PELICUS SCRUMTIUS ET UXOR EXEUNT
Sam and Teresa Reagle retired to see North America a year ago and now they are retiring to a low-tax State: Texas.
Sam came to us from Denver about a dozen years ago and has been a stalwart of the Society ever since.
We’ll miss his celebration of the spirit of the game, his unique perspective on the world, and the times we’ve spent on tour and on the hiking trail enjoying life.
And there’s a good chance a lot of us will be moving to states like Texas in the coming decade or two. Get the rugby there ready for us, Sam!
ALL HANDS ON DECK: RUGGERS NEED REFEREES
MAY 1:
We have a need for at least 20 referees and ARs on Saturday, May 1. The current roster of availability shows nine.
We’ll need:
ARs, #4s and a #5 at Stanford for the college championships
Referee and ARs for a Pacific Coast men’s D1 playoff match
Referees for four U19 playoff games (it would be nice to have ARs but we’re dreaming)
Referees for two high school playoff games (single-school), with ARs for one of them, which is the championship
A referee for a women’s friendly match
A referee for a women’s college alumnae match
MAY 15-16:
Two tournaments:
Golden Gate Tournament – plenty of games for everyone
(SFGG is on track to hosting a quarter-final game that weekend)
California High School championship
NCRFU U19 championship
Stanford Collegiate Sevens Tournament (Saturday only)
We’ll need about three dozen refs this weekend.
PLEASE RESPOND with your availability for May 1 and May 15-16.
NCRFU D3 PLAYOFFS
Redwood 5 – BERKELEY 32 Referee: Tom Zanarini
#4: Jake Rubin
MARIN 24 – San Bruno 18 Referee: Rich Anderson
On a sunny day in Marin, this Men's DIII playoff match did not start out well for the home team.
San Bruno was able to control the ball early with their pack, controlling Scrum and line outs, and running out to a 15-0 lead before Marin was able to right the ship with a couple of PKs to close the Half-time margin to 15-6.
Marin gained some consistency in their pack in the second half, then spun the ball wide late in the match to score the two tries that would allow them to move on in the playoffs.
Berkeley and Marin will play for the D3 championship this Saturday, Scott Wood to referee.
USA COLLEGE PLAYOFFS
The California men, and the Stanford and UC Santa Cruz women will be playing national semi-finals at Stanford’s Steuber Family Rugby Stadium on April 30.
Here’s hoping they all get to play on Saturday, May 1, as well.
REGULAR SEASON GAMES
Sac Capitals 5 – OLYMPIC CLUB 67 Referee: Sione Tanoa
AR: Phil Akroyd
I was at the ground yesterday with Phil, I took the first game Phil took B side. My first game was between Sacramento Capitals and Olympic Club it was like a one-sided game which result in 67-5 to the Olympic club they really dominated in every department of the game especially their scrum and ruck situation.
Thank you very much for assigning me to that game; I’m really looking forward for next weekend.
Seconds: Sac Capitals – Olympic Club Referee: Phil Akroyd
An abridged and abbreviated friendly was played.
Reno 24 – SAC LIONS 41 Referee: Sam Reagle
ARs: Russ & Hannah Wilkening
Conditions: Warm & Breezy
This game was a classic tale of two halves. The pitch had a slight downward grade to the north and the breeze was from the south which may help to explain why 9 of the 11 tries were scored in the north goal. There could have been at least 2 more, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.
Reno won the toss and chose to kick so the Lions chose the wind. The short version is that Sacramento dominated play in the first half. The Zephyrs were playing good hard rugby, but Sac dominated the kicking game (except for conversions) pinning Reno deep time after time until a miscue went Sacramento's way. Sac also won most of the lineouts in the first half. They scored a try at 8 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 33 minutes and to end the half converting only once for a 27-0 halftime lead.
The second half could have been a copy of the first going Reno's way were it not for 3 errant passes and a knock-on by a Reno player with room to run. On the first possession of this half, Reno attacked well thru 2 or 3 phases and then made a long pass that was poached for an easy Sac try ... unlucky. Reno took their next possession and marched confidently north for their first converted try at the 6 minute mark. The Lions tried to attack, but lost the ball in a maul where Reno drove to their 2nd try 4 minutes later.
