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Thursday, 14 July 2011 00:18    PDF Print Write e-mail
Lessons Good, and So Is Win
Colleges - All Americans

All American Head Coach Alex Magleby told RUGBYMag.com Wednesday night that his team knew the second match against New Zealand Universities would be tougher, but while the players knew that intellectually, they didn’t feel it viscerally until midway through the match.

“Emotionally it didn’t sink in,” said Magleby. “We knew they would come after us, and with them having been together a little bit longer they would challenge us, especially in the rucks, and they did. We were a step slow, and because of that we didn’t take advantage of some opportunities early in the game.”

The All Americans ultimately won 21-11, earning their points through pressure, which led to three penalties and a well-worked team try finished by scrumhalf Chris Saint. The other try was an individual effort, with Peter Tiberio scoring from an interception, but an interception forced by defensive pressure.

Still it was a shaky performance by the Americans, and much of that can be linked to players thinking it would all come flowing the way it did in Saturday’s 60-17 victory.

“Guys were a little bit impatient,” Magleby said, pointing out how on several occasions a player in a good attacking position forced a run or kick when setting up a ruck and going another phase would have produced better results. “We lacked depth on attack and we were a step slow to the breakdown. It was all part of guys expecting something to happen.”

But, in the end, they won.

“I was very proud of the guys, because even as things weren’t as accurate as last time, they kept going forward, kept working at it, and pulled out a win,” said the coach. “There were some good lessons in this game, and I think the players know how they should have approached it. Now we keep moving forward and we expect to play our best game on Saturday.”

Among the bright spots was sub prop Mikey Su’a, who made a huge impact coming off the bench. Saint, also, “had a hell of a game,” said Magleby. Yet another product from Scrumhalf U (Penn State), Saint was essentially the All Americans’ only true scrumhalf available on Wednesday, and put in a full 80, finishing off his day with an impressive diving cover tackle to stop a potential try for the tourists.


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Written by Alex Goff    Wednesday, 13 July 2011 22:09    PDF Print Write e-mail
NZ Universities Make All Americans Work
Colleges - All Americans

All American CrestThe USA All American leadership warned the players that Wednesday's clash with New Zealand Universities would be tougher and more physical than Saturday's 60-17 victory. 

But young players are still young and it was hard for the Americans to really buy that story - hard, that is, until they found themselves 6-3 behind after 40 minutes.

The game at UCSB's Harder Stadium began with the NZ Unis Haka ending with some pushing and chest-thumping before kickoff; it was clear from then that the Kiwis were going to battle if nothing else.

The All Americans camped out in the NZ Universities 22 for much of the opening quarter, but too many players waiting for the pass for the try, and not enough clearing out made for penalties at the wrong time, and try-scoring chances going begging.

Eventually, the AAs took the lead when JP Eloff slotted a penalty. But throughout the first half, the All Americans seemed a little shocked that the tries weren't flowing. The New Zealanders used that element of surprise to get under the Americans' skins, and with flanker Garrett Lambert in the sin bin, they kicked two penalties to lead 6-3 at halftime.

In the second half, a better physical display by the All Americans produced enough for a 21-11 victory, but they had to work for it. A prime try-scoring chance came when a kigh ball at midfield was allowed to bounce. Fullback Peter Tiberio nabbed the rock and looked away. He passed to wing Kyle Grossheider who was of two minds whether to bull through the tackle or set the ball up. In the end the attack was stymied.

But a second attack where the New Zealanders didn't catch a high ball led to a longer series on the tourists' goal line. A penalty seemed inevitable, and Eloff took the points to make it 6-6.

Attacking after the restart, NZ Universities started a weakside move from a scrum. But a poor, loopy pass out to the backs was easy pickings for the opportunistic Tiberio, who intercepted the ball and ran 70 meters for a huge try and a 13-6 lead. The All Americans would not look back.

With fresh legs brought on after that, the All Americans began to exert more dominance in the breakdown. They were led by prop Mikey Su'a, who was a monster once again, and Nate Brakely was also effective at doing the dirty work as was  starter Matt Crawford. This helped set up the All Americans' second try, which came from some hard work by the forwards and ended with scrumhalf Chris Saint sneaking around the corner.

