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Written by Pat Clifton
Friday, 23 September 2011 12:37 |
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Slow Weekend in Midwest DI |
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Clubs -
Men's DI Clubs
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 There aren’t a lot of playoff implications in the Midwest games this weekend.
Columbus and Indianapolis play in a battle of 0-3 teams, Buffalo and Cincinnati are set to replay a game the Wolfhounds won 46-3 in August and the winless Milwaukee Harlequins go up against the juggernaut otherwise known as Palmer.
The most intriguing games are a friendly between the Chicago Griffins and Lions and a match between the one-win Chicago Blaze and Metropolis.
Since the Lions have dropped from Super League, the fall matchup between the old rivals is as important to rivalry as it ever has been.
“I’m sure there’s always going to be that element of it. They’re our neighbors, they’re the big boy next door,” said Lions coach Marty Wiggins.
“We’ll be looking to assert ourselves, but that’s no different from any other weekend. Maybe there’ll be more venom in this for the boys, but for me it’s more a of a case of we’ve got so many other things we need to get right, I don’t want to muddy those waters.”
The Lions have been struggling with inconsistency, and part of that is due to the pains of breaking in a new flyhalf, however talented, in Nick Viviani.
“While our style of rugby looks simplistic, there’s actually a little bit to it, so he’s learning those ropes in terms of what we want to do, but he’s also by the same token, coming along nicely,” said Wiggins.
“The thing is while we’re learning, these other teams are making the most of their opportunities. The upside is if this was Super League, we’d be doing this and then we’d be finished in another couple of weeks, whereas now we get to turnaround, play a friendly with the Griffins, if that can ever be called a friendly, and then we come back into the second round.”
While the Blaze are 1-3, their last two losses come by a combined 21 points, and both were competitive.
“We’re knocking on the door. Palmer put it on us really strong and they kicked the (stuffing) out of us (73-14), but that was our first big game. It was the first time the guys have never seen a DI game, especially of that caliber, because Palmer’s very well skilled,” Blaze player/coach Lance Houia said.
Recently, teams like Lincoln Park, Milwaukee RFC and Wisconsin have had trouble maintaining their DI status after being promoted from DII. The Blaze, however, like the competition they’ve found in DI, and they plan to make the higher division home.
“We strive to stay up in DI, and we are right there. We are that close, because we can compete with all those big teams in DI,” said Houia.
“We hit the biggest teams right out the gate. For me, that shows my brother and my team here’s the level, and this is the time and commitment on your off days you have to put in to play at this level. It’s the difference between DII and DI, that and when you make mistakes they capitalize and they’re going to score.”
The Blaze are taking a battered team to Minneapolis this weekend, so 0-5 looks possible. (The original run of this article incorrectly stated the Blaze lost to the Milwaukee Harlequins and inaccurately depicted how DII teams who've moved up to DI have done.)
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Written by Jackie Finlan
Friday, 23 September 2011 12:03 |
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Inaugural Weekend for Women's Ivies |
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Colleges -
Women's College
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The first-ever women’s Ivy League kicks off tomorrow, and participants are excited to follow in the men’s footsteps.
“I think we're all thrilled to be in the Ivy League,” Princeton coach Emil Signes said. “It's a competition that's been crying out to happen: These are the teams we compete with in other sports, our alumni will be happy to see Ivy League competition, etc. ... It will make traveling more difficult for us (we've got back-to-back, 5- and 6-hour trips this fall), but overall this should be good for us.”
Princeton warmed up last weekend against a combined Village Lions (NYC) and Atlanta side, after the two women’s DI clubs finished their league match. Princeton won the first 20-minute outright, and saw some great go-forward ball from All American Dot Mittow. Mittow has transitioned from center to front row, making for a great, mobile addition to the pack.
Princeton opens up its season against Yale, which finished 1-4 in NERFU’s DI last year. Both teams have struggled in their respective divisions prior to the formation of the Ivy League, and the last time these two teams saw each other – almost exactly a year ago – Yale prevailed 19-12.
Former DI national quarterfinalist Brown is the heavy favorite to win the inaugural league. First up, Dartmouth, which traditionally hasn’t been a problem for the Rhode Island powerhouse, but does offer up good competition. Brown is fortunate enough to return nearly their entire backline from last year, save All American center Blaine Martin. Captain Chelsea Garber will launch the offense at flyhalf, and look for Blair Station and Shakeela Faulkner and Emily Hseih to anchor the back attack. The forwards will rely on Vanessa Munoz, Mai Nguyen, hooker Lucy Fernandez and flanker Elisabeth Stancioff.
Brown squeezed in a friendly against Navy and lost 21-7, so they’re eagerly looking to light up that win column.
It’ll be interesting to see how Radcliffe performs, coming off its DII national championship this spring. The squad has lost some notables like MVP Evan Hoese, but still has USA U20 Eagle Xanni Brown, prop Janelle Lambert, flanker Emily York and flyhalf Megan Verlage to shake up the opposition. It should be a relatively easy contest tomorrow against former MET NY DIII team Columbia, which finished in the middle of the pack last year.
As for predictions, Brown should take the title relatively easily, while the battle for second-best will make for an intense season.
Saturday, September 24
Brown v Dartmouth
Radcliffe v Columbia
Yale v Princeton
Stay tuned for player and coach feedback.
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Written by Alex Goff
Friday, 23 September 2011 12:29 |
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Manoa Making Impression at Northampton |
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International -
Americans Overseas
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American lock Samu Manoa starts once more for the Northampton Saints as they clash with Sale Friday.
Manoa got some praise from teammate Christian Day this week, as the fellow second row forward told the BBC that the American import has been a revelation.
"He arrived to fill Courtney Lawes' shirt as an explosive, dynamic second row and he's more than done that,” said Day. "He's massively strong and fast, with great hands, and the more he learns the game, the better he's going to get."
Day added: "He's not going to be the second row who hits forty rucks a game, but he naturally finds the right place to ball carry. When people run into him in defense, he knocks them down pretty fast.”
Day and Manoa will pair up once again Friday. This will be Manoa’s fourth Aviva Premiership appearance.
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Written by Pat Clifton
Friday, 23 September 2011 05:48 |
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Wallabies Much Too Much for Eagles |
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National Teams -
USA Men
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| JJ Gagiano sneaking past Elsom for score |
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| center Junior Sifa being bottled up |
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| Colin Hawley left in Quade Cooper's wake |
As Queensland star Quade Cooper kicked off to open the match, no one gave the Eagles much of a chance to compete, but they did early on, making Australia wait a full seven minutes for their first batch of points.
The scoring bid started when Cooper ran the ball wide, exploiting an overload, and fullback Kurtley Beale inserted himself into the backline, giving a pass from Cooper to inside center Robert Horne who dotted down.
The Wallabies immediately went back on attack, and did so too quickly for the Eagles. Kurtley Beale made the initial line break and would have likely scored if not for a desperate ankle tap tackle from Tai Enosa. Australia spun the ball wide quickly, and flanker Rocky Elsom recorded the score.
The ray of light for the Eagles became visible when Tim Usasz made a huge break down the touch line off of a turnover and dished to Scott Lavalla. The lock was tackled thoroughly, and the Eagles kept pressure on by spinning it wide, where they fould Nese Malifa, who sent a kick toward the touch line for wing Colin Hawley. The World Cup debutant fielded the kick as though he'd done it a dozen times before, putting the Eagles well inside the Australian 22.
After a series of unsuccessful pick-and-drives, Nese Malifa laid a grubber into the tryzone. Will Genia fielded the kick, but Hawley and Kevin Swiryn blanketed him, bringing him down in goal to win a five-meter scrum.
The first attempt at a setpiece was reset by referee Nigel Owens, but the Eagles managed to win the next scrum while backpeddling, and No. 8 JJ Gagiano deflty plucked the ball from the base and snuck around the outstretched arms of Elsom to score the first try conceded by the Wallabies in Rugby World Cup 2011.
Shortly after, the Eagles turned over the Wallabies in contact and were on attack once again. Down five, they used some misdirection to cut against the flow of play and threaten to draw level. However, Kevin Swiryn lost the ball forward in contact at the end of a probing run, and Elsom went directly back on the offensive. The Eagles were out of place defensively, and a missed tackle from Malifa allowed Adam Ashley-Cooper to set Beale up for the score.
