Latest News

         

rugbymag-com
Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Monday, 10 October 2011 17:15    PDF Print Write e-mail
PAC v Norfolk Full Report
Clubs - Men's DI Clubs

Scrumhalf Steve Shapland notched 9 points Saturday.Going into this weekend against the Norfolk Blues, the Potomac Athletic Club players remembered that they had been upended by the Virginia club by a last-minute penalty kick in 2010.

That loss pushed them to 2nd in the Mid-Atlantic. This time, they were determined to avoid the same result, and emerged 39-8 victors.

As expected, the game started off in a physical and feverish manner.  After driving into Norfolk's territory, PAC drew a penalty and Steve Shapland was able to put the kick between the posts and put PAC up 3-0.  After some more back and forth play, Norfolk evened up the score with a penalty.

That deadlock lasted about ten more minutes. Then PAC took a lineout and attacked. After a few phases through the forwards and backs, Dan Kortan found Greg Suellentrop, who was able to put down the unconverted try and put PAC up 8-3.  Using the momentum, PAC was able to once again get the ball in a lineout and the forwards drove the ball into Norfolk's in-goal, where Suellentrop touched down his second try of the day. Shapland's conversion put the score at 15-3.

The memory of last year’s loss, not to mention Norfolk’s gaudy scoring statistics, still in their  minds, PAC kept up the pressure.

The forwards bashed it up and that created space for the backs. Toshi Palamo found Hunter Naff on the wing and he ran around a few would-be tacklers to touch the ball down for an unconverted try.  That made the score 20-3 at halftime.

No letup from PAC in the second half, as a solid platform from the pack put the backs away. Charlie Whipple was the benefactor, going over the line to make it 25-3.

Finally afforded some possession, Norfolk managed their only try of the match, but fresh legs from the subs bench got PAC back on the front foot. After getting some good go-forward from No. 8 Hannibal Vaivao, Suellentrop picked and drover over for his third try of the day.

Shapland hit the conversion to make it 32-8. Towards the end of the match, Suellentrop scored his fourth, with Shapland claiming his third conversion to make it 39-8.

“Even though this was a great win, it is very early in the season with lots of games left,” said PAC prop and Director of Rugby Brian Olmes. “We kept up the intensity and teamwork throughout the game. We need to keep that up.”

PAC 39
Tries: Suellentrop 4, Naff, Whipple
Convs: Shapland 3
Pens: Shapland

Norfolk 8
Tries: 1
Pens: 1

 

Add new comment
 
Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Monday, 10 October 2011 16:23    PDF Print Write e-mail
Men's DI-AA College Top 25
Rankings - Men DI College

(This originally ran 10/10 in our premier section.)

Two seemingly massive upsets have shaken up our Top 25 this week. Florida State fell to Central Florida, which would have seemed inconceivable last season. Yes, it's preseason, but it's not a good sign for the Seminoles.


The other big upset saw DII Salisbury knock off Maryland just a week after the Terps scored an upset of Tennessee. This isn't college football. Interdivisional upsets are common. Harvard lost to a DII team last year and still reached the final four, so we won't wield inclement punishment on the Terps for falling to a top-five DII power. 

Indiana hasn't budged off the No. 11 line despite losing back-to-back games. That's because they lost both to higher ranked teams in the toughest division in D1-AA. Whether or not the Mudsharks are a good team isn't in question, nor will it be when they lose to Davenport Saturday, as they likely will.

Dartmouth improved to 4-0 over Brown, but looked human in doing so. The Big Green don't usually concede a bonus point in Ivy play, even if they're on the road in less-than-ideal weather. Will the close game just peeve Dartmouth into punishing also undefeated Princeton Saturday, or does it signal a chink in the armor the Tigers could take advantage of?

