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Written by Pat Clifton
Thursday, 26 April 2012 15:50 |
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West-North, Texas Meet in Round of 32 |
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Clubs -
Men's DI Clubs
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 In 2010, the West-North swept Texas in the Round of 32. That won’t happen this year, as Boulder has forfeited to the Austin Blacks. The Dallas Reds, who play host to the Denver Highlanders Saturday, will try to at least hold serve for Texas.
The Reds have been riddled with injuries this season, but coach Jeff Kohlberg says they’re back near full health.
“It’s been an up-and-down year for us. We started pretty good, and we were strong, and then we lost six of our starters. We’ll say right now, we’re not very deep. Our first 18 players can play with anybody anyplace. After that we have a problem,” he said.
“We kind of fell down, and then we picked ourselves up again and started to play pretty well, and then we had a rash of injuries. We lost three starters in one game, which gets into that depth problem. We finally got everybody healthy the final game of the season, with the exception of our flyhalf who has a grade-three shoulder separation.”
So of Dallas’ top 18, 17 will be suited up Saturday.
The Highlanders, like Dallas, reached the Sweet 16 in 2011, but were ousted 44-14 by Belmont Shore.
In the north, a battered Glendale will host Houston Athletic Rugby Club. The Raptors have played as tough a schedule as any DI team in the nation, going 2-1 against Super League sides. The last such match, a close loss to San Francisco Golden Gate, left Glendale without fullback James Paterson, No. 8 Nic Johnson and scrumhalf Daryl Furlong.
The Raptors won’t lose a step at scrumhalf, as former Eagle Andre Bachelet will fill in. He started at No. 9 in Glendale’s national title run last year.
No. 7 Mike Kenyon, who played very well against SFGG, sustained a back injury off the pitch this week and will be questionable. If he plays, he’ll slide in at No. 8 for Johnson, and Clint Camp will play No. 7.
Replacing Paterson is Regis grad Tyler Siegel. In his last outing, he scored a try and went 8-for-10 from the tee.
“He’s pretty valuable for points,” said Bullock of Siegel. “He’s got a big boot, so he can play fullback and kind of control things. I think he’s going to be a top player.”
The Kansas City Blues, second in the North, are hosting their first playoff game in a decade Saturday night, welcoming the Austin Huns. The Blues, formerly of the Super League, boast a young lineup of 20-somethings that’s starting to jell.
Scrumhalf Casey Cummings, wing Kevin Schwartze, fullback Jordan Neville, lock Ben Nelson and flanker Connor McDonough, among others, have now been playing together on the DI side for a couple of years, and they’re collectively maturing at the right time.
This spring the Blues tied Glendale and lost narrowly to Metropolis and Palmer, indicating the Huns could have a tough time in Kansas City.
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Written by Pat Clifton
Thursday, 26 April 2012 15:11 |
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MARFU, Northeast Clash in Round of 32 |
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Clubs -
Men's DI Clubs
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The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast unions clash in the Round of 32 Saturday, with the top two seeds from each league playing host to the bottom two of the other.
As MARFU's second seed, Norfolk hosts New York Rugby Club Saturday to decide who advances to take on Palmer in the National Round of 16 May 12-13 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
These two teams met in the 2010 Round of 32, again in Norfolk, Va., with the Blues edging NYRC in a close game. Last year, NYRC fell to Potomac Athletic Club in the Round of 32, while the Blues advanced to the quarterfinals before being ousted by the Boston Irish Wolfhounds 11-5.
Norfolk sports an above-average backline, anchored by centers Ed Stockunas and Drew Rogers, so they’ll try and get them clean ball often.
“If they get release, I think they can run with anybody in the country,” said Norfolk coach Chris Porter of his midfield combo. “We’re looking forward to spin the ball to our backs, let the backs play, and then have our forwards play off of them and keep them moving forward.”
Norfolk is fresh off of a 45-28 comeback victory over PAC. The Blues trailed 21-5 at halftime, and poured in 40 second-half points. After beating up on all their prior spring competition soundly, the PAC challenge came at the right time.
“I think being down 16 points to PAC and coming back showed a lot for us,” said Porter. “It was the pressure that the guys needed…I think being down to PAC is actually a pretty good thing for us as a team.” As the Northeast's fourth seed, Monmouth makes the trip to PAC. The New Jersey club has had some turnover from the fall, but retain their lethal midfield trio of flyhalf Evan Fitzgerald and centers Joe Lucarelli and Eric Daneman. Monmouth played a tough schedule to prep for the postseason, going up against DII powerhouse Doylestown.The Pennsylvania club jumped out to a 17-0 lead, but Monmouth recovered and was able to secure a comeback win.
