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Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:45 pm
by goeagles
Flyin Ryan wrote:I'm going to do an interview of a nominated candidate for the USA Rugby Board of Directors for Rugby Wrapup. I'd like to crowdsource a few questions to ask him, so what would you guys like asked?
What does he think USAR needs to do better? What does he think they are doing well?
What are the 3 most pressing issues facing USAR?
What should the role of the Board of Directors be?
What does he personally bring to the table as a nominated candidate?

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:35 pm
by Flyin Ryan
Thanks you two.

Bowens, DT, others, anything?

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:35 pm
by Old Man by the Sea
So USA is playing Canada on July 1st in San Diego. Too far for me. But have tickets for NJ. Georgia is doubtful.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:19 am
by Flyin Ryan
A final updated 2017 Penn Mutual Varsity Cup Rugby Championship has been announced, that will include Boston College and Utah Valley into the pool of 14 teams, replacing Utah and Arizona State.
Uhhh...what happened?

(edit: BYU, Air Force, and Texas are gone too, seems like BYU left the competition due to having the 2015 title stripped from them for using an ineligible player http://www.goffrugbyreport.com/news/byu-out-varsity-cup )

So the 2017 Varsity Cup looks like this:

Image

Are people going to actually attend this thing's final if BYU is not in the game and hosting? We'll find out. (Game will be at Santa Clara.)

Arkansas State, Central Washington, and Utah Valley. Jack Clark must be ecstatic.

Speaking of which, St. Mary's beat Cal in Berkeley.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:42 am
by Tecumseh
mikerob wrote:I gave up on Ticketmaster and contacted the Red Bull Arena direct and spoke to a real person who was extremely helpful. She set up a NY Red Bulls account for me and took the order for rugby tickets so I was then able to log in to the account and download the tickets. :thumbup:

I've been to NY lots of times before but never to the area of NJ where the stadium is... it seems to be a bit of an industrial wasteland. Anyone know if there is much craig around the stadium itself?
Couple of OK boozers in the area (better post game) and there'll be hospitality tents etc at the stadium. Had a decent session after the London Irish v Sarries game last year and this game will obviously bring a bigger crowd. Head back into the city at a reasonable hour though.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:48 am
by goeagles
Flyin Ryan wrote:
A final updated 2017 Penn Mutual Varsity Cup Rugby Championship has been announced, that will include Boston College and Utah Valley into the pool of 14 teams, replacing Utah and Arizona State.
Uhhh...what happened?
ASU pulled out because they fielded a non-student in a B side match who put a Zona player in the hospital after kicking him in the face while he was on the ground. I think they've pulled out of the rest of their matches this spring as a result.

Utah cited costs as the reason they left. Honestly I think the VC is on its last legs. They lost Air Force and BYU earlier in the year. It's probably a good time for some reconciliation since there is new leadership at USAR as well. Unified college rugby playoffs would almost certainly be more competitive than ever.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:56 am
by Flyin Ryan
goeagles wrote:
Flyin Ryan wrote:
A final updated 2017 Penn Mutual Varsity Cup Rugby Championship has been announced, that will include Boston College and Utah Valley into the pool of 14 teams, replacing Utah and Arizona State.
Uhhh...what happened?
ASU pulled out because they fielded a non-student in a B side match who put a Zona player in the hospital after kicking him in the face while he was on the ground. I think they've pulled out of the rest of their matches this spring as a result.

Utah cited costs as the reason they left. Honestly I think the VC is on its last legs. They lost Air Force and BYU earlier in the year. It's probably a good time for some reconciliation since there is new leadership at USAR as well. Unified college rugby playoffs would almost certainly be more competitive than ever.
Almost all of Cal's "buddies" pulled out of the Varsity Cup (BYU is not a buddy). What's left of the competition's original point of view for why it exists left outside of Cal is Notre Dame (who are there solely for NBC), UCLA, the service academies, and maybe Dartmouth. I agree with you, I think Cal have to be done after this edition. The only reason for them to not be is they want nothing to deal with USA Rugby.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:02 am
by Flyin Ryan
The IT Webmaster of the USA Rugby site should be fired. It's completely unusable for referees looking up CIPP numbers to report cards.

That is all.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 6:47 am
by goeagles
Flyin Ryan wrote:The IT Webmaster of the USA Rugby site should be fired. It's completely unusable for referees looking up CIPP numbers to report cards.

That is all.
I'm struggling to remember a time when the site wasn't an unnavigable wasteland. How's reffing going?

