Your Scrumhalf Connection

The West U23 Local Area Union Tournament was this past weekend and it showcased the best of the best in the West Rugby Union. With only three unions participating this year, Texas Rugby Union (TRU), Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union (ERRFU) and the Heart of America (HOA), the format was a bit different than in years past. Since this is mainly a selection venue, on Saturday all three teams played once and then on Sunday the West coaches split the teams up into motley sides. The West coaches in attendance were Angie Cranmore, Head Coach, Traci Schmitke, Fowards Coach and Wendy Young, Backs Coach.

The first match of the day on Saturday featured the hosts Texas against ERRFU. This match was very intense and incredibly close the whole 80 minutes. The ERRFU pack was incredibly mobile and Texas struggled with tackling and rucking in the beginning of the match. ERRFU was able to take advantage of this early in the match and put five points on the board. Katie Thompson, Rachel Ryan and Becca Knappe from ERRFU were unstoppable off the edge of the fringe, gaining meters on every run. During the second half the Texas backs, Kandis Ruiz, Autumn Murrill, KC Curl and Alex Davenport began to get clean ball and they showed their speed and evasive running to put 5 points on the board. Texas was able to hold ERRFU back from opening the gates and the score ended ERRFU 15 Texas 5. View the video below, or go here.

Texas Rugby Union vs Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union – West U23 LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

The second match of the day pitted the Heart of America vs the Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union. ERRFU brought the most players of all the teams, so we got to see some fresh faces in this match. ERRFU scored very quickly at the beginning of the match off of a driving maul. But HOA had some great forward support and they were able to steal ERRFU ball and capitalize on it themselves. Towards the end of the first half, HOA’s inside center, Cari Squires, cherry picked a pass and 80 meters later put HOA on the board. HOA was able to put another score on the board in the second half, but ERRFU continued to score as well with three tries in the corner from Emma Parenteau to bring the final score to ERRFU 22 HOA 10. View the video below, or go here.

Heart of America vs Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union – West U23 LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

The last game on Saturday was voted as the match of the day by all. HOA took on Texas for a nail biter of a match. HOA got off to a quick start with two tries from Cari Squires and at half time the score was HOA 26 Texas 0. Texas finally responded at the start of the second half with big hits, runs and scores. The Texas backs were able to get fast ball often and were passing well and this resulted in several tries in a row. Not to be undone, the Texas forwards played smart in the red zone and were able to dot a few tries down as well. The final score of this match was Texas 51 HOA 26. Unfortunately the battery ran out in the camera and this game was not filmed.

Overall the weekend was a success and the level of rugby was the highest seen in the West in quite some time. With 81 girls attending, the West coaches will have a chore choosing players to bring to the Invitational only tryouts in late April or early May. After that the West coaches will need to pick the best 28 players to attend the 2010 National All Star Championships in June.

Hello,

It’s that time of the year to start thinking about spring rugby and the Texas Rugby Union (TRU) Under-23 Women’s Select Side Rugby Team.

Here are some FAQs:
What is the team? It is a group of players selected from women’s club, collegiate, and high school teams across Texas who want to have fun and learn more about rugby. This team also acts as a step toward making the West Under-23 Women’s Select Side Team. If you are interested in the West U-23 team, please fill out the attached form and turn it in at the tryouts.

Who is eligible for the team?
Players must by 22 years of age or younger on January 1, 2010 to be selected.

When are tryouts?
Tryouts will be held at the UT IM Fields (Located on the southeast corner of 51st and Guadalupe Streets) in Austin, Texas on January 30 and 31, 2010. This event is a 2 day tryout with Saturday running from 9 am to 4 pm and Sunday running from 9 am to 1 pm. The cost of the tryout is $10/player. Directions are at the following link – http://www.utrugby.com/resources/directions.htm.

Who should tryout?
EVERYONE!! We want as many people to tryout as possible. (Women’s club, college and high school players)

How many players are selected?
28 players will be selected for the team.

