Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

This is an interesting letter that hit my inbox early in April 2009. I have to admit I thought it might be a fake letter at first, but once I read it through I realized it was genuine and worthy!

We are writing you from the Communication Department of Vigo Rugby Club, in an industrial sea city from the NW of Spain. We would like to send you the press release about an iniciative carried out by the infantile categories of the Club.

The children have written a letter to the ex player Jonah Lomu (an idol for them), in order to explain him the difficulties they have to face to play rugby, because of the lack of sponsors and the fact of being a minority sport in Spain.

What is striking about this initiative is that they try to send this message in a bottle, through the 6 degrees separation theory. This theory holds that we are connected to any person in the world through a chain of six interpersonal acquaintances.

The children are not asking for financing, but the support of one of their most admired idols.

We send you their letter, some images of the team, and we also enclose press clipping from Spanish newspapers that are already following this initiative.

Our first degree, Joe Scully (ex Irish Malahide player) currently living in Vigo, departed with the bottle to Ireland looking for the second degree.

If you need more information, do not hesitate in getting in touch wih us.

View their virtual message in a bottle here.

Best Regards,
Nicolás Murillo

from USA Rugby:

BOULDER, Colo. - USA Rugby has announced the selection process for the 2009 Women’s All-American Program and for the first time will officially field a Women’s All-American team at the USA Rugby Women’s Club National All-Star Championships, in Little Rock, Ark., on May 29-31.

“The formation of the Women’s All-American Team will give the best collegiate players an opportunity to play at the highest level,” said Nigel Melville, USA Rugby’s President of Rugby and CEO. “This also allows the Women’s National Team staff the opportunity to see the next generation of players and perhaps find some depth for the 2010 Rugby World Cup.”

The All-American team will follow a similar selection process to last year. Selectors will attend USA Rugby’s National Guard Collegiate Playoffs in Sanford, Fla., on April 17-19, and the USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Championships at Stanford University on May 1-2.

Players who are not participating in these national events can be selected by coach’s recommendation and video submission. Video submissions should be addressed to Alex Williams and must be received at the National Office by April 24th. The panel will select a first and second team for Division I, and a first team for Division II.

USA Rugby has retained the All-American selection committee from 2008, as their work was highly regarded. The selection committee includes Keenya Warner, a former center and captain for the USA Eagles; Chris Ryan, the attack coach for the USA Women’s Sevens Team at the recent World Cup; and Sue Whitwell, the forwards coach for the USA Developmental team.

“The selection committee has a broad range of experience in both college and senior rugby,” Melville said. “They worked well with each other last year, and no doubt will do their best again to select the top collegiate players for this year.”

The All-American Team will play at the Women’s National All-Star Championships (NASC) and will be coached by Peter Steinberg, of Penn State, and Jonathon Griffin, of Stanford.

“Peter and Griff are obvious choices to coach the first Women’s All-American Team,” said Alex Williams, USA Rugby Women’s High Performance Manager. “They have taken their respective teams to the National Championships for the last four years, and understand how to coach the college-age player.”

The honorary Women’s All-American Team will be announced on May 4, and the selections for the team that will play at the NASC will follow shortly.

For more information on the Women’s All-American Program, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/womens_selections or contact Alex Williams.

This month's raffle is a really exciting not-for-profit company that is dedicated to helping critically injured persons live a more active and independent lifestyle. I have a few of their shirts and they are sexy, stylish and comfortable! Read below for a bit more about Try For Others (TFO) and then enter the raffle by emailing me, Facebooking me or leave your entry in the comments. This month's raffle is for two winners! You will win one of the tshirts below!