Sacramento continued kicking for position and picked up a loose ball on the wing and scooted in for a converted try. The remaining 24 minutes were completely dominated by Reno. They scored tries at the 21 and 28 minute marks and probably would have scored 2 more tries if their passes had found the intended targets. The knock-on was the Zephyrs last good chance to score.
This was a great game played relatively penalty free. There were no penalty kicks attempted, though there were a few more scrums than I would normally expect in a D1 game. Just the same, I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the social, we talked about the playoffs and who the Lions are cheering for next week. As my wife and I are moving to the San Antonio area within the week, this is my last game in NorCal for quite a while. I plan to keep my NorCal kit and my many great memories for the rest of my life. Thanks to all of NorCal for a great experience. Hope to see you around.
Barbarians 8 – EAST PALO ALTO 20 Referee: George O’Neil
Seconds: Barbarians – East Palo Alto Referee: Greg Lundell
Assessor: Bryan Porter
Bay Barbarians and EPA Razorbacks scrapped together a B-side game of 20 minute halves. I’m going to say that the score was indeterminate as the same individuals scored for both teams at different points in the game. It was a friendly.
DIABLO GAELS 67 – Stanislaus 12 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
A sunny day on Mare Island-and while it was competitive rugby it also was all Gaels. Their sleek backs were like jets all day and could be slowed but not stopped. 36-5 at half, and more in the second half.
These are two teams I know and admire. I was a Gael for many years back in the day. John Compaglia was my hooker. I tip my hat to the job he and Harry Batten have done over the years. And what can one say about them Stanislaus fellas? Making the tough transition to D2 complicated by almost silly travel requirements, week in week out they showed up (often just 15) and played hard rugby. No quit in that dog.
Refs who like history should sign up for a Gaels match on Mare Island. It was the US Navy Ship Yard for more than 140 years-until 1996. It has a nice museum and wonderful old buildings.
FRESNO 25 – Santa Rosa 18 Referee: Jim Crenshaw
BA BARACUS 53 – Seahawks 5 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
It was only 10-0 at half & SJ lost their flyhalf & hooker both to hard tackles.
Baracus scored 6 tries (all on long runs & hook-ups) in the second half led by their 8, line-out jumper who stole a bunch of SJ's ball, & kicker.
Thanks for Ray Schwartz for his 1/2 time, & pre & post match coaching, which slightly offset the 3 meals I had to feed the Gorilla.
Chico 10 – SFGG 64 Referee: Scott Wood
TJs: Mitch Jagoe (Chico), Rich (SFGG)
Location: Pleasant Valley HS, Chico
YES! Finally a game not played in gopherville! Chico found a great spot of land at a local high school. Smooth pitch, great footing, and no (noticeable) gopher/snake warrens underfoot. Hopefully this will be a long-lasting venue.
Seventh place Chico (4-4) entered the match against second place SFGG (7-1). Both teams played a well-disciplined tactical game but the visitors found themselves occasionally on their backfoot due to ruck penalties. It took some doing but they finally got the concept that if a player is in contact over with the opposition, it's a ruck. If the referee "lets the contact-point breath" then calls "ruck", keep thy hands off the ball. Nonetheless, Chico was only able to capitalize off one attempt at goal. SFGG opened up the field with wily running and took advantage of missed tackles to enter the half leading 31-3.
At halftime, the teams rehydrated (it was, after all, a very warm and humid day) and returned to action. SFGG kept its hands out of the rucks and Chico was able to put on a number of attacks. Unfortunately, support players were at a minimum and the visitors were able to efficiently counter ruck and poach the ball. Missed tackles and side-stepping players allowed SFGG to put more points on the board. Chico was able to punch in a try (overheard: "Out game plan has changed, let's score at least one try!") despite SFGG's formidable defense.
Thanks go out to the captains, John and Casey (Chico) and Mike, Westy, and Pat (SFGG) for their exemplary leadership.
Seconds: Chico – SFGG Referee: Dan Lacko
Dan Lacko refereed the seconds match between Chico and SFGG/Mendocino/(???). I think Chico won but there were a lot of tries for both sides.