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 1:11 pm
by Flyin Ryan
goeagles wrote:
Flyin Ryan wrote:The IT Webmaster of the USA Rugby site should be fired. It's completely unusable for referees looking up CIPP numbers to report cards.

That is all.
I'm struggling to remember a time when the site wasn't an unnavigable wasteland. How's reffing going?
Fairly well so far this spring. Did a high school boys match last night and have a JV game Saturday. High school rugby in Indiana is very well organized and put together in my opinion, which may surprise some nationally because I don't think the state is looked at as a center of the game at all, but Hoosiers do love high school sports. The game would be in fantastic shape in northeast Indiana if we could convince one of the Fort Wayne city schools to start up a team. More referees and coaches are needed moving forward as always.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:32 pm
by goeagles
Flyin Ryan wrote:
goeagles wrote:
Flyin Ryan wrote:The IT Webmaster of the USA Rugby site should be fired. It's completely unusable for referees looking up CIPP numbers to report cards.

That is all.
I'm struggling to remember a time when the site wasn't an unnavigable wasteland. How's reffing going?
Fairly well so far this spring. Did a high school boys match last night and have a JV game Saturday. High school rugby in Indiana is very well organized and put together in my opinion, which may surprise some nationally because I don't think the state is looked at as a center of the game at all, but Hoosiers do love high school sports. The game would be in fantastic shape in northeast Indiana if we could convince one of the Fort Wayne city schools to start up a team. More referees and coaches are needed moving forward as always.
It doesn't surprise me that the game is well run there. Isn't it one of Royal Irish or Penn that hosts the annual HS NIT? And yeah, probably not historically thought of as a major talent center, but Indiana is certainly turning some heads lately. Think they're gonna have a tough time of it against BYU this weekend, but they're proving to be a quality team and Bryce Campbell is a beast.

Has anyone tried to go to the ADs at the Fort Wayne schools and start a team? Basically the sales pitch is you're not asking for money, just for field space and other non-financial resources. You can also push the rugby tackling in football angle. It sucks being self-funded, but there are a lot of opportunities out there through schools to fund raise. For example, many grocery chains will sell these reloadable pre-paid gift cards where they give 5% of every purchase to a school organization. So if you put $100 on the card, you get $100 to spend on groceries and the store donates $5 to the team. It's not gonna fund everything you need, but there are lots of opportunities like this once you get inside a school.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:51 pm
by Old Man by the Sea
Flyin Ryan wrote:Thanks you two.

Bowens, DT, others, anything?
Ryan, do you miss North Carolina ?

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 2:34 am
by Flyin Ryan
Of course. :lol:

But I met a sweet little lady and have a little one where I'm at now.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:02 am
by Flyin Ryan
goeagles wrote:
Flyin Ryan wrote:
goeagles wrote:
Flyin Ryan wrote:The IT Webmaster of the USA Rugby site should be fired. It's completely unusable for referees looking up CIPP numbers to report cards.

That is all.
I'm struggling to remember a time when the site wasn't an unnavigable wasteland. How's reffing going?
Fairly well so far this spring. Did a high school boys match last night and have a JV game Saturday. High school rugby in Indiana is very well organized and put together in my opinion, which may surprise some nationally because I don't think the state is looked at as a center of the game at all, but Hoosiers do love high school sports. The game would be in fantastic shape in northeast Indiana if we could convince one of the Fort Wayne city schools to start up a team. More referees and coaches are needed moving forward as always.
It doesn't surprise me that the game is well run there. Isn't it one of Royal Irish or Penn that hosts the annual HS NIT? And yeah, probably not historically thought of as a major talent center, but Indiana is certainly turning some heads lately. Think they're gonna have a tough time of it against BYU this weekend, but they're proving to be a quality team and Bryce Campbell is a beast.
Royal Irish wouldn't surprise me. It's Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, which is a very rich Catholic school. My current coach - the one I'm going to do the interview about trying to get on the USA Rugby Board of Directors - used to coach Penn.

