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Written by Pat Clifton
Thursday, 15 September 2011 09:53 |
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Atlantic Coast 7s is Anyone's to Take |
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Sevens -
Collegiate Sevens
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 The Atlantic Coast Invitational will determine the third bid to 7s nationals this weekend. 10 traditional Atlantic Coast Conference schools will compete over two days in Greensboro, NC for the ACI crown.
Day one is pool play. With the field split into two pools, each team plays four games on Saturday. Everyone still has something to play for on Sunday, which starts with a pair of “championship play-in games”. The bottom two finishers in each pool crossover against each other, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals.
(Follow link for a full schedule)
The reigning ACI champs are the Wolfpack from N.C. State, and they’re expected to be in the hunt for a repeat.
“They took everybody by surprise last year, but the fact that they can keep their team together in the summer gives them a distinct advantage. A lot of their guys stay around for summer school and working in the Raleigh area and they play a lot of tournaments, and they’re a very good team,” said Virginia Tech coach Andy Richards of the defending champs.
“They don’t do anything flash. They’re fit. They’re tough, and they don’t miss a tackle. They play rugby the way it should be played. They really do.”
Richards’ Hokies are in the same pool as N.C. State, and they’ll need the senior leadership of Andrew Seufert and Matt Heitzer if they’re going to come out of day one in good shape.
“They’ve worked really, really hard. I can’t ask anything more from them,” said Richards of his seniors. “I’ve had them out on the track and been running them ragged fitness wise.”
Tech played a pair of tournaments over the summer, and though the results were nothing to write home about, Richards said valuable experience was gained. Another thing Tech has accrued? A quality 7s coach. Johnny Smith, a former professional 7s player from England, will spend the next three months in Blacksburg helping the Hokies before he takes a full-time coaching position at Blackheath back home.
Florida State is another team looking to make a breakthrough this year. Gone is flyhalf and top play maker Dylan Hamilton, but taking the reins as head coach is Kirk Swanner, who’d been the 7s guru in Tallahassee.
FSU is in a unique position, as they’re hosting the Independence Conference 7s tournament, another qualifier for nationals, a week from Saturday. Prior to playing this weekend, the Seminoles have to declare which tournament they’re choosing as a qualifier. If they choose the ACI, but don’t win and then win the Independence, they don’t automatically qualify.
Last time RUGBYMag spoke with Swanner, he was undecided which tournament the ’Noles would use as their qualification vehicle. Odds are, though, with Life and Arkansas State in the Independence, they’ll pick the ACI.
If they’re going to qualify this weekend, Steve Wartepne will have to fill some of the scoring void left by Hamilton.
“Him and Dylan were competing for the leading try scorer. They went head to head all year. We’ve got this new wave of players coming through this year. Steve’s one of the guys that should be leading that fresh new wave of guys coming through,” said Swanner.
“I think he’s been an automatic selection at fullback now since the spring semester his freshman year. We’re looking for him to score some points out wide.”
The team everyone is keeping an eye on this weekend? Maryland. They won the inaugural Atlantic Coast Rugby League (15s) title last season, and they did so with a large contingent of young playmakers. The most notable of them is Matias Cima, the freshman flyhalf phenom from Gonzaga. He’s now a sophomore, and he may well be transferring to Penn State in the spring, so 7s could be his last chance to win a title for the Terps.
Another person that applies to is Richard Hwang. The senior No. 8 runs out of eligibility at the end of the fall semester, so his sole focus is now on 7s. He has a high work rate and will provide heaps of leadership and experience.
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Written by Alex Goff
Thursday, 15 September 2011 10:32 |
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More than One Hero |
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National Teams -
USA Men
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There were several heroic performances for the USA in their 13-6 victory over Russia Thursday in New Plymouth, NZ.
Mike MacDonald made a series of crunching tackles, was ferocious in making the gain line, and earned Man of the Match honors in his 64th test.
Mike Petri put in a full day’s work, and also scored a brilliant try, which was all the more impressive because when the movement began, he was at the bottom of a ruck.
John van der Giessen stole several lineout balls at key moments, including on one lineout five meters from the USA tryline.
And Chris Wyles, playing for the USA for the first time in ten months, was excellent – solid under the kicks, effective running with the ball, and good punting. He connected on three of five kicking attempts, but the wind was a factor in those misses.
“I thought Chris Wyles was outstanding,” said USA Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan. “This is his first game since the Premiership. For a guy to come in with that much of a lag time and slip in pretty seamlessly shows you what a class act he is. He’s a very talented footballer; tonight was a magnificent performance considering the guy hasn’t laced up a pair of boots in anger in a few months.”
Asked about Petri, O’Sullivan said his scrumhalf is in excellent form at present. “The strength of his game is he’s an excellent passer, he’s very dangerous because he’s so quick, and his kicking game is strong. And the other great thing about him is his work rate on defense is colossal. I thought tonight he did an excellent job. He’s always been that kind of guy, he just runs until he drops.”
But O’Sullivan also didn’t want to lift too many players too high.
‘I’m happy to talk about Mike or any player on the Eagles, but I have to say that over the last 160 minutes of rugby, I could say the same about every one of them. Their performances have been extraordinary. We did roll the dice, no question, in putting our best foot forward against Ireland.
“Certainly we knew there was risks involved; we knew there’d be tired bodies out there. I was expecting to flood the bench on there, to be honest with you. In my mind I was talking maybe 20, 25 minutes to go, get some fresh legs out there. But the guys who were out there just kept going, and it was extraordinary. I could talk about all the other guys just as easily who went through that mountain of work. As a coach I couldn’t be prouder of these guys and couldn’t ask any more.”
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Written by Alex Goff
Thursday, 15 September 2011 07:20 |
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Paterson Injury Not Serious |
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National Teams -
USA Men
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 USA wing James Paterson left the World Cup match against Russia late in the first half, to be replaced by Blaine Scully.
Paterson left the game holding his right arm in a gingerly manner, and after the match Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan said the injury could perhaps have been worse.
Paterson suffered a stinger, which is painful, but not usually a long-term problem. O’Sullivan stressed that the injury was not related to Paterson’s pectoral muscle injury that held him out of selection earlier in August.
O'Sulilvan said "we feel quite confident he will be ready for Australia." The Eagles have eight days before they face Australia in Wellington.
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Written by Alex Goff
Thursday, 15 September 2011 09:43 |
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Quiet Cadence Affects Scrums |
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National Teams -
USA Men
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The Russian pack struggled with their scrums in the first half of Thursday's World Cup game against the USA, and captain and hooker Vladislav Korshunov said the problem was, in part, the fact they couldn’t understand referee Dave Pearson.
USA captain Todd Clever agreed, saying Pearson spoke softly in the first half when counting in the engagement, and several times he had to ask the referee to speak more loudly.
Apparently that worked in Russia’s favor as Russia looked far stronger in the scrum in the second half.
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Written by Alex Goff
Thursday, 15 September 2011 07:11 |
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Points Hard to Come By |
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National Teams -
USA Men
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In the end, they just won.
The Eagles haven’t done that much in their Rugby World Cup history, but this time, they were the better team, and while they might not have won by the margin they should have, they won.
They won because they converted on one key try-scoring opportunity. They won because they had an excellent lineout, and John van der Giessen made several monstrous jumps to steal Russia’s throws.
They won because the forwards battled for another sterling 80 minutes, because Chris Wyles was brilliant in almost every aspect, and because sometimes committing a penalty is the right thing to do.
And of course it could have been much more. Chris Wyles missed three penalty goals and a drop goal attempt. Twice his kicks were swept away by a rough and fickle wind. Everyone on the Eagles thought one of those kicks was going over, but at the last second the wind blew the ball into the post. His drop goal, too, looked good to go before the wind took it.
Andrew Suniula’s rambling run through the Russian line saw him pulled down perhaps a foot before the line. All that relatively bad luck could have resulted in another 13 points for the Eagles, and 26-6 would have been a much more just result.
“I’m delighted with the victory,” said USA Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan. “It was a tough game, which we expected. I think the conditions didn’t suit either team, but I think it was who made the best of it. I think we dominated the game; our set piece was much better. Our lineout was excellent, but to be fair to Russia we just couldn’t shake them off and I think they defended really well. We had the chance to finish them off but we didn’t.”
O’Sulilvan said he wasn’t frustrated with the lack of scoring, although he would have liked a two-score cushion over the Russians.
“We didn’t get frustrated because if you get frustrated you try to force things that weren’t really on,” he said. “They’ve got fantastic speed out wide and if you make a mistake and turn the ball over they can go 80 meters. We were constantly aware that we had to keep our patience and not get frustrated, and I think we did that really well. It was not going to be a night for fingertip rugby, it was going to be a night for grinding it out.”
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