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USA Rugby Women Eagles take Plate in London 7s

Guest — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:18:27 +0000

USA v. Australia – Cup Quarterfinals
The USA got a second crack at Australia after losing to the reigning world champions on day one of the London Sevens. However, the Aussies shot out of the gate and the USA couldn’t find an answer for them. The USA defense played tough and were able to keep the game within its grasps at half time, just two scores away at 0-12.

The second half was an absolute battle and Australia was halted by the American defense. The Eagles weren’t able to get a scoring moving together though and seven minutes saw Australia score another try to go up 17-0.

France is now the next obstacle in the Eagles way in the plate semifinal.

USA v. France – Plate Semifinal
France snuck by the USA 12-7 on day one and earned a favorable seeding in the cup quarters, but both lost in that competition and would get set to meet again the Plate Semis.

It would be the rookie, Bui Baravilala, that would emerge as the heroin in the Plate Semifinal.

Vanesha McGee got things started for the Eagles, breaking the French line and dotting it down to get her side on the board first. Kelly Griffin struck next and Baravilala converted to put the Eagles up 12-0. The French only got one score before half time and the USA had their tails up and the lead going into intermission.

France tied the game up early in the second half, and what a second half it would be. France continued to score the go ahead try and time was ticking down. The Eagles managed to stay composed and Bui Baravilala ended up crossing for the Eagles to tie the game. The Hawaiian converted her own try to end the game 19-17 and punched her team’s ticket to the plate final.

USA v. Russia – Plate Final

Bui Baravilala and Vanesha McGee each had a brace of tries against Russia to seal the deal and come away with the Plate in London.

It was the USA who took the game to Russia and nearly blanked the Russians, but a last gasp effort by Russia put Guzeva over for the score.

The Eagles will take that momentum into next week when they take part in the Amsterdam Sevens.

To view full scores and results from London 7s, go here. View the brackets and schedule from the upcoming Amsterdam 7s here.

Guest

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London 7s – England claim Cup

Guest — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:46:13 +0000

View the pools, brackets and full results here. Watch the IRB Highlight video here, the embed isn’t working for some reason?!

from IRBSevens.com:

England’s greater power and precision proved too much for first time Cup finalists the Netherlands as the hosts eased to a 34-7 victory in the IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup at Twickenham.

England have now won two of the three IRB-sanctioned Challenge Cup events this season, having defeated Australia in the previous final in Hong Kong. They lost out to Canada in the first event, in Dubai.

The Netherlands’ Anne Hielckert had opened the scoring in this Twickenham final to momentarily quieten the crowd. But England’s Hong Kong heroine Joanne Watmore combined power and balance to pierce the Netherlands’ defence twice before Alice Richardson produced a step and hand off to put England 17-7 up at the break.

Watmore completed her hat trick with the first play of the second half to dash any hopes of a Netherlands comeback before Kat Merchant touched down twice late on to complete an impressive victory.

“We came out in the semi final and had a really tough game (against Canada),” said England captain Michaela Staniford. “We made it hard work for ourselves and we didn’t perform, so coming out for the final and putting to bed some of those wrongs and hopefully putting on a show for the crowd was what we really wanted to do.”

For Netherlands coach Gareth Gilbert, whose players are full-time athletes funded by the Dutch Olympic Committee, the final was a promising step forward.

“You’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg so far with regards to the (Dutch) programme. The progress we’ve seen in the last year with these players has been unbelievable. A lot of these ladies have stopped their jobs and their family lives in order to train and play rugby. They train 20 hours a week, which they need to if we are going to compete with the big nations.” Gilbert said.

Dramatic route to Cup final

Earlier on day two, England defeated Russia 19-10 and Netherlands triumphed 19-0 over France in the Cup quarter finals.

The Cup semi finals produced two dramatic matches. England Sevens debutant Emily Scarratt scored the decisive try in extra time to edge the hosts to a 19-12 win over Canada. Then the Netherlands produced arguably the shock of the competition, edging RWC Sevens 2009 champions Australia 14-12.

Canada claimed third place with a 19-14 victory over Australia. USA won the Plate, defeating Russia 22-7. South Africa, for whom Zenay Jordaan was the tournament’s highest points scorer with 43, edged past France 14-7 to end up seventh. China defeated Portugal 43-5 to win the Bowl and Kazakhstan prevailed 19-17 over Brazil in the battle for 11th place.