The college game in the state can use some work, and the men's game could use a lot of work. We're going to sweep our Division III league 8-0 in a double round robin and get maximum bonus points if we do the business this coming Saturday, but in all honesty it's a sucky league and not this year but the year before we had two forfeit wins. The only other club in the state are the Indianapolis Impalas who play in Division II and they thrashed us pretty good in our league opener this spring (the handful of clubs in Northwest Indiana don't play with us, they play in the Chicago union). Part of the problem is Indiana is a state of mostly smaller towns and you normally need cities of a certain size to have enough people to field a rugby team. For the college game, it's grown. I remember my club one time played IUPUI and we won handily but were really impressed with their level of play. The public university in town IPFW made the NSCRO Final Four a couple years ago, and a lot of rugby community guys put a lot of money into them having a rugby purpose field on their campus, they invited Purdue up for a game for the field dedication that we tried to get a lot of public interest into it. The issue with the college game here is it needs some more organizational oomph behind it, because sometimes the players are in charge and let stuff go that shouldn't be.
Has anyone tried to go to the ADs at the Fort Wayne schools and start a team? Basically the sales pitch is you're not asking for money, just for field space and other non-financial resources. You can also push the rugby tackling in football angle. It sucks being self-funded, but there are a lot of opportunities out there through schools to fund raise. For example, many grocery chains will sell these reloadable pre-paid gift cards where they give 5% of every purchase to a school organization. So if you put $100 on the card, you get $100 to spend on groceries and the store donates $5 to the team. It's not gonna fund everything you need, but there are lots of opportunities like this once you get inside a school.
Rugby Indiana has that deal with Kroger.

My Division III club's president used to be the one paid employee of Rugby Indiana which runs the game in the state for everything U18 and below. He's tried. It's money more than anything else I think. There's five public high schools in the city, it's the largest school district in the state (largely because Indianapolis is really broken up) and they've all got more than enough in enrollment they could fill out a roster if you have a solid recruiter, and the Rugby Indiana rules is if your school does not have a rugby team, you can play for a neighboring school (up to only so far away) that does. I think the tack to take is go to the football coaches and show them the benefit spring rugby has for improving their defensive players' tackling skills.

The schools in the county that have teams are Bishop Dwenger, which is a private Catholic school so they have money, they were the first one to get going in the area 10-12 years ago I think. Homestead and Carroll which are your typical big mostly white suburbanite schools. And Leo which is a public suburban school but on the smaller side and their rugby team is only a couple years old. The ones that don't are Bishop Luers, a smaller Catholic school on the poorer side of town and are a historical football power, Concordia which is a private Lutheran school that's of decent size but would likely be the smallest rugby school this side of the state if they entered, the five city schools which run the range from the inner-city heavily black school that everyone wants to escape from to schools that are kinda suburbanish in character and all of them are pretty big (one of them, Snider, won a state football title in 2015), 3 schools in the same district as Leo although outside of a passionate driver to get a program going, I only ever see 1 of them even considering fielding a team, and a tiny private Protestant Christian school and a tiny private secular school that are probably too small to seriously consider fielding teams (they don't have football now).

So there's 16 high schools in the county, maybe 13 has enough enrollment to seriously consider fielding a rugby team if they wanted, and 4 of those have rugby teams, plus there's 2 schools with teams in nearby counties that get lumped in with the Fort Wayne rugby scene, one of which has a girls team that are seriously good nationally. Think most know to reach critical mass with high school rugby here that we need to crack into the city schools. But Fort Wayne is maybe 1/5th the size of Raleigh where I came from in comparison, and the first school-specific rugby team there wasn't until maybe 2011, so at least this part of the country we are way way ahead with developing rugby compared to an area that's considered very cosmopolitan.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:28 am
by Flyin Ryan
Varsity Cup scores after a couple weekends:
Round of 16

at Army 41, Notre Dame 8
at Clemson 36, Dartmouth 29
Penn State 100, at Harvard 7
at Navy 64, Boston College 14
at Oklahoma 7, Arkansas State 69
at UCLA 14, Utah Valley 40

Quarterfinal

at Arkansas State 39, Utah Valley 12
at Clemson 5, Cal 71
at Navy 27, Central Washington 24
at Penn State 47, Army 34

Semifinals this Saturday

Navy at Arkansas State
Penn State at Cal

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 12:16 am
by Flyin Ryan
So a wrapup of my club’s hosting of the first two rounds of the eastern half of the Midwest DIII playoffs this weekend. All 4 teams entered undefeated from their leagues. It rained all weekend, a month prior a group of enterprising cricketers cut a cross into the middle of the pitch removing all the grass so that wound up a mudpit, and Saturday was very windy.

Semifinal 1 – Toledo went up 12-0 at half off 2 tries as they had the wind at their backs. Fort Wayne 2nd half came and scored two tries nearer the sidelines to come back to within 12-10. At the end of the game we got a penalty near the 22 maybe 5 yards or so to the side, and everyone is yelling “POINTS!”. Our fullback goes up, takes the kick, wasn’t close. Game final.

