|
Written by RUGBYMag Staff
Thursday, 19 May 2011 11:24 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
DII East Pool 1 Up for Grabs |
|
Clubs -
Men's DII Clubs
|
|
East Pool 1 in the Men’s DII Club Round of 16 is looking to be the hardest pool to pick a favorite. While Tampa Krewe is the defending champion, Middlesex (Mass.), Chicago Blaze and Rocky Gorge (Md.) all have a shot at advancing to the Final Four. 
| A Tampa Krewe player breaks off of a maul. (Photo by Colin Watson)
|
Middlesex Barbarians coach Josh Smith knows that the pool is wide open and full of talented squads. “Our pool is a pool of death,” he said. “Three returning Sweet 16 teams [Blaze, Middlesex and Tampa] including the reigning national champs.”
Smith’s team goes up against Tampa first and is confident about what his team can accomplish. “This is by far the best club we have brought to nationals,” he added.
Middlesex has been to nationals the past four years, twice in DIII, and their goal has always been a national championship. They made it to this point last year, but lost to Brandywine 28-24 in the first round. “Last season we spotted Brandywine a three-try lead before we came to life in the second half,” Smith said. “This year we won’t be watching for 40 minutes, like we did last year. Our boys have played in big matches, no more ‘deer in headlights’.”
This will be the biggest match yet because Tampa Krewe is probably the most favored team, having won the competition last year. The Barbarians will look to get the game going in the loose, playing a southern-hemisphere brand of rugby.
Smith is aware of what Tampa can do and says that if his team comes out and executes, they can be in the mix at the end. “My guys are extremely fired up to get a shot at Tampa,” he said.
It won’t be an easy task though, because Tampa picked up where they left off last year and have been sweeping the competition. “The first goal was to win the Florida Cup in preseason… we did that,” head coach Dai Morgan stated. “Winning the league was next… we did that. Winning the South came after that and we just achieved that. But we’re not looking past Middlesex; on any given day anything could happen.”
Morgan said that Tampa’s big athletic forwards tend to wear teams down and he wants them to do the same this weekend. “We’ve also got a very talented group of backs. People sometimes underestimate them and they’ve been quality finishers for us this season,” he added.
“We expect to repeat… It would be an absolutely fantastic achievement for the club. It’s always very very difficult to repeat, especially with the quality of teams this year.”
The other match up in the pool is Rocky Gorge against Chicago Blaze. Chicago was another team to make it to the Round of 16 last year, but fell victim to Tampa on their way to the title. The Blaze have performed well enough this season to earn a promotion to DI in the fall.
Tampa, Middlesex and Chicago were all in the same pool together last year, with Rocky Gorge being the only newcomers. This year, Rocky Gorge beat Jersey Shore before losing to Doylestown in the regional playoffs, but it was enough to earn them the Mid-Atlantic second seed (fourth overall) and a berth at nationals. The East pool matches will be played this Saturday in Manassas Park, Va., with Tampa taking on Middlesex at 10 a.m. and Chicago playing Rocky Gorge at 11:45.
|
|
|
|
Written by RUGBYMag Staff
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 22:20 |
|
|
|
|
|
RUGBYMag Announces DII All Americans |
|
Colleges -
Men's DII College
|
|
RUGBYMag.com is proud to announce its Division II All Americans. This unofficial All American team was chosen based on scouting reports, coach recommendations, and in-person evaluation.
Headlining the squad is UW-Whitewater No.8 and USA U20 prop Chuck Koehler, who led the Warhawks to a national title.
RUGBYMag.com 2010-2011 DII All Americans
1 Emery Pressman (Salisbury)
2 Brandon Lugar (Sierra)
3 Joe Epping (UW-Whitewater)
4 Justin Hill (South Florida)
5 Dan Kloeckner (Missouri)
6 Rufus Walker (Cal Maritime)
7 Ross Berriman (Middlebury)
8 Chuck Koehler (UW-Whitewater)
9 Brian Sirkia (Middlebury)
10 Nick Kuhl (Salisbury)
11 Brian Weddle (Sierra)
12 Matt Houston (ECU)
13 Matt Strohm (SLU)
14 Kevin Hawke (Cal Maritime)
15 Adam Umstead (Michigan State)
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Alex Goff
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 23:11 |
|
|
|
|
|
Let's All Just Get Along |
|
Blog -
RugbyMag.com Blog
|
|
 The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union have announced that Cathay Pacific and HSBC will be the new co-title sponsors of the world-famous Hong Kong Sevens from 2012 – 2015.
The four-year sponsorship agreement announced today resumes a successful partnership between these two iconic Hong Kong institutions and the world’s pre-eminent international sevens. Under the new sponsorship agreement the event title will be the Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
Attending today’s announcement at Olympic House in Hong Kong were Mr John Slosar, Chief Executive of Cathay Pacific Airways, Mr Stuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings plc, Mr Brian Stevenson, President of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union and Mr Trevor Gregory, Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union.
And, as you can see, they decided to have a little fun with it.
Mr John Slosar, Chief Executive of Cathay Pacific Airways commented on the announcement saying, "Cathay Pacific has had a long and happy association with the Sevens. We were there right at the beginning when the Sevens was born in 1976. And we are still supporting the Sevens some 36 years later. As Hong Kong's airline, we believed in the Sevens from the start, just as we believe that Hong Kong provides the energy and sparkle that make the Sevens the unique and wonderful event that it is.
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 22:54 |
|
|
|
|
|
New Flight Plans Sit Right with Eagles |
|
Sevens -
USA Sevens Men
|
|
The USA 7s team discovered something this trip to London: get on the plane early.
The normal MO for the Eagles has been to drive from Chula Vista to Los Angeles, which means a couple of hours in a bus and then, because they want to be early, a long wait at LAX for their plane.
This time, the team boarded a flight from San Diego, and connected to their flight for London in Los Angeles. The players loved it. Less lugging their bags around; less time waiting and cramped in a bus; and less time in security as San Diego International is smaller and therefore provides a quicker run through the X-ray machines.
The upshot was that the team hit the ground running in London.
“Our first practice off the plane is usually our worst,” said USA Head Coach Al Caravelli. “This time the guys were dialed in from the start.”
That might be related to the easier flight, but it’s also related to the attitude of the players.
“I’m pretty excited about this team,” the coach added. “They were focused, even with the jet lag and everything. I was very impressed.”
Notes: The flight from Los Angeles to London is in fact the shortest (5,400 miles) flight the 7s Eagles take on an HSBC Sevens World Series leg. Their other three flights are to Dubai (8,300 miles), South Africa (10,300 miles), and Wellington (6,714 miles).
|
|
|
|