1 (1) Davenport  3-0 Won 75-0 over Ohio State
2 (2) Dartmouth  4-0 Won 24-17 over Brown
3 (3) UC Santa Barbara  0-0 Idle
4 (7) Miami (OH)  2-0 Won 52-31 over Indiana
5 (8) Bowling Green  3-0 Won 40-27 over Air Force
6 (4) San Diego State  0-0 Idle
7 (5) LSU  0-0  Idle (first game Oct. 15 against Texas State)
8 (6) Stanford  0-0  Idle (first game Nov. 5 against San Jose State)
9 (9) Florida  1-0
10 (10) Claremont Colleges  0-0 Idle
11 (11) Indiana  2-2 Lost 52-31 to Miami  
12 (15) Wisconsin  3-1 Won 19-10 over Minnesota
13 (18) Northeastern  4-0 Won 30-8 over Boston College
14 (13) Sacramento State  0-0 Idle (first game is Oct. 29 vs. Oregon)
15 (19) Princeton  4-0 Won 25-10 over Penn
16 (17) Minnesota  2-1 Lost 19-10 to Wisconsin
17 (12) Maryland  1-1 Lost 30-22 to Salisbury
18 (14) Tennessee  1-1
19 (23) St. Bonaventure  3-1 Won 36-20 over Binghamton
20 (20) South Carolina  0-0 Idle
21 (21) Oregon State  0-0 Idle 
22 (22) Loyola Marymount  0-0 Idle (first game Nov. 12 against UCLA)
23 (Unr.) Iona  3-0 Won 22-5 over Fordham
24 (24) Virginia Tech 1-0 Idle
25 (25) Kansas State 0-0 Oklahoma State game canceled

Dropped out:
(17) Florida State  1-1 Lost 15-13 to Central Florida  

Comments (7)
 
Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Monday, 10 October 2011 14:19    PDF Print Write e-mail
Bid for Signed Eagles Shirt
Off The Field - US Rugby Foundation News

San Diego, CA – To support its A Ball 4 All program, the United States Rugby Football Foundation is auctioning off a 2011 Rugby World Cup USA jersey signed by many of the U.S. players from this year's Rugby World Cup. The autographs include those of captain Todd Clever, vice-captain Mike Petri, dynamic center Paul Emerick and the most capped Eagle ever Mike MacDonald.

The Eagles performance at this year's Rugby World Cup was arguably the best ever by a US team at an RWC. They defeated the team they were supposed to beat (Russia); lost to the one team they were supposed to lose to (Australia); and played gallantly against two Six Nations teams (Ireland and Italy), losing by a combined total of just 29 points. Not too bad for a team ranked 18th in the world.

Not only will the high bidder receive a very unique piece of rugby history but he or she will receive the satisfaction of knowing that every cent from their winning bid will go towards the US Rugby Foundation's A Ball 4 All program. The goal of the A Ball 4 All program is to provide 50,000 youth and high school players in the US with their very own rugby ball.

Photos of the jersey and more information about the USA's outstanding performance at the 2011 Rugby World Cup can be found on eBay, item #180735163096. The bidding will conclude at 10:00 a.m. (PDT) on Monday, October 17, 2011.

Add new comment
 
Written by Alex Goff    Monday, 10 October 2011 16:23    PDF Print Write e-mail
Overseas Update: Time to Rest for Many
International - Americans Overseas

It was a quiet weekend for USA players overseas as many were rested barely a week after returning from the Rugby World Cup.

Samu Manoa, who did not play in the World Cup, started at lock for Northampton and helped lead them to a 33-3 pastinf of Exeter. Manoa has been a revelation for the Saints.

On the sidelines included Chris Wyles and Hayden Smith for Saracens, Seta Tuilevuka for Montpellier, Kevin Swiryn for Agen, Taku Ngwenya for Biarritz and Scott LaValla for Stade Francais (all in the French Top 14). Same went for Inaki Basauri at Pergoux (French D2), Tim Usasz at Nottingham, Shawn Pittman at London Welsh, and Andrew Suniula for the Cornich Pirates (all English Championship).

Two USA players stepped onto the field in the Championship when Leeds defeated London Scottish 23-16. Mike MacDonald, fresh from an outstanding RWC was on the bench and came on at halftime. Robbie Shaw, who last played scrumhalf for the Eagles in 2008, played the whole match.