ARROYO GRANDE over Vallejo by forfeit
San Jose State 95 – ALUMNI 96 Referee: James Hinkin
On a picture perfect Saturday in San Jose the annual alumni game was held at San Jose St. The collegians were out in force warming up well before 1:00 but the alumni were "conserving energy" by trickling in at the last moment. We eventually got numbers for a match and we were underway. Played with good spirit and energy (at least on the college side) it was a fun game. Especially when (at the suggestion of the San Jose coach and Alumni captain) I staged a hissy fit at a scrum with about 15 minutes left and barred all forwards from participating in scrums and lineouts. Backs and forwards swapped places and some eyes were opened as to how the other side lives. This also gave me an opportunity to make a call that may be unique in the annals of rugby: the alumni tried to sneak a forward into the lineout so i gave a free kick for Forward Participating In A Lineout. Or maybe not unique - this isn't the first time backs and forwards have switched places and we all know forwards love to cheat.
The score reported probably isn't accurate, but I wouldn't know as i didn't bother keeping score.
MENDOCINO over Diablo U23 by forfeit
U. of San Francisco 7 – UC SANTA CRUZ 58 Referee: Cary Bertolone
At USF on Saturday, we had a kick-off at 4:00 PM. Within 5 minutes, both teams scored and we seemed to have an even match. That quickly changed with Santa Cruz piling on 7 more first half tries for a 48-7 halftime lead. USF failed to make tackles and rarely made low tackles, allowing Santa Cruz to dominate with timely passes and eventual overlaps. The second half was more evenly matched, as neither team scored for the first 30 minutes. Santa Cruz scored two more tries in the end for a 58-7 final score.
UOP – USF CANCELED
Sunday:
STANFORD GRAD SCHOOLS 40 – UCLA grad schools 0 Referee: Stephen Moore
Friendly match. Lots of fun. Entertaining chant by Stanford at the end of the game. Loss of clothes by one player and entertaining sprint around the field! The day was finished off with some liquid refreshments down at the local, some WWI rugby poetry and a ‘boat’ race including an official! Great day in sport all n all, I hope I get to participate in more matches like this!
PELICAN FLIES SOUTH
UCSD women (babies) v. UCSD alumni (olden goldies) Referee: Sam Davis
I was the guest ref at the UCSD women’s alumni game this weekend. It was good to catch up with a number of the great women ruggers that have played there over the past 9 years. Most of the "babies" were in their first or second year. The oldies had a number of players that had National experience. The game was lopsided but a lot of fun. The oldies had costumes (IRB approved of course) that dazzled the youngsters with all their "gold" At the end of the first half the oldies were up 45-0 the youngsters were switching players around to see if they had a combination that would stop the old farts. At half time a new oldie showed up for the game so they had their first substitution. With a 16 woman roster the end of the game was 74-0 It was fun to be involved in this game since it has so many great women rugby players. I am sure the youngsters are planning on a rematch next year so oldies watch out. ;-) The Ladies retired to the party where we all had a great time. Even score at the party so UCSD won the party since it was their home field.
HIGH SCHOOLS
Skyhawk Playoffs
Semi-finals:
SAN MATEO 29 – Bellarmine 7 Referee: Chris Fisher
PENINSULA GREEN 7 – East Palo Alto 0 Ref: Fisher
Preston Gordon:
The 2 "games" I was asked to do were each 20 minute JV/B-side affairs. The first was Peninsula Green against Bellarmine, followed by Peninsula Green against San Mateo. The ball was thrown around, a couple of tries were scored each way, and then we had sandwiches and went home. It was nice to have a short run, after Vallejo couldn't get the numbers to make the trip to Arroyo Grande, but that's about all I got out of this.
I'm looking forward to RC Genève - RC Nyon on Saturday, followed by GC Zürich 2nds vs RC Solothurn on Sunday. That assumes I can get to Switzerland though - things are still up in the air at the moment, but I hope the volcanic eruption cools off and that the ash problem blows over (apologies for the triple pun)!
Thursday 5 PM
FAIRFIELD PREP (touring HS side from CT) 38 – SFGG JV 22 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Match was tied at the half 12-12 which Fairfield went ahead mainly due to their fullback running elusively around &/or past SFGG tacklers.
Friday Night
Dixon 6 – COUGARS 24 Referee: Phil Akroyd
Too much to go into in one report, but Cougars came out playing contrary to the Law and never wanted to change, even though they suffered four yellows (one for a shoulder charge on a tackled player on the ground, two for high tackles, one for team ruck offenses) and one red card for a spear tackle called in by Jim Crenshaw on flag-carrying duty. In typical Jim fashion, he said he would have issued more cards.
The captain was unwilling to change the style of play, so I had to resort to the cards. Dixon looked uninterested in getting involved in this “nothing” game and I can’t blame them.
At one point, Cougar had three players off the field and still scored tries. The disappointing thing was that they could have put over sixty points on the board if they had played by the book.
Varsity: Elsie Allen 15 – ROSA/NEWMAN 22 Referee: Sean Peters
At Elsie Allen, 6:30 kick-off, the Rosa high school squad took the lead and controlled the game through the first three quarters. Elsie made a furious comeback, but it was not enough between these very evenly matched teams (who tied in their first match) and Rosa won the battle for 2nd place and the right to compete in the playoffs.
JV: ELSIE ALLEN 31 – Rosa/Newman 28 Referee: Cary Bertolone
Barnburner with Elsie scoring the last try with minutes to go to win 31-28.
Saturday
Varsity: Piedmont High School 7 – DE LA SALLE 24 Referee: Bjorn Stumer
A spirited affair between a capable, albeit chatty, Piedmont side vs an equally capable and determined De La Salle team. The first half was quite even with a converted try apiece and a Piedmont side which, through repeated attacks, seemed to be the side that would carry the day. This was not to be the case, as the hosts lost composure in the second half. De La Salle capitalized in the fact and ran away with the match scoring an additional two converted tries and a penalty. Lots of hard running and effective tackling, but both sides would benefit from more preparatory work on rucks and mauls. De La Salle exhibited a propensity towards the dangerous tackle which was soon corrected with a yellow card. They also had a hard time staying on their feet, which put them at the receiving end of another yellow card. Both shortages however did not get them flustered as they seemed to get better as the clock ticked by. Final score Piedmont 7 (7) - De La Salle 24 (7). Superb weather, great facilities and hospitality with a good crowd on tap made this a very enjoyable evening for all involved.
Monday:
BISHOP O’DOWD 30 – Piedmont 24 Referee: Sam Davis
It was a game of two halves PITS dominated the first half 19 -0 running up the middle with pick and drives then dishing it off to the backs. There # 8 had two tries and was a hard man to bring down. It was not the crisp PITS team I had the chance to ref in the past but they looked good. The half ended and I assumed that the 2nd half would be the same.
This is BOD first year and Coach Ray Lehner must have a great half time speech. The teams switched sided and the rest is history. It looked like PITS got overconfident and BOD caught the momentum. Nothing happened for the first 12 mins. On an obstruction penalty on PITS's 20 a quick tap and go and it was a score in the corner. I put the 5 points on the card and then put it away. I assumed that BOD would not make the kick. I was wrong it was on the sideline and out about 30 meters it sailed between the uprights 10 feet off the center bar. In the next 15 mins BOD put three more tries on the board and all the kicks were good. PITS came back hard and scored one more goal with 21 seconds in the game the kick was wide and the game ended. It was a great game to participate in.
CLARIFICATION FOR LAST WEEK’S D2 RESULTS
“Just to clear up the report you put out, since everyone gets their news from you, (thanks for the detailed eligibility explanation)...Vacaville agreed to forfeit the match as none of the UC Davis players they used was registered with them, our D2 coordinator is on board with that result etc...So at the end of the day Baracus 8-0 forfeit win.”
ONE PELICAN PLAYS THROUGH
By Joe Leisek
Former Pelican referee Bo Rodman died on Monday, April 12, in Boulder Creek. He was 46. He is survived by his wife Janet and children Calvin, 13, and Claire, 9. Bo was a dedicated referee who lived and worked for many years in Sonoma County and refereed as many high school and NCRFU matches as possible. In addition to his colleagues in Northern California, Bo had lots of rugby friends in the Pacific Northwest, having played hooker for the Seattle Rugby Club many years ago. In fact, Bo and Janet met at a sevens tournament in Seattle. Refereeing was a major source of enjoyment for Bo, and he took his son along for many games. In fact, until recently Calvin was the youngest certified touch judge on the Pacific Coast (that title may now be held by a young AR named Ben Bravo). Bo was an excellent golfer and an ardent Seattle Mariners fan. A few years ago he moved with his family to Redmond, Oregon. After the move he refereed in Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest. He refereed his last game about a month ago. No services are planned. Contributions may be made to the National MS Society, Oregon Chapter, or to a charity of the giver's choice.
THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
Helen Marcus found this for you in the Secret Garden in lovely Carmel-by-the-Sea last week.
HAIL, PELICUS!
For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris
