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Thursday, 26 May 2011 17:26 |
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State Title a Sweet End for Budd Bay |
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School Age -
Boys
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 It’s easy to forget that there are good U19 and HS teams all over that country that don’t even make a run to the national championships.
Witness the state of Washington, where early on Liberty felt very confident in their abilities, and moved their schedule around so they could participate in the Pacific Coast playoffs. In the end, Liberty lost out by just seven points to eventual national runners up United.
Liberty then returned to Washington, played in the state playoffs and … lost, 13-8 to Budd Bay.
Budd Bay didn’t play anyone in a regional or national playoffs, but after losing their opening game of the season to Rainier Plateau, they defeated Yakima, Shelton, Harbour, Prarie, Kitsap and Tacoma (as well as Seattle in a friendly) to win the Washington South division and enter the playoffs.
Then they edged Valley 17-15 before beating Liberty.
“We had a lot of new players, and in our loss to Rainier Plateau a lot of players had no idea what to do,” said Budd Bay Coach Dan Dillashaw. “It was a tough start. But while we had a lot of rookie players, they are very good athletes, and they learned.”
Griffin Boudia is one. A complete rookie at rugby he is an outstanding football prospect and progressed, said Dillashaw, to being one of the best No. 8s in the league.
“He scored in almost every match, and while he didn’t score in the playoffs he contributed in other ways,” Dillashaw said.
Two other athletes joined the team this season: Tui Magalei and Anthony Parks. Both are very fast and accomplished football players – Magalei was Athlete of the Year at Olympia (Wash.) HS. At wing they were devastating.
“Once they learned how to stay in the support they were great,” said Dillashaw.
Added to that was senior flanker Justin Henry, who will enroll at St. Mary’s this fall and will play rugby for the Gaels.
The club had a very strong U16 program too, and this despite the fact they had several players just a couple of weeks too old to play U16.
Those players were thrust into the U19 league, with Dillashaw a little worried about how they would handle it. He needn’t have. Zach Riley and Zach Carrithers are a matched set at second row and Budd Bay has them for two more years.
Eddie Harriage, whose older brother Chris players for Central Washington, and the older brother to both, Robbie, was a Budd Bay standout as well, was another youngster. A flanker with the U16s, he was too small to play that position with the U19s, so Dillashaw made him a scrumhalf.
“It all just came together for him,” he said.
In the playoffs the Budd Bay team worked hard to use their defense as offense, forcing teams into errors that they punished. It worked well, even though their enthusiasm sometimes meant the Barbarians were jumped too early and were offside.
Still, for a program that has produced several age-grade Eagles, as well as USA senior player Scott LaValla, 2011 was a surprising success.
“We entered the season with a young team and a lot of rookies, but they learned,” said Dillashaw. “And we have a lot of those players, plus our U16s coming up, so things look good.”
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Written by RUGBYMag.com News Release
Thursday, 26 May 2011 16:38 |
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Central Washington CRC Roster Released |
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Sevens -
Collegiate Sevens
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 Central Washington has named its squad for the Collegiate Rugby Championship.
Due to injury, three changes have been made from the CWU team that won the Las Vegas CRC Qualifier in February. Junior Alex Reher (broken forearm), sophomore Andrew Nelson (ACL) and sophomore Paul Smith (hamstring) will all be watching from the stands in Philadelphia. The Wildcats will be led by captain Aaron Lee and vice captain Ryan Snider, both members of the 2010 Men's Club 7s National Champion Old Puget Sound Beach of Seattle. In Las Vegas, Central was in tries by Tim Stanfill (8) and prop Kellen Gordon (5). Both will be in action in Philly and looking to lead the Wildcats undefeated in the abbreviated game. Since making their first appearance at the Northwest Collegiate Rugby 7s Championships, the Wildcats have not lost a 7s match and have outscored their opponents 393-40. Central is coached by Tony Pacheco and Bob Ford, who will be assisted by Evan Haigh and Waisale Serevi. Central Washington roster:
Jacob Bates
Patrick Blair
Joshua Bower
Kellen Gordon
Ryan Hamilton
Sam Harb
Aaron Lee
Matt Lobe
Beau Nichols
Penisoni Rokocoko
Ryan Snider
Tim Stanfill The Collegiate Rugby Championship, June 4-5 at PPL Park in Philadelphia, will be aired live on NBC both days. Irish punk band The Dropkick Murphy's will be performing a free post-match concert at PPL Park June 4. For more info, visit usasevenscrc.com.
