII WOMEN) 0 to 60
11:30: East Carolina v Claremont (DII WOMEN) 7 to 26
11:30: UNM-Duluth v WWU (DII WOMEN) 34 to 17
4:00: Stanford vs Virginia (DI WOMEN) 58 to 5
4:00: UNI vs Colorado (DI WOMEN) 10 to 17
4:30: Brown vs UC Davis (DI WOMEN) 17 to 12
4:30: West Chester vs UCLA (DI WOMEN) 39 to 17

Sunday, April 20

8:30: Texas A&M vs Navy (DI WOMEN) 22 to 27
8:30: Cal vs Vassar (DI WOMEN) 12 to 58
8:30: Penn State vs Chico State (DI WOMEN) 38 to 21
8:30: Florida vs Indiana (DI WOMEN) 19 to 26
10:00: Shippensburg vs UCSC (DII WOMEN) 12 to 7
10:00: Norwich vs Wayne State (DII WOMEN) 15 to 12
10:00 Claremont vs UNM-Duluth (DII WOMEN) 14 to 32
10:00: ECU vs WWU (DII WOMEN) 17 to 5

**I will try to post scores as the day goes on, check back! The Valks are in Houston playing but the Texas A&M kids should be texting me with some results.

An anonymous commenter asked about the Challenge Matches for 2008 so here you go! I have been meaning to write about it for awhile, but hadn't seen anything updated on the USA site.

February 1, 2008: Challenging Territories must officially announce intent to challenge and name teams who will be representing the TU.
February 15, 2008: Challenged Territory/ Team must officially accept or reject challenges.
February 29, 2008: Dates for all challenge matches must be set and officially announced.

#20 at #13 = So Cal #3 (Scottsdale) v MARFU #3 (NOVA)
#19 at #14= Midwest #4 (Chicago) v West #1 (Kansas City Jazz)
#18 at #15 = So Cal #2 (Belmont Shore) v Pac Coast #3 (Emerald City Mudhens)
#17 at #16 = Northeast #4 (Boston) v West #2 (Glendale)

Kansas City Jazz vs Chicago
NO Challenge requested, the West will maintain that seed.

NOVA vs Scottsdale
NO Challenge requested, MARFU will maintain that seed.

Emerald City Mudhens vs Belmont Shore - April 19, 2008
This Saturday (April 19, 2008) the Mudhens are being challenged by Belmont Shore for the Pacific Coast #3 seed to the Sweet 16's national tournament. Needless to say this is going to be an intense and hard-fought match!

Mudhens vs Belmont Shore Challenge Match
Saturday April 19th kickoff at 12pm
Marymoor Park field 7, Redmond

**UPDATED MATCH REPORT AND SCORE HERE.

Glendale vs Boston - May 3, 2008
Glendale Women's Raptors vs. Boston WRFC 12:00pm @Infinity Park, will be broadcast from their website here.

**Love my readers!! I had the missing information I desired in under three minute of posting this blog! Thanks for the quick emails ladies!!!