HAIL, PELICUS!
SOCIETY MEETING WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, ON TREASURE ISLAND
The Pelican Refs will be meeting in the Golden Gate clubhouse from 7 to 9 PM. Food will be available starting at 6, so plan to arrive early. You can eat and talk rugby if traffic is light, and you won’t be late if it’s not.
WANNA RUN TOUCH?
The USA High School All Americans will be playing Canada U-17 two games in Santa Barbara, on Wednesday, December 29 at 3 PM and Friday, December 31, at 9 AM.
SoCal is putting out a call for ARs but so are we, in case they don’t get volunteers to cover these work-day games.
Your scribe will be one of the ARs for the Wednesday game. Don Pattalock and Joe Androvich have been appointed to ref the two games.
NINE NEW CLUB AND COLLEGE TEAMS. HOW MANY NEW REFS?
NorCal rugby is growing. There are going to be 25 youth clubs in the Bay Area alone (this number doesn’t include the Sac Valley, which has been the pioneer here). Each of these will have multiple sides beginning as young as Under-6 up to U-14.
At the opposite end, club and college rugby features a number of new teams as well.
Men’s club:
SL: One. SFGG played in the league final each of the last two years.
D1: Seven teams, Reno Zephyrs having dropped down and East Palo Alto Bulldogs as a new entrant. Five of these teams have scheduled matches with SF/Golden Gate prior to the start of the SL season.
D2: Ten teams, playing a round-robin. Same teams as last year less Vallejo and Arroyo Grande.
D3: Sixteen teams, divided into North and South conferences of eight teams each.
There would be seventeen except that Monterey organized too late to be put into the schedule. They will be combining with Aptos as Monterey Bay for the season.
New teams include: South Valley (Morgan Hill), Paso Robles, Colusa, Reno Academy, and Samoa United. The Reno Zephyrs, Vallejo and AG have dropped down to D3.
Men’s college:
CPL: Three. California, St. Mary’s and UC Davis will compete in the inaugural season of the new premier division.
D1: Four. Santa Clara will move up from D2 to compete with Chico State, Sac State and Stanford.
D2: Eleven teams divided into two conferences.
Women’s College:
D1: Six teams, with UC Santa Cruz having moved up from D2. Chico State is new. Nevada has dropped down.
D2: Four. St. Mary’s and USF have vanished. The SF Bats are new. Perhaps they represent SF State?
GAMES
Tuesday, November 30
STANFORD women 60 – California 0 Referee: Pete Smith
This game was a bit one sided on the scoreboard at 60-0. However, if you were watching the game on TV and were just glancing at the set from time to time and didn’t see the score, you would think that the team with 0 was winning. They dominated possession and position, but time and time again, Stanford would get the turnover they needed and would run back, typically all the way, for a try. The majority of Stanford’s tries were scored from over halfway. Cal would have long periods of sustained pressure only to have Stanford counter punch with a length-of-the-field haymaker. Stanford ran one out from 15M deep in their own try zone, made it to the 22, won the ruck, took off again, next tackle at the Cal 10M line and then in for the try from there. Emilia from Stanford had the play of the game as she took off from the shadow of her own goalpost, chipped the ball over the defense, grubbed the bounce past the full back, picked the ball up about their own 10M line, passed it out to the wing who was caught from behind, but Emilia was in support to catch the return pass and as she was being tackled off loaded to the try scorer-WOW!!!! Note that Cal was there the length of the field to make tackles; Stanford was just too good in support and keeping the ball alive. Stanford has some good forwards (particularly the loose forwards) and they are still learning to work together as a unit up front, but as usual the strength of Stanford is their backs. They BELIEVE that they can score from anywhere on the field. Cal needs to learn how to finish and they will be a strong team this year.
FRIDAY
MARITIME ACADEMY 25 – UC Davis 20 Referee: Paul Bretz
AR: Bruce Bernstein
Seconds: Maritime Academy 12 – UC DAVIS 20 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Saw two very competitive well coached matches Friday night at CMA in Vallejo. Was slightly less cold & windy & muddy reffing the seconds after ARing the firsts. Both games could have went easily went either way & the highlights in my match were: CMA's flyhalf caught & distributed some great ball that was all over & he never knocked on; CMA's 2nd row & lankiest player on the pitch scored 2 really nice tries by extending his long arms juts across the try line; UC Davis flyhalf had a slithering run for a great try; & after the match heard a comment form one of the losers: “That was an entertaining game.”