Broadcast Schedule:
• NBC Sports live coverage from 4:00-6:00 p.m. ET on June 4 and 5
• Versus live coverage from 2:00-4:00 p.m. ET on June 4 and 5
• Versus bonus coverage from 6:00-8:00 p.m. ET on June 4
• NBC Mobile live simulcast from 4:00-6:00 p.m. ET on June 4 and 5
• Hulu.com full event coverage available on-demand in HD quality video
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Thursday, 26 May 2011 14:10 |
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U20 Eagles Look to Rebound |
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National Teams -
Age-Grade Men
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Casting aside the distractions of the past couple of days due to the political demonstrations in Georgia, and the helicopters and jets flying over their hotel, the USA U20 team is turning its attention to Russia on Saturday.
Tuesday’s 48-11 loss to Samoa was frustrating and humbling for the Americans. The Junior All Americans did have chances to score more, and plenty of chances to prevent same, but jumping from high school or college rugby to the internationals isn’t easy.
“U20 rugby for us is about the learning experience,” said Head Coach Scott Lawrence. “We learned how to play in international competition against a real U20 side who is skilled, physical, and spends a lot of time together. We took the value and the lessons out of that experience.”
They have precious little time to do something about those lessons. Tuesday was game day. Wednesday was film work and a training session, and Thursday another session before they go into the weekend.
“We went over the lessons we learned yesterday morning, flushed that experience, and now we focus on Russia,” said Lawrence. “This is the first international tournament this team has been in. The fix is experience, and we're one game better for it.”
Lawrence said the Americans were chasing the game early and that led to a few rash decisions – they players felt they should score quickly to get back in the game, and that just dug them a deeper hole.
“We have a possession-based system inside the 22 and we'll refocus on that building into Saturday,” Lawrence told RUGBYMag.com.
Lawrence is also expected to make changes to the lineup, based mostly on performance from Tuesday’s Samoa match. It wasn’t an easy experience for anyone, and perhaps the harshest lesson of all is not playing.
“Those who will be moved to the bench or outside of the 22 now know the expectation of being an international,” explained Lawrence somewhat ominously. “And being young men with rugby futures, they will have a chance to earn their way back.”
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Thursday, 26 May 2011 15:04 |
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McCoy Steps in to Help LSU 7s |
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Sevens -
Collegiate Sevens
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 Louisiana State University 7s team coach Jeff Reuther has to step aside because his club, New Orleans, has made the National DII club final four.
As a result, LSU has brought in former USA Women’s 7s coach Julie McCoy to take over the team in time for the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park in Philadelphia June 4-5.
McCoy is currently president and managing physician of Neurology of Arkansas, a neurology practice that she started in 2000.
She is the current USA South men’s 7s all-star coach, and coached the USA women to a 3rd-place finish in the 2009 7s World Cup.
“I’m excited,” McCoy told RUGBYMag.com. “I have known Jeff Reuther since he was 14, as I played touch with him in New Orleans when I was doing my residency there at Tulane. He also serves as a regional coach under me for the South Men's 7s program, so I am confident that he has his team prepared. I consider the opportunity given me an honor, and I am humbled by his consideration.”
McCoy has coached men and women on the club and elite level.
“For me, coaching men comes naturally,” she said. “I am definitely my father's daughter, so coordinating and sharing with men comes easy. When you think about it, men are used to having female teachers, so it's not far-fetched that they listen. The key ingredient is demonstrating to the players and staff that I am knowledgeable about the game and that my words make rugby sense. After that, the only name I have ever been called (to my face) is coach.”
McCoy said she will not make any changes to the pattern put in by Reuther, saying she intends to follow his attack and defense systems fully.
“All coaches at this level, and on the national level, concentrate on the fundamentals,” she said. “They can never be assumed or abandoned; I trust that Jeff has these boys well drilled. And yes to the wrinkles question. My role will be two-fold: tactical, and motivational and organizational.”
But expect McCoy also to bring her considerable experience to bear, and to throw in a few wrinkles in the LSU play. She has, after all, about a week.
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Written by RUGBYMag.com News Release
Thursday, 26 May 2011 13:06 |
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Atlanta Hosting Renegade 7s |
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Sevens -
Club Sevens
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 There's still time for clubs to sign up for one of the big early 7s tournaments in the South, as the Atlanta Renegades host the 7th Annual Renegades 7s June at Noonday Park in Kennesaw, Ga.
The Birmingham Club moved their 7s tournament to accommodate a late schedule change forced on the tournament, and now June 4 is the time, with Men's Premier, Men's Open, and Collegiate and High School divisions.
High School teams have a deeply discounted entry fee.
For information contact tournament directors Geoff Clott at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or Andrew Bennett at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Post-tournament social will be held at RiRa Irish Pub in Atlanta.
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