Thursday, March 21, 2013

TREASURE ISLAND TONIGHT

HAIL, PELICUS!

MONTHLY MEETING

Our next society meeting will be this evening, Wednesday, March 20, at the usual time and place: Golden Gate clubhouse, southeast corner of Treasure Island, from 7 until 9 PM.

FRIDAY

Humboldt State 0 – MARITIME ACADEMY 50 Referee: Pete Smith

Report from CMA website:
The Cal Maritime Rugby team, knowing it needed a win to claim the NCCRC league title, scored 50 points on Humboldt State to win its first NorCal CRC league title decisively. Fresh off a frustrating tie which dropped CMA into second place, the Keelhaulers came out focused and ready for the traditionally tough trip up to Eureka. Senior wing Zach Patterson scored the first of CMA's 8 tries. Additional tries were scored by freshman Chad Mensinger, senior Brandon Teepen, senior Lonnie Shankling (2), junior Wyatt Matthews (2), and freshman Evan Chambers. Senior Will Fitzpatrick was successful on 5 of his 8 conversion attempts. The win brought CMA's league record to 5-0-1 and ahead of Sonoma State in league standings (Sonoma's only loss was to CMA). The Keelhauler's overall record is 11 wins against 1 loss and 1 tie.

The victory against the traditionally tough Humboldt State team on the road in CMA's final league match earned CMA the league title as well as the right to represent Northern California in the Small College's National Championship competition. The first leg of the playoff competition is the Pacific Coast Cup on March 23-24. The PC Cup will include Northern California's champion (the CMA Keelhaulers), the Pacific Northwest champion (two-time champion University of Puget Sound), and Southern California's champion (perennially champion Occidental College) and runner-up (frequent playoff contender Pepperdine University) and will be held at Bodnar Field on Cal Maritime's campus in Vallejo, CA. CMA plays Pepperdine at 11am Saturday with the second game, featuring UPS against Occidental, kicking off at 1:30. Saturday's winners both will qualify for the Small College's Pacific-West Regional Championship to be held 2 weeks later in Glendale (Denver), Colorado, and will play Sunday, March 24, to determine the Pacific Coast Cup champion as well as seeding for the PacWest Regional. Kick-off for Sunday's PC Cup championship game will be at 1:30. A consolation game between Saturday's losing teams will kick-off at 11:00am.

All rugby fans are invited to come out and watch the exciting playoff rugby that will be on display during the Pacific Coast Cup held at the Cal Maritime Academy Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24. Kick-offs are scheduled for 11am and 1:30pm on both days. The gate opens 1 hour before the first game each day.

SATURDAY GAMES

OLYMPIC CLUB 61 – Bay Barbarians 7 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referee: Nome Tiatia
At the Gaelic AA Field B at Treasure Island, both teams were undisciplined in the first half, but the captains took control at half-time so the 2nd half was more positive. OC led 32-0 at half and won convincingly, 9 tries to 1.

Seconds: Olympic Club – Barbarians Referee: Nome Tiatia
No report received.

EPA Bulldogs 24 – SACRAMENTO LIONS 41 Referee: Tony Maphosa (PNW)
AR: James Hinkin
Evaluator: Mike Malone
My trip to Northern California proved to be one of the best in recent memory. Sac Lions vs EPA Bulldogs was the game: Very competitive game (final score doesn't reflect the game itself). SL more efficient at winning the set piece battle which was ultimately the difference in the game. Final score SL prevails 41-24.

Many thanks to James Hinkin (and Emily) for putting me up on Friday and Saturday, Mike Malone for taking time out to watch the match and provide feedback, Pete Smith for Saturday's lively entertainment, Preston Gordon for showing me the sights and sounds on Sunday. Hopefully we in Northwest can return the favor soon. Well done Pelicans. You indeed are some fine birds.