View the pools, brackets and full results here. Watch the IRB Highlight video here, the embed isn’t working for some reason?!

Guest

Guest Ruggers that have something to say, but don't necessarily want to be a regular columnist on YSC. Interested in submitting a guest post? Email guest@scrumhalfconnection.com.

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Women’s Rugby stars get boost before London Sevens

Guest — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:24:56 +0000

View the London 7s Pools, Schedule & Rosters here.

from IRB.com:

England's Maggie Alphonsi in action at the WRWC 2010 Final in London

Women’s Rugby will take another significant step towards the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with the hosting of a key IRB workshop in London this week focussing on High Performance.
With the Women’s Game having experienced a stellar year on and off the field and more than one million women and girls participating worldwide, the second IRB Accelerated High

Performance Women’s Rugby Workshop from May 8-10 will assist participating Unions with implementing best-practice techniques for furthering the Game’s elite athletes.

Representatives from 25 Unions are joined by leading experts from across the sports sector and England’s Maggie Alphonsi, to identify and develop a pathway that will optimise competitiveness and performance for the Game’s stars in the lead up to Rio 2016 and ensure that the foundations are in place for Women’s Rugby to continue its phenomenal growth and competitiveness.

The workshop comes on the eve of the final stand-alone IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup event which will take place in front of a packed Twickenham stadium at the final leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series this weekend, and the IRB is committed to a dedicated Women’s Series next season. Qualifying for both the Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow next year and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 in France is well underway as elite competitions in the Women’s Game continue to expand and the standards of play are raised ever higher.

IRB Women’s Development Manager Susan Carty said: “Women’s Rugby is going from strength to strength. We now have more women and girls playing Rugby than ever before and our Unions are beginning to maximise the positive effects of Olympic inclusion.”

“A key strategic goal of the ground-breaking IRB Women’s Rugby Plan is to deliver a world-class Rugby Sevens women’s event at the Olympic Games in four years time and thanks to IOC support and commitment from our Unions the hosting of these workshops mark a significant step in reaching that objective,”

“The purpose of the workshop is to strengthen High Performance structures within our Unions and ultimately increase the overall competitiveness of Women’s Rugby as we embark on an exciting period of competitions that includes the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.”

The workshop will also focus on talent identification and recruitment and talent development to ensure the very best athletes reach their full potential at the Olympic Games in 2016.

England star Maggie Alphonsi who attended day one of the workshop said: “It was a great opportunity to meet and talk to people involved in the Game from around the world. I really enjoyed sharing ideas and opinions and becoming more aware of the amount of work taking place in the Women’s Game. As a player you don’t see the work done by so many people, you just get on with the job. As an athlete, it is very exciting to see the steps the IRB is taking to progress High Performance for Women’s Rugby. Meeting the High Performance Managers from so many countries around the world was fantastic, their passion and commitment made my day, it really blew me away.”

João Nogueira, High Performance Manager at Brazil Rugby said: “It is important to help Unions establish an effective High Performance Plan for women’s Rugby. I think Unions are doing a lot of work but this needs to be part of an overall direction and strategy in order to be effective. There is a huge need to develop a clear High Performance plan for women’s Rugby, which this programme will help us achieve, as we work towards our Olympic dream in 2016 and 2020.”

The IRB will continue to provide ongoing support to Unions in the implementation of their four-year plans (2012-2016) through existing regional-based development officers and the IRB Women’s Rugby Development Manager.

As part of the IRB’s commitment to growing the game around the globe, the next Accelerated High Performance Women’s Rugby Workshop, scheduled for later this year, will feature Unions from Asia and Oceania.

The third IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup will take place this weekend as part of the Marriott London Sevens, which is the finale of the HSBC Sevens World Series. Twelve invited teams from six continents will compete for the prized cup. England, crowned champions in Hong Kong in March, will look to retain the title in front of an anticipated record crowd. They will be joined by Canada, who took the inaugural title in Dubai in December, USA, Australia, South Africa, China, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Russia, Netherlands, Portugal and France.

Notes to Editors: Representatives from the following Unions are attending the Women’s High Performance Programme workshop this week: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Netherlands, Malta, Norway, Spain, South Africa, Tunisia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, USA and Zimbabwe.