Try For Others is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping critically injured persons live a more active and independent lifestyle. TFO sponsors exercise based rehabilitation for critically injured athletes and provides activities that allow those with disabling conditions to experience a life with no limits. » recent recipients » endorsements

OUR FOUNDER:
Dominic Cooke's journey in life began on December 12, 1979 in Sacramento, California. Born to English parents, Brendan and Penelope, Dominic would join his older brother, and eventually, younger sister as the family's first generation of Americans. Despite his American upbringing, Dominic's parent's reminded their kids of their English heritage, regularly making trips across the pond with the entire family. It was on one of these early family vacations that Dominic was first introduced to the game of rugby. » READ FULL STORY

TFO APPAREL:
The TFO brand believes in fashion not only being an expression of lifestyle but also an expression of life philosophy. It promotes socially conscious principles and encourages individuals to adopt practices that inspire humanity.

All proceeds from TFO APPAREL benefit programs to provide opportunities for person with disabilities to challenge their limitations, defy stereotypes, and re-define the meaning of being disabled. » SHOP TFO APPAREL

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

Want a YSC tshirt? Visit my tshirt shop...there are shirts for under 15 bucks!

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
Apr 2009: Dollface Rugger Tshirt
Mar 2009: YSC Rugby Tshirt
Feb 2009: Red Rhino: Ireland Grab Bag
Jan 2009: Xtreme Rugby Wear Shoulder Pads
Dec 2008: Xtreme Rugby Wear Jersey
Nov 2008: CSS Rugby Shoulder Pads
Oct 2008: Your Scrumhalf Connection Tshirt

NOVA Women and DC Furies Playing Fundraising Match to Benefit Tigerlily Foundation

WASHINGTON, DC – Two local women's rugby clubs will take the field May 9 in what will be a Beltway Battle for DC bragging rights, but more importantly as a breast cancer fundraiser for the Tigerlily Foundation.

The Northern Virginia (NOVA) Women's Rugby Club will face the Washington DC Furies Rugby Club at noon on Saturday, May 9 at Hains Point field as the feature event of a day to raise money in the fight against breast cancer. The festivities will kick off at 11 a.m. with an inter-squad scrimmage by the Washington Irish Rugby Club, co-sponsors of the event. The NOVA vs. Furies match is set to begin at noon and there will be raffles and games throughout the day.

The weekend fundraising will begin Friday night with a welcome event from 5 to 9 p.m. at BeBar, 1318 9th St. NW, where there will be martinis and manicures and drink specials. The matches on Saturday will be followed with a social at RFD, 810 7th St. NW at 8 p.m. Proceeds from the weekend's events will go to the Tigerlily Foundation.

The Reston-based Tigerlily Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to educate, empower, advocate for and support young women affected by breast cancer. The Tigerlily Foundation has the goal of improving the quality of life for young adult breast cancer survivors by creating vigilant self-advocates to promote ferociously fearless females.

For more information on the Beltway Battle event see www.novawrfc.org/n_beltwaybattle.html and for further details on the Tigerlily Foundation see www.tigerlilyfoundation.org.


CONTACT: Winnie Chao
CELL PHONE: 703.861.2894

And here are the last of the videos from the West LAU U23 Tournament in Glendale, CO. These last two videos are really great as they were taped by Infinity Park! Thanks again to Infinity Park for allowing me to upload these videos.

ERRFU A vs West U19s - West LAU U23 Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

ERRFU A vs West U19s - West LAU U23 Tournament

ERRFU A vs HOA - West U23 LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

ERRFU A vs HOA - West U23 LAU Tournament

View the video ERRFU A vs HOA and ERRFU A vs West U19 here if you are using a RSS reader...

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
4/20/2009: ERRFU A vs Texas & ERFFU B vs Texas
4/13/2009: Austin Valkyries vs DC Furies & Houston
4/6/2009: Glendale vs Berkeley Video from Infinity Park

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.

from USA Rugby:
Photo credit: Rodrigo Alonso

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Penn State University Women’s Rugby Team ran away with the match against Stanford on Saturday at USA Rugby’s National Guard College Championships, containing the home team’s speed and scoring 39 consecutive points on the reigning champions to walk away with a 46-7 victory and clinching their fifth Championship title in 13 years.

In what has become a true rivalry between these two teams, Penn State marks its second win against Stanford in their last five meetings in the Championship finals at Steuber Rugby Stadium, and secures the biggest margin of victory since Stanford’s 53-6 beating of PSU in 2005.