SATURDAY
PAT VINCENT FIELD DAY
St. Mary’s hosted four matches with their large squad of players. The Gaels’ packs were stronger than their opponents’ in all four matches, a remarkable depth of front-row not normally seen at any level.
ST. MARY’S 4, 37 – San Francisco State 5 Referee: John Pohlman
This Saturday took me to the St. Mary's rugby experience. I call the day this in tribute to the rugby program they have built.
I arrived around 9:00am for a 10:00AM kickoff. I was scheduled to do St. Mary's fourth side against SFSU. That is correct St. Mary's is fielding four sides.
The weather was low 50's a couple of sprinkles throughout the game. But all and all very good rugby conditions.
St. Mary's had good size and some faces I recognized from high school programs. They obviously had plenty of players.
Coach Dean has SFSU on the upswing. They had some injuries to their back-line. The captain and #10 was out. This hurt their organization and go forward. Eventually St. Mary's needed to give a player to SFSU.
The game was pretty one-sided. The St. Mary's players seemed to have run the entire Thanksgiving break. Fitness was the primary difference.
St. Mary's scored five first half trys. They added one more in the second half.
To SFSU’s credit they scored the final try and I blew my whistle to end the game.
I stayed around the whole day. Watching the other St. Mary's sides play two GG teams and finish the day with another one-sided game against Humboldt State.
After I had a chat with head coach Tim O'Brien whole said they have 63 very committed players. If their fitness is testimony to their commitment, look out.
I also noticed an physical edge to the players throughout the four sides. No backing down.
If you get a chance catch the Gaels.
St. Mary's 3, 14 – SF/GOLDEN GATE seconds 75 Referee: Bruce Carter
ARs: Eric Rauscher, Anthony Yeo
This team was largely SFGG’s D2 squad with some real youngsters and a few transfers from around the Bay. A lot of tries were scored from long range, giving the ref the kind of workout referees hope for in the pre-season.
St. MARY’S 30 – SF/Golden Gate 15 Referee: George O'Neil
ARs: Eric Rauscher, John Pohlman
Video-coach: Bruce Carter
St. MARY’S seconds 78 – Humboldt State 7 Referee: Anthony Yeo (SoCal)
ARs: Eric Rauscher, John Coppinger
Evaluator: Dixon Smith
Video-coach: Bruce Carter
U. of the Pacific 17 – U. OF SAN FRANCISCO 39 Referee: Rich Boyer
AR: Ron Decausemaker
Referee Coach: Scott Wood
I was fortunate enough to referee on the finest pitch in Northern California (in my opinion), bar none. UOP’s pitch is fantastic!
UOP is a young team, but they came out swinging and played to a 12-12 tie at halftime. USF had fewer numbers, but their experience showed in the second half as they won a game closer than the final score indicates. UOP had the stronger pack (even taking a penalty scrum from five meters out in for a try), but USF had the more experienced backs, which was the difference for the day.
USF captain Paddy, from Worcester, England, played flyhalf and was easily man of the match. Great ball handling skills, an eye for the quick tap penalty, and a good burst through the gap separated him from all others. Although only 22, he played professionally for Worcester, then coached in Brisbane, having the opportunity to coach Wallaby sensation James O'Connor.
UOP has improved tremendously since I last reffed them in October, with numbers 6 and 8 very hard men indeed. Solid runners and willing, strong tacklers.
Good sportsmanship, and a good game!
Special thanks to Ron DeCausemaker for offering to run touch, and to Scott Wood for his insight into the game.
Fresno State 19 – FRESNO 33 Referee: Phil Akroyd
AR: Dan Wilson
Both teams made hard work of this. Game was pretty even until half. The men dominated the ruck but didn't use the ball too effectively while State thrived in broken play. Not a bad game for pre season but not the best either.