View the London 7s Pools, Schedule & Rosters here.

Guest

Guest Ruggers that have something to say, but don't necessarily want to be a regular columnist on YSC. Interested in submitting a guest post? Email guest@scrumhalfconnection.com.

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londy, londy, londy

Vanesha McGee — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:12:36 +0000

LONDON!
we’re here! let me start by saying that i am deliriously tired! i can barely hold my head up, so this might not be the best blog entry..not that the others are all that stellar ; )

so we took off on tuesday morning, after a long week of camp. we had a short layover in texas (something about george dubya) then took a 9 hour flight to london. we were supposed to sleep on that leg of the trip, but sleeping proved quite difficult with the 2 hours of turbulence to start off. i watched 2 movies, read a bunch, and tried to sleep. since i only got about 3 hours of sleep on the plane and had to stay up all day i am soooo tired! i’ve been laughing so hard that i cry..for hours. im exhausted.

when we got to the hotel, we settled in and had lunch. we had 3 hours before our pool session, so i watched a movie and tried to read without falling asleep. both proved to be tough tasks! after the pool we had dinner (where i laugh-cried for almost an hour). i am now sitting in the lobby trying not to fall asleep and keeping myself busy until 830. only 30 minutes to go until i can fall asleep!

so far there are no links for watching the matches online, but i’ll post if anything comes up. tomorrow we practice and pool. we have some down time, so we’ll likely go to downtown London to see some sites and have tea and crumpets : )

cheers, cheers!

USA Rugby Eagles in Houston, bring the Aguila (Spanish for Eagle) to the UK!

View the London 7s Pools, Schedule & Rosters here.

Vanesha McGee

Professional USA Rugby Sevens Player

Women’s test rugby wins parity with men’s game

John Birch — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:47:34 +0000

Well, statistical parity at least.

The IRB’s database of test match rugby results (http://www.irb.com/results/index.html) now includes all women’s test matches, as well as men’s games. The information has been loaded just in time for women’s test rugby’s 30th birthday (the first ever test took place on 13th June 1982 when France beat Netherlands in Utrecht 4-0) and includes every result up to and including last weekend’s 940th test match, between Sweden and the Netherlands.

The database can be searched for all of the results of any women’s test team, as well as the results from any tournament played in the past 30 years. It is also possible to select the results of any fixture, such as USA v Canada, for example – a match-up that will celebrate its 25th anniversary this November.

The resource is already being used by Unions around the world – the data it contains was used as the basis of the RFU’s review of 25 years of England’s women’s test team last month, and information published by the Swedish RFU in advance of last weekend’s European B Championship.

John Birch

Editor of the UK Blog Letchworth Girls. Happy to have joined YSC.

AMSTERDAM SEVENS – MAY 19-20, 2012 – POOLS, SCHEDULE, ROSTERS AND OTHER DETAILS

Wendy Young — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:15:26 +0000

The teams and pools have been set for Amsterdam Sevens with 12 International Women’s sides participating. This is the strongest lineup of women’s team the touranment has seen in a long time with Australia (current World Cup 7s winners), Canada (won all but one major tournament in 2011-2012) and England (IRB Challenge Cup holders). The tournament also boasts USA and Netherlands who have been chipping away at the top teams but are still crafting their game. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are using this tournament to kick off their sevens campaigns to try and qualify for next summer’s World Cup 7s Tournament.

Pools & Schedule

2011 Results

Predictions
Vote for who you think will win Amsterdam 7s here.

Broadcast
No live broadcast, but they will be uploading matches as fast as they can to the Amsterdam 7s Youtube Channel.

Rosters

England
Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond)
Natasha Brennan (Wasps)
Jennifer Brightmore (Worcester)
Rachael Burford (Richmond)
Heather Fisher (Worcester)
Sonia Green (C) (Saracens)
Natasha Hunt (Lichfield)
Katie Mason (Bristol)
Alice Richardson (Richmond)
Leanne Riley (Saracens)
Emily Scott (Thurrock)
Kay Wilson (Bristol)

USA
Kaelene Lundstrum (USA Rugby; Bird Island, Minn.)
Deven Owsiany (USA Rugby; Royersford, Pa.)
Jillion Potter (USA Rugby; Austin, Texas)
Katie Dowty (USA Rugby; San Ramon, California)
Kimber Rozier (USA Rugby; Raleigh, N.C.)
Nathalie Marchino (Berkeley All-Blues; Geneva, Switzerland)
Vanesha McGee (USA Rugby; Ewing, N.J.)
Meya Bizer (At Large; Woodlands, Texas)
Kelly Griffin (USA Rugby; Berkeley, Calif.)
Akalaini “Bui” Barivilala (USA Rugby; Honolulu, Hawaii)
Ashley Okonta (Notre Dame; South Bend, Ind.)
Erica Cavanaugh (NOVA; Glen Allen, Va.)

Ireland
Ashleigh Baxter (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Lynne Cantwell (Richmond/Exiles)
Nicole Caughey (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Amy Davis (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Jeannette Feighery (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Shannon Houston (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Ashling Hutchings (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Niamh Kavanagh (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Claire Keohane (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Alison Miller (Portlaoise/Connacht)
Claire Molloy (Bristol RFC/Exiles/Connacht)
Jacqueline Mulligan (Sligo/Connacht)
Jennifer Murphy (Richmond/Exiles)
Joy Neville (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Áine Ní Chatháin (Garda RFC/Leinster)
Mollie O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Laura O’Mahony (Tralee/Munster)
Beth O’Brien (Oxford University/Exiles)
Rachael Potter (Saracens/Exiles)
Meadhbh Westwood (Waterloo/Exiles)

*Final player to be confirmed following April training camps.

Scotland
1 Susie Brown (Richmond)
2 Louise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars)
3 Sarah Dixon (Stirling County)
4 Tess Forsberg (Richmond)
5 Megan Gaffney (Murrayfield Wanderers)
6 Katy Green (Murrayfield Wanderers)
7 Steph Johnstone (RHC Cougars)
8 Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers)
9 Lisa Martin (Murrayfield Wanderers)
10 Annabel Sergeant (Murrayfield Wanderers)
11 Sarah Sexton (Murrayfield Wanderers)
12 Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
13 Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
14 Hazel Tod (Cartha QPR)
15 tbc
16 tbc

Canada
Jessica Dovanne – Velox Valkyries (Victoria, BC)
Megan Gibbs – Markham Irish Canadians (Barrie, ON)
Magali Harvey – Club de Quebec / St. FX University (Quebec City, QC)
Jen Kish – Edmonton Rockers (Edmonton, AB)
Ghislaine Landry – Toronto Scottish RFC (Toronto, ON)
Mandy Marchak – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC / Winnipeg, MN)
Barbara Mervin – Velox Valkyries (Victoria, BC)
Kayla Moleschi – University of Lethbridge (Williams Lake, BC)
Cheryl Phillips – Toronto Scottish RFC (Toronto, ON)
Kelly Russell – Toronto Nomads (Bolton, ON)
Ashley Steacy – Lethbridge Rugby Club (Lethbridge, AB)
Brittany Waters – Meraloma Athletic Club (Vancouver, BC)
Kelsey Willoughby – Lethbridge RFC / U of Lethbridge (Lethbridge, AB)
Julianne Zussman- Town of Mount Royal RFC, (Montreal, QB)

South Africa
Mandisa Williams
Ziyanda Tywaleni
Nwabisa Ngxatu
Nolusindiso Booi
Sinazo Nobele
Lamla Momoti
Zandile Nojoko
Phumeza Gadu
Zenay Jordaan
Aimee Barrett
Janine Felix
Cherne Roberts

Reserves
Zimkitha Tsilana
Zaandre Theron

Poland
Delia Atomówki Łódź – Marta Jarecka, rez. Patrycja Badowska;
Ladies Frogs Warszawa – Monika Włodarczyk, Anna Szymańska, Marta Grudzińska, Anna Tkaczuk, rez. Ewa Piątkowska;
RC Częstochowa – Sylwia Gołda;
Diablice Ruda Śląska – Anna Szkudlarek, Andzia Piekorz, Sylwia Łuksik, rez. Patrycja Bober, Stella Klinner;
Ladies Lechia Gdańsk – Danuta Jagoda Bednarek;
Arka Gdynia – Magdalena Burchardt, rez. Agnieszka Walczyk.