Directly after, the Wallabies went back on attack, and center Robert Horne penetrated the American line off of a lineout well inside their attacking half. He dished to Anthony Faingaa, who bounced Colin Hawley out of the way en route to pay dirt, giving Australia a 22-5 halftime lead.
Australia opened the second half exploiting the area of the game where the Americans are weakest -- the scrum. Lavalla was pinged for entering a ruck from the side inside his own 22, and Australia pounded the Eagles with a scrum, from which Genia put Drew Mitchell through a hole for a try.
Seconds after the restart, Australia used a pace of the game not comfortable for USA to create an overload, which reserve Pat McCabe sliced through for a try.
The Eagles breached the halfway mark for the first time in the second half at around the 50-minute mark after kicking a penalty to touch, but the ensuing lineout was botched, as the intended receiver, Hayden Smith, didn't even get off the ground.
As the Wallabies shuffled on six reserves, possession was traded back and forth until the Wallabies slung the ball from touch line to touch line off a lineout for their 7th try and Adam Ashley-Cooper's first of the game.
He scored his second when an enterprising American possession, sparked by a Malifa line break, was ended by a lack of support for a Shawn Pittman run.
The wing's hat-trick was capped off seconds later, after a Berrick Barnes cross kick overwhelmed the Eagle defense and put the Wallabies on a fast track to the try line.
Australia poured two more in garbage time to secure a 67-5 win, the Wallabies' largest margin of victory ever against the USA.
With the bonus-point win, Australia secured its advancement to the knockout rounds, barring an upset to Russia.
The Eagles fell to 1-2 in pool play, and with the quarterfinals now out of reach, their goal must be getting a second win in a single World Cup, something they've never done. If they beat Italy, they automatically qualify for the 2015 event.
Australia 67
Tries: Horne, Elsom, Beale, Fainga'a 2, Mitchell, McCabe, Ashley-Cooper 3, Samo
Convs: Cooper 2, Barnes 3
USA 5
Tries: Gagiano
USA
15 Blaine Scully (Unattached)
14 Colin Hawley (Olympic Club)
13 Tai Enosa (Belmont Shore)
12 Junior Sifa (Unattached)
11 Kevin Swiryn (Agen)
10 Nese Malifa (Glendale)
9 Tim Usasz (Nottingham RFC) *Captain
1 Shawn Pittman (London Welsh)
2 Phil Thiel (Life University)
3 Eric Fry (Las Vegas Blackjacks)
4 Scott LaValla (Stade Francais)
5 Hayden Smith (Saracens)
6 Inaki Basauri (Perigueux)
7 Pat Danahy (Life University)
8 JJ Gagiano (Univ. of Cape Town)
Reserves:
16 Brian McClenahan (Olympic Club)
17 Mate Moeakiola (Bobigny 93)
18 Louis Stanfill (New York Athletic Club)
19 Nic Johnson (Unattached)
20 Mike Petri (New York Athletic Club)
21 Roland Suniula (Boston Rugby)
22 Chris Wyles (Saracens)
Substitutions:
Stanfill on for Smith (61’), Petri on for Usasz (69’), McClenahan on for Thiel (72’), Wyles on for Enosa (73’), Johnson on for Dahahy (75’)
Yellow Card: Scully
AUSTRALIA
15 Kurtley Beale
14 Adam Ashley-Cooper
13 Anthony Fainga'a
12 Robert Horne
11 Drew Mitchell
10 Quade Cooper
9 Will Genia *Captain
1 James Slipper
2 Tatafu Polota-Nau
3 Ben Alexander
4 Rob Simmons
5 Nathan Sharpe
6 Rocky Elsom
7 Ben McCalman
8 Wycliff Palu
Reserves:
16 Stephen Moore
17 Sekope Kepu
18 Dan Vickerman
19 Radike Samo
20 Luke Burgess
21 Berrick Barnes
22 Pat McCabe
Substitutions:
Barnes on for Beale (39’), Samo on for Elsom (47’), McCabe on for Horne (48’), Burgess on for Genia (49’) Kepu on for Alexander (49’), Vickerman on for Palu (54’), Moore on for McCabe (66’)
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