It's a young Leeds team and the veteran leadership of MacDonald and Shaw ill be crucial.

 

Add new comment
 
Written by Jackie Finlan    Monday, 10 October 2011 12:48    PDF Print Write e-mail
New York on Front Foot v Minnesota
Clubs - Women's Clubs

New York is now at .500 in the Women’s Premier League after defeating Minnesota Valkyries on the road 39-22. It was a much closer match than a week prior, when New York ran up a 56-5 victory on home turf.

Vanesha McGee's four tries earned New York's bonus point alone. (Ian Muir photo)

New York only traveled with 19 players, and three of four subs were used due to injury. The team doesn’t have a ton of depth this year, so their performance is significantly affected when the top 23 can’t travel.

Even so, New York found success out wide and continually changed direction of attack to avoid the larger Minnesota pack. Wing Vanesha McGee, in her second WPL match this season, was key to the attack and ended the day with four tries. New York continued to work the outside in the second half, and saw Simone Van Saarloos, Katie Brethel and Hannah Rosenthal all dot down by day's end. Kaitlin Ruggiero added four conversions.

“I'm confident we can score from any position on the pitch,” New York assistant coach Heidi Rubestein said. “In the last two games against the Valks, we had 10 different players scoring tries."

The New York defense started to fatigue in the second half, and the Valkyries took full advantage. Tracy Call returned to the lineup at fullback and was a nice addition to the outside attack. Tayo Mafe at inside center strung together some nice runs, and the pack used a series of short-range pick-and-goes to get the ball moving forward. The Valkyries rallied with 17 points in the second after only put up five in the first.

“We were happy with our continuity of play this weekend, both with quick ball at the rucks, as well as our support play off the ball,” Rubenstein added. “Our lineout continued to improve, defensively creating a lot of turnover ball, and our scrum continues to be a strength. We will continue to work on our team defense in the next two weeks before our rematches against the Zons and the Surfers.”

The Twin Cities Amazons beat San Diego 35-0 in Minnesota to take the lead in the WPL Red Conference. With the win, the Zons have taken the lead thanks to their bonus-point loss the weekend prior. New York is not out of range to finish in the top two of the conference, provided they can mount a win against one of the leaders. One of those wins will have to happen on the road against San Diego, which will be a difficult task.

2011 WPL Standings - Red Conference

W L T Pf Pa Pd BT BL Pts
Twin Cities 3 1 0 151 37 114 3 1 16
San Diego 3 1 0 137 62 75 3 0 15
New York 2 2 0 103 98 5 2 0 10
Minnesota 0 4 0 44 238 -194 1 0 1


Add new comment
 
More Articles...


Page 1070 of 1446

College

Tournaments

National Teams

Coaching/Techniques

Sevens

Women's Rugby

Rankings

Clubs

Columns

Vid-Audio-Pix

Free Rugby Coaching Drills & Skills
e-Newsletter by Better Rugby Coaching!

RUGBYMAG.COM BLOG

New Rugby Video Game Coming this Summer

News image

A new rugby game is coming down the pike this summer, Rugby Challenge 2: The Lions Tour Edition. The game is a sequel to Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge released in 2011 in conjunction with the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The new game, set for a June 13 worldwide release for the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 platf... Read more...

Rugby Trademarks for Sale

News image

Rugby entrepreneur Jim Carlberg, who successfully defended his rugby-related trademarks from Polo Ralph Lauren in a landmark lawsuit, is selling some of his trademarks, and the corresponding URLs, both of which he is the 100% owner. The Marks for sale include:Rugby America Limited Rugby Girl &n... Read more...

Augspurger Gets Nod From Local Rag

News image

The campus newspaper at Nate Augspurger's alma mater, the University of Minnesota, recently took notice of the contracted 7s player's rugby exploits and produced a front-page story on him. Augspurger is in recovery from a broken leg suffered at the LVI in February, but the story makes it perfectly c... Read more...