Semifinal 2 – The Columbus Castaways for most of the contest were the better team, but the Pittsburgh Highlanders late in the 2nd half were able to take a 12-10 lead. End of the game one of Columbus’ backs finds a hole and makes a break for the corner. Scores the try, only one all day that end of the field, miss the meaningless conversion, and that’s game. They win 15-12.

Championship – Toledo with about 10 minutes to go score a try to go up 24-17. At the end of the match, after a rigid goalline defense for many phases, Columbus are able to score a little to the side of the posts (couple yards at most). So if Columbus’ kicker makes the kick, game goes to overtime. Kicker comes up, takes the kick, and misses it badly. End of game, 24-22. Toledo advance to the Midwest DIII Final having had two kickers miss makeable kicks right that would’ve changed the result or extended the game right before the final whistle blew.

For these three games, 7 points was the total margin of victory.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 3:42 am
by Flyin Ryan
2 college rugby finals on actual TV this Saturday.

3pm Eastern on NBC Sports - Cal vs. Arkansas State
7pm Eastern on CBS Sports - St. Mary's vs. Life

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 3:57 am
by Old Man by the Sea
Flyin Ryan wrote:2 college rugby finals on actual TV this Saturday.

3pm Eastern on NBC Sports - Cal vs. Arkansas State
7pm Eastern on CBS Sports - St. Mary's vs. Life
St. Marys vs Life should be a good match. I love the fact that BYU had to play Life after ducking them for years.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 2:19 am
by Old Man by the Sea
St Mary's over Life in a barn burner of a match. Both teams laying it out and leaving it on the field. I really respect both of those programs. Great game and I hope CSB Sports stays with college rugby.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 2:41 pm
by Bowens
Congrats to Notre Dame College on their 1AA title. Their coach was a teammate of mine, great player and guy.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 8:35 pm
by goeagles
Old Man by the Sea wrote:St Mary's over Life in a barn burner of a match. Both teams laying it out and leaving it on the field. I really respect both of those programs. Great game and I hope CSB Sports stays with college rugby.
Hope VC collapses and Cal and the rest join D1A next year. Would be by far the most competitive college playoff ever.

In really sad news, Robert Paylor of Cal was paralyzed in the VC final. His family released the following statement:

Image

They've also set up a GoFundMe that has raised over $116,000 so far: https://www.gofundme.com/RobertPaylor

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 10:23 pm
by chicharino
fudge me running, I watched the Cal game on the tube and though it looked serious while he lay there the collision didn't look all that major. Sending prayers and thoughts to Paylor and his family along with a bit to gofundme for his recovery.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 10:26 pm
by Old Man by the Sea
goeagles wrote:
Old Man by the Sea wrote:St Mary's over Life in a barn burner of a match. Both teams laying it out and leaving it on the field. I really respect both of those programs. Great game and I hope CSB Sports stays with college rugby.
Hope VC collapses and Cal and the rest join D1A next year. Would be by far the most competitive college playoff ever.

In really sad news, Robert Paylor of Cal was paralyzed in the VC final. His family released the following statement:

Image

They've also set up a GoFundMe that has raised over $116,000 so far: https://www.gofundme.com/RobertPaylor
I'm heartbroken to hear of this tragedy. I hope the rugby community comes together and supports this family. A punch in the gut.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 2:51 am
by Flyin Ryan
I thought I'd taped the Cal-Arky State match but I had not and didn't get to watch it. (Was out of town working.)

Life-St. Mary's though I did DVR and it was an awesome game. My one complaint is you can tell the backs play like 7s players as far as their passing and being blasé with the ball.

Any interest in the CRC this year? Seems quieter this year. Couldn't even find pools a couple days ago.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 1:42 am
by fonzeee
goeagles wrote:
Old Man by the Sea wrote:St Mary's over Life in a barn burner of a match. Both teams laying it out and leaving it on the field. I really respect both of those programs. Great game and I hope CSB Sports stays with college rugby.
Hope VC collapses and Cal and the rest join D1A next year. Would be by far the most competitive college playoff ever.

In really sad news, Robert Paylor of Cal was paralyzed in the VC final. His family released the following statement:

Image

They've also set up a GoFundMe that has raised over $116,000 so far: https://www.gofundme.com/RobertPaylor
Jesus, awful news...hope he can make the best of it, with modern medicine being what it is I'm hoping he'll be able to make a decent recovery.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 3:25 am
by Flyin Ryan
anyone going to the USA at Canada Rugby World Cup qualifier in Hamilton on June 24th?

