Your Scrumhalf Connection

For this week’s rugby video, I thought we could take a look back to last year’s Dallas 7s Tournament! We had 10 women’s teams and of course the infamous Debutante Ball (prom dress rugby). Check out the highlight video of the Debutante Ball and the Championship match between the Glendale Raptors and the Satiated Beavers. If your team is interested in attending the 2010 Dallas 7s on June 3, 2010, check out the details here and if you have any questions email me!

Dallas Debutante Ball 2009 from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

Satiated Beavers vs Glendale – Dallas 7s Final from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

To view more YSC videos hover over the heading ‘Videos’ on the navigation bar up top and choose Rugby Video Monday.

Please continue sending in your videos and I will keep posting them! Send them to wendy@scrumhalfconnection.com.

MARCH 10, 2010
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL

2ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL TOUCH RUGBY TOURNAMENT:
Highlights & Results, New Mixed Divsion Tournament Champions

The “Untouchables” after their win in Ft. Lauderdale. Back Row: Adam Russell, PJ Komongnan, Scottie Fraser, Aurora Bushner, Toshi Palamo, Tonga Fanueli. Front Row: CJ Hildreth, Stacy Bennett, Katie Miller, Beth Black.

A blow-out event this year with visiting DC/ VA/ MD team the “Untouchables” winning the Mixed finals after competitive round-robin play whittled down the competition to local hosts Ft Lauderdale & the “Untouchables.” An elite side of ex-pats, US Eagles Ladies 7′s players, and DC-area league players took home the trophy and prize money as they pushed to a 4-0 win in the 2nd half, after a tight 2-0 first period. Ft Lauderdale defended tightly, with aggressive ladies defense a highlight, but were unable to break the opposition line on attack, despite some break away runs flowing the length of the field. Experienced Cayman Islands referees Guy Major & Steve Henshaw kept tight control of proceedings, despite the Untouchables’ exuberant & canny use of the international rules and their big match experience proving the deciding factor on the day.

International representatives, Cayman Island Pirates came in 3rd in the Mixed Division, due to a semi-final loss to the hosts Ft Lauderdale with a 5-2 result. The 2008 US Nationals Mixed division champs were without some of their other experienced team-mates, but their nous & knowledge of the laws meant Ft Lauderdale had to keep pushing until the final whistle, as the Pirates threatened on every occasion with ball in hand.

Fielding teams in both Mixed & Men’s divisions, Ft Lauderdale were able to sneak a win in the Premier Men’s division match against rivals Orlando. The 4-3 final score showed the intensity & competitive conflict nature of every encounter between these 2 teams, with the infamous Mickey Cup on the line for each match.

New South Florida touch rugby club Palm Beach were the only side, other than the hosts Ft Lauderdale, to field teams in both Men’s & Mixed Divisions. Their enthusiasm & growing confidence were apparent with each successive match & they are clearly a force to be reckoned with in future competition. They may even be the dark horse to watch, with this year’s US Nationals being played at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Walt Disney World Resort, FL September 24-25, 2010. http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=FloridaTouchRugbyUSANationalsDetailPage

Upcoming competition for the Untouchables includes tournaments in Portland, OR in July, Orlando, FL in September for USA Touch Nationals, and international travel to New Zealand in February.

Your Scrumhalf Connection is proud to sponsor the 30th Annual Ruggerfest in DC this weekend. Part of that sponsorship includes posting the brackets and live score updates on Twitter and Facebook! The Girl and I will both be in DC this weekend, come find us for a free tshirt (we will have 5 for free and more for sale).

Divisions:
Competitive: Division 1 Teams
Two Social Division

Tournament Venue:
Rosecroft Raceway

Tournament Party:
DA’s Regional Food and Drink
810 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001

Tournament Brackets:

Thanks to the Tournament Organizers for putting on such a great event!

Amy Shopkorn
Ryan Whited
Co-Chairs Ruggerfest 2010
ruggerfest@dcfuries.com
http://www.dcfuries.com/ruggerfest.shtml

The team waits to called into the Arena

The Philadelphia Women’s Rugby Football Club (PWRFC) partnered with standout college players from the Philadelphia city colleges to play an exhibition match in the Wachovia Center on Saturday, Feb 20th.

PWRFC has been fundraising partners with the Philadelphia Wings, a professional indoor lacrosse team, and the opportunity grew from that partnership. This modified version of 7-a-side rugby, monikered “Arena Rugby”, proved to be fast, physical, exciting, and explosive. To add interest to the event, PWRFC invited to top city college players to join them in a blue/maroon game prior to the Wings regular game.

The 10 minute, single period game kicked off at 6:10 PM. Various safetly challenges presented themselves, first and foremost, playing in a hockey rink. While there was a padded turf covering over the rink, the boards and glass surrounding the rink make for some safety issues. Through discussions with the referee, it was decided that the following rule changes would be in place:

Checking or pushing a player into the boards would replace tackling a player out of bounds – essentially, when a ball carrier touched the wall surrounding the rink, they were ‘in touch’ and a turnover was awarded to the non-offending team.

Hannah Bennet on the move

Any attempt to actually tackle a player into the boards would be considered a dangerous tackle, and any player doing so would be dealt with harshly, ie, sent to the penalty box for a pre-determined period of time, or ejected, depending on severity.

3 person, 7′s style scrums would be used.

All offenses other than forward passes and knock ons, to include “in touch” would result in a free kick to the non-offending team.

Professional lacrosse fans loved the action and were eager to learn about rugby. While the crowd was thin given the early start, line breaks and tackles were met with cheers from the crowd, and both the players and the spectators enjoyed themselves. The short, intense format combined some of the best aspects of 7s and 15s, and who knows … maybe there will be a future for indoor rugby!

Players:

Andrea Anastaski – University of Pennslyvania
Rachel Bandura – Temple University
Hannah Bennet – Drexel University
Chey Coates – Philly Women
Kate Hallinan – Philly Women
Suzanne Igoe Philly Women
Maria Muscara – Lasalle University
Kerstin Nordstrom – Philly Women
Emily Record – Philly Women
Lauren Reiter – Drexel University
Moira Sommerdyk – Temple University
Julia Walsh – Lasalle University
Sheara Williamson – Philly Women
Katie Wojtal – Philly Women
Jessica Yue – Philly Women

Philadelphia Women’s Rugby Football Club (PWRFC) was founded in 1976, making it the most established women’s rugby club in the Philadelphia area. For more information about the PWRFC, visit our website,www.pwrfc.org

On Saturday, the Buffalo Rugby Club hosted their 15th annual “7s in the Snow Tournament”. The tournament began in Delaware Park with half a dozen local teams, though it has grow to over 35 teams from NY, Pennsylvania and Canada.

This year there were over 400 participants playing rugby on 5 fields. The teams included men’s, women’s and college teams. 7 on 7 rugby is a shorter, more wide open format that is used for the tournament. Instead of the normal 15 on 15 teams, the 7 on 7 leads to more scoring which is more fun for the fans and participants.

The Buffalo Rugby Club is the premier rugby club in Western NY. Founded in 1966, they currently have two competitive sides. The first side competes in the Midwest in Division 1. The second side competes in NYS Division 3; it won the 2009 NYS championships and finished 2nd in the Northeast. By virtue of that, the team qualified for the National Sweet 16 championships in May.