BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby is proud to announce the 2011 Men’s Collegiate All-Americans.  These student-athletes exhibited excellence on the rugby field during their respective seasons and are recognized, as such, as the best men’s collegiate rugby players in America.

The All-American selectors had a pool of over 20,000 men’s collegiate players in the United States to choose from and spent nine months of player identification and monitoring to narrow that down to just 40 All-Americans and 41 honorable mentions.

In July, 30 All-Americans will be selected to the All-Americans Touring Side.  The Touring Side will have a three-match series with the New Zealand Universities this summer and will train at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista, Calif. to prepare for the series.  For more information about the series, click here.

In addition to the honor of recognition for excellence at the collegiate level, All-Americans often ascend to the senior national teams (both sevens and fifteens).  Cal standout and current All-American, Blaine Scully, exemplifies the All-American pathway as he joined the USA Eagles in the UK last week for their match against Russia on Saturday in the final match of the 2011 Churchill Cup.  Scully will start at fullback in that match.

Five of Scully’s fellow 2011 All-Americans; Ryan Roundy (BYU), Cam Dolan (Life University), Thretton Palamo (University of Utah), Taylor Mokate (University of Oklahoma) and Peter Tiberio (University of Arizona) have all competed at the senior international level in either fifteens or sevens.

PLAYER SELECTION

All-American selectors have been surveying the crop of current collegiate athletes since the All-Americans returned from their UK tour last summer.  The selectors include Don Ferrell (Penn State), Kevin Battle (University of California – Santa Barbara), Kimball Kjar (BYU), Matt Sherman (Stanford), Luke Gross (USA Rugby) and All-Americans Head Coach, Alex Magleby (Dartmouth).

The launch of the College Premier Division (CPD) in March of this year marked a new era in college rugby, and selectors were able to use the new CPD video-sharing system to scout players from all of the 31 CPD teams.  As for the non-CPD teams, a network of scouts attended regional championships and tournaments around the country reported to the selectors and contributed significantly to the selection process.

The All-American staff attended the Emirates Airline USA Rugby 2011 Men’s Collegiate All-Star Championships in Glendale, Colo. last weekend to see the top players from each Territorial Union (TU) in action.  Fourteen All-Americans and 13 honorable mentions were selected due to their performance in that tournament.

Magleby notes that a number of players made a statement during their seasons and were able to edge out former All-Americans who were active during the college season, reflecting parity in the selections.

“Coaches and players at the college level have been elevating their standards of play for the last few years, which makes our job of selecting the top student-athletes more of a challenge.  But having an ample pool of quality players to choose from is a good problem to have,” said Magleby.

The coach went on to thank all the college coaches and players who are helping to move the sport of rugby forward in the United States.

2011 Men’s Collegiate All-Americans

Forwards

James Besser (University of California - Berkeley)

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

Jeremy Deterding (University of California – Berkeley)

Roan Farr (Arkansas State)

Zach Fenoglio (Loyola Marymount)

Ray Forrester (BYU)

Nick Mostyn (University of Utah)

Mike Su’a (BYU)

Andy Cooke (St. Mary’s College of California)

Nardus Wessels (Arkansas State)

Mark Bonham (BYU)

Nate Brakeley (Dartmouth)

Nick Civetta (Notre Dame)

Drew Hyjer (University of California – Berkeley)

Chris Parker (Texas A&M)

Derek Asbun (University of California – Berkeley)

Danny Barrett (University of California – Berkeley)

Cam Dolan (Life University)

Roland Evans (Arkansas State)

Garrett Lambert (Life University)

Hynie Leaaetoa (BYU)

Taylor Mokate (University of Oklahoma)

Shaun Potgieter (Arkansas State)

Ryan Roundy (BYU)

Backs

Shaun Davies (BYU)

Don Pati (University of Utah)

Chris Saint (Penn State)

James Bailes (University of California – Berkeley)

J.P. Eloff (Davenport University)

Dylan Lubbe (BYU)

Pat Sullivan (Arkansas State)

Will Holder (Army)

Seamus Kelley (University of California – Berkeley)

Thretton Palamo (University of Utah)

Jared Whippy (BYU)

Kyle Grossheider (Life University)

Ben Leatigaga (Army)

Dustin Muhn (University of California – Berkeley)

Blaine Scully (University of California – Berkeley)

Peter Tiberio (University of Arizona)

2011 Honorable Mentions

Forwards

Scott MacDonald (Life University)

Nick Wallace (St. Mary’s College of California)

Neil Barrett (University of California – Berkeley)

Jamie Gregory (Kutztown University)

Chase Burge (Navy)

Brendan Daly (University of California – Berkeley)

Jason Law (University of California – Berkeley)

Villiami Vimahi (BYU)

Jordan Badia-Bellinger (Claremont McKenna)

Paul Bester (Life University)

Mike Erickson (Penn State)

Paul Jarvis (Dartmouth)

Apenisa Malani (BYU)

Sean Rohrs (Navy)

Tom Rooke (University of California – Berkeley)

Seamus Siefring (Navy)

Dave Martini (UCLA)

Backs

James Burrows (University of California – Santa Barbara)

Chad Clark (St. Mary’s College of California)

Derek Fish (Dartmouth)

Joe Baker (Penn State)

Dave Geib (Army)

Nick Viviani (Bowling Green State University)

Sean Gallinger (University of California – Berkeley)

Benji Goff (Tennessee)

Bobby Johns (Louisiana State University)

Gareth Jones (Temple University)

Duncan Kelm (San Diego State University)

Seki Kofe (BYU)

Hunter Leland (Texas A&M)

Tim Maupin (St. Mary’s College of California)

AJ Tuineau (University of Utah)

Colton Cariaga (Life University)

Joe Cowley (Life University)

Chris Downer (Dartmouth)

Nick Downer (Dartmouth)

Tyler Harrison (University of California – Davis)

Sione Lauti (University of Utah)

Rocco Mauer (Bowling Green State University)

Tim Stanfill (Central Washington)

Danie Swanepoel (Arkansas State)

Selection Breakdown

2011 All-Americans and Honorable Mentions

• 21 2010 All-Americans
• 3 2009 All-Americans
• 16 first-time All-Americans
• 7 two-time All-Americans
• 6 Men’s Eagle Sevens internationals
• 2 Men’s Eagle Fifteens internationals
• 9 2010 Honorable Mentions
• 30 first-time Honorable Mentions
• 18 former USA Under-20s (Junior All-Americans)
• 4 Division I student-athletes
• 2 Division II student-athletes

Bruce McLane checks in with longtime and accomplished New Zealand coach Murray Roulston to talk about skills, especially passing, positioning, defense, tactics, and training.

This interview is available to RUGBYMag.com Premier Members.