“The key to our success this year has definitely been our defense,” PSU’s Coach Pete Steinberg said. “We’ve been working with defensive specialist Peter Baggetta and I think you can definitely see the hard work paying off.”

In fact, in the past seven playoff games, Penn State has only allowed three tries; and following Stanford’s one and only try against PSU in the 15th minute of the match, the Penn State Lady Ruggers stifled the typically perilous Cardinal offense.

“Once we were able to shut down their game in the first half, we knew we could wear them down and then get around them,” Steinberg added. “We have learned how to play more physically during our tours to South Europe and I think we were able to do just that. We also had a bit more depth in our roster, providing we were able to rest a few players yesterday.”

Penn State proved that they had a lot of gas left in their tank and as Stanford found itself down players in the second half due to yellow cards, PSU capitalized and scored five tries in the last 25 minutes of the match.

“The balance of power lied with them,” Stanford’s Coach Jonathan Griffin said. “Penn State just plain out-played us today. We showed a lot of character, but they were the better team.”

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


USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Championships Results - Women’s Division I

Friday, May 1, 2009
1:00 pm: Stanford 31, Brown 12
3:00 pm: Penn State 33, Navy 0

Saturday, May 2, 2009
5:00 pm: Division 1 Women’s Championship-- Penn State 46, Stanford 7

Go here for full results leading up to Round of 16 (or Sweets 16s).

from USA Rugby:
Photo credit: Dobson Images

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Brigham Young University overtook California in the USA Rugby National Guard College Championship match Saturday night at Steuber Rugby Stadium, walking away with its first National title and ending the Bears’ five-year winning streak with a 25-22 victory.

Five penalty kicks by flyhalf Keegan Engelbrecht and an Eric Fry try were unable to put enough space between the Golden Bears and Cougars, with Championships MVP Shaun Davies kicking the winning penalty goal for BYU with two minutes remaining.

In the ninth minute Cal (30-2) got the first of several penalty opportunities when BYU (18-1) was whistled for offsides at the Cougar 10-meter line. Engelbrecht booted it through for the Bears' first points.

A similar infraction at the same spot led to the senior flyhalf's second three-pointer four minutes later. A 17th-minute whistle for hands in the ruck afforded Engelbrecht his third attempt from inside the 22, and he connected to make it a 9-0 Cal lead.

BYU was awarded a penalty just a minute later outside the Cal 22, but Davies' attempt hit the left crossbar. A 21st-minute drop kick by Dylan Lubbe was also wide, but the Cougars stayed after it and lock Kyle Sumison muscled his way into the try zone at the 24th minute, with Davies' conversion cutting Cal's lead to two.

Another whistle against the Cougars left Cal with another penalty attempt from inside the 22, which Engelbrecht slotted in front of the boisterous BYU bleachers for a 12-7 Bears lead at halftime.

BYU had the intensity to match Cal's, but their infractions were often costly, as when Cougars lock Isikeli Volavola was yellow-carded for leaving his feet at a ruck in the 36th minute, giving the Bears a man advantage for the next 10 minutes.

Uncertainty hung in the air over the Cal faithful entering the second half, with four penalties keeping the Bears less than a converted try in front of BYU.

In front of a large local contingent, Cal marched a driving maul almost to the BYU goal line and Fry finished the work with a try to increase the lead to 12 following Engelbrecht's conversion.

The Cougars returned to full strength and quickly mounted another charge, hammering away inside the Bears' 10-meter line until Viliami Vimahi was awarded a try in a pile of bodies. Davies' missed conversion kept it a seven-point Cal advantage.

The Cougars' second yellow card came against fullback Sam Thorley for tackling Colin Hawley while the Bears' outside center was in the air.

Hawley managed to remain in the match as BYU played shorthanded again.

A dangerous-play tackle by Vimahi at minute 57 resulted in another yellow to put BYU two men down, with Engelbrecht nailing his fifth penalty kick for a 10-point Cal advantage.

But BYU stayed just as hungry as the Bears, and a Vito QaQa try with Shaun Davies' conversion made it a three-point contest.

The Cougars got their chance to tie the match with a 38-meter penalty attempt at the 69th minute, and outside center Paul Lasike connected for BYU, making it 22-22.

Three minutes later, the Cougars were whistled again just inside their territory, leaving a lead-grabbing 45-meter attempt for Engelbrecht that went wide right.

Cougars prop Mike Su'a was soon carded for another dangerous tackle, and Engelbrecht got another chance to snatch back the lead at minute 75 with a kick from almost midfield, but it was wide left.

Engelbrecht chased a wobbly kick from BYU to outside his 22 and knocked the ball on trying to secure it, giving BYU a scrum put-in with time winding down. The ensuing scrum resulted in another infraction against Cal, and Shaun Davies lined up and made the winning kick from 25 meters, as Cal could not mount a final charge.

"It was a hard game," said Engelbrecht, "very physical with a lot of heart from both teams."

"It's just incredible; I thought we'd blown our chance with some of those yellow cards," said Cougars head coach David Smyth. "It's a massive victory for us, but we're not under any false illusions, either. This is this year, but we know that Cal will be back."

"As coaches we're proud of our guys, they worked awfully hard for this opportunity and we couldn't have asked more of them," said Cal head coach Jack Clark. "In the end we were beaten by a better team on the day, so we'll tip our hat to the Cougars and congratulate them on their national championship."

The weekend's action has been taped for broadcast on ESPNU, with a highlights show first airing on May 12 at 9 p.m. (ET), followed by the Women’s DI National Championships on May 20 at 7 p.m. (ET) and Men’s DI Championships at 9 p.m. (ET).

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

Friday, May 1, 2009
5:00 pm: BYU 31, San Diego State 13
7:00 pm California 42, Army 17*

*Following an earlier retraction and an official review, it was determined Army made the final conversion and hence should be credited with 17 points and not 15.

Saturday, May 2, 2009
7:00 pm: Division 1 Men’s Championship –BYU 25, California 22

Go here for full results leading up to Round of 16 (or Sweets 16s).

from USA Rugby:
Photo credit: Dobson Images

PALO ALTO, Calif. – In today’s second match at the USA Rugby National Guard College Championships at Stanford’s Steuber Rugby Stadium, the Middlebury College Rugby Club put a stop to Wisconsin’s unexpected run by clinching the Men’s Division II title, marking MCRC’s second title in just three years.

Having made the semifinals for the past three years and winning the whole thing in both 2007 and now 2009, Middlebury definitely had experience on its side. Wisconsin, on the other hand, was competing in its first Championship match in club history and as a 16th seed was this year’s Cinderella story.

“Their ranking obviously didn’t represent their ability,” MCRC’s coach Kevin O’Brien said after the match. “It was a bloody hard game and both sides had a lot of heart. The lads played to the best of their ability and that’s all that you can ask of your team.”

Coach O’Brien also requested that his team didn’t play into Wisconsin’s game plan. Knowing Wisconsin had a powerful pack, the idea was for Middlebury to try to retain possession and break out wide as much as possible. That game plan would end up paying off for MCRC midway through the first half, when they saw their first try at the hands of winger, Spencer Paddock. With the conversion, Middlebury would gain an 10-3 advantage over Wisconsin.

Near the end of the second half, Middlebury’s other wing, Edward Cahill, would also see an opening and barrel through for the team’s second try, giving MCRC the cushion and confidence they needed with a 12 point lead at half.

In the second, Middlebury was again the first to score, although Wisconsin wouldn’t roll over, making a comeback of their own, scoring 10 points in 10 minutes and keeping Middlebury on their toes.

In the end, though, Middlebury would prove too much to handle for the Badgers, scoring a try in the final minutes to finish 27-11

“It was a good season and I’m very proud of this team,” Wisconsin’s coach Robert Heffernan said. “Of course, I wish it would have went the other way, but it was a clean, hard game and Middlebury did a good job of not allowing us to play to our strengths.”