What is the commitment level?
Players must commit to tryouts (see above) and if selected, they need to commit to
- Warm-up Weekend in Austin, TX (Saturday, Feb 27 in the evening and Sunday, Feb 28 morning and afternoon) and
- LAU Under-23 Tournament in Austin, TX (Friday, March 5 – Sunday, March 7).

Why should I tryout for the team?
1) You are guaranteed to have fun
2) You’ll learn more about rugby
3) You’ll meet and play with girls from all over the state
4) The tournament is in TEXAS!!

Who should I contact about coming to tryouts or questions? Please email me (Traci Schmidtke) if you plan to attend tryouts or if your team is attending (the total number of players) and if you have any questions/concerns.

Hope to see you there!!

Traci Schmidtke
Head Coach, TRU U-23 Women’s Team

Update 8/31/2009: Full results including the Tournament Writeup and Archived Videos are available here.

Welcome to New York!
On behalf of Metropolitan New York Rugby Union’s Host Committee, I am happy to welcome USA Rugby and its All Star Sevens Tournament to New York. This website will be the central resource for information before, during and after the tournament.

The competition will be held on new high-quality artificial turf fields on Randall’s Island. We worked with New York City government to ensure these and other fields fit regulation rugby dimensions, markings and goal posts. Both the match field and a warm-up field are dedicated to the tournament all day on Saturday August 29 and Sunday 30th, and one field is available for practice from 1-6pm both Thursday August 27 and Friday August 28th. There will also be a charity rugby match between the New York City Fire Department and the New York City Police Department on Saturday on an adjacent field. Information about the facilities is posted here.

There will be bleachers, tents, portajohns, food service, a videotaping service and medical professionals on call at the tournament site
Travel Arrangements
We have reserved blocks of hotel rooms at the Marriott East Side, located at Lexington Avenue at 51st Street in Manhattan, and at the Fitzpatrick Hotels at East 44th Street and East 57th Street. Details and discount codes are located here.

We plan to update this website with results from the tournament, to use Facebook and Twitter to keep participants who subscribe up to date on the results and on social events. We will be issuing all the usual publicity to media outlets in the area.

Welcome to New York, we hope you enjoy your visit and look forward to hosting USA Rugby and its All Stars in future.

This week we have another video from Lisa with Put me in Coach! It is a highlight reel from the MARFU vs NRU match at U23 NASCs in Pittsburgh. YSC was on location and reporting live from the U23 NASC tournament.

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
6/15/2009: West Scrum Try & a Highlight Reel of MARFU vs NRU from U23 NASCs
6/8/2009: Philadelphia Gets Dirty…
5/25/2009: Sweden vs Spain Highlights – 2010 Rugby World Cup Qualifier
5/18/2009: Paradox on the Pitch by Deb Wallavand
5/11/2009: Rugby Video Monday: It’s time for 7s Rugby!!
5/4/2009: More U23 LAU Videos from March 2009

Please keep sending me your favorite videos to scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Make sure to check out the YSC Vimeo Channel or my Youtube channel…and you can subscribe to both if you like, but keep in mind that all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

This week’s video is a YSC exclusive from the U23 NASC tournament in Pittsburgh, PA. YSC was on location and reporting live from the NASC tournament and taped the Sunday games and will be posting them on the YSC Vimeo Channel as soon as possible. This video is a finely executed 5-meter scrum try by the West U23s.

Rugby Video Monday: West U23 Scrummy Try against South at U23 NASCs from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

If you are viewing this post through an RSS feeder, go here for the video.

BONUS VIDEO! This week we also have a bonus video from Lisa with Put me in Coach! This video is a highlight reel from the MARFU vs NRU match at U23 NASCs in Pittsburgh:

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
6/8/2009: Philadelphia Gets Dirty…
5/25/2009: Sweden vs Spain Highlights – 2010 Rugby World Cup Qualifier
5/18/2009: Paradox on the Pitch by Deb Wallavand
5/11/2009: Rugby Video Monday: It’s time for 7s Rugby!!
5/4/2009: More U23 LAU Videos from March 2009

Please keep sending me your favorite videos to scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Make sure to check out the YSC Vimeo Channel or my Youtube channel…and you can subscribe to both if you like, but keep in mind that all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

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