Tony Maphosa

Seconds: EPA Bulldogs 7 – SAC LIONS 15 Referee: James Hinkin
The B side match for this fixture kicked off 10 minutes late, but that’s all right because we only played 30 minute halves. Both sides have old heads and young bucks and mostly were out having good fun running around. A yellow to each team for repeated offenses calmed the penalty count slightly but neither team really took advantage of the extra man. Sac Lions ran in 2 tries (unconverted) to a single converted try to the hosts in the first half. The second half saw only one score: an unconverted (again) try from Sacramento.

SFGG 76 – EPA Razorbacks 5 Referee: Matt Hetterman
Video Coach: Bruce Carter
I arrived at Treasure Island on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, just after Bruce Carter blew the whistle for kick-off of the b-side match. I watched a bit of that from the press-box, and then sorted out the captain's talk just before half-time.

Bruce had offered to video tape and mic me, which was great - I had heard from several other refs, both NCRRS and SCRRS-based, how useful that had been for them. We setup quickly in the interim between matches.

The first 20-minutes was pretty tightly contested, but then execution and fitness enabled SFGG to pull away quickly. Tempers became heated just before half-time - I issued a yellow to a Razorback player for a high tackle (after repeated team infringements) with 3 minutes left, and then a stern warning at the half-time whistle to their captain for two tardy tackles in the last 30 seconds.

Scoring slowed a bit in the beginning of the second half, but thankfully tempers had settled down as well. Last 20 minutes saw SFGG put their foot on the gas.

Bruce and I grabbed a couple beers afterward before heading home – had to take my wife to dinner as she let me ref on her birthday!

Seconds: SFGG 65 – EPA Razorbacks 3 Referee: Bruce Carter
Got to the clubhouse early enough to see Wales put the wood to England, spanking them like public schoolboys asking for another. *(See below)

What a difficult-to-predict tournament is the Six Nations! Because they only play each other once a year, passion often seems to play a larger part in the teams’ performances than in the Tri-Nations (now four), where multiple games means things usually run to form.

It was a beautiful rugby day on the Bay, windless sun, but much of the usual Sheeran Field crowd must have been at the St. Paddy’s Day parade in SF.

Golden Gate has several players pushing for slots in the first XV, with the Elite Cup around the corner, and they made their case against the game Razorback seconds.

MARIN REDS 43 – Sacramento Capitals 20 Referee: Rich Anderson
In a match that was more competitive than the teams' record would suggest, Marin overcame a 14-15 half-time deficit, scoring 5 second half tries, and defeating the Sacramento Caps 43-20.

FRESNO 36 – Berkeley 20 Referee: Giles Wilson
Fresno hosted Berkeley on a sunny (80 degree) day on a hard but grassed field. When I arrived there were still 3 or 4 lawnmowers working over the longer sections, ensuring even coverage.

Both sides had good numbers and were warming up - old faces coaching and on the sidelines (some playing) along with many new faces on the field.

In the first game both sides came out hard with big strike runners, Fresno especially got big guys running in the midfield. Both sides worked two first half tries but only one conversion between them meant Fresno turned around with a narrow 12 - 10 lead.

In the second half Berkeley were able to build a couple of periods of pressure and generated two more tries, but overall were fading somewhat in the warm weather while Fresno were getting stronger. The second half saw one Berkeley tries (converted) plus a penalty overwhelmed by four Fresno tries (two converted).

Seconds: FRESNO 19 - Berkeley 12 Ref: Wilson
Both sides had some young guys who wanted a run and managed to persuade some of the very old guys to complete the numbers for a short run out - the referee was wilting pretty fast in the sun as well.

Vacaville 10 – SANTA ROSA 59 Referee: Jen Tetler
Hot and sunny day out in Vacaville. The game opened up with a Vacaville try in the first two minutes off of a beautiful up and under caught by the kicker (not sure where the fullback was). Unfortunately, that was the last try that Vacaville would get for the day. Santa Rosa came back a few minutes later with a penalty kick to show that they wanted the game too. There was some pretty great back and forth in the first half with the score tied at 10-10 with about 10 minutes left in the half. But Santa Rosa pulled ahead with two quick tries at the end to put them up 24-10. Vacaville held their own for the first 15 of the second half, but Santa Rosa just had more support further outside and some really good offloads. They ended up scoring a few more unanswered times in the second half. All in all, hard-fought with play that is not accurately reflected in the score.