NZ Universities would score late in the game after some desultory defense by the Americans, but after that the defensive line was much better. Saint made a try-saving shoestring tackle, and sub hooker Zach Fenoglio made another right on the goal line.

In the end, it was a bit of a wakeup call for the All Americans, but one where they also did enough to win, and look ahead to the series finale in Stanford on Saturday.

All Americans 21
Tries: Tiberio, Saint
Convs: Eloff
Pens: Eloff 3

NZ Universities 11
Tries: 1
Pens: 2


All American lineup

15 Peter Tiberio (University of Arizona)

14 Kyle Grossheider (Life University)

13 Duncan Kelm (San Diego State)

12 Gareth Jones (Temple University)

11 Dustin Muhn (University of California – Berkeley)

10 JP Eloff (Davenport University)

9 Chris Saint (Penn State)

1 Matt Crawford (St. Mary’s College of California)

2 Andrew Cooke (St. Mary’s College of California)

3 Ray Forrester (BYU)

4 Mark Bonham (BYU)

5 Nick Civetta (Notre Dame)

6 Cam Dolan (Life University)

7 Garrett Lambert (Life University)

8 Derek Asbun (University of California – Berkeley)

Reserves:

16 Nick Mostyn (Utah)
17 Mike Su’a (BYU)
18 Fenoglio, Zach (Loyola Marymount)
19 James Besser (University of California – Berkeley)
20 Chris Parker (Texas A&M)
21 Nate Brakeley (Dartmouth)
22 Dave Martini (University of California – Los Angeles) 
23 Jordan Badia-Bellinger (Claremont McKenna)
24 Pat Sullivan (Arkansas State)
25 Benji Goff (University of Tennessee)

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Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Wednesday, 13 July 2011 19:20    PDF Print Write e-mail
All Americans Game Webcast
Colleges - All Americans

July 13, 2011

USA All Americans v. New Zealand Universities in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Kickoff 6:30 PDT, 9:30 EDT.

Click here to go to website



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Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Wednesday, 13 July 2011 19:43    PDF Print Write e-mail
NZ Universities Squad
Colleges - All Americans

This is the full squad for the NZ Universities team touring California.

Forwards:
Sonny Ali’ifa’agolo - Waikato University
Mike Allardice - Canterbury University
Shay Ashworth - Lincoln University
Whetu Douglas - Waikato University
Jamie Hern - Auckland University
Jack Higgins - Canterbury University
Sam Henwood - Auckland University
Brad Kilgour - Massey University
Travis Larsen - Marist North Harbour
James Lentjes - Canterbury University
Adam Lill - Canterbury University
Junior Manase - Auckland University
Beniah Taumaoe - - Waikato University
Matt Vellekoop - Marist North Harbour

Backs:
Harry Corkill - Otago University
Luke Fiso - Old Boys-University
Conrad Goodhew - Massey University
Sam Hall - Otago University
Jesse Johnson - Old Boys-University
Bampino Mulipola - Waikato University
David Neilson - Napier Pirates
Hamish Northcott - Massey University
Michael Ruru - Napier Pirates
Liam Steel - Auckland University
Te Wehi Wilson - Old Boys-University

Management:
Paul Downes - Strength and Conditioning Trainer
Rodney Ford - Physiotherapist
John Furlong - Coach
Stephen Kidd - Manager
Ian Tulloch - Coach

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Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Wednesday, 13 July 2011 16:50    PDF Print Write e-mail
WCI Great Weekend for Girls All Star Rugby
School Age - Girls

Click on photo below for larger image

The girls' West Coast Invitational drew more than 100 of the region's top U17 and U19 athletes to Canby, Ore., this past weekend and piqued the interest of USA U20 forwards coach and former Eagle Danielle Miller.

Oregon and Southern California supplied both U17 and U19 squads, while Washington and Northern California furnished U19 teams for the tournament.

"The U17 teams were evenly matched and played at a high level of play, surpassing my expectations," Miller said. "Not only did they play physical matches, but their playing level and rugby knowledge was beyond their age."

