Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

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.