Germany
Lisa Bohrmann (Aylesford Bulls)
Jana Eisenbeiß (Heidelberger RK)
Steffi Gruber (RC Rottweil)
Svetlana Hess (Heidelberger RK)
Dana Kleine-Grefe (ASV Köln)
Dorothea Kleffner (RU Marburg)
Lisa Kropp (Heidelberger RK)
Jenny Naruhn (RU Marburg)
Julia Peters (Heidelberger RK)
Alysha Stone (Heidelberger RK)
Laryssa Stone (Heidelberger RK)
Seyma Ünlü (Heidelberger RK)

Promo Videos
The tournament coordinators have put together several promo videos, they are pretty good and feature the women! Check out all the videos on their Youtube Channel.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001. Want to know more about me? Go to About Us on the bar up there.

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USA Rugby Coach Ric Suggitt Names Eagles for London Sevens

Guest — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:50:14 +0000

View the rosters, pools, schedule and results from London 7s here.

from USA Rugby:

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – The Women’s Eagle Sevens squad that will take on Pool C opponents Australia, China, and France at the London Sevens on May 12-13 has been named by head coach Ric Suggitt.All eight residents under full-time training contracts with USA Rugby at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista made the squad, the first time all of the resident players have been selected for the same tournament.

“The resident players have put some solid work this past month and all of them appear fit to play,” said Suggitt.

Two newcomers, Meya Bizer and Ashley Okonta, are set to make their senior national team debut after starring in the USA Women’s Under-20s program. Bizer is a unique talent and currently plays soccer and football at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kan.

Bui Baravilala, a very talented young player and also a U20s graduate, will also make her senior team debut in London. Baravilala is the youngest resident player and has the ability to become a powerful force on the field.

Nathalie Marchino returns to action after missing out on Dubai, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong. Coach Suggitt knows that Marchino is set to make an immediate impact.

“We are fortunate that Nathalie is back and raging to play. She adds confidence and experience to this very young team,” said the coach.

Another player with potential to impact the score line is Erica Cavanaugh. “Erica has the ability to score tries at domestic competition and now we think she is ready for the international level,” Suggitt said of the youngster from Virginia.

The physicality and prowess of Kaelene Lundstrum, Jillion Potter, and team captain Deven Owsiany will help the Eagles in London and all of them have been impressive so far this season.

Vanesha McGee, Kimber Rozier, and Kelly Griffin are steady performers for the USA and will provide experience and dynamism to the squad. While McGee is a proven attacking threat, Griffin and Rozier are primed to have a breakout tournament for the Eagles as both have a nose for the try line.

The USA has been impressive in 2011-2012, making the cup semifinals in every tournament they have entered, including a cup final appearance at the Las Vegas Sevens.USA Women’s Eagle Sevens | London Sevens
Name (Club; Hometown)
Kaelene Lundstrum (USA Rugby; Bird Island, Minn.)
Deven Owsiany (USA Rugby; Royersford, Pa.)
Jillion Potter (USA Rugby; Austin, Texas)
Katie Dowty (USA Rugby; San Ramon, California)
Kimber Rozier (USA Rugby; Raleigh, N.C.)
Nathalie Marchino (Berkeley All-Blues; Geneva, Switzerland)
Vanesha McGee (USA Rugby; Ewing, N.J.)
Meya Bizer (At Large; Woodlands, Texas)
Kelly Griffin (USA Rugby; Berkeley, Calif.)
Akalaini “Bui” Barivilala (USA Rugby; Honolulu, Hawaii)
Ashley Okonta (Notre Dame; South Bend, Ind.)
Erica Cavanaugh (NOVA; Glen Allen, Va.)

View the rosters, pools, schedule and results from London 7s here.

Guest

Guest Ruggers that have something to say, but don't necessarily want to be a regular columnist on YSC. Interested in submitting a guest post? Email guest@scrumhalfconnection.com.

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Road to 2014 World Cup kicks off this week

John Birch — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:37:58 +0000

Originally posted on Scrumqueens, By John Birch

The 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup may be more than two years away, but by Thursday evening the first two teams will already have been knocked out.