The Griffins' U17s rostered several 12- and 13-year-olds, a reflection of the cooperation between SBROs and youth coaches to developing the region's youth players. Having such young athletes on the field excited Miller, who is convinced that national team-caliber players will be cultivated in the years to come.

The U17s split their two games on Saturday, with the first going to Oregon 7-5 and the second to SoCal 17-5. On Sunday, the two teams sought to break the tie, and the Griffins emerged with a 10-7 victory.

As for the U19s, the Washington all-star team ruled the games on Saturday, and outscored opponents 53-7. SoCal gave Washington its toughest match of the day, battling the eventual finalist to a 10-7 loss. The match was a preview of an even more heated battle in the championship match. Northern California was seeded third after narrowly edging Oregon 14-12 for its lone win of the day.

"The U19 girls gave the spectators an enjoyable weekend," Miller said. "There was a great mixture of pace, flat passes, level 3 tackles, and well placed kicks. Sunday proved more of the same from Saturday with hard hits and smart decisions. "

For the placing rounds of Sunday, Washington advanced to the final after another convincing win against Oregon 24-0, and SoCal knocked off state rival NorCal 29-7 for the championship bid. With redemption fueling its play, the Griffins started to find holes in Washington's defense and forced sudden death overtime after a 15-all end to regulation. SoCal scored the winning points first and took home the title with a 20-15 win.

Oregon got its most important win of the weekend in its final game, defeating NorCal 20-0 for third place.

"All of the teams played high level, competitive rugby, giving the USA U20 national selector a great showing of the talent and dedication coming from these programs," Miller concluded.

U19 All-Tournament Team

1. Sara Young (WA)

2. Siu Tufui (OR)

3. Roujan Khorrami (WA)

4. Angela Van Hoomissen (OR)

5. Tiffany Candler (WA)

6. Sammy Pinson (SoCal)

7. Megan Pinson (SoCal)

8. Jessica Davis (NorCal)

9. Megan Johnson (WA)

10. Cassidy Meyers (WA)

11. Alyssa Bishop (OR)

12. Desiree Leaupepe (SoCal)

13. Kelsey Stockert (WA)

14. Hannah Bell (OR)

15. Jamie Garcia (SoCal)

16. Jerilyn Peko (WA)

17. Lauren Bell (SoCal)

18. Devon Viera (WA)

19. Hannah Gorlick (WA)

20. Gabby Yundt (OR)

21. Kalila Patete (NorCal)

22. Siva Aisea (OR)

 

U17 All-Tournament Team

1. Izzy Manu (SoCal)

2. Sade Young (SoCal)

3. Katherine Murray (Oregon)

4. Candice Mahoney Watson (Oregon)

5. Cynthia Nuno (SoCal)

6. Gabby Yundt (Oregon)

7. Karmin Macedo (SoCal)

8. Taylor Duncan (SoCal)

9. Eva Klein (SoCal)

10. Alyssa Tonihka (Oregon)

11. Annie Finch (Oregon)

12. Mixtly Simon (Oregon)

13. Rachel Edward (SoCal)

14. Kayla Rudman (SoCal)

15. Michel Navarro (SoCal)

16. Jessical Henderson (Oregon)

17. Kayla Postula (Oregon)

18. Alexi Eich (SoCal)

19. Hannah Fallon (Oregon)

20. Alyah Moala (SoCal)

21. Cambria Brandenberger (SoCal)

22. Jesenia Olmedo (Oregon)


Saturday
U19 Round Robin
Washington 21-0 Oregon
Washington 22-0 Northern California
Washington 10-7 Southern California
Southern California 31-0 Northern California
Southern California 12-5 Oregon
Northern California 14-12 Oregon

U17
Oregon 7-5 Southern California
Southern California 17-5 Oregon

Sunday
U19 Semifinals
Washington 24-0 Oregon
Southern California 29-7 Northern California

Final
Southern California 20-15 Washington (OT)

Third Place
Oregon 20-0 Northern California

U17 Final
Southern California 10-7 Oregon


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