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Written by Press Release
Sunday, 04 September 2011 12:45 |
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Eagles Get in the Boat After All |
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National Teams -
USA Men
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WHANGANUI, 4 Sept. - USA players battled up the Whanganui River in Maori waka (canoes) on Sunday as they received a traditional welcoming ceremony from the North Island community.
Earlier security concerns were washed away when about 5,000 locals lined the river to cheer their adopted team. (The Eagles were initially scheduled to partake in the boating welcoming, but canceled last week due to security concerns.)
The crowd waved USA flags to welcome their guests, some sported "I love NY" T-shirts and a band even managed a few bars of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama before the Eagles landed at the Union Boat Club.
The gathering was all the more remarkable as Whanganui has a population of just 45,000, and prop Mike McDonald could not wipe the smile from his face as he emerged, soaking wet, from the waka.
"To see what it means to these people is amazing," he said. "I had no idea what to expect, and we're just overwhelmed."
His equally wet-looking teammate Hayden Smith was happy to be back on solid ground. "We were just trying to stay on top of our rowing performance," he said. "It was a bit all over the place at the beginning."
No change of sport
Despite the successful river outing, he is not about to consider swapping rugby for rowing. "Not a chance," he said. "That would be a disgrace for rowing."
Being "chucked out by one of my teammates" would still be more comfortable than having to squeeze into a narrow waka, he added.
Mike McDonald, who will become the USA's most-capped player if he takes the field against Ireland on September 11 in their Pool C opening match, said he would always remember the people of Whanganui.
"I just appreciate everything the community has done for us," he said. "It's somewhere I can really feel at home."
Earlier in the afternoon, the Eagles took part in a traditional Maori welcome ceremony at the Putaki Marae (meeting area), where they mingled with locals and posed for photographs.
The feel-good nature of the afternoon was lauded by RWC 2011 director Oregan Hoskins, who urged the USA players to make the most of their time in rugby-mad Whanganui.
“Being at a function like this allows us to see the real New Zealand, it’s really fantastic," he said. "Enjoy your stay, play to the best of your ability - which is what Americans always do. This experience will be etched on your hearts for the rest of your lives.”
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Written by Pat Clifton
Saturday, 03 September 2011 18:00 |
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Palmer Holds On to Beat Metro |
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Clubs -
Men's DI Clubs
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 Palmer improved to 2-0 in Midwest West play Saturday with a 30-26 defeat of Metropolis in Minneapolis. The Dragons led 25-14 at intermission, but allowed the home team to take control in the second half.
“We were kind of dominating the first half, kind of go, go, go, and then I don’t know what happened second half,” said Palmer player/coach Jarod Selby. “We just kind of let off the horses and they just dominated…They were all over us.”
Selby said that contrary to tradition, Palmer’s advantage in the first half was gained in large part by its pack.
“Our setpieces were actually a lot better than they were previously against Minnesota. Minnesota’s got sort of a big, heavy pack, and in previous years they’ve undone us in the forwards, but our forwards did a good job of getting the backs the ball and winning our setpieces and allowing us to get the ball more than one or two phases. I think that’s what worked for us in the first half.”
Though Palmer’s play descended in the last 40 minutes, it was a setpiece play that setup what would prove to be the winning score. Selby dotted down midway through the second half after a center switch off of a scrum created an overload for the fullback on the wing. Unconverted, the try gave Palmer their only score after intermission.
Metropolis surged back and scored a try at the death to make the final score of 30-26.
“To tell you the truth we were kind of lucky the game ended then because they were all over us,” Selby said.
The loss drops Metropolis to 0-1 on the season. The Minneapolis club goes on the road to play also 0-1 Milwaukee Sept. 10.
Up next for Palmer is a home contest against the Chicago Lions, who are also 2-0.
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Written by Pat Clifton
Saturday, 03 September 2011 18:49 |
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Buffalo Bags First DI Win Since Promotion |
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Clubs -
Men's DI Clubs
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Buffalo notched their first win of the season Saturday, 23-15 over the visiting Detroit Tradesmen. The West New Yorkers ran out to a big advantage early in the match and led 23-5 at intermission. They used superior ball skill to move the larger Detroit pack around and keep them on the defensive.
“Good ball movement. That’s how we win games. We were doing that well in the first half,” said Buffalo coach Ron Astridge. “We were going through multiple phases and we had good ball movement, good handling skills and that paid off in the first half, but they started to power us in the second half.”
(It also didn’t hurt that the game was played in Buffalo. Astridge says his team did the math and they’ll cover 5,000 miles in league play this year, almost 2,000 more than anyone else in the Midwest.)
Buffalo didn’t score again after intermission, but Detroit did, recording two unconverted tries to make Buffalo sweat even more than a muggy, humid afternoon had already assured.
“They put on a pretty good push the second half,” said Astridge. “We kind of held on at the end. They’re a bigger team and I think they started to use effectively their power. We got tired in the second half.”
The win improves Buffalo to 1-1 the season after being promoted from DII. The 2010 DII Midwest East champs were reintroduced to DI abruptly last week when they were throttled 46-3 by the Cincinnati Wolfhounds. This win, says Astridge, will go a long way in restoring team confidence.
“Last week we were unprepared and traveled seven hours to Cincinnati and got our ass handed to us down there and lost 46-3, so this was a huge game for us today. It basically gave us optimism for the rest of the season,” he said.
“The first game back in DI last week we got beat pretty good, so this game was very important for us in terms of the mental outlook for the rest of the season, and it’s not a matter of the relegation so much as being competitive and having fun.” Buffalo now gets a week off before traveling to Indianapolis, while Detroit is back on the road Sept. 10 at Columbus.
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Written by Press Release
Saturday, 03 September 2011 13:31 |
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NSCRO Championship to be Held at Infinity Park |
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Colleges -
Men's DII College
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The City of Glendale, Colorado and the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached to hold the 2012 and 2013 NSCRO Men's Collegiate Division 3 National Rugby Championship at Infinity Park. The 2012 event will be held on April 28 and 29.
The City of Glendale built Infinity Park in 2007 for rugby use and declared rugby to be the official sport of the town. Infinity Park has since hosted many major national championships as well as national and international tournaments.
"The City is pleased to support NSCRO and their small college national championship event as a further extension of the City's goal to bring national caliber events into Glendale and Infinity Park," said Patrick Guthrie, Director of Sports Development and Broadcast for Infinity Park. Additional information about Infinity Park can be found at http://www.infinityparkatglendale.com/ .
NSCRO was co-founded by Steve Cohen and Chip Auscavitch in 2007 in order to establish an official organization to create and oversee a National Division 3 Collegiate playoff system. NSCRO does this for Men's and Women's Division 3 and Women's Division 4. Starting this Fall season, about 170 teams are expected to be competing in Division 3 and be eligible for qualifying for the NSCRO playoffs. This is a growth of nearly 70% from 2009.
NSCRO has been continually working to raise the profile of small college rugby by hosting the Division 3 Championships at quality venues. Prior to 2009, the Championships (both NSCRO and its predecessor, the East Coast Championship) were hosted by a local rugby club, including collegiate venues at Furman University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Wake Forest University and Hamilton College.
In 2010 and again in 2011, the City of Virginia Beach's Sportsplex Stadium became the venue for the Championship event. The Sportsplex Stadium is recognized as one of the finest facilities in the country and the experience was a great one for the teams and the fans in attendance.
With Infinity Park becoming the venue for its Championship, NSCRO has again raised the profile for these deserving student-athletes.
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