The European Championship “B” group is being played in Enkoping, Sweden, this week – and there is a more lot at stake than national pride and FIRA rankings. Only the winners of this year’s tournament will be able to compete for a place at France 2014.

Readers will recall that France and England have already qualified for the WRWC, as hosts and runners up, and two more of Europe’s six places will be awarded to the next best two Six Nations teams, based on 2012 and 2013 results. The other two Six Nations teams will have to play-off for the final two European places against Spain and the winners from this week’s event.

The Enkoping tournament will feature the hosts, Sweden, plus Netherlands (pictured), Russia and Finland – and will be a simple knock-out competition, with the semi-finals on Thursday, and the final (and third place game) on Sunday. Netherlands and Finland will launch the competition at 2pm CET, followed by Sweden v Russia.

Rarely has there been a FIRA competition with such high stakes, and rarely has there been one that has there been one that has been so unpredictable with so little guide to form. Only Netherlands have played any international rugby this season, while the players from the other three teams have only just begun playing again at all after the long winter break.

Overall Sweden must start as favourites. Not only have they more experience at the highest level – the core of the team played at the last World Cup in England, but they are at home – and moreover at Enkoping, the scene of their triumph at the last European WRWC in 2009. Elisabeth Ygge leads a team that sees the return to international rugby of Ulrika Andersson-Hall, alongside a number of other names familiar to anyone who saw the team come so close to beating France in Guildford in 2010, including Katarina Boman, Henrietta Högberg, Jessica Melin and the hero of 2009 Jennifer Lindholm. The team also shook off the snows of winter last month with a brief tour of England at Easter, comprehensively beating Thurrock – newly promoted to the English Premiership – 32-5.

Netherlands – in terms of European ranking – would seem to be Sweden’s greatest rivals. The Dutch have the advantage of having played through the winter, and also beat Sweden at last year’s European Championship in Spain, where they finished fifth. However the Dutch RFU’s priorities are clearly with their Sevens squad, and with both the London and Amsterdam Sevens coming up in the next three weeks, few of the country’s leading players are likely to be travelling to Sweden. At Corunna the Dutch also lost to Russia, and in the team’s only international since EC 2011 was against Scotland where the suffered a 33-10 defeat and were generally reported as being outclassed. Since then their only games have been against club sides – Dutch champions RUS, where the national side scraped a lucky 5-3 win, and a more impressive 29-0 win over German champions HRK Heidelburg at Easter.

Despite the largely unimpressive form shown by the Dutch national XV in recent months, they should still prove too strong for Finland who were thoroughly out of their depth in Spain, finishing 8th and suffering massive defeats to both Spain and France A, as well as Sweden and Russia. Overall the Finns scored only 8 points in their four games last year and, with few opportunities to play together since it is unlikely that the team will have significantly improved.

Russia, on the other hand, have the potential to spring a few surprises, though like the Dutch they may competing priorities due to Sevens. At Corunna last year they beat the Dutch, and would have made the top six but for heavy defeats in their other two games. However, like Finland, the Russians have not played together since.

Overall the competition should see the expected Sweden/Netherlands final – but with so much to play for, so little preparation, and no margin for error, unexpected results are very possible.

John Birch

Editor of the UK Blog Letchworth Girls. Happy to have joined YSC.

Scrumqueens Reports: Canada look to bounce back in London

Lee Bennet — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:22:54 +0000

See the London 7s pools, schedule and results here.

from Scrumqueens:

Canada have named their squad of 14 players to travel and compete at the IRB London Sevens on May 12-13 and shortly after in the Amsterdam Sevens from May 19-20.

The Canadians are looking to bounce back from their semi-final exit in Hong Kong recently – their first loss in five tournaments when they were beaten by England.

Canada are also looking to re-gain the IRB Challenge Cup in London – a title they won in Dubai but relinquished to England in Hong Kong.

The squad will depart on May 8th from Langford, where they have been training together since January.

“The selection process has actually become more difficult,” said head coach John Tait. “There are girls that haven’t been regulars in other competitions that have been pushing really hard from the Maple Leafs squad. With having these extra matches, this will be a good opportunity to give some of the younger girls more opportunity to play in this tournament.”

Coach John Tait is pleased with the addition of the London Sevens tournament this year, as the women will be the playing at least six matches in London.

“We are looking forward to having the opportunity to play additional games. Having 12 teams in this tournament is going to give us the opportunity for at least 5 to 6 games. At this stage for us, the most important thing is getting more and more game experience under our belt,” explains Tait.

The squad is filled with many familiar faces including the likes of Magali Harvey, Jen Kish, and Ghislain Landry. All the women who competed at Hong Kong will be returning minus Andrea Burk, who is out with an injury.

2012 London/Amsterdam Sevens Squad

Jessica Dovanne – Velox Valkyries (Victoria, BC)
Megan Gibbs – Markham Irish Canadians (Barrie, ON)
Magali Harvey – Club de Rugby de Quebec / St. Francis-Xavier University (Quebec City, QC)
Jen Kish – Edmonton Rockers (Edmonton, AB)
Ghislaine Landry – Toronto Scottish RFC (Toronto, ON)
Mandy Marchak – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC / Winnipeg, MN)
Barbara Mervin – Velox Valkyries (Victoria, BC)
Kayla Moleschi – University of Lethbridge / University of Lethbridge (Williams Lake, BC)
Cheryl Phillips – Toronto Scottish RFC (Toronto, ON)
Kelly Russell – Toronto Nomads (Bolton, ON)
Ashley Steacy – Lethbridge Rugby Club (Lethbridge, AB)
Brittany Waters – Meraloma Athletic Club (Vancouver, BC)
Kelsey Willoughby – Lethbridge Rugby Club / University of Lethbridge (Lethbridge, AB)
Julianne Zussman- Town of Mount Royal RFC, (Montreal, QB)

See the London 7s pools, schedule and results here.

Lee Bennet

Manager North America Rah Rah Rugby/Womens Rugby Recruitment -- Director at Large Beavers Sevens Rugby --Managing Director at Lbconsulting International

IRB Partners With HSBC to Deliver Leading Rugby Coaching Website

Guest — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:19:45 +0000

from IRB Coaching:

The IRB’s popular coaching website has received a massive boost with the announcement that HSBC has partnered with the innovative resource to ensure that more men, women and children around the world are able to experience and enjoy Rugby by being coached the best-possible techniques.

The innovative website, which is currently available in English, Spanish and Cantonese, has been revamped and offers a number of critical coaching elements with enhanced, video and animation capability as well as expert advice from some of the world’s top coaches and players. It can be found at: www.irbcoaching.com

Key features of this interactive online resource for all levels of the Game include animations, videos, explanation of the six stages of Rugby, an extensive bank of best-practice coaching drills and ground breaking animated drills.

New to the revamped site will be an interactive forum where coaches from all over the world can discuss topical issues.

In addition, the website provides formal course content, such as the beginners guide, the guide to coaching Rugby Sevens and Level 1 coaching while it is also compatible with www.irbpassport.com, the gateway to IRB training and education.

“Rugby is growing at an incredible rate around the world. We now have more than 5.5 million men, women and children participating at elite and community level across every continent,” said IRB Training Manager Mark Harrington.

“This important resource reflects the IRB’s commitment to providing the tools that underpin that growth in every country, at every level. We have launched in three languages but there are ambitious plans to add to the inventory in line with other IRB resources.”

“With this exciting upgrade, we believe the website is now one of the most comprehensive and accessible of its kind in any sport and we are very grateful to HSBC for its support. It is great to be able to benefit from HSBC’s commitment to sport at community level and, particularly, its passion for the continued development of Rugby,” he said.

Giles Morgan, HSBC’s Group Head of Sponsorship and Events, said: “HSBC’s partnership with irbcoaching.com is an important addition to the bank’s commitment to help grow the Game around the world. HSBC is a long-term investor in Rugby at both the elite and the grass-roots levels of the sport with the bank’s genuine objective of helping to develop the sport.”

“Through this new partnership with the International Rugby Board, alongside existing initiatives such as our annual HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour, the HSBC Penguins International Coaching Academy and the use of our Rugby Ambassadors to lead coaching clinics around the world, HSBC hopes to introduce even more youngsters to the Game, to inspire the next generation of players, and to help improve coaching around the world.”

Guest

Guest Ruggers that have something to say, but don't necessarily want to be a regular columnist on YSC. Interested in submitting a guest post? Email guest@scrumhalfconnection.com.

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