DIABLO GAELS 40 – Seahawks 28 Referee: Paul Bretz
Good match by both sides. Gaels got out early in the first half and never relinquished the lead. At one point in the second half the Hawks closed the gap to 4 points but every time they started to get momentum the Gaels would create an opportunity to take it back.

Seconds: Diablo Gaels – Seahawks Referee: Dave Pescetti
Referee coach: Paul Bretz
No report received.

Shasta 15 – COLUSA 45 Referee: Eric Rauscher
OK, a trip to Redding. Directions, check; kit bag, check; stack of cds. check.

This was your " the game was closer than the score". Shasta was within 5 meters of scoring twice in the first half and just didn't get it in. Colusa played better than Shasta, the score would indicate that. But it seems that Shasta just did not play up to their potential. Not to take anything away from Colusa's performance. Colusa did get a yellow card in the second half for foul play, but after it was handed out, any of the antagonistic play seemed to disappear.

Funny how cards seem to clean up a game.

REDWOOD EMPIRE 84 – State of Jefferson 0 Referee: Tony Levitan
A magnificent, if a wee bit warm, afternoon at For Pete's Sake in Santa Rosa was the fine setting for a track meet nee rugby match between Redwood Empire and State of Jefferson. Gotta hand it to the SoJ squad as they never quit, even refusing to shorten the second half so their players could "gain more match experience." To have played as hard as they did after a 55-0 first half, well, it was just nice to see them honoring the spirit of the sport!
Redwood Empire: 14 tries, 7 conversions
State of Jefferson: 0 tries, 0 conversions

MENDOCINO 31 – Humboldt 15 Referee: Pete Smith
19-8 Mendo at halftime with the wind, sun and down slope. I figure it would be about a 10 point advantage. So the 11 point spread looked like it would be a close game, but Mendo kept it going with 2 more tries in the second half to one converted by Humboldt. These guys aren’t used to someone using their voice and not their whistle…long stretches of rugby followed by moments to catch their breath. Great bunch of ruggers…what I remembered as a kid growing up. Nice to go back to your roots and remember why you fell in love with something.

RENO ZEPHYRS 42 – Blackhawks 17 Referee: Bruce Ricard
I arrived in Reno, for the first time, at the end of the afternoon on Friday, and was welcomed by Bruce Anderson, with whom we went to have a couple beers, while watching some rugby in an Irish pub. The next morning, Bruce drove us back to the pub, to watch this fantastic Wales - England game (without the beers this time), and finally to my first game of the day, at the Reno Zephyrs' pitch. Thanks a lot Bruce, I had a great time!

Very windy day in Reno. The wind was perfectly aligned with the pitch, so that you would get either a full wind for, or against. Reno had a very good start, scoring three tries in the first 20 minutes, but the Blackhawks came back in the second part of the first half, by scoring two tries. Score at the break: 15 - 12. The Blackhawks took the lead at the 8th minute of the second half, with another try (15 - 17). After that, Reno received two yellow cards in two minutes, and that seemed to wake them up. They scored five more tries, without letting the Blackhawks getting any more points. Final score: 42 - 17

After the game, the Zephyrs' coach KC, who is also one of the coaches of University of Nevada, drove me to the University for the second game.

NEVADA 63 – SF State 17 Referee: Bruce Ricard
Same windy day, but here the pitch wasn't aligned with the wind, which makes it even more annoying for the players. At the fifth minute of the game, UNR scored a first try. After getting the ball back on their 22 at the restart kick, the 9 passes to the 10, who passes to his 12, but the floating pass is intercepted by the USF center who has no trouble scoring between the posts, and USF takes the lead 5 - 7 after the conversion. Two minutes later, Reno scores another try, and once again after a few rucks following the restart kick, USF intercepts a pass and goes for a try (12 - 12). Reno scored two more tries in the half, to go to the break with a 12-point lead: 24 - 12. The second half was pretty much one-sided. UNR scored seven tries, USF scored only one try at the 22nd minute, thanks to their forwards. Final score: 63 - 17.

Thanks again to Bruce Anderson for having hosted me.

SIERRA FOOTHILLS 53 – Stanislaus 0 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
Our climate change winter continues-clear and 70 degrees at kick off in the the heartland of Rocklin. Sierra is the best team no one has heard of yet. A second year D3 club, it is assuredly playoff bound. Their men of the match were their stout scrum half and a quick crashing outsider center.

And the Stanislaus team? I always love to see these guys. While not likely to be in the play offs this year, year in and year out they show up at the various far flung venues, play hard, complain little, and cheerfully attend the social.

SOUTH VALLEY 29 – Monterey Bay 14 Referee: Stephen Valerio
A great day for rugby, once we could get to the pitch. I pulled up a little before an hour before kick-off to find some ruggers hanging in the parking lot. The pitch was locked up so people just hung out until someone came with the key. Kickoff was only 15 minutes late, so all in all, not bad.

The match brought back memories of my playing days with lots of pick-and-go action from both sides. South Valley seemed strong overall and broke out to a 17-0 lead off of 3 tries spread out in the first half. They lost momentum on a yellow card with about 5 minutes left to play in the half when Aptos was awarded a penalty and a lazy runner cynically killed the pass off of the tap. The player eventually returned and South Valley collected two more tries and a 29-0 lead. Both sides seemed fatigued and the scoring slowed for much of the 2nd half before an intercept just outside of Aptos's 22 let them get their first points of the day. Then late in the match Aptos was awarded another penalty and kicked for touch deep into South Valley territory. A few players asked for the time and I told them this would be the last play. All that happened was Aptos won the lineout, ran a couple of phases before another South Valley penalty, this one 5 meters out for not retiring behind the back foot. Then a high tackle stopped the next Aptos ball carrier resulting in a penalty try. I need to get a better response to those late in match time questions.

One point of laws debate came up. A free kick was awarded to South Valley in the first half, just on their side of mid-field. The kicker then went and kicked directly into touch, so I awarded a lineout to Aptos from the point of the kick. Several South Valley players/coaches/supporters thought the throw-in should have been Aptos' (all asked politely lest you think it was one of those screaming situations), but where the ball landed. I was able to show one or 2 of their members at the post-match gathering Law 19.1 (j) (you have to love the IRB Laws App) that when a free kick is awarded outside of the team's 22, the lineout is where it was kicked, or where it went into touch, whichever is nearer the kicker's goal line. However, I am sure I missed a few, so here is the promised clarification.

ST. MARY’S 48 – San Diego State 24 Referee: Phil Akroyd
A/Rs: Tom Zanarini, Mary Castle (PNW)
Coach: Dave Williamson
There was about ten minutes of competitive rugby in the first half and significantly more in the second. The game continued at a very fast pace throughout, even though the weather was hot and sunny. The conditioning of both teams was apparent as they played hard throughout and pushed me to the final whistle. Overall, an enjoyable experience.

Seconds: ST. MARY’S 91 – San Diego State 7 Referee: Mary Castle (PNW)
Coach: David Williamson
I want to say that Bjorn Stumer and Tom Zanarini were awesome hosts and I had a great experience working with Tom, Bryan Porter, and Dave before, during, and after the game. It was great to get feedback and also have the opportunity to work on it at the same time. It was a clean, fast game, and the 91-7 win by St. Mary’s really tested my fitness. I got great video from Tim O’Brien too! Hopefully I will be able to return the favor to a NorCal ref on exchange up here.

Stanford 10 – SACRAMENTO STATE 57 Referee: Derek Summers (USA Rugby, West)
Evaluator: Kat Todd
Stanford men's division 1 side finished their season with two losses to Sacramento State. The first game was refereed by Derek Summers. The final score 57- 10.

Seconds: Stanford 19 – SAC STATE 63 Referee: John Pohlman
The scores speak for themselves. Sac State was more psychical and just kept the pressure on the rebuilding Stanford Men's side.