SHASTA 17 – SF Fog 12 Referee: Mike King
Bingham Stein Game
The match commenced on schedule on a relatively dry surface and no rain. There were some patches of mud that played occasional havoc on footing. Play was a bit sloppy at first with dropped balls slowing several attacks down. Shasta struck first with its charging forwards attack, but its tactics changed after several substitutions in the backfield. The Highlanders became more effective in counterattack when the Fog would kick ahead. The Fog’s #10 was near perfect kicking for goal, slotting 2 first half penalty kicks and 2 in the second half. Unfortunately, the drives of the Fog near Shasta’s goal did not lead to paydirt. With the ref off his game a bit, there was some chippiness that settled down. Kudos for both sides, especially the Fog who traveled a long way to slide in the mud and for the post-game pint
SIERRA COLLEGE 59 – Nevada 14 Referee: Joe Androvich
To any referee who gets a SCJC assignment, be prepared for a fast run, especially if they are playing on the football team's field turf. These guys play a fast-paced game.
Seconds: SIERRA COLLEGE 44 – Nevada 10 Referee: Jackie von Finck
ARs: Rod Chance and Marc Godfrey
The weather behaved nicely that afternoon for a 3pm b-side match. Sierra College had a full fresh side for their B-game, whereas UNR needed roughly five A-side players to fill a B-side team.
Sierra College executed great communication with each other throughout the match; players knew who was at the off-side lines at rucks/mauls/tackles which were defensively stocked without gaps, and arriving players were vocal as to their support of their teammate being contested. It was during the second half UNR gave Sierra a good contest; UNR quickly swung the ball wide to the outer edge of the field to score both times. Nonetheless, Sierra College was more vocally and physically hungry for the ball.
Overall, both teams did an excellent job and I really enjoyed my time out there...running on turf made me feel faster! Looking back, both teams were low on penalties during their B-side match. That said, I did have the assistance of two good touch judges who kept a 'third eye' out for me.
MONTEREY BAY 17 – Marauders 6 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
The odd fellows that are referees; I drive 2 hours to do a match that is 10 minutes away from Bruce Carter’s house, and he drives 2 hours to do a match 10 minutes away from mine.
I liked Monterey Bay. It has the makings of an excellent D3 and with some seasoning a creditable D2.
In lovely Monterey; dry but atmospherically dramatic. Monterey has merged with Aptos, resulting in excellent numbers; it had 30 plus. The Marauders are an ''independent'', whatever that means. Some oldsters, but they certainly came to play.
These being early days and D3, it took a bit to get the tackles lower, off side lines established, and the sea lawyers under control (this last being a worthy subject in a Society meeting). But then a game broke out. First try by Monterey at 22 minutes, 12-3 to them at half. Then good multiphase stuff. With a minute left and on the attack, the Marauders had a chance- but the other fellows got the ball at a tackle and dotted it in the corner as the siren sounded.
SAN JOSE STATE 28 – Santa Rosa JC 15 Referee: Pete Smith
It was an odd game that felt more like a scrimmage than a preseason game between two of the best Div 2 teams around. SRJC was short on numbers, especially in the front row, and clearly wasn’t the team that I was expecting. The players had fun and got a good run in. All in all a good rugby day.
Seconds: San Jose State – Santa Rosa JC Referee: Rob Hendrickson
Santa Rosa JC had too many injuries to field a B side, so SJ put up forwards and we played a 20 minute half/game. Not worth reporting as a game.
UC SANTA CRUZ women over San Jose State Referee: Sandy Robertson
The two teams got together for a scrimmage--both teams showed great enthusiasm, energy, and gentleness towards the referee. They ran and tackled hard. UCSC's greater experience and time together proved to be the difference (San Jose State included both students and Seahawks women). After going down a couple of tries the SJS women put together a sustained march to put one down under the post.
MORGAN HILL 35 – Modesto 6 Referee: Chris Fisher
LEVEL ONE REFEREE COURSE IN SACRAMENTO JANUARY 9
The basic rugby referee course will be offered in Sacramento on Sunday, January 9.
Any coach of a college team who attends with one or two players from that team will have their course fees reimbursed at the meeting, courtesy of a friendly donor.
The lead instructor will be Matt Eason: Matthew@capcitylaw.com Let him know if you plan to attend. On-line registration still does not appear to be available as of December 8.
THE SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE
Ever fallen into a wormhole? Start with the slider all the way to the right and proceed down the scale for the full effect.
http://primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/
HAIL, PELICUS!
For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris
