Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

Morning all, the results are in from yesterday and I will be watching the Replays on RWC Sevens ($20 subscription) this morning while pretending to work (OK, I really will be working, we are so busy!)... There are rumors that you can watch the matches for free on Justin.tv for fun, check out Letchworth Girls' Rugby to see if that channel is still up.

Again, I am not an expert in rugby, but some games will have my thoughts attached to the scores etc. Check back throughout the day for updates etc.

Team Blogs
USA 7 Women's Rugby blog
England 7s Women's Rugby
Uganda Lady Crane's travel blog

Player Interviews (audio from IRB.com):
3.4.09 - US Eagle Captain Christy Riggenberg
3.4.09 - Eagle Ines Rodriguez
3.4.09 - England player Jo Yapp

Darrell from Mobilescore also wanted me to mention that scores, photos and videos are also available at USA Rugby or at Rugby United.

Great photos of the games today can be seen here for women and here for men.

Australia vs China 50- 12
Cute entrance to begin the Women's Tournament, the Chairman of the IRB did a drop kick to start the tournament symbolically. The announcers really talk up Dana T. as they let everyone know that she has already reffed high level Men's games, so she is quite qualified! The first ever try in the IRB Rugby World Cup 7s is scored by Australia.

Netherlands France 17 - 14
The game is scoreless almost all the way through the first half, but Netherlands scores first with about a minute to go. Neither team is really stretching the teams but are keeping the ball in the middle of the field. But good angles and pace from support from France puts France on the board right before the half.

The 2nd half begins with France scoring almost right away on a great switch pattern up the middle of the field. Off the restart though, France makes a very long kick and a quick pass and a great fend the Netherlands tie it up. Interesting choice of France to try and play the ball out of the try zone after a bad pass...ends up being an attacking scrum anyways. Netherlands finishes the game out with a drop kick from a penalty right in front of the posts.

Canada vs Thailand 52 - 7
Brazil vs Spain 0 - 19
New Zealand vs Uganda 50 - 0
South Africa vs Italy 17 - 5

England vs USA 17 - 0
USA did an excellent job of stretching the field when we had the ball and our defense was strong and together...but England must have magical stiff arm abilities. Get under and hit her! England also likes to lay around on the floor at the breakdowns, they should have been penalized more for not staying on their feet etc.

Japan vs Russia 10 - 31
Russia handled the Japanese team pretty easily with long tries from missed tackles. Did anyone else try not to laugh at the French restart kicker? I have never seen a style like that, but clearly it is working for her...her kicks were beautiful and high.

Australia vs France 10 - 14
Netherlands vs China 12 - 31
Brazil vs Thailand 12 - 10
Canada vs Spain 0 - 12

New Zealand vs Italy 45 - 0
Shout-out to Dana T. for her excellent reffing of this game!

South Africa vs Uganda 26 - 0
This is the first time in Uganda's sporting history that a team has EVER qualified for a World Cup Final. That means they are the first sport out of all other sports in Uganda to ever qualify!

South Africa looked good, but not amazing...Uganda played well but have a long way to go. Glad to see them in Dubai though and excited for them in the future!

England vs Russia 29 - 0
England really stretches France and then is easily beating them around the corners...nothing much to report here.

Japan vs USA 0 - 38
I love how throughout the video you can hear Julie McCoy screaming "stretch (or is it stress) the defense, stretch the defense!" I can almost imagine being at the tournament standing right next to McCoy...its a nice rare inside look into her brain and coaching methods!

Wow, and do the USA players look incredibly fit, great work ladies!

Australia vs Netherlands 24 - 0
France vs China 19 -5

Spain vs Thailand 19 -12
The Thailand players have some serious head fake skills! Almost every time they touch the ball they throw a head fake in. Spain doesn't seem to be falling for it though, they are still strong in defense!

Unlike the awesome audio in the USA vs Japan game, the audio in this game is quite shrill as it is screaming players...I had to turn it off for this match completely.

Canada vs Brazil 38 - 0
I absolutely LOVE Brazil's colors and their jerseys...normally I am not one for fashion, but those jerseys are HOT!

Canada looks good here they move the ball well through the hands and have some serious speed. They easily defeat Brazil 38-0.

Italy vs Uganda 12 - 7

New Zealand vs South Africa 25 - 0
The first few minutes of this game were extremely messy, nerves maybe? But then New Zealand moves the ball quickly off of a turn over and they put it down between the posts. South Africa seemed to want to almost go into contact this game, they were often crashing when they had a pass or two to freedom? South Africa also seems to be kicking a lot and New Zealand is really taking advantage of their poor defense on counters...

Russia vs USA 0 - 12
USA gets some big hits from Amy Daniels in the rucks to keep 50/50 ball in the USA hands. Nice ball movement with Jess Watkins and Amy Daniels on the edges, dummy switch leads to a great score.

I loved Jen Starkeys sideline dance to try and keep the ball in, almost made it to the try line! Unfortunate that Jess Watkins dropped an easy score in the try line though.

England vs Japan 47 - 0
England also dismantles Japan pretty easily as they show superior skill, power and speed.


England vs Kenya 26 - 7
Kenya is always one of my favorite teams to watch, their fans are always so animated and loud. During San Diego 7s this year we made sure to sit by them and we gladly cheered along with them for their team!

England gets the first try when they steal Kenya's line out and a few missed tackles. Brilliant running by the England player and he stretches across the line to get the try.

Kenya plays fiercely but they cannot score more than once...England wins it.

Samoa vs Australia 19 - 0
Australia receives the kickoff and instantly moves the ball towards Samoa's try line. Samoa shows great composure though and holds them off. Great game, one of the best I have seen today, can't wait to see more action from both teams!

Fiji vs France 38 - 5
First off, Fiji has the hottest jerseys of the tournament! Fiji owns the game very early on, France held the ball under the posts towards the half mark and the referee gave a Penalty Try to Fiji. Fiji runs the score up after that with some great rugby! Exciting to watch them play!

South Africa vs Scotland 19 - 14
South Africa scores first with some powerful running, they just lowered their shoulders into Scotland and didn't bother running around them. Great support and a quick flick pass to beat the last defender and they are in for the score. Quickly though, Scotland shows that they came to play as they go weak on a scrum to gain 30m and with great looping, support and a penalty in their favor, they march down the field to score as well.

From here the scoring is very back and forth but South Africa wins it in dramatic fashion 19 - 14.

Argentina vs Wales 14 - 0

United States vs Georgia 33 - 0
USA looks better than they did yesterday with more confidence and strength! Noticeably absent from today's starting lineup is Todd Clever who received a yellow card yesterday for a punch to the face of an opposing player...

Portugal vs Ireland 17 - 5
Arabian Gulf vs Italy 17 - 19
Tunisia vs Hong Kong 17 - 14
Canada vs Japan 22 - 12
Zimbabwe vs Uruguay 28 - 24
France vs Georgia 33 - 0
Australia vs Ireland 21 - 24
Scotland vs Japan 31 - 10
Wales vs Uruguay 27 - 0
Tonga vs Italy 31 - 10
Kenya vs Honk Kong 43 - 7
Fiji vs United States 26 - 12
Argentina vs Zimbabwe 40 - 5
South Africa vs Canada 15 - 7
Samoa vs Portugal 20 - 7
England vs Tunisia 26 - 24
New Zealand vs Arabian Gulf 41 - 5

New Zealand vs Tonga 24 - 7
These two teams seem like they are feeling each other out in the first few minutes, no one is really testing each other...being patient but frantic at the same time? New Zealand finally gets a break through the line and through an overload they score easily and New Zealand quickly runs away with the game.

By no means am I an expert in rugby or 7s, but I may have some thoughts when I am watching, so they will be inline with the scores below. If I don't have any thoughts or didn't get to watch the game (raise your hand if you are watching at work!) I will just list the scores...

Men's Rugby - Day 1

Wales vs Zimbabwe 31 - 5
Kenya vs Tunisia 29 - 7
Australia vs Portugal 24 - 12
Scotland vs Canada 14 - 33

Tonga vs Arabian Gulf 19 - 0
Rough game with lots of poor passing choices...the match actually went about 2 minutes over in the first half because of penalities. Arabian Gulf had a sweet try oppurtunity but the #6 player tried to flick the ball behind him right before the try and it ended up in a turnover. He actually could have scored as he was tackled well into the try zone by a defender.

2nd half is much of the same however Tonga has been able to put some points on the board. Great aggresion and athleticism but the rucks are incredibly messy and the passing decisions are very poor. The ref seems to be blowing his whistle constantly for penalities...

Just had a scrum collapse in this game, I can't remember the last time I have seen that? Tonga wins the game 19-0

Argentina vs Uruguay 19 - 7
Just a quick note for this game, I really like the half-time shots of the coaches and teams. Even if they are speaking another language the passion and excitement is contagious!

France vs USA 26 - 17
Just watched the replay and the USA looked good, but France just looked better. USA put some great combinations together but it just wasn't enough. Hoping they will do better tomorrow!

Disappointing that Todd Clever would punch a player...definitely a turning point in the game as Clever is sent off with a yellow.

Samoa vs Ireland 35 - 5
England vs Hong Kong 42 - 5

New Zealand vs Italy 42 - 0
Poor, poor, poor tackling by Italy is letting the scores pour in...21-0 at half-time.

Fiji vs Georiga 26-10
Great game, very back and forth with the scoring...Loving the big 6"5' guy who got the break through and then knew he had to get it out to his speed. BIG DUDE can pass!

Japan vs South Africa 5 - 26
The Japanese team is so little compared to everyone else, but the play with a fierce aggression and some serious speed! Also the Japanese kick-offs are incredibly high and are causing both teams to scramble at the kick-off.

Samoa vs Ireland 35 - 5

Looking forward to Day 2!

from Women Eagles:

World Cup Qualifying battles raged all over the world in 2008 as countries across the six IRB regions went head to head for coveted places at the first ever Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens competition in Dubai. The 16 teams who will compete in the women's competition in Dubai beginning this Thursday are: Brazil, England, Netherlands, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Uganda, Japan, Thailand, China, USA and Canada.

Pool A
Netherlands
France
Australia
China

Pool B
England
Japan
Russia
USA

Pool C
Canada
Brazil
Spain
Thailand

Pool D
New Zealand
South Africa
Italy
Uganda

US Head Coach Julie McCoy named the 12 players going to Dubai for the 2009 Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens on February 22, 2009:

The USA Team includes (player profiles):

Amy Daniels, Boston, Mass. (Beantown)
Ellie Karvoski, Little Rock, Ark., (Little Rock)
Pam Kosanke, Chicago, Ill (Chicago Northshore)
Lauren Hoeck, Washington, DC (NOVA)
Teena Mastrangelo, Chicago, Ill. (Chicago Northshore)
Alison Price, New York, NY (New York)
Ines Rodriguez, Philadelphia, Pa. (Keystone)
Christy Ringgenberg, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Valkyries)
Jen Sinkler, Philadelphia, Pa. (Keystone)
Jen Starkey, Washington, DC (NOVA)
Jess Watkins, Palo Alto, CA (Stanford)
Kelly White, Belmont, Calif. (Belmont Shore)

USA - Thursday Schedule
In Thursday's first round of matches, the Women Eagles will face their pool opponents on Pitch 1 of "The Sevens" venue:

USA vs. England - 1:15pm,
USA vs. Japan - 4:10pm
USA vs. Russia - 7:04pm

Don't forget to keep checking the USA 7 Women's Rugby Blog for updates and I have just found a blog for the England 7s Women's Rugby team as well.

Day 1:
11:00am Australia vs China
11:22am Netherlands France
11:44am Canada vs Thailand
12:06pm Brazil vs Spain
12:28pm New Zealand vs Uganda
12:50pm South Africa vs Uganda
1:15pm England vs USA
1:34pm Japan vs Russia
1:56pm Australia vs France
2:18pm Netherlands vs China
2:40pm Brazil vs Thailand
3:02pm Canada vs Spain
3:24pm New Zealand vs Italy
3:46pm South Africa vs Uganda
4:08pm England vs Russia
4:30pm Japan vs USA
4:52pm Australia vs Netherlands
5:14pm France vs China
5:36pm Spain vs Thailand
5:58pm Canada vs Brazil
6:20pm Italy vs Uganda
6:42pm New Zealand vs South Africa
7:04pm Russia vs USA
7:26pm England vs Japan

Day 2:
11:00am ¼ Finals Bowl 3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B
11:22am ¼ Finals Bowl 3rd Pool D v 4th Pool C
11:44am ¼ Finals Bowl 3rd Pool C v 4th Pool D
12:06pm ¼ Finals Bowl 3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A
12:28pm ¼ Finals Cup 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B
12:50pm ¼ Finals Cup 1st Pool D v 2nd Pool C
1:12pm ¼ Finals Cup 1st Pool C v 2nd Pool D
1:34pm ¼ Finals Cup 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A
2:30pm SF Bowl Winner Match 25 v Winner Match 26
2:52pm SF Bowl Winner Match 27 v Winner Match 28
3:14pm SF Plate Loser Match 29 v Loser Match 30
3:36pm SF Plate Loser Match 31 v Loser Match 32
4:24pm SF Cup Winner Match 29 v Winner Match 30
4:46pm SF Cup Winner Match 31 v Winner Match 32
5:52pm Bowl Final Winner Match 33 v Winner Match 34
7:00pm Plate Final Winner Match 35 v Winner Match 36
8:00pm Cup Final Winner Match 37 v Winner Match 38

More headlines about the Women's Rugby World Cup in Dubai from IRB.com. Watch the whole Tournament LIVE at RWC Sevens 2009.

This weekend The Girl and I are heading to Glendale, CO for the West Local Area Union (LAU) Under 23 Rugby Tournament featuring the West Rugby Union, Heart of America Rugby Union, Eastern Rockies Rugby Union and the West U-19 All-Star Team. Traci is coaching the forwards and I am assisting with the backs and am also Trainer. We join Anna Kunkel the head coach, we have had a great warmup weekend and are very excited about the tournament!

If you are in Colorado and want to come out to watch some great rugby, come on out! If you find me and introduce yourself I will have a few YSC tshirts on hand...

Saturday
9:00am HOA vs TX
10:30am ERRFU B vs West U19
12:00pm ERRFU A v HOA
1:30pm Men's A Glendale Raptors vs. Wyoming
3:15pm Men's B Glendale Raptors vs. Wyoming

Sunday
9:00am ERRFU B vs TX
10:30am ERRFU A vs West U19
12:00pm ERRFU B vs HOA
1:30pm ERRFU A vs TX

*Not sure on the Sunday times, every website and notice has different times...

I know you all have been waiting for it...the new design for my tshirts has been released. It has gone through several drafts but I am happy with it now. This is all just in time for the March Free Rugby Raffle...so exciting!

To enter the raffle, please either email me, Facebook me or leave your entry in the comments. The last date to enter the raffle is March 14, 2009. A winner will be picked around March 15, 2009 and will be notified via email and the announcement will be posted on this blog as well.

Can't wait to see if you win the raffle? Purchase this tshirt or any of my other rugby shirts by visiting my tshirt shop.

Please continue to donate items to this raffle so I can keep it going!

When I started out doing my monthly Free Rugby Raffle back in August 2008 I had plenty of free merchandise (thank you to everyone who donated!) to give away, but now my stash is running low! Please let me know if you would like to donate any items for the monthly Free Raffle!

Please email me at scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com if you are interested, and please pass the word on to any of your friends etc. The blog posts about your will never be removed and will be seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers!

Have a new product that you want to highlight? Send it my way! Have old out of date World Cup jerseys, hats, balls or tshirts you need to get rid of? Send it my way and I will raffle it off! Anything rugby can be donated and I will raffle it off for free! Thanks for your participation and support!

Past Raffles
Red Rhino: Ireland Grab Bag
Xtreme Rugby Wear Shoulder Pads
Xtreme Rugby Wear Jersey
CSS Rugby Shoulder Pads
Your Scrumhalf Connection Tshirt

This last weekend I had the pleasure of reffing the University of University of Texas vs Texas Tech University - Div 2 Collegiate Women's Rugby match in Austin, TX. The weather was interesting as it was 70 degrees but the 30mph or higher crosswind made it feel a whole lot colder! Both teams played very well and the match was incredibly contested with lots of aggression and hard play.

Texas Tech managed to pull it out in the end winning over UT 15-0. See below for the video of the match (thanks to my bro Jeff for taping!):

Texas Tech vs University of Texas - Div 2 Women's Rugby from Wendy Young on Vimeo.
*Please note that the battery ran out so we missed only 10-15 minutes of the end of the game.

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.

from Women Eagles:

The Women's National Team (WNT) program hosted its first ever fully combined camp, which brought 95 athletes from the Under-20 Women, USA 'A' Developmental side and the Senior WNT to one location - the National Training Center (NTC) in Clermont, Fla., from Thursday, Feb. 26 - Sunday, March 1.
Camp Highlights

Thursday
The first day of camp consisted of fitness testing in the 40yd, 40m, Illinois agility and 300m shuttle. The testing is used as a tool to set standards for positions and test compliance to fitness training. Both Eagle and A squads were tested together. One of the things that keeps the Women Eagles competitive is fitness. Attending this 4-day camp, with constant contact, tested the physical abilities of all the players.

Friday and Saturday
The coaching staff split time between working on offense and defense. The coaches wanted to make sure the players had time to problem solve through tough situations. Very little time was spent drilling unless there was a particular problem that was magnified in the situation (stilling the defender, defensive alignment). Evenings were spent discussing team culture and team and individual goals as we are going forward to the 2010 World Cup.

Sunday
Eagles v USA A Match - Horrible weather, swirling wind and rain and temps in the 50s. The Eagles squad took the early lead but was answered by USA A. USA A dominated the contact area, much to the dismay of the Eagle forwards, however, the Eagle backs were able to score 2 more tries from the relatively small amount of clean, recycled possession. Final score: Eagles 15 - USA A 5. Standouts for the Eagles were flanker Jillion Potter (7), scrumhalf Kim Magrini and for USA A: flankers Kate Daley, Kristin Zdanczewicz and fullback Katie Dowty.

Head coach Kathy Flores said, "the idea of the camp was to provide an opportunity for the players of both groups to see the pathway and have a chance to work with and against their competition. The camp was successful in identifying those players who will be selected to go to the Can-Am in June to represent the USA in both a test match and developmental match."

*Again, thanks to the Florida Rugby Union for helping those players that could not make it home Sunday night, for more info on that, see this post.

Found this via Youtube this morning it was done by Youtube user cherokeered:

"Just a little introduction to the sport of Rugby. I did this for my Media Unit in Info. Tech. My computer was too laggy to do it to the quality i wanted (narration, effects, etc) but I managed as much as I could. Abit of an abrupt ending but I ran outta time. "

View the video here if you are using a RSS reader...

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
2/23/2009: USA 7s Women's National Team Training Video from Drew Fautley
2/16/2009: 2009 Six Nations Video (Women)
2/9/2009: Texas A&M vs Chico State Highlights
1/19/2009: Why Rugby, You'll Live Longer
1/12/2009: UCLA Prom Dress Rugby
1/5/2009: USA WNT 7's Video in Dubai

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.

The camp was an overall excellent success but the return flights from Orlando have caused some problems for some players. Annemarie, our Field Reporter, is currently stuck in the Orlando Airport and has let us know that several USA WNT Camp participants have been stalled overnight because of the bad weather on the North East coast. However, there is some good news to be had for the stranded players as the Florida Rugby Union has picked up the tab for the players dinner and hotel room for the night.

Good luck to all trying to reach home tonight, tomorrow etc and be sure to be safe!