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


USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Championships Results - Men’s Division II

Friday, May 1, 2009
1:00 pm: Middlebury 46, Georgetown 18
2:30 pm: Wisconsin 14, Miami-Ohio 12

Saturday, May 2, 2009
3:00 pm: Division 2 Men’s Championship – Middlebury 27, Wisconsin 11

Go here for full results leading up to Round of 16 (or Sweets 16s).

from USA Rugby:
Photo credit: Dobson Images

PALO ALTO, Calif. – In today’s first match at the USA Rugby National Guard College Championships at Stanford’s Steuber Rugby Stadium, the Women’s Division II Shippensburg Rugby Team beat Stonehill, 29-5, to secure Ships second-straight title in just as many years.

“Last year we came into this tournament as an unknown,” Shippensburg’s coach Scott Stratton said. “This year we had a big X on our back that everyone was aiming for. It was a completely different feeling, but our team was incredibly focused and knew what they needed to do.

“We were very determined to keep them grounded and improve everyone’s play. My goal as a coach was to produce a team that would beat last year’s team and I’m certain that this squad would do that.”

Shippensburg and Stonehill College battled it out for the first 30 minutes without either team seeing points earned. It wasn’t until the 31 minute that Shippensburg’s Danielle Dincher was finally able to break through and touch down the first try.

In the second half, it didn’t take Shippensburg as long to get their offense rolling. Katelyn Waegner dove in the first try just eight minutes in, while Dincher scored her second try on the day in the 57th minute of the match.

Stonehill’s Katie O'Malley would put her team on the board, but it wouldn’t change the outcome as Shippensburg would finish strong, scoring 14 points in the final 15 minutes to clinch a solid 29-5 victory over their Northeast competition.

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


USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Championships Results - Women’s Division II

Friday, May 1, 2009
10:00 am: Shippensburg 33, Washington State 7
11:30 am: Stonehill 27, Delaware 12

Saturday, May 2, 2009
1:00 pm: Division 2 Women’s Championship – Shippensburg 29, Stonehill 5

Go here for full results leading up to Round of 16 (or Sweets 16s).

Thanks to Lance and John of Maggotfest I was able to get the schedule ahead of time for Maggotfest!

10:00 AM
UM Duluth vs. Butte
Dirty Merkins vs. Dirty Ducks
NDSU Men vs. Asduts
Bozeman Cutthroat vs. Fort Collins
Vernon Jackals vs. Alaska Oosik
North Dakota Women vs. Prince George Vixens

11:10 AM
BetterSide vs. Eastside Ladies of Ill Repute
Billings Bulls vs. ORSU Men
Howlers II vs. Spokane
Gypsy Women vs. Budd Bay
Dead Ants vs. University of Montana Jesters
Trail Colonials vs. 43rd State Lions

12:20 PM
Missoula Flies vs. Princeton AC
Highwaymen vs. Saskatoon Badgers
Flathead vs. Mount Hamilton
Army vs. Seattle Rugby Club
Howlers I vs. Gypsies Men
Far Side vs. ORSU women

1:30 PM
East Side Ladies of Ill Repute vs. Dirty Merkins
Dirty Ducks vs Budd Bay
Bozeman Cutthroat vs. Gypsies Men
Howlers II vs. ORSU men
Asduts vs. Vernon Jackals
UM Duluth vs. Saskatoon Badgers

2:40 PM
Billings vs. Fort Collins
Betterside vs. Prince George Vixens s
Gypsy Women vs. ORSU Women
Trail Colonials vs. Army
NDSU Men vs. Butte
Spokane vs. Mount Hamilton

3:50 PM
Maggots vs. Howlers I
Farside vs. NDSU Women
Yellow field: Princeton AC vs. Seattle Rugby Club
Flathead vs. 43rd State
Dead Ants vs. Highwaymen
University of Montana Jesters vs. Alaska Oosik

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

This tournament was listed on my Rugby Tournament Listing months ago...make sure your tournament is listed and I will blog about it!