USA Club Recap: Weekend of December 7-8

Back from the Thanksgiving break, there are only two weeks of rugby left in 2019. The Red River returns to action, but it was a series of all-star competitions and cross-union matchups that dominated the weekend.

Men's Club Rugby

USA Rugby South Panthers at Old Glory Capital Selects

Marking their fifth meeting between the clubs, the USA Rugby South Panthers met the newly partnered Old Glory Capital Selects for a doubleheader in Richmond, Va. The OG Capital Selects have won the last three matches in the series, but on Saturday, the South swept the festivities winning the top side test, 32-19, and the developmental game, 37-17.

With only 30 players at their disposal for both matches, the South started fast in the first match and used its defense to pressure the OG Selects into a 22-5 hole at halftime. John Truax, Lucas Baistrocchi, and Jason Paul scored in the first half for the Panthers while Brian Mulloy found the endzone for the opposition.

The South carried its momentum from the first half to the second as Zach Miller dotted down a try in the first three minutes of the period. The Selects finally woke up as they took advantage of the South’s penalty woes and their set piece improved. Tries from Jose Barahona and Dacoda Worth cut into the Panthers’ lead but it wasn’t enough to pull out of the first half abyss.

“The biggest difference was that our defense was solid for most of the afternoon, especially in the first half when we managed to get them on their back foot,” South head coach Rene Daniel said. “We managed to stop their offloading which they are known for and had good go-forward ball. Matt [Hughston] played well coming from RUNY at #8 playing 80 minutes. Zach Miller did really well at #15 as did Reid Watkins at #9, he played well defensively and got us quick ball out to the #10.” 

“It was a good day for South rugby,” Daniel continued. “We played well and the guys come together well. The gameplan just happened to work in our favor and we relied on our set piece and kept the penalty count down. In the second game, we had a lot of young talent that showcased their skills. They were led by scrumhalf Blessing Motaung who is currently is playing with the Houston SaberCats program.”

On the other side, OG Capital Selects head coach Chris Porter had about 24 players making their debuts with the squad and reflected on the match saying, “In the first half, the South starved us of possession. We never had the ball and they just kept hitting. They got us on our back foot and it took a little while to get our legs underneath us. In the second half, things started gelling and we started putting things together.”

This was the first match for the partnership between the MLR’s Old Glory DC and the Capital Rugby Union.  Minted in late November, the aim of the alliance is to create a cohesive player development pathway for the Mid-Atlantic region for both the men’s and women’s teams.

“The Capital Selects have long been the primary vehicle to identify and pull together the best homegrown club rugby talent in the Mid-Atlantic,” said Old Glory chairman Chris Dunlavey. “It’s a natural fit for Old Glory to tap into that resource, overlay it with guidance from professional-level coaching, and provide additional financial resources to support it. This step builds the first bridge from Old Glory to the network of clubs at all levels that will one day form a cohesive player development pathway from the youth level up to the professional. That pathway, in turn, will grow the sport at every level.”

Capital president Matt Robinnette echoed the sentiment saying, “The Capital Rugby Union is thrilled to partner with Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby. The shared vision is to develop rugby players in the Capital Rugby Union with clear pathways to major league contracts. Union members will receive benefits from player and coach development and an affiliation with a strong brand.”

Next for the South is an under 23 camp in Atlanta, Ga. on January 4 followed by a match for the U-23s in March in Savannah, Ga. The OG Capital Selects will take a break until a camp in the middle of January and then one or two games in February.

Austin Blacks at Belmont Shore

In the first match of the season for both clubs, the Division I National Runner-Up Austin Blacks ventured 1,400 miles west to Long Beach, Calif. to play the Pacific South’s Belmont Shore. It was a tale of two halves as the Blacks ran out to a 22-10 lead at the break only for Belmont to rebound for four tries in the second half for the 42-37 victory.

Austin didn’t waste any time as Knute O’Donnell scored off the opening kickoff for the quick advantage. The Blacks played with aggression and scored three more times in the half via Ryan Rackley, O’Donnell, and a penalty try. Belmont did its best to keep the tally close and center William Wardlow provided the push with a pair of tries.