"It was a really good test. I was really happy with that game," said Monmouth coach Pat Moroney. "Doylestown are a great team. I think they’ll do well in the DII championships. They play a good, tough style of rugby,a nd I think they’re a very similar club to us size wise, so we match up really well against them." As the second seed out of the Northeast, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds host the Pittsburgh Harlequins. The Wolfhounds, which reached the DI semifinals last year, are heavy favorites to knock off Pittsburgh. But the Harlequins are hosting the Rounds of 16 and eight, and aren't looking forward to doing so without playing in them. The other match-up of these unions sees Northeast champ Mystic River host Schuylkill River. The Boston-area side should advance to the Sweet 16, though a 7s match between these two would project to be more competitive.
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Written by Pat Clifton
Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:19 |
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Full Slate of Men's Playoff Games |
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Blog -
RugbyMag.com Blog
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DI MEN'S CLUB Click here for bracket
MARFU/NORTHEAST
Monmouth @ Potomac Athletic Club
New York Rugby Club @ Norfolk
Schuylkill River @ Mystic River
Pittsburgh Harlequins @ Boston Irish Wolfhounds
WEST-NORTH/TEXAS
Austin Huns @ Kansas City Blues
Houston Athletic Rugby Club @ Glendale Raptors
Denver Rugby (Highlanders) @ Dallas Reds
Austin Blacks fft. over Boulder
SOCAL/PACIFIC COAST
Sac. Lions @ Belmont Shore
O-Club @ Old Mission Beach Athletic Club
Santa Monica @ Utah Brothers
Las Vegas Blackjacks @ East Palo Alto Bulldogs
MIDWEST/SOUTH
Palmer fft. over Boca Raton
Charlotte @ Metropolis
Cincinnati Wolfhounds @ Atlanta Renegades
Chicago Lions @ New Orleans DII MEN'S CLUB Click here for bracket
MIDWEST Elkhart, Ind.
Bremer County vs. Eastside Banshees
Southside Irish vs. Wisconsin
WEST Omaha, Neb.
Omaha vs. Glendale
Shreveport vs. St. Louis Bombers
SOUTH Little Rock, Ark.
Little Rock vs. Charleston
Birmingham vs. Naples
MID-ATLANTIC Brandywine
Doylestown vs. Wilmington
Severn River vs. Rocky Gorge DI-AA MEN'S COLLEGE Click here for bracket
Cottage Grove, Wisc.
Missouri vs. Wisconsin
Davenport vs. Texas
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth vs. Shippensburg
Stony Brook vs. Northeastern
Palo Alto, Calif.
Oregon State vs. UCSB
San Diego State vs. Santa Clara
Knoxville, Tenn.
Maryland vs. Tennessee
Florida vs. Florida State DII MEN'S COLLEGE Click here for bracket
Cottage Grove, Wisc.
UW-Whitewater vs. Central Missouri
Lindenwood vs. UW-Milwaukee
Hanover, NH
Colgate vs. Bentley
Boston Univ. vs. Towson
Palo Alto, Calif.
Sierra vs. Cal State Long Beach
Santa Rosa JC vs. Utah Valley
Knoxville, Tenn.
Salisbury vs. Sewanee
East Carolina vs. UNC-Wilmington NSCRO FINAL FOUR Glendale, Colo.
Salve Regina (RI) vs. Franciscan (OH)
North Florida vs. Cal Maritime
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Written by Press Release
Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:09 |
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Gateway Collegiate Conference Launched |
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Colleges -
Men's DII College
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 The newest DII college rugby conference has come to fruition in the Midwest: the Gateway Collegiate Rugby Conference. Central Missouri, Missouri Science & Technology, Principia, Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois, University of Missouri - Kansas City (UMKC) and Washington University make up the seven-team league. Six of the seven programs have established clubs, while UMKC will play its first season in the Gateway.
The new conference boasts some competitive teams, with Central Missouri and Saint Louis (SLU) reaching the DII Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2011, respectively. The member teams join the Gateway from three separate Local Area Unions: the Heart of America, Missouri and Illinois, and two territorial unions: the West and Midwest.
Pending ratification from USA Rugby, the conference will begin play in the fall of 2012 and crown its first champion in the spring of 2013. The league will have a home-or-away schedule, with each team playing each other team once, culminating in a spring four-team playoff.
The title of the conference an homage to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, a monument to westward expansion. The Gateway Collegiate Rugby Conference is the western-most independent DII conference in the country.
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Written by Alex Goff
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 20:03 |
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Camp Invitations and What They Mean |
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RUGBYmag Premier -
Scouting Reports
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USA 7s team Coach Alex Magleby makes his moves now in his Camp invitations.
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Page 731 of 1497 |