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 2:51 am
by Flyin Ryan
CRC Men's Pools. Begins June 3rd.

Pool A: Boston College, Dartmouth, St. Mary's, Temple
Pool B: Arkansas State, Life, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
Pool C: Army, Lindenwood, Navy, St. Joseph's
Pool D: American International College, Arizona, UCLA, Virginia Tech
Pool E: Cal, Clemson, Delaware, Penn State
Pool F: Indiana, Kutztown, South Carolina, Tennessee

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 8:37 pm
by Old Man by the Sea
Well guys, Mitchell will soon be departing, begs a few questions.
Who will replace him ?
Will the current players be affected by his impending departure ?
Is the pay really that poor for this position ?

I thought he was an excellent upgrade from the previous coach.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sat May 27, 2017 6:53 am
by Deadtigers
Old Man by the Sea wrote:Well guys, Mitchell will soon be departing, begs a few questions.
Who will replace him ?
Will the current players be affected by his impending departure ?
Is the pay really that poor for this position ?

I thought he was an excellent upgrade from the previous coach.
Not that hard to improve on Tolkin's performance. I personally think we should go for the international damaged goods approach for another 2-5 years until a USA coach can really prove they are ready. PDV is coaching Varsity cup so he should be available, Mckee of Fiji and Phelan of Argentina (formerly), Ewen McKenzie maybe. We want to avoid a fat Alf bluffer situation but a coach trying to push off controversy and show he can coach would be a good choice.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 12:26 am
by Flyin Ryan
Guess I agree with DT.

Problem with domestic coaches is none are ever chosen to coach abroad and the best ones here the talent disparity between teams can be so large that coaches can hide behind their players while not getting tgeir coaching ability ever challenged. Only way a domestic coach in XVs can make a credible candidacy for himself is through.tge national team. Problem with that approach is that's what Tolkin did in 2011, and everyone agrees his coaching tenure was a failure.

All this said, there is absolutely zero excuse for the players and coaches if they lose the RWCQ series to Canada in a month with the state they're in.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 6:00 am
by goeagles
Personally, I'd rather have an up and coming coach than a damaged goods type, but ultimately the #1 thing is the new coach has to be committed to the job. That means moving to or living in America. Pretty sure Dan Payne is big on that stipulation.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:36 pm
by Flyin Ryan
goeagles wrote:Personally, I'd rather have an up and coming coach than a damaged goods type, but ultimately the #1 thing is the new coach has to be committed to the job. That means moving to or living in America. Pretty sure Dan Payne is big on that stipulation.
Agree with that.

Cal win CRC 7s 19-0 over Life.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 7:41 pm
by Bowens
Front page feature on the professionalization of American rugby in the current issue of Sports Business Journal. I will pick up a copy and report back, all of their stuff online is subscription.
Spoiler: show
Image

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:54 pm
by Old Man by the Sea
goeagles wrote:Personally, I'd rather have an up and coming coach than a damaged goods type, but ultimately the #1 thing is the new coach has to be committed to the job. That means moving to or living in America. Pretty sure Dan Payne is big on that stipulation.
Reminds me of a conversation I had with a retired Admiral, his top assistant came to him and said what type of man do you want for this job ? " I want a man who has fallen down and gotten dirty, who made mistakes, and brushed himself off and learned from the mistakes"

I agree with living here in the States.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 12:08 am
by Old Man by the Sea
Anyone else watching ?

Looks like a poor turnout.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 12:18 am
by goeagles
Old Man by the Sea wrote:Anyone else watching ?

Looks like a poor turnout.
Set piece has been really good so far. And just as I type that, some poor defense lets in a Georgian try.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 12:24 am
by Old Man by the Sea
Backline does not look good.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 12:27 am
by goeagles
Old Man by the Sea wrote:Backline does not look good.
Magie has been really hesitant and has thrown some shit passes. Augspurger is not an international wing. He's a utility back bench option at best. Teo I don't love at fullback. I wouldn't mind seeing him at 12, though.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 12:34 am
by Old Man by the Sea
Those errors are killers.

Re: American Rugby Catch-all Thread

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 1:01 am
by goeagles
Well that went downhill in a hurry. Inability to scrum and piss poor catch-pass is a deadly combo.