“At halftime, we just spoke about we talked about not turning the ball over in contact trying to offload,” Belmont head coach Ray Egan stated. “We knew we were dangerous when we had the ball in hand and we needed to just build phases while attacking space.”

“In the second half, we were better at getting field position and we were able to get over the gain line. That constant pressure led to line breaks and with good support, we were able to punch in a few scores as we upped the tempo.” Belmont socked Austin for four tries in the second half as punch came from Sean Gorman, Ben Weischedel, Wardlaw, and Andy Jackson. The Blacks made it interesting late with a Brendan Rams’ try in the 78^th minute to cut the deficit to seven points, but the Belmont defense held in the final moments.

Austin head coach Tane Jericevich was proud of his club but admitted that his team made too many mistakes in the second half. “Belmont was the deserved winners. It’s the preseason and we have a long road ahead. We hope we will see them again in the playoffs for another well-fought contest, but we have a hard season ahead. The lessons learned today will put us in good stead for the Red River Conference.”

Gordon at OMBAC

For the final stop of their American tour, Australia’s Gordon Highlanders took on OMBAC at Little Q Field in San Diego, Calif. on Saturday. What transpired was a brutally physical melee where the teams were matched well on both sides of the ball. OMBAC fought hard but Gordon built up its momentum throughout the match and eventually broke through for four tries and the 24-3 win.

“It was a tough match for us versus Gordon,” OMBAC captain Jacob Nelson said. “The rain caused delays and made for a long day of scrummaging, but OMBAC was close at the half trailing 10-3 after a penalty from Alfonso Cornu. Things were tight and open play was hard to find and Gordon scored twice in the last ten minutes. We saw some inspired performances from Alfonso Cornu, Tai Te’o at hooker (naturally a 7), and Kalei Konrad. When these guys came off in the second half, we had a much harder time keeping Gordon out of our half.”

Red River

As the only union in action, the Red River Rugby Conference had everyone’s attention turned to Texas.

In the DIII North, Grand Prairie has made a name for itself this season and with an 89-15 victory on Saturday over the Dallas Harlequins, the Mavericks are now 3-0 and in first in their division. With their rival, the Dallas Alliance, moving up to DII over the summer, Grand Prairie may not have anyone to unseat them from the top of the standings. The Mavericks are at the OKC Tribe this Saturday who looking to right the ship after an 82-7 loss to the Dallas Athletic Rugby Club. The next closest team to Grand Prairie is the Dallas Reds, who defeated Shreveport, 31-17, on the road.

In Central Texas, the DIII defending national champion Austin Blacks continued their winning ways and increased their unbeaten streak to three games by taking down San Antonio, 37-7. The Austin Huns improved their record to 2-1 with a 69-17 blasting of winless Corpus Christi and Alamo City won its first game of the season over the Other Rugby Club, 34-24.

Further South, the Houston United remained undefeated after demolishing Kingwood, 84-0. HURT has yet to give up a point in two games while scoring 150 in the span. Keeping pace with the United, the Woodlands dealt the Houston Arrows its first loss, 53-16. Divisional supremacy will be up for grabs right out the gate after the holidays when the Woodlands draw the Houston United for the first match of the new year. In the last game of the weekend, Galveston and Bay Area played to a 22-22 draw.

Division IV saw Fort Worth down Grand Prairie, 29-5, for its first road win of the season and Fort Hood survived four cards to beat the Houston United 26-17 at home. Finally, Denton cracked Abilene, 66-14, as Adam Colunga put on a clinic scoring three of his team’s 10 tries and going 8/10 on conversions.

Womens Club Rugby

Texas Rugby Union (TRU) All-Star Challenge

The Texas Rugby Union held its fourth and largest women’s All Star Challenge last weekend at the Austin Huns rugby complex. Texas and Pacific Northwest won their respective tiers, and USA Women’s 15s head coach Rob Cain was on hand not only to evaluate talent but also lead clinics for participants.

“The 2019 TRU All Star Challenge was a fantastic event with eight teams participating,” enthused TRU Administrator Wendy Young, who helped organize the event alongside tournament director and esteemed referee Kat Roche. “Rob Cain was in attendance and held two pre-event clinics for coaches and players, and scouted throughout the weekend. Rob was very impressed with the level of play and was excited to let us know that he will be reaching out to players after the event, and tracking just as many more.”

See all eight teams’ rosters here

“I thought that was huge,” Old Glory and NOVA scrumhalf Bri Kim said of Cain’s presence. “It meant a lot, as a club player, to see Rob take time to come out and watch almost exclusively club players. It showed his willingness to look beyond the WPL and college varsity landscape to find new players that have potential yet to be uncovered. Anyone who has interacted with Rob knows how straightforward and open he is - both in personality and in philosophy and vision as the Women’s National Team coach. It's important for him to continue to take advantage of these smaller opportunities to show how we as a country can continue to be successful in advancing the level of play of our Eagles by continuing to light the fire at the grassroots level. It helps show that we're all in on this journey to the 2021 World Cup.”

WOMEN'S TEXAS TAKES TIER 1

Returning teams Texas, Old Glory Selects (Capital), Mid-America and the Midwest competed in Tier 1. The host wasn’t able to significantly practice as a unit before the tournament, but did benefit from familiarity within the ranks.

“A lot of the teams in Texas have a really good relationship with each other, because we play each other so often,” TRU and Austin Valkyries flyhalf Jordan Heller said of game-day chemistry. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we're able to apply those strengths in different areas and positions. But generally, we wanted to keep it simple: Be creative off each other in the back line and use the forwards’ power to our advantage.”

TRU head coach Luis Sanchez dispersed the leadership responsibilities to team captain and USA Eagle Nick James, attack captain Heller, defense captains Veronica Houck (Saturday) and Geri Thomas (Sunday), lineout captain Leslie Schroeder and scrum captain Britt McGhee.

“Our coach is great but he always says that, during games, he’s not doing anything. We’re out there relying on each other,” Heller explained the multiple point people. “It worked well, having those leaders in certain situations that occur a lot - like set pieces - or leading the aggression on defense. And Nick James did a really good job bringing the leaders together before the game and asking us what our goals were for the day. It got us thinking about what we wanted to say to the team to get them pumped up.”

Texas started the weekend with a 75-5 win over the Midwest. “It came together really well,” the flyhalf said. “Having played in the Gold Cup last year, we played some teams from the Midwest and knew what to expect. We have really good speed and hands in the back line and knew that played to our advantage.” The back three in particular had a good day, but after watching the Old Glory Selects defeat Mid-America 30-19, the team knew it’d have to adjust strategies for Sunday. Heller recognized several NOVA backs from the DI club national championship and anticipated a bigger ask of the Texas forwards on day two.

“What really showed through was our forward pack. They had 3-4 tries right down the middle of the field - getting together, driving through and touching the ball down,” the flyhalf said of the 43-3 win against Old Glory Selects. “It just shows the diversity and talent in the squad, and that we were able to adjust to different situations and strengths of different teams. We can shine in different areas. If our backs don’t have quite as much speed on the other team, then we can push the forwards through.” Heller called out Thomas, who scored multiple tries and was the emblem of that determined go-forward.

“Head coach Nancy Fitz emphasized at the beginning of the weekend that one of the aims was to give everyone playing time, which made sense given the money and time investment each of us put into the weekend,” explained Old Glory scrumhalf Bri Kim. “New combinations and varying levels of experience were a challenge we faced on the first day, but it was significantly more prominent the second day against Texas. We knew TRU would have a dominant, mobile pack but we were still unable to address this challenge and it proved to be the ultimate difference.”

“The after-game speeches were all about being proud to represent Texas,” Heller said. “Last year the Austin Valkyries went to the national championship, and we wanted to begin the season with a bang to say: Texas is here again and we’re ready. Everyone’s energy was up, especially with all-star teams from around the country here in Austin, and for Texas to be able to win it all, it was a powerful statement.”

In the Tier 1 consolation match, the Midwest beat Mid-America 10-5. The latter brought 17 new all-stars to Texas, representing eight clubs in the GU. “We wanted to highlight the best players from all our women's teams, not just one or two teams, and provide an opportunity for growth across our region,” Mid-America coach KJ Abel Ruch explained. “The players and staff were pleased with how well we played, especially when you look at the make-up of the competition and the number of players from Capital and the Midwest that play a higher level of rugby on a more regular basis. The ability to hold our own and keep the score close in both games shows that the level of rugby in Mid-America isn't that far behind other regions.”

Abel Ruch, who co-coached the squad with Jody Lawrence, hailed the leadership of captain Anna Albrecht and Amy Spafford, who both represented the USA Club All-Star team in the summer; locks Mandy Smith, Cooper Horning and Oksana Goretaya, who are new to the all-stars but experienced in the game and set the standard for work rate; and breakout Gillian Stuart, who has only been playing rugby for 10 months. The staff also lauded the flexibility of players like Hannah Reid, a back-three who played scrumhalf, and Essence Bell, a loose forward who played prop.

“The experience [that 20 of 26] players gained playing rugby in college is invaluable and we are starting to see more of an impact on programs, not only in our region, but as individuals move to our region due to career changes,” Abel Ruch added. “Like Sabres player Sloane Hecimovich from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Jazz player Jessica Tharp who comes to us after playing 7s for Air Force, along with CRFC player Emily Lessner who played at Virginia Tech. Players who were key in our backline being organized and able to stop some of the speed Capital and Midwest had in their backline.”

WOMEN'S PACIFIC NORTHWEST PREVAILS IN TIER 1

Tier 2 featured new all-star teams and also teams new to the tournament. The Pacific Northwest brought players from eight clubs, ranging from Division II to the Women’s Premier League and B.C. Premiership.

“This, being our first official fixture, we really didn't know what to expect, either from ourselves or our opposition,” Pacific Northwest Selects head coach Lance Pruett noted. “We hoped only to create a positive experience that might motivate players to want more and better rugby for themselves and their clubs. We feel that we accomplished that, and then some.”

The Pacific Northwest opened with a 127-0 win over the Texas U24s and followed with a 41-5 win over USA Rugby South in the Tier 2 title match, thus securing its spot in Tier 1 next year. “The team came together wonderfully,” Pruett lauded the performance. “The players played together, played for each other, and got along great. We were pleased with the performance on the field, as well.  Winning both our matches earned us promotion to the top tier for 2020, so we are looking forward to the opportunity to compete for the trophy.” Pruett credited the leadership of ORSU’s Adrienne Acosta and Claire Lundy for keeping the team focused; Seattle Saracens’ Stefani Bergerhouse for an MVP performance; and impact player of note Talisa Sobieski (Bend, Ore.).

USA Rugby South made its debut at the all-star challenge, too, but as a program has been very active. The Panthers brought four players from the RAN 10s, and that quartet provided a leadership foundation, and nine other players who have represented the South in different capacities.

“Ten rookies meant we had a lot of work to do to get them thinking in the ‘South way,’” explained USA Rugby South program director Chris Martin, who led the group alongside head coach Joel Bonnaud. “Our goal is to grow expert decision-makers through skilled field vision and complete player ownership in all positions. So part of that is not establishing structure, and instead teaching attack concepts, which allows players that buy in to transfer quickly into our culture.”

The South defeated Texas Motley 80-0 on day one before falling to the Pacific Northwest on day two. “Sierra Watkins had a breakout performance, and both Stephanie Alliev and Ashley Prusak showed massive growth since their last appearance with us,” Martin highlighted standouts. “We had lots of rookies that showed well, and many will most likely see the field again with the South.”

In the consolation match, Texas Motley defeated the Texas U24s 55-19. “We wanted to bring back ITTs and NASCs. There is clearly a big gap between the WPL, D1, D2 and D3. This is one way to look at bringing some of those gaps together,” Young recapped the purpose of the all-star event. “Looking ahead, the TRU All Star Challenge would like to have eight GU senior teams and multiple U24 teams compete in 2020.”

“If we're to grow the level of play at the grassroots level, we need to not only be coming together to help drive the overall skill levels higher but also to help develop better rugby IQ,” Old Glory’s Kim closed. "It of course requires more time off on the players' and coaches' part, but a little bit of this would go a long way in driving the quality of these games higher, besides just watching the standouts make a big play here and there.”

Texas Rugby Union (TRU) ALL STAR CHALLENGE RESULTS