Derek Summers is a 25 year old referee from Denver. He moved from Oklahoma to enhance his referee potential. He is currently in the National referee panel. Seeing young committed people striving to reach the top of the referee panel is both inspiring and exciting for the future of rugby in the U.S.

Santa Clara 7 – CAL POLY 45 Referee: George O'Neil

Seconds: Santa Clara – Cal Poly Referee: Bob Polito
No report received.

SANTA ROSA JC 53 – Fresno State 20 Referee: John Coppinger
On Saturday at the For Pete's Sake pitch, SRJC ran out to a 36-5 lead on a warm--almost 80 degree--day. Fresno came back to win the second half, but by then SRJC had let up a bit. The tale of the match was SRJC being able to recycle the ball after contact while Fresno State often turned the ball over in contact. Good match played in good spirits.

UCSC 41 – San Jose State 26 Referee: Neil MacDonald
After UCSC were led onto the field by a bagpiper, we got underway in this match for the MacBeth-Porter Cup. This was the last regular season game for both teams in the Pacific Western Conference in D1-AA, with UCSC lying second and SJSU third, and home field advantage for playoffs still to be determined. The glorious sunshine was perfect rugby weather, and the game got off to a fast start. SJSU were unable to capitalize on early pressure deep in UCSC's 22, with scoring chances there for the taking. UCSC opened the scoring from a penalty, and extended their lead to 10-0 on 17 minutes, putting SJSU's defensive scrum deep in their 22 under pressure, and profiting when San Jose's back row move went awry and spilled the ball. SJSU marched UCSC deep into their own 22, before the defenders spun the ball wide to the left wing and went all the way down the field for the score. 15-0 after 24 minutes. Three minutes later, another searing counter-attack up the left from UCSC took the score to 20-0, with SJSU still without reward for their committed play. UCSC scored two more converted tries, and SJSU found themselves facing a 34-0 deficit, in a scoreline which belied the intensity of play. Keeping their chins up, SJSU rallied and scored just before half time from a flowing back move. 34-7 at the half.

San Jose State began the second half with more physicality and intensity than they had at the end of the first, dominating play, scoring a converted try in the first few minutes, and adding another - both converted by the excellent boot of their hooker, and bringing the score to 34-21 with more than twenty minutes left to play. UCSC regathered themselves to stop the juggernaut, and claimed another converted try to extend their lead. SJSU scored again, gaining a bonus point for their fourth try and pegging the score back to 41-26 with ten minutes of play remaining. UCSC secured home field advantage for their April 6th quarter final match against Fresno State, while SJSU will travel to Reno to face UNR.

CHICO STATE 40 – Sierra College 17 Referee: Ray Schwartz
Two good DII College sides getting ready for the playoffs. Chico senior #8 (from SFGG) was pretty dominant, scoring three tries, otherwise these sides were even. Sierra played with nearly 30 players, mixing A and B sides both halves, otherwise this was toss-up. If they had stacked the first half with their best it would have been closer, but squad development heading into the playoffs was the plan, as per coach Jim Goddard. Well played, nice crowd too.

Again, very few tackles were contested. I had reported my SRJC v UNR match had maybe 5 rucks, this had closer to 30, still, not the rugby I am used to. I asked the Chico openside after the game about it, he mentioned that so many refs this season have penalized for hands in and gate entry that they just stopped trying, but I reminded him that the openside's job is to probe... find out what the ref will and will not allow. Be like Richie McCaw!

After the match, while speaking w/ Sierra Coach Jim Goddard (an old time Pelican Ref), I met the Sierra College Athletic Director, "Peggy," who truly helped save the program after having to ask the former coach to step down. She talked about how impressed she was with all the young men, and clearly she's delighted to see how Mr. Goddard is carrying on.

Then a nice older gent came up to say hi and just ask about the local rugby scene. Seems "Cliff" is a retired mathematics professor who donates yearly to Sierra College's athletics, and now will be certain to earmark his donation for the rugby team. Cliff was visiting campus to watch his grandson play baseball, but clearly the rugby was more compelling. He talked about how he'd spent time in Australia and New Zealand and loves the game. As we chatted more we learned we were both Rutgers graduates, and that my company had built his swimming pool some 26 years ago... and that now it’s time to have me out and remodel his pool! Always a plus to mix refereeing with business!

St. Mary's thirds 36 – UOP 38 Referee: Tom Zanarini
I had the pleasure of hosting Mary Castle, a Pacific NW referee. Bjorn picked her up Friday night from SFO where I then met them for a pint and a pork belly at Mill Valley Beerworks. It was a quick pint as we had an early and long day scheduled. I had to get Colleen to a work seminar near SFO Saturday morning at 8:30am. Mary and I made a quick stop at SFGG to check out the facilities and catch some 6 Nations on the TV. Unfortunately it was England v France (a replay), but what the heck. SFGG JV were playing the Berkeley Rhinos on the pitch. A quick peek at that match, then we were out of the fog and onto sunny Moraga. St. Mary's had 3 matches on schedule for the day, the 3rd side playing first. Actually, De La Salle were playing Dixon as we arrived and looked to be an excellent match. I'm not sure who had the whistle, but he looked the part and had control.

I've never reffed Pacific before so was excited to check them off my list. The match was well contested as the score shows. In fact, too well as I did muff the score sheet at some point and definitely late in the match. St. Mary's will review the video, but my estimation is that Pacific won by 2 or 4. I blame it on a multitude of factors including just getting over a head cold and, well, probably just not paying close enough attention. The scoring was pretty much in sync, so I think I awarded points to the opposite team somewhere around the 24th point. That's at least when I recognized my score sheet didn't equal the scoreboard. At any rate, enough about my mistakes. The match ended with a stunning display of St. Mary's attacking during full time, trying to keep the ball alive for a last effort try. Pacific was eager to help. On a counter ruck inside the 22, the 8-man picked the ball and heaved it directly into touch. Great long pass, but forward and, oops, DIRECTLY INTO TOUCH. Penalty awarded to St. Mary's who then made short work of scoring a try. My extra time meant no time between matches. I went straight from refereeing to AR duties, with the National Anthem and the D1-A contest between St. Mary's and San Diego St.

Sac State women – Fresno State
Not sure whether this happened or who might have reffed it.


Fog women 24 – EPA LADY RAZORBACKS 46 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
EPA's backs had some nice long runs to get ahead 29-5 at the half; but the Fog came back to outscore them in the 2nd 19-17.

BERKELEY ALL BLUES 49 – Seahawks 4 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Four 20-minute periods San Jose was ahead after the first two periods 14-10 with the help of a better kicker & reinforcements from EPA & Berkeley; but could not hold off the All Blues whose numbers, fitness & coaching shut them out for the 2nd two 39-0.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE PLAYOFFS AT UC DAVIS

Cal went into this event as the fourth seed and came out with first prize: a spot in the sweet sixteen next month.

Saturday
UC Davis 14 – CALIFORNIA 22 Referee: Scott Wood
ARs: Chris Tucker, JC van Staden
A great match! Unfortunately, there was only one on the day as the fourth team for the play-ins (Air Force) apparently couldn't find a flight and forfeited their match against Chico State.

Cal scored two tries early in the first half before UC Davis was able to put together an effective attack. Both teams had problems keeping their feet at the tackles resulting in (too many) penalties. Davis capitalized off one such transgression scoring a try around 30 minutes into the match. Cal lost a player to the bin for repeated infringements and played short through the half.

HT: UC Davis 7 - Cal 12

Players were doing a better job at keeping their feet (or at least not in a negative manner) in the second half. Unfortunately, Cal returned to full strength only to lose another player to the bin five minutes later for a dangerous tackle. Davis was able to capitalize off the overload and scored a relatively easy try (UCD 14 - Cal 12). Cal was undeterred and followed up with a try of their own around the 60th minute (UCD 14 - Cal 17). With their scrum dominance and back to full strength, Cal was able to work in a try to finish off the match (UCD 14 - Cal 17).

Kudos to both teams for showing great spirit, enthusiasm, and passion for the sport.

Sunday
CALIFORNIA 27 – Chico State 17 Referee: Matt Hetterman
After the pace of my match on Sat @ SFGG, I had to switch gears to a women's collegiate playoff match. Positioning was initially a challenge, as many runners failed to make the gain line, so I found myself backpedaling frequently - had to change my breakdown positioning to account for that.

Chico St had the advantage at the breakdowns and in forward open play, but had a hard time with set pieces and line breaks in the backs.

Cal took the day (their second upset of the weekend, as they entered with the #4 seed), and progresses to the Sweet 16 in about a month.

BELATED

Stanford 29 – ALL BLUES 37 Referee: Pete Smith
This was the familiar game of two drastically different halves. The All Blues jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead by out-working the Stanford side for the first 20 minutes and counter-rucking almost all of Stanford’s ball in the next 20. Stanford barely got out of their own end and was never a threat to score in the first half.

The second half was a completely different story with the Stanford women turning the tables on the All Blues. They out hustled, out worked and counter-rucked like mad scoring 29 points on five tries and two conversions. Stanford never led as the All Blues put over a try of their own to break up the scoring spree by Stanford, but with 8 minutes left it was 29-32…anyone’s game. Stanford desperately tried to score the go-ahead try, but the All Blue defense wouldn’t break. The All Blues put over a final try on #8 Seaver’s hat trick try at full time to make the score line a little more flattering than the nail bitter it had become. With the Stanford men playing Davis afterward, many of the men watched some of this game and most commented to me afterward how impressed they were with the pace and physicality of this match. It was the defending national WPL champions playing against the collegiate runners up…probably the best women’s game played in the US so far this year!

HIGH SCHOOL GAMES

LAMORINDA GOLD 33 – Santa Rosa Gold 12 Referee: John Coppinger
This match played at Sunday at Piedmont High School on turf was fast and furious with lots of running and good rugby. Santa Rosa was missing more than a few starters and had trouble building continuity and was kept under a good deal of pressure by an organized Lamo squad. Halftime score as 25-5 in favor of Lamo.

SOUTH VALLEY 31 – Bellarmine 24 Referee: Tony Levitan
On a breezy, perfect-temperature-for-rugby evening under the lights in Morgan Hill, South Valley hung on to defeat Bellarmine. Loads of commitment to running rugby suffered only from a rash of knock-ons as play from both sides was spirited and positive. After building a 19-10 halftime lead, South Valley extended matters with another early second half try before the teams traded 3 more converted tries, the last one coming on the final play.

The match obviously seemed close to the players too as one South Valley player asked me after signaling Bellarmine's final try, "Hey ref, we still won right?"
South Valley: 5 tries, 3 conversions
Bellarmine: 4 tries, 2 conversions

* BREAKING NEWS
Thanks to Peter Hansford for alerting us to this APB.

South Wales Police have asked for witness’s to come forward regarding a brutal crime against 15 English men on a recent visit to Cardiff who were robbed of a Grand Slam they had come to collect and also had their chariot badly vandalised during the visit to the Welsh capital?

Apparently this heinous crime was carried out by a gang of 15 Welsh guys dressed in bright red shirts in broad daylight in front of 75,439 people who gathered around the gang attack and just stood there cheering, clapping and singing hymns and arias as if they were encouraging the gang.

A police spokesmen for the South Wales force said this “This sort of attack is just sickening……..One of the victims was a young lad called Owen Farrell who was on his first trip to Wales and has been traumatised by the whole shocking experience and to make matters even worse his father was forced to watch the entire crime from start to finish and could not lift a finger to protect his son from the sickening and relentless battering meted out by the conspicuously dressed red shirted gang”.

The police spokesman continued, “We are following a number of leads and believe this crimson shirted gang may be linked to a similar attack in Twickenham a year ago”.

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