Hail Pelicus

THE FUN THEY HAD

2012-01-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PROMOTION

Mike King has been promoted to L2 by the Referee Development Committee. Congratulations to one of our harder-working and farther-traveling referees.

DIRE NEED UP NORTH

No, we’re not referring to the icebreaker-assisted delivery of fuel oil to Nome through a record ice-pack (wait a minute – didn’t I read that the Artic was practically ice-free by now?).

We are referring to one of the constancies of referee assignments: every week at least one referee will be unavailable to keep an assignment and every week it will be the one who had the farthest to travel.

So it is that we need a ref to cover Humboldt State’s game with Sierra College this Saturday, January 28. Please let us know if you can make the journey.

Last weekend JC van Staden covered a game up there on one-day notice.

You’re writer would do it but he’s taking two exchange refs up to Chico, a long way from his base in Salinas.

[webmaster note: Kudos to the aforementioned Mike King for answering the call.]

FEBRUARY 4: 20 REFS AND 36 GAMES

Not many responses have come in concerning availability to referee in February.

Let’s take Feb. 4 as an example: 29 refs have listed their availability. Twenty of them are available. There are 36 club and college matches that day.

By the end of February, the 25th, we have 24 refs for 45 games.

The good news is, more than 40 refs have not responded. If half of you are available, the teams of the NCRFU can continue to rely on us for coverage.

Please let me know which Saturdays in February you can referee. We cannot make bricks without straw.
Available? Able to travel?
Feb. 4
Feb. 11 (only three games so far)
Feb. 18
Feb. 25

REFS WHO WERE AVAILABLE AND THE FUN THEY HAD:

Wednesday, 7PM
Stanford Graduate School of Business 17 – SEAHAWKS 28 Referee: Tony Levitan
On an awesome January evening for rugby, the GSB hosted the Seahawks for a pre-season run comprised of three 20-minute periods. Overall, the rugby was played at a good pace with lots of up-and-back creative play by both sides. The evening was carried by the Seahawks dominance in the scrums and some strong play in the backs where San Jose benefited from doses of inexperienced play by the GSB. Nonetheless, the loose was well contested when fair (SJ took way too many penalties at the breakdown for a side as experienced as they) and the B-school side showed both exciting flashes in the backs and strong lineout play.

Friday, 7 PM
Maritime Academy – California RAINED OUT

Saturday

For Pete's Sake, Santa Rosa
SANTA ROSA 41 – SF/Golden Gate 17 Referee: Tom Zanarini
Assistant Referee: Cary Bertolone
The weather cooperated on Saturday for a mostly sunny and fast affair on a great pitch at For Pete's Sake Field. Both teams contested well but Santa Rosa had a nose for the in-goal. This was my first match of the season. The pace definitely helped shake the rust off quickly. Thanks to Carey for his AR duties and taking the second side match as well.

Santa Rosa 15 – SFGG 22 Referee: Cary Bertolone
After watching (touch judging) a great, action packed, high scoring first side game, I reffed the 2nd game, by default (no one else was around). My first game in 6 months and it showed as I'm out of shape, for starters.

The first half consisted of a lot of poor, high tackles by Santa Rosa, along with several other "rookie" mistakes that cost them multiple penalties. Golden Gate took advantage and scored three tries for a 15-0 lead at half. In the second half, Santa Rosa, while playing a man down (yellow for high tackle-shocking!), scored two tries to close the gap. Golden Gate rallied and ended up winning 22-15, but not without a lot of talking and whining about my calls. It's great to be back!!!

STANISLAUS 43 – Sierra Foothills 26 Referee: Scott Wood
Location: Christofferson & Panorama Drainage Basin Fields, Turlock, CA
Weather: Sunny
We had a great break between the rain on a pitch that was very well-drained.

Both teams have a lot of strengths and some weaknesses. The weaknesses are primarily due to inexperience by the younger players. That should go away with additional training and competition.

SF Fog 25 – SAN JOSE STATE 26 Referee: Mike Gadoua
The threat of rain did not materialize but the ball seemed hard to handle. Both teams had a number of knock-ons. And both teams played well as they continue training for the season, each utilizing their strengths. At first blush, it appeared that Fog dominated play, attacked with effective phase-ball, and spent most of the match in the opposition’s half. Fog even scored more tries (5-4). The Spartans’ tries came from good back running that found holes in the Fog defense. Fog’s failure to make a single conversion, while SJS made three, allowed for the six additional points - which outweighed the one-try difference.

Seconds: SF Fog 5 –SAN JOSE STATE 33 Referee: Rob Hendrickson
SF Fog hosted San Jose State at the Fog's Treasure Island pitch which was in remarkably good condition after Friday night's rain. The B sides played 2 X 20 minute halves, with San Jose in control most of the game. A stiff breeze running down the pitch made for challenging lineouts. A good-spirited and well-played game by both teams.

SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 46 – Diablo Gaels 44 Referee: Phil Akroyd
After my originally assigned game in Chico fell through, I picked up an in-town fixture of the Capitals versus Diablo Gaels. As the field is only a few miles from home, I certainly didn’t need my white stick and dog to help me find my way.

Having had nightmares on Friday night related to the potentially catastrophic field conditions, it was a nice surprise to turn up and see the ground in very good condition, with a light breeze and warm, clear blue skies.

Sac played in blue shorts, blue socks and broadly hooped shirts of blue and white, while the Gaels played in blue shorts, blue socks and broadly hooped shirts of dark blue and white. Not having a blue and white shirt of my own to hand, I went with the yellow.

Each team played close to their first sides for the first two quarters of 20 minutes with the Gaels comfortably dominating the game. Diablo wanted to keep it fast and open, while Sac were more comfortable trying to keep it tight, away from the larger and faster opposition backs. The Gaels won the "A side" forty minute section by 19-32.

The second half saw a number of personnel changes, particularly in the front rows, meaning that all of the solid, hard work at the scrum from the first half went out of the window. In a complete flip of the first half situation, Sacramento widened the ball to the backs and scored six second-half tries, compared to Diablo's' four. The second half played out much like a second side game with more errors, silly penalties from the new guys and a little less flow.

Diablo had a chance to tie with the last kick of the game but a difficult conversion meant that they finished two back, although the half-time score is the more significant. Overall, both teams appeared to get a lot out of the game.

ST. MARY’S seconds 24 – Vacaville 17 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
At Moraga under relatively clear skies and Dave Williamson's son helped me as a touch judge for the first half before subbing as a wing for Vacaville in the 2nd.

Both teams tackled, rucked & won line outs extremely well; with very few penalties & no dirty plays.

St. Mary’s looked very fit & bigger than a scrappy Vacaville team that played as a team. Score was 17-10 at half & both teams each scored only once more after halftime with Vacaville doing so as time expired. Both teams looked like they were ready to have a successful season.

ST MARY’S 53 – Sacramento State 7 Referee: James Hinkin
ARs: Ron DeCausemaker, Bruce Ricard
As rugby is obviously the game played in heaven it seemed fitting that the gods, after taking their morning ambrosia and talking it over amongst themselves, decided to halt the rain for the duration of the rugby day, leaving mostly sunny skies so they had an unimpeded view of the St Mary’s campus. I arrived with Brice Ricard just before the start of the St Mary’s C side v Vacaville match and saw Rob DeCausemaker had already arrived as well. A team of three ready to go 90 minutes before kickoff – that is how we do it in the NCRRS. After being gently harangued by Mrs Bunny, Helen, who was there to support family, I strolled around the soggy pitch to greet the coaches and start preparing.

Word to the wise: St Mary’s – at least on rainy days – now prefers to warm up on the field hockey turf field, a significant hike uphill (both ways?) half way across campus. On the plus side, trying and eventually succeeding in finding them started my warmup nicely.

The game started with Sac State kicking off, a play they would repeat many times. St Mary’s was able to control territory and possession to a degree that long periods were spent in the Sac St half, usually culminating in a try. The muddy conditions resulted in more knock ons than I would have expected or the coached would have liked, but handling was generally not a major issue. Sac St was able to make a few forays into the St Mary’s end and were rewarded with penalties, but their kicker was having an off day and missed the two shots at goal that were attempted. St Mary’s never let the pressure off and the half ended 29-0 to the home side. Outstanding support when the inevitable line breaks occurred combined with 15 players committed to the breakdowns is a recipe for success.

The second half started with St Mary’s kicking off – the only time in the match they would do this – and was a repeat of the first half with one difference: Sac St was finally able to capitalize on their hard work. This half had a number of breaks by the visitors that were not converted – such as the daring run by their #15 from deep in his own end that fizzled when he was being tacked at midfield and attempted to pass to his support and it went forward. With the game comfortably won both sides were still playing hard and committing to the breakdowns all around the field and as time expired, Sac St had their break with support. The Sac St runner was brought down 3 meters short (by the collar – penalty advantage) and support arrived in numbers to secure the ruck and then power over for the try. Advantage gained. A difficult conversion was perfect and the game ended on that high note.

ST. MARY’S thirds over Sacramento State seconds on a large score: Referee: Bruce Ricard
AR: James Hinkin
Two inexperienced teams entered the pitch, was the first game for a number of players. A huge amount of infringements at rucks (from side, off feet, off side last foot... ), but it seems that after some talking and explanations they understood what they were allowed to do. The second half was pretty clean. Thanks to James for running touch and driving me to the pitch on one of those rainy days that my two-wheeler doesn't like.

Santa Clara 7 – CALIFORNIA 83 Referee: Leah Berard
ARs: Tony Levitan, Mike King
Leah flew in from Minnesota to get some outdoor exercise ahead of serving as an AR at the IRB Sevens in Las Vegas two weeks from now. This game appeared and seemed probable to offer an aerobic workout.

Cal score twice in the first five minutes, but then the Broncos’ defense took shape and yielded only two more tries before the interval.

Your reporter left at the half, satisfied that the ref had the game in hand, and it would appear that the second half was a different story.

Leah then helped out at the Stanford Invitational and refereed the final there on Sunday.

Stanford – UC Davis CANCELED

Chico State – UC Santa Cruz CANCELED

Shasta – Medford Referee: Jim Crenshaw
No report received.

CSUMB 17 – Aptos 10 Referee: Bruce Carter
Not sure whether the visitors are known as Monterey Bay or Aptos. The team is dividing practices between Aptos and Monterey, uniting the Bay as in the days of the old D1 men’s club in the early nineties that made a splash, especially on the national Sevens scene.

The old Monterey team was the last team I played for, and the font of many fond memories. Cal State – Monterey Bay makes its home on Fort Ord, where I spent the best days of my adult life, raising my family and training interns and residents for the US Army Medical Corps.

Not only that: the pitch is less than ten miles from my home and kickoff was at 10 AM: perfect for ref whoring, getting multiple games in multiple locations on the same weekend!

Rain clouds finally broke the schneid. We hadn’t had any precipitation in the middle of California since Thanksgiving. (San Diego has had more rain that Santa Rosa during that interval…) This is unusual: 37 million people and the agriculture that feeds the nation depend on rain and snow that falls only between November and April. Half that season is over already.

So it rained Friday, and especially so on Friday night, raising the temperature which had actually hit freezing a time or two due to a lingering high pressure ridge. Back to our California rugby weather: pissing down, closing some pitches, keeping the casual fans away.

But as you would have read several times in these reports, the rugby god has a high place at the table in Olympus and can dictate to our needs. Dark clouds and howling, swirling rainfall at my house were replaced by scudding clouds, the sun playing hopscotch, by the time I arrived at the pitch.

The Preston Park pitch is possibly the world’s narrowest. (Those who have played on the Old Boy’s pitch on Catalina Island may be in a position to dispute this.) I paced it at fifty yards. Seventy meters, standard for rugby, is almost 76 yards.

Always look on the bright side of life. I get to work on my tackle/ruck and can worry about open field sprinting some other time.

The Otters are managed and coached (by default) by Scott Ryan, who is doing a fine job with a new squad. They’ve got a good halfback combination to build on.

Aptos is benefitting from the latest coaching resurrection of Vaughn Stumpf, who greeted me by saying, “Is either of us ever going to die?” Such is the nature of perennial rugby friendship among those who can conceive of no other life, when to stop Rugby would be to die.

My wife came out to watch. We used to live two blocks from the pitch in the Army housing. We hold hands and travel back our adult children’s lifetimes in an instant.

The rugby was pretty good. The narrow pitch bottled up the runners so that the ruckers could ply their trade. The homies came out ahead.

I then saddled up the Pelicanmobile to visit Santa Clara, watching Leah Berard referee their game with Cal, and then buzzed up to Stanford to AR the last two games of the day at the Invitational.

Sunday morning I video-coached three refs at Stanford and then ARed for my grandson Ben’s U-12 game across the street at Palo Alto High School.

Referee whoring: catch the bug!

Seconds: CSUMB – Monterey Bay Rebels Referee: Francois Nel
No report received.

HUMBOLDT STATE women 17 – UC Santa Cruz 12 Referee: JC van Staden
Everybody knows I'm pretty good under pressure, quick decisions etc.... but, not planning well will always have the habit of biting you somewhere down the line.... New refs, take NOTE.... Plan, plan again, and plan one last time....

After my Friday's game got canceled, and the Saturday Girls KOT got smaller, my assignment moved to Humboldt.... A 6h05 drive from my house... Snoozing the clock a few times, did not help, so I decided to drive up I5 and cut over 299 to make up some time....Theoretically it worked.... Big mistake, 299 had 1-2 feet of snow the previous night, with snow coming down as I drove. On the back end of 299, traffic was standing still. Mudslide!! With 5 cars in front of me, I got out to ask them what they intended to do. They informed me that Cal-Trans was on their way, and would be there in an hour. Well, I had not driven all this way, 40min from the pitch, just to totally miss my game... "Move over guys, I have a game to get to"....I could see nobody believed me it was for rugby, and even a comment of, "You’re crazy" to which I gracefully replied, "I guess so" I pushed through.... and with some off road finesse, and of course, good old American V8 power, I made my way through it...

The game, starting only 30 min late, and for a pre-season game, it was a pretty good one, with a lot of counter rucking.... Ball possession decided the game, and with both teams giving all they got, it ended up to be a close one... With No. 8 of Humboldt and #14 of Santa Cruz to watch for maybe higher honors in the next couple of years....

Seconds: HUMBOLDT STATE 17 – UC Santa Cruz 12 Ref: van Staden
After negotiating a shower and a cold beer, the seconds were kicking off.... Santa Cruz showed up with a full 2 teams, and cheerfully, sending Humboldt some players, with a good 7 girls playing against their own teammates... Great sportsmanship.... or must I say sportswomanship, they played a respectful game to make my drive all the way worth it.

Thanks for the hospitality, and good-luck with the season...

NCYRA GIRLS’ KICK-OFF TOURNAMENT
Oak Ridge High School
El Dorado Hills

Report by Jeff Richmond:
After the storms of last week forced relocation and near cancellation, Saturday proved to be a darn nice day to have a rugby tournament. Congrats to Rod and Karen Chance for persevering and making the event happen.

DIXON 15 – Humboldt 10 Ref: Richmond
The Dixon team was made up entirely of first year players and Humboldt had just a handful of experienced players. Both teams played spirited ball. Humboldt displayed a bit more skill in loose play, rucking well and retaining possession after a tackle. Dixon had some speed in their backline, breaking a 60 m run and score by their inside center. The teams demonstrated pretty good tackling for young players – not much arm grabbing and only one minor caution for a tackle up high on the shoulders.

BISHOP O’DOWD 25 – Davis 0 Ref: Richmond
BOD had total control of the match, with Davis playing most of the game in their half of the field. BOD dominated in the loose and had strong attacking moves from their backs. Davis could not match BOD’s speed and struggled to make tackles – BOD made 10 and 15 yards off the advantage line nearly every time they moved the ball out to the backs. Davis did not give up though and put together a solid 6-7 phases of play the last minute or two to end the match on a high note.

Report by Chris Tucker:
Refs:
Favor Taueva
Jeff Richmond
Rod Chance
Chris Tucker
Donal Walsh
Ray Schwartz
Mark Godfrey

Tons of rain might have forced a venue change, reduced the number of pitches from two to one, and thrown everything out of kilter, but rugby happened in large quantity on Saturday as teams from all over Norcal (plus a team from Beaverton OR) came to play. Props to Karen Chance for rescuing the tournament with resourcefulness and flexibility and more grace than I could ever have managed.

The games themselves were an entertaining mix of rookies at varying levels of preparedness, most of them well matched and competitive. The refs took the opportunity to get ready for the season that is almost upon us, and to have a little fun to boot. No scores were kept, although i'm sure Ray had a tie...

STANFORD WOMEN’S INVITATIONAL
Saturday and Sunday

Refs:
Leah Berard (Minnesota)
Jordan Bruno
Lee Salgado
Phil Ulibarri
Eric Rauscher
Brad Richey
Sandy Robertson
Tony Levitan
Jen Tetler
Bruce Carter
AR:
Bob Polito
Ben Bravo

Referee Coaches:
Kat Todd-Schwartz
Mike King
Mike Malone
Bruce Carter

Report by Eric Rauscher:
Nine teams showed up; Colorado, Cal, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Sac. State, Chico State, UC Davis and Western Washington. Some teams had numerous players, others showed up with a little over 15, so the time honored tradition of loaning players was displayed.

Three pools of three and then on to playoffs. The schedule ran like clock-work thanks to the use of an airhorn to start and stop 40 min games (no half).

The kicking team was whoever was listed first, kicking from the north end of the pitch, so no time-wasting coin toss was needed.

Nine refs showed up; Phil Ulibarri, Jordan Bruno, Leah Berard (Minn), Lee Salgado, Jen Tetler, Eric Rauscher, Bruce Carter, Sandy Robertson, and Brad Richey. Each ref did at least one game, some did four. Leah, a national panel ref in from Minnesota did the final. The final was between Stanford and Cal. with Stanford showing their championship form.

Also in attendance were; Kat Todd Schwartz, Mike Malone, and Mike King acting as ref coaches.

And last but not least we had Tony Levitan, Mike King, Ben Bravo, Bruce Carter and Bob Polito acting as ARs.

Most of the games had teams of three with refs running AR for games in their spare time.

The weather was a bit moist but the spirits were warm and the rugby was what it should be at this time of the year.

I look forward to this tourney each year as a time of development both for the teams that show up, and for the rich interaction between refs and coaches.

STANFORD 19 v. Western Washington 5 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Stanford seemed surprised and how hard Western came out, especially once they scored in the 10th minute. Western didn't make the conversion of their only try. Stanford came back with 3 more tries and 2 conversions to win it. Both teams were very aggressive, taking quick taps left and right, making some great tackles and excellent runs.

Western Washington 10 v. OREGON 27 Ref: Rauscher
This game started early so that both teams could head north and get over the pass into Oregon. Western started the game quickly with a try in the first 3 minutes scored around the corner with almost no defense. The Ducks pulled themselves together and retaliated fairly quickly with two tries in the next 10 minutes. After 15 minutes of play, the score was tied 10-10. Both teams kept playing well and you could tell players from everyone had the love of rugby in their hearts! Oregon happened to be the team that could capitalize better on mistakes. They scored 3 more times with one conversion (5th time's a charm!) for a final 7th place match score of 27-10.

COLORADO 21 – Western Washington 12 Referee: Bruce Carter
This Sunday-morning game on the squeegee pitch was a lot of fun.

Colorado’s Captain, Erin #13, led a dynamic backline that made the difference.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Back to Hawaii. This is what happens when you get to referee rugby: you can pose with the tournament winners and their trophy.

Ever see referees in the team pictures in any other sport?

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

WHY A DUCK?

2012-01-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

ROAD WARRIORS

The first column is the number of games each weekend for Humboldt - Shasta - Siskiyou - Chico - Colusa - Mendocino - Reno - Fresno - Arroyo Grande - Paso Robles.

If we leave out Mendocino, Chico and Colusa, which are within two hours of a number of our referees, and Reno and Fresno, where some referees live, that leaves the long drives to Humboldt, Shasta, Siskiyou, Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles, and we get the second column. (This does not count any second-side matches.)

Long Drives Really Long Drives
Jan 28 4 1 Humboldt
Feb 4 10 3 Siskiyou, Humboldt, Arroyo Grande
Feb 11
Feb 18 5 4 Siskiyou, Shasta, Humboldt, Paso Robles
Mar 3 13 4 Siskiyou, Arroyo Grande, Humboldt (men and women)
Mar 10 3
Mar 17 5 4 Shasta, Humboldt, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande
Mar 24 5 2 Humboldt, Arroyo Grande
Mar 31 9 2 Siskiyou, Paso Robles
Apr 7
Apr 14 2
Totals: 56 20

As you can see, we need everyone to do at least one game from each column. But especially difficult to schedule are the Really Long Drives.

Your writer has already taken one-and-two-half Fridays off and made room reservations to cover a game in Arroyo Grande (March 17), a game in Humboldt (March 3), and a game in Chico (a long way from Salinas) on January 28. Leading from the front...

Please have look at your calendar and plan a weekend around one of these fixtures. How about a romantic weekend? Let me know if you need more information or if you can set a date right now.

AVAILABILITY NEEDED

So far I’ve heard from 14 people about availability for February. And looking at Feb. 4 (say), five of the fourteen are not available. That’s 9 refs for 36 games.

Here’s the preferred format. You can cut-and-paste and fill-in-the-blanks.

Available? Able to travel?
Feb. 4
Feb. 11 (only three games so far)
Feb. 18
Feb. 25

Thanks!

RUGBY GAMES

Friday, 7PM
MARITIME ACADEMY 29 – Berkeley RFC 22 Referee: Craig Smith
AR: Mike King
Evaluator: Todd-Schwartz

Seconds: Maritime Academy 0 – BERKELEY RFC 39 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
AR: Mike King
Referee Coach: David Williamson
Saw a real good match in for both sides' first teams; then reffed their seconds; both under the lights Friday night at Vallejo's home field (Morton) on Mare Island (while Cal Maritime's gets synthetic installed).

Berkeley went ahead 24-0 at half & continued to romp the second half. Pretty sure Cal Maritime had many rookies & Berkeley used more than a few from their first team.

Also all four teams were very well behaved as far as penalties/dangerous/dirty plays.

Lastly, thanks for Dave Williamson's "positive" coaching pointers & pizza pretty late at night after the match & Mike King's assistant reffing in shorts (despite the cold).

Saturday

Sacramento Lions 22 – SANTA ROSA 24 Referee: JC Van Staden
AR: John V
Again, one spectacular day for rugby. Sac Lions came out with a bang, dominating the first half, but injuries, lack of fitness and the lack of conversions sank them in the second half... Not taking anything away from Santa Rosa, who stopped them twice on the goal line, and ran in 3 great back-line tries to steal the win away with only a couple of minutes on the clock.

Good luck to both teams for the rest of the season.

Seconds: Sacramento Lions II – Santa Rosa II Referee: Thee Alan Petty (apparently his 12th season of refereeing)
AR: John V
After a long hmmmm and haaaa , the Lions only managed to field 10 players (apparently because of the Niners playing in the NFL (Nice Friendly Ladies) play-offs, probably another tee party), but like we all know, a "friendly" match does not exist, and the ref had his work cut out for him. The final score is still a mystery, after he called the "last" try at least 3 times, yet the players took up their positions again, and instructed the fly-half to kick off again... [Editor’s Note: there can never be too much rugby.]

Thanks to John V, who have just completed his Level 1, and will have his first run at the KOT. Driving out to a field and offering to be AR just to learn more, is a pretty good start if you ask me...

BARACUS 12 - Samoa United 10 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
Hard men playing hard rugby at the Baracus's lumpy but regulation-size SF pitch. Like American gridiron, the defenses were better that the offense these early days.

High quality, high intensity D2 stuff. The first half was all Samoa, who scored early and led 10-0. But Baracus steadied, settled, and with fresh legs got two in the second half. The conversion of their first wins it. (A referee sandwich/take down was enjoyed by almost all; there were wagers if the fellow was going to get up.)

Seconds: Baracus 7 - SAMOA UNITED 10 Ref: Byrnes
Samoa returns the favor by winning the seconds match 10-7.

Fresno – Paso Robles CANCELED

Chico 5 – SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 46 Referee: John Pohlman
After getting home around 9:00PM Friday from refereeing a high school game, my Saturday came around pretty early. I met fellow Pelican Jordan Bruno in Walnut Creek for the drive to Chico.

Chico Rugby has started a rugby foundation and was hosting a rugby jamboree. The day had been planned as a youth rugby curtain raiser, followed by Chico State Woman hosting UC Santa Cruz, then Chico State Men's hosting UC Davis. Chico Men's Club would finish the day against Sacramento Capitals.

Unfortunately, UC Davis was forced to cancel.

The Chico Oaks game was moved up and to a high school field. Both games were moved to a 1:00PM start. I dropped off Jordan around 11:30 to do the women's game.

Lots of youth rugby was being played on a lovely, well-marked regulation pitch with plenty of supporters

On the other hand the high school field I was running on was pitiful. The Chico men have lost a couple of better fields due to construction. The field was somewhat lined and of regulation size, with good goal posts and barrier ropes. But it was hard and didn’t have a smooth, flat square yard of playing surface.

This was a friendly and both teams had 15-18 players each.

Sacramento was led by #10 Shaun who was the best player on the field today. He scored three trys in the first half and set up the other two first half trys with some crisp passes.

Chico was missing both starting centers and had difficulty breaking the gain line in the backs.

Again early rugby, and similar to the high school JV game I did the night before, lots of penalties at the breakdown, strong counter rucks but players losing their feet and ignoring the gates.

First half score Sacramento 27 Chico 5.

The second half saw the Capitals score three unanswered trys for a final of Sacramento 46 Chico 5.

Back to campus to pick up Jordan and listen to the 49er game for the drive home.

Wow, now that was an exciting game!

CHICO STATE women 59 – UC Santa Cruz 0 Referee: Jordan Bruno
On a surprisingly bright and warm winter day up north, the Chico women's rugby club squared off against a motley crew from UCSC. The Chico Women's side was more experienced, disciplined, and physical, proving to be too much for the Slugs. In the first thirty, UCSC advanced into Chico's half of the field only twice. UCSC struggled with securing the ball when using speed to their advantage--the Slugs' faster backs gained ground only to be left without support leading to loss of possession. Scrums were stable and well contested on both sides--the Slugs' front row did well in their first competitive match in engaging a more experienced forward pack.

The Chico women's side had several standouts--a center who poached ball six or seven times leading to a couple of successful tries, a speedy fullback who dotted a hat trick against a spotty defense, and a number eight who repeatedly broke tackles to gain ground and march the Chico women's offense up the field.

Following the match, Mitch, the women's side coach, gave good feedback, mentioning that during the match, defensive players were living offside at rucks and entering from the side. I agreed, but noted that even his side did not do a good enough job in securing the ball in the ruck to manage these aspects of the game effectively. The ball was out as soon as either team went into contact, leaving the rucks a sloppy free for all that had to be cleaned up with scrum resets and friendly advice to do a better job at securing the ball at rucks.

St. Mary's thirds 5 – SIERRA COLLEGE 64 Referee: John Coppinger
Sierra College ran by and over Saint Mary's College III 64-5 in the early match at Saint Mary's on Saturday.

While the result really isn't a surprise--Sierra did make the Men's College D2 Final Four last year--it did seem a little surreal to watch a systematic demolition of a Gaels side. The Gaels had few answers for the power, pace and cohesive nature of the Sierra attack. To add to their woes, the Gaels uncharacteristically struggled to comply with the laws of the game, particularly the offside law.

To their credit, SMC battled to the end and were rewarded with a try in the last minute to avoid the shutout.

ST. MARY’S 79 – Back Bay 10 Referee: Pete Smith
SMC was 2 for 15 on conversions; they might have broken 100 if they had a kicker. Typical pre-season game for them with no kicking with ball in hand. I think the coach tells them not to kick. They did twice and both times the players immediately regretted it despite having made good kicks. Really fun game to ref, I ran my tail off as the ball was whipping around the field.

Seconds: ST. MARY’S 82 – Back Bay 24 Referee: Paul Bretz
Back Bay practiced their kickoffs a lot in this one-sided match.

11am kick off:
Seconds: SANTA CLARA 53 - Santa Cruz 20 Referee: Bruce Ricard
Game starts very quickly with Santa Cruz scoring a penalty kick at the 2nd minute, and 2 tries at the 8th and 16 minute. But after one of their locks is temporarily excluded for having made 2 dangerous tackles at the 18th minute, they seemed to lose concentration, and Santa Clara scored 4 tries in the 20 last minutes of the first half. 20 - 13 at the break.

Second half starts how the first ended, with a very strong Santa Clara. They scored 5 tries during this half, even with one yellow card, against only one try for Santa Cruz. Final score : 53 - 20.

(1pm kick off) :
SANTA CLARA 53 - Santa Cruz 15 Ref: Ricard
One way first half, with Santa Clara scoring 5 tries, and Santa Cruz only a penalty kick. 29 - 3 at the break. Santa Clara scored 3 more tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half, before letting Santa Cruz score 2 tries, and scoring a last try in the last quarter of the game. Final Score : 53 - 15

ROUND ROBIN IN TURLOCK

Stanislaus 7 – SOUTH VALLEY 27 Referee: Giles Wilson
Diablo Gaels and South Valley got together with Stanislaus to play a round robin of games. A great day, sunshine and a firm field - it must be a rugby day.

Stanislaus and South Valley got things started - Stanislaus have some old faces with a lot of youngsters; South Valley are young with most players coming from their youth program. The difference in experience was the difference between the teams; with South Valley able to utilize space. In the first half Stanislaus was able to keep things tight but still gave up two tries to nil. In the second half South Valley ran in three more tries while Stanislaus punched over one for a final of 27 - 7.

Stanislaus 12 – DIABLO GAELS 52 Referees: Giles Wilson/Gene Baker
Stanislaus then stayed out to take on Gaels. In the first 30 Stanislaus were initially able to counter ruck and limit Gaels desire to use space and a good off-loading game. This frustrated the Gaels until they began to manage the contact area and ruck better allowing them the quick ball they wanted, which really started to take the wind out of an already tired Stanislaus. Once Gaels controlled the contact, the flood gates opened and the half ended at 26 - 7. Gene Baker took over for the second half and then the Gaels vs South Valley game.

DIABLO GAELS 19 - South Valley 17 Referee: Gene Baker
Lots of young and first-time players suiting up for Stanislaus and South Valley.

Good weather, postmatch at the Dust Bowl brewpub.

Blackhawks some points – COLUSA more points Referee: Eric Rauscher
On a dry grass field under cloudless skies with cool temperature we had four 20-min periods of new players getting to know the game mixed in with seasoned ruggers. The Blackhawk coach, Ben Parker, had a coaching session for the Colusa players before the game. It was interesting to sit in on the session and even more interesting that he would do it for the opposition. Colusa is an established club with the Blackhawks the new kids on the block.

The outcome was predictable, but I was very impressed with the speed of the Blackhawk players. If one of them could get open, they would be down the field in a flash, but with little or no support. I am sure that under Ben’s direction this can only improve. The play was mostly friendly, but tempers flared in the third quarter and I had to give out a red card to a Blackhawk player. Scott Griffin showed up to do the U19 game to follow, so I had him do the fourth quarter and he did a fine job. Good things to look forward to on all fronts for the coming season.

GEORGE O’NEIL MINI-TOUR TO SOCAL

Saturday January 14th, High School:
LA Cougars 15 – MARIN 21
20 min halves

Sunday January 15th, Pac-12 Tournament:
STANFORD 35 – Oregon state 27
30 min halves
Stanford came back from being down 24-0 at one point to win.

UCLA was a great venue and the SoCal society were gracious hosts.

HIGH SCHOOL

LIVE OAK 19 – Pleasanton 15 Referee: John Pohlman
My rugby weekend started with a 6:00PM JV high school game in Morgan Hill. Live Oak hosted the Pleasanton Cavaliers under the lights at the Sports Complex.

This is a nice venue with both natural and artificial turf and covered grandstands for fans. Our game was on the artificial turf field. There were three games being played with the JV game starting things off.

It was good to see two coaches I've known for some time, Ken and Bart. Both teams looked to have 25-plus players for this game.

Early-season rugby thus lots of penalties at the tackle, with leaving your feet at the tackle and coming in from the side being the most frequent calls.

Live Oak scored first, fifteen minutes, in putting their fullback away. Pleasanton was very aggressive at the tackle and ruck, winning the breakdowns and were rewarded with a try at 28 minutes.

Another try by Live Oak scrum half and captain Cookie made it 14-5 at half.

The Live Oak #8 did the kicking and he slotted the first two conversions with ease. One from the touch line. He maybe the best kicker I've seen at age 15.

Another stand out player was Live Oak open side flanker who poached possibly 20 balls. Really amazing skills for a 15-year old.

The second half saw Pleasanton score first to bring the score to 14-10. Except for a messy tackle area this was a very entertaining highly contested match.

Live Oak scored their final try at 17 minutes. Pleasanton roared back with a try at 25 minutes, making the score 19 to 15.

The last 10 minutes was good stuff both teams fighting for the win.

McCLATCHY 27 – Elk Grove 25 Referee: Scott Griffin
Referee Coach: Eric Rauscher
Two very capable opponents, McClatchy having more polish, competed at an off color pitch (dirt brown and dead grass tan instead of green) on Power Inn Road in Sacramento. McClatchy’s skipper, Tyler, informed me he was a certified ref, and seemed more intent on refereeing the game rather than playing in it. The amount of chirping (McClatchy: Coaches, Elk Grove: Players) by both teams reminded me of an American football game instead of rugby, although I can surely understand that as most of our roots for school-aged players are in that sport.

Elk Grove was interested in contact and solo running, whereas McClatchy was interested in getting the ball over the try line. Despite a slight physical disadvantage, McClatchy’s superiority, although tested, prevailed in the end, 27-25, over three 20 minute periods.

Sunday
Lobo Invitational at Elsie Allen – Santa Rosa U19 Round Robin
Refs: Sean Peters, Mike Gadoua, Phil Akroyd
Referee Manager: Mike King
Report by Phil Akroyd:
A total of about 14 games were played with the format of 10 minute games, one side stays on and cycles out after two games, ten-a-sides. This is designed to get newer players and newly returning players back into the swing of Rugby without it being overly competitive. Teams from Elsie Allen, Montgomery and Santa Rosa brought a couple of teams each, so there was plenty of play for everyone. Nobody kept score but most games were very competitive and closely matched.

The area was socked in fog during warm ups, but the sun appeared just after the first game started. The conditions helped for some solid pre-season rugby. It seems that pre-season does not mean what it used to: lots of dropped passes, bad passes, missed tackles and general disarray. Not so these days. These guys are coming out of the blocks with more than solid basic skills. Maybe the emergence of summer 7s is allowing them to maintain their skills.

GAMES JANUARY 7

San Mateo 0 – SACRAMENTO LIONS 27 Referee: Lee Salgado
This was the first game of the day. Kick off was supposed to be at 10 but finally got going around 11:30. It was sunny but chilly and you could feel the wind getting stronger. Fitness and good passing is what won this game. San Mateo started strong but was unable to keep up with Sac who was moving the ball well wide and finding the space outside. The field was a little muddy so scrums resets were frequent, but both teams fought hard through the two 25 minute halves.

SAC LIONS A/B/C mix 14 – San Mateo/Barbarians mix 10 Ref: Salgado
This was the last game of the day and time to buck up with the tired muscles and frigid wind. This was a fun game to ref, tempers that were flaring early in the day had subsided and everyone was enjoying the last game of the day. Because the teams were mixes it made for a good game which is apparent by the closer score. This was a very hard hitting game and really challenged me to stay up with play. Both teams moved well up the field but again, as with the first game of the day, it was Sac's fitness and a good kicker that sealed the deal for the day

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Ed and Berry Todd were hiking in the New Mexico desert when they came across an unusual but oddly familiar trail duck.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR WORDS

2012-01-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

NEED REFS THIS WEDNESDAY...

...at the first NCRRS meeting of the 2012 season.

We’ll be meeting from 7 until 9 on Wednesday, January 11, at the SFGG clubhouse on Treasure Island, for referee training. Food will be provided beginning at 6, so plan to arrive early and talk rugby with your peers.

That way, if you get stuck in traffic, you’ll still be in time for the meeting and you’ll still get something to eat.

The Referee Development Committee will meet from 6 to 7. If you coach or evaluate referees, or plan to do so this season, you are welcome.

NEED REFS THIS SATURDAY

We could use several refs this Saturday in the Sacramento area, and probably one or more in the Bay Area.

GAMES PAST WEEK

Monday, January 9
Sheeran Field, 10 AM
USA U20 Red – USA U20 Blue Referee: Pete Smith
AR: James Hinkin
I didn’t keep score, but there was only one conversion missed and a ton of tries in a dead even game. My guess was that it was 49-47 final. USA U20 Blue versus USA U20 Red. James Hinkin and I carpooled up. The weather was PERFECT at 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Not an ounce of funny stuff from either team, they both came to show why they deserve to represent the US of A. I can’t believe the quality of athletes that are playing at that level now. These are kids that would otherwise be getting scholarships in other sports, just top flight athletes with size and speed.

If you had never seen a game of rugby before in your life, this would have been the game to see to make you fall in love with the sport. Just sucks that the best game I will get all year is on Jan 9th; now I get 356 days of really good rugby but not the crazy-amazing game I had today.

It was an honor and a treat!

PRE-SEASON ROUND-ROBIN IN SACRAMENTO
Other games were refereed by Lee Salgado and Jeff Richmond, but no reports were received from them.

SAN MATEO 24 – Bay Barbarians 0 Referee: Phil Akroyd
Referee Coach: Kat Todd-Schwartz
Match three of the Sac Lions pre-season round robin got under way some time after 1:30pm in the same sunny but windy conditions as the previous two games. San Mateo played into the wind in the first half and dominated play in the loose. The Barbos didn’t catch on to letting the wind help them out of their own territory with the boot, but no player through the entire day seemed to. San Mateo went into the (25 minute half up 12-0.

Much the same happened in the second half but as players got more tired, their laziness increased and so did the penalty count. San Mateo added the same number of second half points as first half, resulting in a 24-0 full time score.

The Sac Lions seemed to have secured themselves a good field for the season ahead – full size and relatively flat, so unsurprisingly, they are working on their fitness.

Fresno 20 - KERN COUNTY 21 Referee: JV Van Staden
One more perfect day for rugby, around 70F, dry, and the leaves barely moving... After a 2:30hour train ride, I got picked up by Pastor John at the train station. In my 12 years of refereeing, this was the most I have been relaxed arriving at a pitch EVER (I can so recommend this)

Fresno went up first with 2 unanswered tries in the left corner, but Kern pulled it together, and after a yellow on Fresno, Kern scored their first converted try. Fresno 10 - Kern 7

Second half, Fresno started out fast again, and ran in one more, but with an un-experience wing, scored it on the side line again, without any defense within 30 yards from him. Kern work hard for their tries, and scored another converted try, which put them within 1 point. With, yet another man down, Fresno scored one more unconverted try after about 15 rucks within 5m from Kern's goal line. Fresno suffered a few injuries, which cost them in the center field. Kern ran in yet another converted try with a minute to go, to go up 1 point...

Great game, and good luck to both teams for the rest of the season. Great thanks the guys that picked me up and dropped me off at the station.

DIABLO GAELS 48 – Vallejo 27 Referee: Paul Bretz
Preseason friendly. The game was divided into 4-25 minute periods.

New Pelican Craig Smith did two of the four periods. Pay attention: you will be seeing his name again.

Marin Reds 0 – SANTA ROSA 40 Referee: James Hinkin
ARs: Pete Smith, Jackson Petty
With much of the country under snow and not playing any rugby at all, it was a struggle to get up to Sausalito to referee a preseason match. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on a perfectly clear day in the mid to high 60s, sailboats dotting the bay below, was a truly difficult experience. I don’t think people know what we have to put up with here in Northern California.

The match featured 4 20 minute periods, with an additional 20 minute ‘B’ game handled by Pete Smith. Both teams were warmed up and ready to go at 1:00 so the Team Of Three (a luxury!) ran out for some fun. Debuting as an AR was 10 year old Jackson Petty who, as pointed out by Pete Smith, has one of the greatest rock and roll names ever. The assistance provided was trained ARs is invaluable and they have my thanks.

The game was relatively even with one exception – Santa Rosa kept breaking key tackles as the Marin defense put people in the correct place but didn’t execute. Once the gain line was broken Santa Rosa was able to have enough support to finish off the tries. Mixed in with this were a couple short range crashes that powered over the line for a grand total of 8 tries. Marin, however, did exceptionally well in their goal kicking defense as Santa Rosa went 0 for 8 on conversions.

Final Score: Marin Reds 0 – Santa Rosa 40

SIERRA FOOTHILLS 41 - 12 Berkeley RFC (100 minutes over 4 quarters) Referee: Chris Tucker
Pre-season rugby 15s at its finest -- lots of rookies, mistakes, curious happenings and (generally) friendly rugby going on. My first match of any kind for, er, quite a while. And the rust was on display for all to see.

Penalties? Scrum resets? Lineout issues? Many of all the above. Worst problem was with my footwork and movement, so much so that in spite of being in the right spot to award Berkeley's second try, I was losing my balance as my arm went up. End result: try awarded while lying flat on my back.

And with that, it was time for a beer at the Valencia Club...

Kennedy 22 – ELK GROVE 61 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
ARs: Rod Chance, Ron DeCausemaker
This pre-season match was played in windy, dry Sacramento. For a first match of the season for new(ish) programs with lots of rookies, this was splendid stuff -although I could have lived without the shooting the boot of what I think was chicken soup.

Played in 20 minute quarters, the first was all Elk Grove, with a comeback by host Kennedy; the visitors were up by only 24 to 17. The third period was real thing-of-beauty rugby. Thanks to my ARs Rod and Ron.

PRESTON GORDON FLIES THE PELICAN FLAG IN SUISSE

HERMANCE 11 – GC Zürich Rugby 5 (Swiss National League A)
Chens-le-Pont, France
2011-12-03

This was the only rugby game on the calendar for this particular day, a fixture that would have been played several weeks beforehand if not for bad weather. As I do whenever I go to Switzerland, I got in touch with the Federation's referee committee and let them know I would be available. Happily they obliged me with this assignment, for which I am grateful.

The night before, I carpooled down to Geneva with the rest of the Zurich guys. Once at the hotel they headed out for a few but I decided it would be wise to hit the sack directly. This was a wise decision.

In the morning I changed into Number 1's and we all headed to the pitch, which is just over the French border on the south side of the Lake of Geneva. It's got a great view of the Jura and Haute-Savoie mountains, and a clubhouse with proper changing rooms for everyone to boot.

These two teams were equal in league points, and were generally evenly matched. I was hoping for a really good game of rugby, and it began pretty well. Hermance kicked a penalty goal in the 7th minute and it seemed that things would continue to roll along nicely. Unfortunately, however, there's some history between these two sides, and more often than not players were engaging in extra-curricular activities behind my back. As we all know, one referee can't watch 30 players and the ball at the same time, and unfortunately no AR's were available to help. There weren't too many penalties, but continuity was lacking since both teams complained of foul play regularly and I had to have a couple of chats with the captains. The Hermance #13 went to the bin in the 30th minute for being offside (team repeat infringement), followed by their #10 in the 36th minute for punching. Zürich gave it a good shot but was unable to capitalize on the difference in numbers while these two guys were off the field, and no further scoring happened in the first half.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first. The Zürich #10 missed a drop goal early on but Hermance were the first to score, with an unconverted try 9 minutes into the period. 4 minutes later I found the Zürich captain deliberately interfering with the ball while off his feet at a ruck, despite being told not to, and he went to the bin as well. Hermance kicked another penalty goal at 23', just before he returned.

There was some decent rugby happening, but it was more the exception than the norm. This was disappointing because I have seen both of these teams play much better, and the weather and pitch were not at all a constraint, especially given the date.

Finally, in the 74th minute, I caught the Hermance openside choking and then stamping on an opponent on the ground. The immediate red card put a stop to the nonsense at once. Had I seen something like that happening early in the game, it might have been a different afternoon, but as mentioned, the players knew when I was looking elsewhere and took advantage of that. Disappointing, really. This is the reason we ask our AR's to "lead and trail" - especially trail - and at this level there's no citing commissioner looking at video.

Zürich finally got the try they had been threatening to score all game at 78', but it was unconverted, and ultimately too little, too late. To be fair though, they were missing a few of their internationals. When these two teams play their return fixture in the spring it will be either a cracking game or a street brawl - it's hard to say. There is certainly a lot more potential than a total of 16 points/2 tries in this matchup.

Even considering the unfortunate incidents, an afternoon of rugby is always a good thing. I did enjoy the 3.6 miles of running, and it's always a pleasure to referee in Switzerland again.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

The Old Year found some Pelicans in Hawaii, and those Pelicans found something they’d never seen before.

See if you agree...

HAIL, PELICUS!

LET'S GET STARTED

2012-01-03T11:45:00.001-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As the song has it, Saturday is a Rugby Day. It looks like 2012 is going to be a Rugby Year.

There are more teams in the NCRFU than ever before. Youth rugby has exploded. Lots of folks have been taking referee courses in Pelicanland.

Let’s hope these stars align and more course-takers means more referees.

If you have taken a course recently and would like to referee, the person writing these words is the one who needs to know of your interest.

AVAILABILITY REQUESTED

If you are a referee and you’d like to run around and blow your whistle, you need to reply to this e-mail with a list of your availability for the next few Saturdays. Some Sundays, too, for that matter.

We also need to know whether you can travel. That means more than ninety minutes or so each way by car.

If you are new to this, jump right in. There are more teams than the NCRFU has ever had before. Once the league seasons start at the end of January, every Saturday will find a number of games without an assigned referee. We dread to think that there will be refs at home who didn’t have a game and could have done one.

Your scribe is also your scheduler. We don’t have time to write to nearly a hundred folks and say, can you help out this weekend? IF YOU WANT TO REF, LET US KNOW.

January 7: Need half a dozen refs. Tournament in Sac, games elsewhere including Fresno.

January 14: Two games on Friday the 13th, at the Maritime Academy. Can you do a Friday game? On the Saturday, there are a number of games including in Chico and Fresno.

January 21-22: Friday night game at the Maritime Academy.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Stanford Invitational will be played. Need four-six refs for this. Ideal for one or two beginning referees.

January 28-29: Two Friday afternoon games at St. Mary’s.
This weekend is a good example: twenty-four club and college games with six refs available so far. And this does not include the Kick-Off Tournament for youth and high school in Sacramento, which needs about thirty refs.

You can do a club or college game on Saturday and do high school games in Sacramento on Sunday – but not unless you reply and say you are available.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Perfect year-end weather found four Pelicans mountain-biking the sweet single-track trails of Fort Ord.

This photo finds them at the end of their two-hour jaunt: John Coppinger, Bruce Carter, Bryant Byrnes, and Bruce Bernstein.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SPEED RUGBY

2011-12-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

ADVENT(URE) IN HAWAII

Several months ago we learned of an international Sevens tournament to be played in Honolulu. Acting quickly we asked, might they need a few referees?

They did. Self-funded referees, but Referees in Paradise nonetheless.

Who would pay good money to referee Sevens in Kapiolani Park at the foot of Diamond Head? Jim Crenshaw, Mike Gadoua, Don Pattalock and Bruce Carter, for four. With Susan Gadoua, Andrea Pattalock and Linda Carter, that made for an auspicious seven Pelicans: Semper Bonis Avis.

There are no bad times to visit Hawaii, but December prior to Christmas is particularly good: rates are still low and Hawaiian carols are in the air. Holy imagery of arid Bethlehem and secular imagery of the arctic North Pole contrast with tropical reality, while greetings of ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ tie it all together.

The weather is the same year-round: eighties in the daytime, seventies at night, warm rain for a few minutes every now after which rainbows spring up from the ground, fully formed.

On our first morning together, we hiked up to the top of Diamond Head to greet the dawn, a ritual all visitors to Oahu should observe. From there it was a short drive for another moderate hike to the Makapu’u Lighthouse, with a view of Molokai in the distance.

Tour mathematics: two hikes before breakfast equals macadamia nut pancakes with cocoanut syrup.

The first official tour event was an afternoon meeting with the Governor of Hawaii, commemorated in This Week’s Photo. The wives didn’t attend for lack of proper attire – the men attended in improper attire.

Shopping occurred in the interim. Drinking occurred in the afterim.

Poolside in December, surf breaking across the street, Sevens on the morrow, Paradise Regained.

The tournament was played on the gorgeous pitch in the park opposite the aquarium at the foot of Diamond Head.

Two auld acquaintances were brought to mind at the tournament. Justin Lam of the Seahawks was in town to run the Honolulu marathon and to visit his mother. He saw an article in the newspaper about the tournament and dropped by.

Apenesa Tui played fullback for Monterey for years in the seventies and eighties, and is now living on the North Shore of Oahu. He ran touch for essentially all of the matches that his team was not playing in, which was greatly appreciated.

On our last night in the islands we also ran into Tui playing speed chess on the beach. Coincidence? Or does speed chess bears an analogous relationship to regular chess as Sevens does to fifteens?

The tournament was won by Deadwood Rugby, an ad-hoc touring team put together to win purses for a children’s hospital in Sydney. They included players from the Wallaby’s world cup team (under contract – no names mentioned here) to collegians. They did not include any pedestrian players. They pretty much put the wood to everyone and then hung around afterwards to compliment, among others, the referees. Great guys!

This is meant to be the first annual event. If the tournament grows – as it should – they will need more than four referees next year. The tour party made certain that the NCRRS will be invited to send referees for any future iteration.

Start thinking about whether you’d like to go next December!

RUGBY BACK HOME

SF/GOLDEN GATE over Seahawks Referee: Pete Smith
Golden Gate showed the benefits of pre-season training and games, running out to an easy victory over the Seahawks.

Seconds: SF/Golden Gate – Seahawks Referee: Lee Salgado
No report received.

FRESNO 49 – Stanislaus 24 Referee: JC Van Staden

Diablo Gaels – Sacramento Capitals Referees: Tim Lew, Craig Smith
Referee Coach: Bryant Byrnes
Report by Craig Smith:
We did referee on Saturday but Sacramento only had 16 players so instead of playing two separate 80 minute games, Diablo Gaels 2 played Sacramento for two 20 minute periods (Tim refereed these periods) and then Diablo Gaels 1 played Sacramento for two 25 minute periods (which I refereed).

Vallejo 24 – SANTA ROSA 64 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
This one was played under sunny skies at Morton Field in on Mare Island in Vallejo. It was one of four matches on the pitch.

This cheerfully played and fast paced game was not a defensive battle. In the spirit of the holiday season, the Gaels gave Vallejo their pack from the previous match, which allowed their backline to frolic sevens style. That was just fine with Rosa, as indicated by the score.

History buffs, Mare Island was the US Navy's Pacific Shipyard from 1853 to 1995. It is huge-during WW2 50,000 worked there-and accessible. It is presently is slowly moldering away while various factions fiddle around. It is wonderful for a walkabout.

Santa Rosa JC 15 – SANTA ROSA seconds 44 Referee: Rob Hendrickson
Two Santa Rosa teams traveled down to Morton Field in Vallejo to square off in what I was told to be the fourth of four games at the field that day, followed by a field social hosted by the Vallejo team. We played 4 x 20 minute quarters, which allowed the teams to substitute and me to try to catch my breath. The play was more even than the score would suggest, although Santa Rosa controlled in field position throughout the game. It was a real treat to ref a true friendly, as SRJC is a big feeder to SR mens, so virtually all the players knew each other, and many of the SR side had recently played for the JC.

Marin Reds 17 – SAMOA UNITED 34 Referee: Chris Labozzetta

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Governor Neil Abercrombie, the seventh governor of the State of Hawaii, presents a proclamation to Hawaii International Sevens Tournament Director Dan Sataraka declaring December 16th Rugby Day in Hawaii.

You’ll find four Pelicans nesting in the crowd.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

NUTS ABOUT RUGBY

2011-12-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

SEASONAL PROMOTIONS

Evan Schlinkert and Cody Juric have earned promotion to L3. They are current/recent college students respectively, at St. Mary’s and UCSC.

You will be seeing some new names in the match reports. One of the vital signs of Northern California refereeing has improved. Teams whose players don’t recruit their own replacements die on the vine, becoming solely the stuff of legend.

‘Tis the same with referee societies. The NCRRS, however long and illustrious our history, however many Test referees we have birthed, however well we are represented in the pantheons of American rugby, is only as strong as our current corps of blowers.

When a player asks the kinds of questions that reveal referee-like thinking, have a conversation after the match to emphasize the joys of refereeing. Recruit your own replacement. And, of course, you never have to retire…

SOCIETY MEETING WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14

The first monthly meeting of the 2012 season for the NCRRS will be held at the Golden Gate clubhouse on Wednesday, December 14, from 7 until 9.

Food will be available (gratis) beginning at 6. Leave early – if you get there early you can eat and talk rugby. If you get stuck in traffic, you still won’t be late.

New referees are especially encouraged to attend. Our meetings are well worth your time.

GAMES PEOPLE PLAYED

ST. MARY’S 39 – SF/Golden Gate 31 Referee: John Coppinger
ARs: George O'Neil, John Pohlman
SF/GG put a mixed side of RSL/D 1 players on the pitch to face St. Mary's A side and it was a barn burner with two fast, fit, and aggressive teams happy to go at it hard.

At half, after lots of end to end play, SMC held a 20-19 lead. SF/GG took the lead in the second half, but SMC scored tries at 75 minutes and 77 minutes to win. At the end, both sides were beat.

The difference in the match was that SMC was more cohesive and somewhat more fit across the team than SF/GG, which is just starting to make preparations for the upcoming season

My thanks to John Polhman and George O'Neil for doing a great job as ARs.

Seconds: ST. MARY’S 35 – SF/Golden Gate 17 Referee: George O'Neil

ST. MARY’S thirds 26 – San Francisco State 17 Referee: Rob Hendrickson
St Mary's has so many good players in its rugby program that they can put up a very good C side (and sometimes even a 4th), and they hosted a similarly talented and well-coached San Francisco State team at Saint Mary's on Saturday.

They played 3 X 30 minute halves, with open substitutions to give everyone a chance for a good run. The match was well played, with each side taking advantage of breaks in the defense to score a try in each half, and St Mary's scoring a second try in the final half to make the difference. These teams will definitely be teams to watch this year.

FRESNO 24 - Fresno State 22 Referee: Bruce Carter
AR: Ron DeCausemaker
A beautiful mid-December day began at 5:30 when I woke up my grandson and wife to watch the total lunar eclipse. As fate and geometry would have it, the darkening disc of the Moon could be seen out the window from our pillows, so we didn't even have to venture out into the pre-dawn cold, but merely to turn our heads.

It can be startling when reading ancient history to come across a passage giving the exact date and even the time of a battle. This is because an early historian noted the occurrence of a solar or lunar eclipse at the time of the events described, syzygies lending themselves to precise dating by running Newton's machinery backwards.

This eclipse did not disappoint: the Moon showed copper-red when completely occluded by the Earth's shadow, slipping beneath the hills on our western horizon while still in totality.

No point in going back to bed: it was a Rugby Day. Up, up and away. Off to Fresno.

As I usually do when driving over the Pacheco Pass, I stopped at Casa de Fruta to load up on seasonal gifts and healthy snacks, as well as custom trail mixes, and then again at Valley Pistachio near Madera just off Highway 99 for more of the same. After all, it's the shopping season!

My AR, Dr. DeCausemaker, took the train to Fresno. A text saying 'Passing through Madera' arrived just as I was passing through Madera. Pulling up at the station in downtown Fresno, I had to wait while the crossing gate came down and Ron's train entered the station. As he debarked I pulled up to the curb not twenty yards away.

Beats the heck out of meeting someone at an airport!

At the Fresno Regional Sports complex the $5 parking fee was waived because someone in the car had reached a certain age.

When we arrived at the pitch a game was in progress. I must say I didn't think this ever happened: someone played a rugby game in Northern California without telling me in advance. And they even had a ref! My lack of indispensability was revealed despite my continuing efforts.

The Fresno State women's team, augmented by four players from the budding team at Cal State, Monterey Bay, had an intra-squad scrimmage, with one side wearing CSUF’s old solid-red jerseys and the other wearing their new, solid-red jerseys. Guess it didn't matter if the ref, a Fresno old boy, was color blind.

The weather was rugby-perfect: sixty degrees, no wind, hazy enough not to require sunblock but with sun enough to warm the skin. Spectators were comfortable in shorts and shirts, while participants could work up a sweat without becoming over-heated.

This was a very good match. Fresno opened with almost three minutes of possession that led to a converted try. I thought: long day for the lads. But at halftime FSU scored their third try, all unconverted, to take a 15-14 lead.

In the second half, the club side scored a converted try and a penalty kick to open a nine-point lead. But with fifteen minutes left, their hooker was binned for hanging his foot out to dry in the tunnel prior to the put-in one too many times, having been put on notice previously.

The youngsters took advantage of the man-overload with a converted try right away, giving them eight minutes more to try to overcome a two-point lead.

It was not to be. Fresno played methodical, desperate defense, and with five minutes remaining the hooker returned.

The rest of the way the Bulldogs assaulted the Fresno line. This was a prolonged goal-line stand of epic proportions. There were a number of scrums, lineouts, and held-up calls, but no penalties to allow for either a 3-pointer or a clearance kick.

Twice State seemed sure to score but a Fresno player poached tackle ball right at the line. In each case the poacher either stepped or grubbed into touch to relieve pressure, which of course led to two five-meter lineouts.

Fresno's first jumper was adept at swatting opposition throws directly to his halfback. This preserved the victory on both occasions.

I don't always come off the pitch with that glow all athletes know, but on this day I did. What a game! Endorphin City, a close suburb of Rugby Central.

And then: it was a joy to see Jeff Jury on hand to ref the seconds, relieving me to AR and trade war stories with the coaching staffs of both teams, against whom many of my own war stories were written.

Seconds: Fresno 24 –FRESNO STATE 53 Referee: Jeff Jury

Cal Maritime 17 – ALUMNI 19 Referee: Giles Wilson
A close game - alumni brought to mind "Old Boys"; not quite right. This was recent alumni and this was a well contested fast game with the alumni being bigger and more experienced while the current crop of students have great numbers (at least 2 full sides) some good pace and are learning fast.

Played in 3 periods of 30 minutes. Both sides scored 3 tries and the scoring difference was in the conversions which stood at 2 for the alumni against only 1 for the students.

1st period ended at 5 - 5, each fought to a standstill. During the 2nd period the student brought in a number of less experience players who gave up a try but were unable to score themselves. In the 3rd period the alumni started to run out of steam and scored once to the students 2 - the last score being a penalty try for a dangerous tackle.

A good game, the future looks bright for Cal Maritime.

BERKELEY RFC BUNCH O’ GAMES

Report by James Hinkin:
Berkeley RFC put on a casual little tournament featuring 6 teams (Berkeley A/B, San Jose St A/B, Marin and Vacaville) in a round robin format. With limited field time the games needed to be short and quick but plenty of rugby was had by all. Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of scheduling the two best teams on the day (my opinion), Vacaville and Marin, did not meet. Apparently they will exchange pleasantries in the opening match of the season come the new year so nobody was really bothered. The society was able to blood a pair of new avian admirers in Cody and Eric and the entire team (myself, Phil and Jeff Ferguson) were ably watched over and advised by the paternal beaks of Bryant "I think 'B' and 'Y' should be in every name" Byrnes and David "I thought I had retired" Williamson.

MARIN 14 - Berkeley A 5 Referee: James Hinkin
The first game of the tournament turned out to be one of the best as both sides were committed from the get-go. With very short halves (15 min) the teams knew they needed to score early and the play reflected that. Berkeley scored first with a try out to the right that remained unconverted but Marin responded with one of their own, thoughtfully centered for the goal kicker. 7-5 at halftime and with the tight schedule there was only time to change ends for the restart.

The second half saw plenty of endeavor and plenty of mistakes from over-eagerness. The match was back and forth until Marin put it out of reach with another centered try. Final score: Marin 14 - Berkeley A 5

San Jose St A-ish 0 – 0MARIN 31Ref: Hinkin
With injuries and regular tournament attrition, the 3rd to last game of the day saw San Jose struggle to come up with 2 discrete sides so there were many tired Spartans playing in their 4th and 5th game up against a solid Marin side. An early San Jose St indiscretion let to a 10 minute sin bin - quite significant in a 30 minute game - and Marin took the chances with both hands. San Jose St played hard throughout and kept solid discipline but were outmanned the entire match. They did create some good chances but could not finish, a problem that Marin did not experience. Final score: San Jose St Aish 0 - Marin 31

Report by Bryant Byrnes
One pitch, six teams, nine games of 30 minutes each, five refs and two referee coaches. It was like speed dating.

Referee MVP James Hinkin. Contacted only Thursday, he came early and stayed late. In addition to doing several matches, he touch judged for our new guys and finished up as the ref in charge for the last several matches. Above and beyond!

Welcome New Guys. Two new Society members had their first matches-and survived! Welcome and kudos to Cody Juric and Eric Jorgensen.

Best Costume Jeff Ferguson. Jeff is a prop, a ref, and a man of the cloth (go figure.) Combining these avocations, Jeff decided to wear his collar during his match. To wonderful effect. May we soon expect a new tome, ''Mere Referring''? Perhaps, ''God Is My AR''?

And last but certainly not least a thank you for the multitasking Phil Ulibarri. Not only did he call several matches but he ARed for the new guys.

Eric Jorgensen:
First match: Marin- 4 tries ; 3 conversions (26) vs SJSU no score
(0) ; Second match: Berkeley A - 3 tries 2 conversions (19) vs SJSU 1 try ;
1 conversion (7) ;

Sacramento Blackhawks 20 – SANTA ROSA JC 34 Referee: Joe Androvich
Pre-season match, four 20-min quarters. Sacramento wore Santa Rosa' seconds jerseys, so it was Red v Red. Just for fun, I wore red too.

This was Blackhawks first game together. They got better as the minutes wore on. Santa Rosa's athletic backline proved too much for Sac.

WOMEN’S CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS IN VIRGINIA BEACH
Report by Lee Salgado:

Virginia was great, it really was one of the most inspirational rugby events I have ever been to, especially as a female. On Friday all of the refs and assessors were at the pitch either refereeing or running touch. The more experienced refs each had at least one game and us lower-ranking refs were ARs for at least one game. All these games were qualifiers and I ended up being a #4 for a few matches because I was restless with excitement and they were shorthanded. I have never seen such fast women's rugby, it was truly amazing. There was also a ref from South Africa who was on exchange who was there with the South Africa Women's National Team coach and the head of referee society.

Saturday was all in the classroom at the hotel. The instruction was very extensive: we talked about everything from how to carry yourself on the pitch, how to troubleshoot the scrum, how the last world cup was refereed, and physical fitness; Dana Teagarden talked about experiences and took questions. The group from South Africa also talked about how women's rugby in South Africa is really behind and how difficult it is to move up the ranks as a female referee. Lastly, the USA National Women's Coach came and spoke to us about how we can help advance the National Team. He said that women's games in the United States are refereed very slow and because of that the women here learn how to deal with slower games. He said this hurts us when we play teams tier I teams such as England because it is so much faster and we can't keep up. This was eye-opening for me because it really solidified how important referees are to rugby and how it effects the whole county. I stayed after the class and talked with Dana. I asked Dana for help with the scrums since I still feel a bit lost in them being a back. She gave me some great pointers and scrummed down with me for a little bit to show me some of the techniques player use to disrupt the scrum.

[Editor’s Note: Dana was also a back - #10 on the Air Force Academy team that won a national championship in 1989, plus or minus a year. If memory serves, she was MVP of the finals.]

Sunday we were back to the pitch. Again, the higher ranking refs each did a game and then us larvae were ARs for at least one match. I watched as much rugby as possible to observe the refs. I tried to pick some of the assessors’ brains to see what they were looking for; some of them let me listen on the radios. Again, just great rugby and Leah did an amazing job in the final match.

Thank you again to the NCRRS for helping me to get to this event. I really learned a lot and walked away with a much stronger perspective, I appreciate the resources that have been put into me as a referee. It was amazing to realize that I was surrounded by some of top dogs in rugby today. I asked Jen Gray how many active women referees there were in the county and she said maybe 30 or 40; meaning basically half of the women referees were sitting in that room with me! Crazy how few of us there are running around.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

GIFT-WRAPPED RUGBY

2011-12-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

REFS NEEDED IN FRESNO

We could use one referee in Fresno this Saturday, December 10, and two refs there on December 17.

SOCIETY MEETING NEXT WEDNESDAY

The first monthly meeting of the 2012 season for the NCRRS will be held at the Golden Gate clubhouse on Wednesday, December 14, from 7 until 9.

Food will be available (gratis) beginning at 6. Leave early – if you get there early you can eat and talk rugby. If you get stuck in traffic, you still won’t be late.

New referees are especially encouraged to attend. Our meetings are well worth your time.

GAMES PAST TWO WEEKS

Saturday, November 26:
SFGG: GREEN 70+ – White 40+ Referee: John Coppinger
SFGG's alumni game was scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving at 3. By 3:30, enough players had shown up to play 12 on 12. Players split into White and Green teams and we set out to play two 30-minute periods. Play was wide open with uncontested scrums and there was lots of scoring of long range tries and gasping for breath. By agreement of the sides, the first period ended after 25 minutes of play. In the second period, players drifted in and out for various reasons and occasionally it was 12 on 9 in favor of one side or the other and the players pressed on for 20 minutes. The final was Green 70+, White 40+. Good fun for a good cause as the match was a fund raiser for a San Francisco based suicide prevention organization.

Monday, Nov. 28:
MARITIME ACADEMY 45 - Sacramento City College 0 Referee: Rob Hendrickson
Cal Maritime hosted the newly formed Sacramento City College rugby club in the NorCal championship game of the fledgling California arm of NSCRO (National Small College Rugby Organization) under the lights at Morton Field in Vallejo. The Keelhaulers have dropped down to DIII because their training cruise departs at the end of April, which is before the DII playoffs begin, so rather than qualify for the playoffs and then have to forfeit all their games due to the playoffs getting pushed back in the schedule so their players are no longer available, they decided to self-relegate and join the traditionally east coast-based DIII NSCRO. The game was at Morton Field because their turf replacement project on campus is not scheduled to be completed until mid-January. Morton Field was in relatively good shape, although several of the light stands were dark, which led to less than ideal but still adequate lighting. The Sac City team has talent, but was so new that they couldn’t field 3 suitably trained front rowers, so we had to go with uncontested scrums.

Friday, December 2:
4:30PM: Stanford men Cardinal/White game Referee: Tony Levitan
No report received.

5:30PM: Stanford women Cardinal/White game Referee: Stephen Moore
No report received.

Saturday, Dec. 3:
An unusual California combination: a relentless, bitterly-cold wind from the east tore down the pitch, blowing what would have been 70-degree sunshine far out to sea.

But wind can’t blow away rugby.

St. Mary’s ran out four sides and even provided a player for the Spartan seconds. They way they ran about, one might have thought they were warming up for the inaugural USA Rugby college Sevens championships that are coming up December 16-17.

ST. MARY’S 85 – Diablo Gaels 5 Referee: George O'Neil
ARs: Mike Gadoua, Dave Newport
Videographer: Bruce Carter

ST. MARY’S thirds 69 – Diablo Gaels seconds 0 Referee: Evan Schlinkert
ARs: John Coppinger, Dave Newport
Referee Coach: David Williamson

ST. MARY’S seconds 42 – San Jose State 6 Referee: Bruce Carter
AR: Mike Gadoua, John Coppinger
The wind let up a little and San Jose State were able to convert two early penalty kicks for a 6-5 lead. The Gaels weren’t dependent on the gale, scoring nine more trys the rest of the way.

The ref has been on a strict diet and workout schedule, getting ready to do a Sevens tournament in Hawaii next week, but couldn’t begin to keep up when one play went coast-to-coast twice in about forty seconds, a length-of-the-pitch almost-try for the Spartans leading to a Gaels’ try in the opposite corner.

After the game, the ref was introduced to the Bench of Truth, where superannuated ruggers relive the days of their wastrel youths.

I’m a guy who’s left his regrets behind but my focus is on the present and the future, which is so bright I’m still wearing shades.

ST. MARY’S fourths 40 – San Jose State seconds 10 Referee: Giles Wilson
First off, kudos to St Marys for genuinely fielding 4 sides, with few people doubling up.

This was the closest game of the day with the 1st half ending 19 - 5 but a few minutes earlier it would have been 12 - 5. SJS had to borrow a couple of props but other than that the numbers worked out.

Scoring was balanced with SJS scoring a try in each half and SMC scoring 3 in each half - 5 conversions increased the score differential.

Plenty of players with limited experience getting to know the game; it is good to see some faces from youth ranks combining with new faces to create depth in the college game.

It was nice to get the cobwebs out of the whistle in a game that ended 40 - 10.

SACRAMENTO STATE 86 - Nevada 10 Referee: JC Van Staden
Arriving at the pitch, I requested from the players to clean the leaves on the pitch before we can get going. The looks on their faces were priceless....

The score might not have reflected the game, but there was a lot of running. With about 3 tries "held-up" in-goal, and most tries scored on "advantage conversions" I could not have ask for a better afternoon of running-rugby.

Reno worked hard for their 2 tries, but were no match for Sac's speed in the back-line, with great forward support all way around.

Good luck to both teams for the upcoming season and thanks for a clean game.

SF FOG 60 - Shasta 15 Referee: Boris Pluskowski
Referee Coach: Bryant Byrnes
The Bingham Stein Match between Fog Men A's and the Shasta Highlanders was a hard fought and aggressive campaign this year, played under near-perfect conditions on the Treasure Island pitch. Although Fog ended up running away the eventual winners, both teams played tough hard running rugby throughout and the scoreline could easily have been much much closer.

The first half was dominated by Fog's forwards who put up an impressive display (as well as 4 of the 5 tries scored by Fog in the first half) to win and present good ball from which to run. Fog's fly half added to the score with a try of his own, along with 3/5 conversions and a successful penalty kick. Shasta responded with a try from their standout player at full-back who threatened all game long.

A fracas just before the half ended with a yellow being issued to the Shasta scrum-half for a retaliatory attempt to knee his opponent in the head whilst on the floor for some unseen aggressive play. That put them down to 14 men for the beginning of the second half and Fog took advantage of the weakness. In contrast to the first half, the Fog backs made most of the scoring in the second half with one a piece from #18,#25 and 2 tries from #15 (3/4 converted). Shasta though came back with tries from #8 and #15 signaling a potential come-back.

The game eventually ended with Fog winning a convincing victory by 60-15.

Fog Seconds 0 – SIERRA FOOTHILLS 44 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
This was played as part of a doubleheader on the Fog's TI crazily marked field (rugby, soccer, horseshoes.) Clear and bright, a good day for rugby.

So exactly who is Sierra Foothill (home port aside of course?) A brand new D3 team in their first official season, nicely kitted and about 25 strong. And an interesting mix of grizzled oldsters with fast youngsters.

The Fog Seconds played with their usual élan; ''anyone, anywhere, anytime''.

My MVP-the player who after vehemently disputing my calls during the initial 15 minutes simply removed himself from the game and went home, never to be seen again. Talk about having the last word.

Seconds: Maritime Academy 5 – SANTA ROSA JC 54 Referee: John Pohlman
TJs: Kevin and Lorez from Maritime
Cal Maritime's field is having the finishing touches before it reopens. So their home games are being played at Mare Island. The venue is great but the field has gotten really hard. Reminds me of my playing days in Phoenix, where hitting the ground hurts worse than the tackle.

This was scheduled as a second side match. Santa Rosa JC, JC, had exactly 15 players, Cal Maritime, CM, had 30 plus. Although the JC said they had no first side players, Santa Rosa was far more experienced and learned early they had speed outside.

One of JC's rookies had a #8 on his jersey but played in the backs. He scored a couple of trys and has potential to certainly break into the first side. As did the #8 and captain Tyson.

CM was big and strong but many players were playing their first game. This led to big strong forwards passing to backs with no support. JC would quickly poach and go out wide.

Later in the season when coach Steve Hiatt has harnessed these big guys I am sure they will be dominating the tackle and wearing teams down.

Ten minutes in JC's biggest player went off with a leg injury. CM coach Hiatt gave a player to JC so they would not need to play a man short.

Really classy sportsmanship.

COLUSA 52 – Mendocino 5 Referee(s): Lee Salgado, Anthony Nguyen
Driving to the pitch my little Saturn was getting moved around on the road due to the wind, so I prepared myself for a game full of scrums or 22 drops depending on the orientation of the field. Originally a friendly round robin was planned but one of the teams failed to show, so they ended up playing 4 twenty minute halves to give the teams a chance to teach the newbies.

Anthony also expressed a desire to try out his whistle so we decided to split the match or give him one quarter depending how comfortable he felt.

The first quarter was full of chirping from both teams, but by the end the rucks were cleaner and the ball was faster. The game really started to get fun when two minutes left in the first quarter a forward fell out of a ruck and crashed into my knee straight on, the hobbling forced me to work on position instead of relying on speed. By the end of the half Colusa was dominating the field with quick finishers on the outside which continued for the remainder of the game. Anthony took the second half of the game and did very well. Many of the spectators kept asking me how old he was and commented on his great performance. It was almost a shut out until Mendocino’s scum half snuck through the fringes and got the ball out to support for a finish in the corner. The wind made extra points impossible with only one being converted all day. All in all, a good day to play rugby and teach it to the next generation.

SUNDAY IS A RUGBY DAY

The NCRRS and the NCYRA offered the Level One Officiating course in two locations this past Sunday. Eight folks attended in Santa Rosa and forty-four in Moraga.

That’s good stuff! Here’s hoping we get more referees and better-educated coaches and players as a result of the instructors’ donating a gorgeous Sunday to the cause: Bruce Carter, Mike King, Mike Malone, Aruna Ranaweera, David Williamson and Scott Wood.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Carter, Crenshaw, Gadoua and Pattalock are preparing to fly to Honolulu to referee an international Sevens tournament the week before Christmas.

Here’s the tour logo.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

LA VIDA RUGBY

2011-11-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PELICAN KIT UPDATE

As of December 14 (or shortly thereafter), the Pelican Referee kit will be available for sale at the SFGG Clubhouse. Jerseys $50. Canterbury Shorts (what's left) $20. Gilbert shorts (some larger sizes remain) $15. Socks $10. Touch Flags $25. Society Ties $15. Society pins $2. I think this is the best setup as most referees pass through Treasure Island at least a couple times a year. Your chance of hooking up with me for kit individually is very slim, unless you want to make you way to Mill Valley prior to the 14th, where I'll force you to buy me a pint at Mill Valley Beerworks prior to any other transactions.

LIVIN’ LA VIDA RUGBY
John Coppinger checks in:

October was a busy rugby month, and spilled over well into November.

10/15 & 10/16

First up was the New England Exchange 10/15 & 10/16. My wife and I both have extensive family living in New England and this made a typical exchange experience impossible. Instead of an all-encompassing rugby experience, this was a family experience with two interludes of rugby.

Torrential rain was falling Friday night upon my arrival; however, the rain was gone on Saturday morning as I drove 30 minutes to the Irish Cultural Center in Canton for my Saturday match featuring the Hartford Wanders, who just stepped up into the NERFU D1 from D2, to take on the Boston Irish Wolfhounds. The Irish Cultural Center has four fields, but only one was judged to be playable. It was a little short and a tad tight and I thought that it meant I was in for a forward fest. However, the field was firm, the wind was howling making both clubs reluctant to kick the ball, and both sides played an attacking style from all over the pitch. Wolfhounds were bigger, fitter, faster, and more skilled and while Hartford was committed early, Hartford was broken by the unrelenting attack of the Wolfhounds as the Wolfhounds won going away 67-6. Don Morrison was on hand as the evaluator and we enjoyed a Guinness talking about rugby and life in the comfortable bar that is just one small part of the impressive Irish Cultural Center.

Sunday morning found me driving down to Providence to handle the Brown v Princeton match. It was a beautiful, cool day and the trees were turning fall colors. The Ivies played back-to-back matches on Saturdays and Sundays this fall in order to get through the Ivy League season. Both Brown and Princeton sustained critical injuries on Saturday depriving them of important players; however, while Brown had played at home on Saturday, Princeton had to travel to Hanover to face Dartmouth, the league power. From the start, Brown attacked aggressively and Princeton was sluggish and committed silly penalties. Brown led at the half 19-0. Second half was very different as Brown went into a funk, while Princeton began to string together phrases of play and was able to score two tries and a conversion. Princeton was on the attack most of the final 15 minutes; however, Princeton’s front row was no match for Brown and any scrum became Brown possession and Brown hung on to win 19-12. Peter Watson was on hand to evaluate and we talked about the match for about 30 minutes and I left for Logan Airport and the long flight home.

Both Don and Peter were great to talk to about my matches and I took way a great deal from both gentlemen. The NERRS folks were welcoming and seemed disappointed they couldn’t do more for me in terms of hosting. My thanks to the Society for the opportunity.

10/22

My son, Jack, is a freshman at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and Parents’ Weekend at Whitman this fall was the weekend of 10/21-10/23. In early August I sent an email to DJ Heffernan, the president of the PNRRS, volunteering to do the Whitman game over Parents’ Weekend. Impressed by my credentials no doubt (or more likely stunned that anyone would actually volunteer to go to Walla Walla to referee rugby), DJ gave me the job.

The rugby pitch at Whitman is Ankeny Field, which is located in the central quad of the college surrounded by dorms and other college buildings, all red brick. Just like the week before in New England, the trees were changing colors and it was a beautiful sight.

As I warmed up, the Whitman Women were playing the Lewis & Clark Women. Apparently, a couple of rookies scored for Whitman because immediately after the match, two Whitman players took off on a Zulu run cheered on by both clubs.

Whitman Men played Seattle U. Seattle U. was a bit bigger and faster and had a couple of Islander kids who knew the game. It was a scrappy match with lots of management to avoid what could have been a penalty fest. Seattle dominated early, but Whitman came back late to score a 50 meter try on a quick throw-in that caught Seattle napping and made the score 21-19 in favor of Seattle with about 5 minutes left. After the kick-off, Seattle successfully counter-rucked and stole the ball to stop a Whitman threat, spun the ball wide, and scored the unconverted try in the corner to make the final 26-19 in favor of Seattle. It was not the best rugby, but the players seemed to enjoy the match and they all headed off to Whitman’s off-campus clubhouse for cookies and milk. Jack, my son (who plays baseball, not rugby), later told me that the Whitman players said I didn’t suck. I guess this means I can invite myself back next year.

10/25-11/1

Next up was the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara Mexico where I was appointed as the IRB’s Citing Commissioner. Also appointed were Brian Zapp of Colorado and Bryan Arciero of Canada, both as referees, Alan Hudson of Canada as the Judicial Officer, and Jim Russell, as the Appellate Officer. (Bryan prepared for this appointment by working the Pac 12 event at Stanford the week before.)

After a sprint to get the venue constructed, organized, and functioning, the event came off spectacularly and it was a great achievement for the Pan Am Games Organizers and the Mexican Rugby Union.

As for the rugby, Canada and Argentina were the class of the teams, with the USA just behind, but well above the rest, the tie with Brazil notwithstanding.

Old Guadalajara is a beautiful and inviting place and the people could not have been nicer, but I only wish my Spanish could have been better (i.e., existent).

11/19

St. Mary’s College put on an impressive show this past Saturday fielding four sides against opponents from Santa Rosa JC and UCSB.

I handled SMC Thirds against UCSB Seconds. Lots of rookies, lots of kids making the transition from football to rugby, lots of penalties (but not as many as there could have been) and a couple or three yellow cards for silliness, but everyone seemed to have had a good time. Both teams wanted to play fast and furiously, but as I told the coaches after the match, their ambition did not match their current rugby skill sets and rugby IQs. Score: SMC 38 – UCSB 19.

Phil Akroyd came down sick and George O’Neil stepped in for Phil in the SMC Seconds vs, UCSB Academy match. I am glad he did. SMC put up somewhere around 100 points on UCSB and I was dying running AR for George after my match. The Fourth side was reffed by Evan, a student at SMC.

GAMES LAST WEEKEND

FRIDAY

Stanford 22 – MARITIME ACADEMY 29 Referee: Stephen Moore
Stanford was outplayed by Maritime forwards.

Seconds: STANFORD 34 – Maritime Academy 10 Referee: Jordan Bruno
The reserve side match kicked off on a rainy evening in Palo Alto. The intensity of the first side match carried over to the second side players, who started the match with a bang. Stanford had the leg up on experience and structure in phase play while the Maritime side had the edge in the set pieces, outweighing the Stanford side and doing a fair bit of bullying in the forwards. Stanford played with a man down after the first 20 minutes due to a dangerous spear tackle, but still managed to stay on the offensive, slotting over a couple of early tries. Until half, Maritime unsuccessfully made breaks downfield. With little support to offload, these turned into easy Stanford turnovers. Realizing their forward dominance, Maritime regrouped after the half and focused on rolling mauls and forwards picks, giving them a couple of unconverted tries and narrowing Stanford's lead. Stanford's backs proved too speedy and scored a few more tries before the end of the match, giving their side an easy win.

STANFORD women 82 – UC Santa Cruz 10 Referee: Dan Wilson
AR: Mike King
Driving North on a Friday night from the Central Valley, I planned ahead “just in case” I ran into the fun Bay Area traffic. Not only did I hit that traffic, but the weatherman lied and it rained. Thankfully, with my destination being a rugby pitch, nothing can take away the luster of the night. When I arrived, I realized that the Stanford Men’s B-side game was getting under way late allowing me to take my time in warming up.

I did notice that the two women’s teams getting ready were Stanford Women’s (check) and Cal Maritime Women’s...wait, it was supposed to be UCSC. Maybe, I thought, I had the A and B side opponents mixed up. Either way, I had the A game. As soon as I ran into the B-side referee Mike King, who luckily had arrived early, I was informed that UCSC had forfeited and Stanford was only hosting one game. Two referees and one game = someone not refereeing. Let me put out up front a large Thank You to Mike for allowing me to referee the game and being my helpful AR for the night.

Stanford decided to play a combination of it’s A’s and B’s...well, at least that is that they stated up front. At the kickoff of the first of three 30-minute periods, it was evident that Stanford’s strategy was to play the A side first and the B side afterwards. The first period was a track meet, with Stanford scoring as quickly as two minutes apart many times. Their largest obstacles were their own simple errors and the accuracy of their kicker. To end the suspense, the first period ended with Stanford leading 66-0.

The second and third periods were much closer. Stanford had almost a completely different team on the pitch and Cal Maritime changed their front rows. Both of these changes allowed the last two periods to be more of a rugby game and not a track meet. Stanford won these two periods as well with three tries scored, but Cal Maritime did score its lone try in the corner by the winger with 3 minutes left in the game. The jubilation by the Cal Maritime Women which resulted cannot be accurately described but that one try seemed to make the night's game worth their efforts.

Final Score: Stanford 82-10. More accurately: Stanford Women A’s 66 – 0 Cal Maritime Women & Stanford Women B’s 15 – 5 Cal Maritime Women.

SATURDAY

Chico Holiday Classic
Pleasant Valley High School
Report by Ray Schwartz

24 matches played by 12 sides, 4 women, 4 college men, 4 men's clubs. Three smallish fields. Nice crowd. Tournament Director Mitch Jagoe reported he had to turn sides away. Games were all 40 minutes long, scores were not kept, no trophies awarded. Lots of preseason action for the rookies. Good to sharpen the skills of the refs as well. Sunny and almost warm to start, but then cloudy, a bit windy and then downright chilly to end the day.

I had hoped to referee coach, but only grizzled veterans who wouldn't take my input came to ref. Just kidding! But less than 24 hours before the opening kick off disaster struck, in Reno, and in San Jose.

Reno, literally declared a state of emergency with some 32 homes destroyed (Jerry Winter was lucky to make it through!), which meant no Lee Salgado or Phil Ulibarri, both public servants pressed into duty. And from San Jose, James Hinkin reported in with regrets, feeling sick and getting worse. Busy with my own end-of-the-week stuff, I could do no scrambling to recruit others, called to let Mitch release one hotel room, and I headed up expecting to run rather than write.

Mark Godfrey and Jeff Richmond helped with the other first matches, then Rich Boyer and JC Van Staden arrived and we just keep reffing... My first games were the university sides, Chico rolling over a very competitive UoP, San Francisco State then gave UNR a run. Lots of talented athletes on display, lots of rookies getting their first taste. UoP and SF St where both better than I had expected. With more depth and time together, they both may enjoy some success this season.

I then drew Vacaville vs. Shasta. A very dominant display by Vacaville, as they seemed to fire on all cylinders, whereas Shasta looked like a Chevy Vega w/ a blown cylinder head. Still, they fought to the end and scored one to Vacaville's ten. Phil Ulibarri then showed up; he was released from his duties only early Saturday. I finally took a break, saw some old friends, and got a surprise hug from Olo Fifita, who had arrived to watch a cousin play.

One last game, Chico vs San Jose Seahawks on the main pitch. A bit of a pressure cooker. Nice to see a couple of UC Davis ruggers I had coached (Dan Nagle and Brandon Taylor) playing for the Hawks. Lots of big hits and gutsy passes. Not a lot of structure to the game. Several unplayable piles. Didn't seem to matter what I called, the other team was gonna be unhappy. Even when I didn't make a call (correctly) someone was unhappy. The two sides had come tied 3 to 3 with 8 minutes left when the match ended abruptly.

At another rough tackle (in front of the thick of the crowd) with bodies flying everywhere, I observed the Chico center, try scorer, and arguably the best player on the field at the entire tournament, Austin Ernest, was rolling on his back, screaming and pointing to his boot. He had a brutal dislocated ankle. The seas parted, as I blew my whistle and came upon him. Unbelievable as he quickly calmed, and didn't pass out. The medic was right there, we called the game, his boot and sock was cut off, emergency services were on the scene soon enough, and poor Austin went off with his girlfriend to the hospital. Let's hope he recovers to run again. He was a bull!

JC and Rich headed home, as Jeff, Mark and I found our way to the Bear. The Celebration Ale... delicious. Not sure why Chico doesn't have a few refs of their own. They are going to need them, as a first ever Youth match was featured at Noon on the main pitch. Get a carload to the next ref clinic Mitch!

SF/Golden Gate 19 – SAN MATEO 34 Referee: Pete Smith
ARs: Mike Gadoua, Tom Zanarini
Your reporter arrived with five minutes left in the match. It was tied.

Having just refereed a game with 55 points in it and cultivating his thirst, he hoped perhaps the match would conclude with a common score.

[When a referee has a game that ends in the tie it is not good. Obviously, the point of all this activity is to score points and to win the game.

[So, when nobody wins the game the referee has failed to serve our Holy of Holies, the Object of the Game. The referee is then obliged to assuage the disappointment of all fellow blowers who witnessed this failure, and this is traditionally done at the nearest elbow-bending facility.]

But five minutes was plenty of time for a San Mateo side to run in three tries against a substitution-depleted SFGG, so it wasn’t even close. (The score is a guess. Someone thought the game had been 19-all prior to the late scores.)

Seconds: SF/Golden Gate 19 – SAN MATEO 42 Referee: Tom Zanarini
ARs: Mike Gadoua, Dave Newport
Miles: 3.75 (plus 2 miles as AR for the A match)
A pleasant early afternoon turned into a cold day as the B sides took the field. Many substitutes from the A match filled in, which was played with typical pre-season precision. San Mateo just seemed to have the finishing touch on the day for both matches. Special thanks to Mike Gadoua for car-pooling.

Diablo Gaels – Vallejo Referee: Unknown

St. MARY’S 46 – UC Santa Barbara 5 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Under soggy conditions, 2011 CPD quarter-finalist SMC met 2011 DI finalist UCSB in a preseason match in which the opposing captains were brothers.

Scrums were well-contested and the ball was moved around a lot in open play, but overall execution was indicative of a preseason encounter. SMC lead 15-5 at the break.

In the second half, SMC played occasional pick-and-go rugby but for the most part attempted to play 15-man sevens until they found a gap. UCSB tackled with commitment but squandered the little possession they got.

ST. MARY’S JV 99– Santa Barbara Academy 0 Referee: George O’Neil

ST. MARY’S thirds 38 – UC Santa Barbara seconds 19 Referee: John Coppinger
See the report in John’s October diary, above.

St. Mary’s fourths 5 – SANTA ROSA JC 39 Referee: Evan Schlinkert
(Evan is a student at SMC who is a fledgling Pelican. We’ll be seeing him at the December 4 Level One Officiating course at Campolindo.)

CALIFORNIA women 55 – UC Santa Barbara 0 Referee: Bruce Carter
ARs: Rod Chance, Robert Monforte
Witter Field on the Cal campus hosted this pre-season friendly.

The UCSB men played less than eight miles away and suffered nearly as bad a defeat.

With construction still underway of the Cal football facility, temporary offices for the athletic department take up the areas where spectators used to watch rugby games. The field is now artificial grass, which surface the football team needs for practices. But the dual scoreboards at least still announce it as the Witter Rugby Field.

It is a bit disconcerting to see a gridiron laid out on the hallowed turf in Strawberry Canyon, albeit with blue rugby lines superimposed.

The Cal women look to have a good season ahead of them. They were dominant from the front row through to the outside backs, and when Santa Barbara subbed in rookie front rows Cal
proved adept at dialing it back just enough to keep the scrums safe, which keeps the referee happy, while still dominating their opponents.

Of particular note was the quality of ball-handling and inter-passing when in open play: it was essentially flawless.

Cal Captain and #8 Jennifer Sever scored three tries and kicked as many conversions. She had one held up in-goal but then scored from the ensuing scrum.

There were some problems with lying near the ball after losing the counter-ruck and ‘hatching’ squeeze ball instead of properly laying it back, but Cal Coach Ellen Owens wanted to know about these penalty patterns afterwards and even took notes.

UCSB had some handy players, in particular #6 and #12, but couldn’t make their combinations work.

Cal/UC Santa Barbara combined Bs 0 – USF 66 Referee: John Pohlman
AR's: Paul Berman and Jennifer from Cal who is soon to be an official Pelican
Wittier Field at Cal is alive. The Cal. women hosted UCSB and USF at the field this weekend.

This has been my third time seeing USF this fall. They are being coached by Kathy Flores. Each time I am impressed with how much USF has improved.

The USF players are coached to step over the ball to gain possession. For example a tackler will get up and stand over the ball rather than try and poach it. Or at counter ruck the player will stop when you get over the ball. This led to loads of turnover in USF's favor.

Prior to the game I introduced myself to the USF captain Jess and asked center Sally, she had played wing and fullback before, how many trys she had in her today. The previous games she had scored three each. She just smiled and did not answer. A humble back, go figure.

Sally may be the best runner I have seen in woman's rugby. Great balance, pace and vision. USF scored 5 try s in the first half and another seven in the second half.

After the game a USF player who had overheard our conversation came up and said, "Ref I think she scored seven today."

Yes Sally had scored three in the first half at center. The coach moved her to scrum-half for the second half which led to another 4 trys.

It will be interesting to see how this team progresses throughout the season. And of course in a year of so if Sally stays healthy can work her way onto the Eagles.=

UC Davis 12 – CAL POLY 29 Referee: Paul Bretz
AR: Anthony Nguyen

Seconds: UC Davis 10 – CAL POLY 22 Referee: Jordan Bruno
The weather broke as UCD hosted Cal Poly in a hard hitting second side match that saw well matched phase play in the forwards and backs. Both teams remained evenly matched in the forwards for the first 20 minutes of play with the score tied 0-0. The Poly backline was much more physical and experienced, producing easy ball for their scrum half and allowing their backline to advance upfield in swift counterattacks. This allowed a few scoring chances for the Poly 2nd side which they capitalized on before half. UCD remained on the back heel for much of the second half, holding the Poly offense within their half while showcasing their gritty defense. UCD had a few breaks upfield by the forwards and backs, but lacked the support and organization to provide fluidity in phases. Overall, a clean, well-played match on both sides. A more structured Poly side gave them the easy win.

SAN FRANCISCO FOG 65 – LA Rebellion 5 Referee: Tony Levitan
Having sent my match scoresheet through the washing machine already, I'll be working on this report without a net. In the first match of a gathering of gay men's teams from SF, LA and San Diego, the Fog ran the Rebellion all over the pitch, running in 11 tries to 1. The match was actually contested much more closely than the score would indicate but the Fog's scrum dominance and talent in the backline was too much for the Rebellion who had a few too many inexperienced players attempting to shore up their defenses.

Favorite moment of the match was a light one: Ball thrown in from line out was off line so I blew my whistle and announced "Not straight." One of the players retorted, "What is that, commentary?" I'm sure he's used that line before, but it was a new one for me ...

SF Fog B 12 – SAN DIEGO ARMADA 34 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
This was played under grey winter skies on the lumpy but comfortable Fog TI field with great spirit and good cheer. The Fog made an initial tactical error of inquiring whether I had played with Mr. Ellis back in my salad days-but assuaged the slightest of hurt feelings with a boffo post match rum punch cocktail and including me in the team picture.

10-5 for the guests at half; Fog takes the lead early in the second half, but then a bit of a deluge of points. But the Fog win the mini B match. I was very sorry to miss the Occupy The DNA Lounge movement post match. New refs: these guys give a great drink up.

Mini-tourney at old Fort Ord:
Cal State-Monterey Bay 10 – SAN JOSE STATE seconds 12 Referee: Mike King

SAN JOSE STATE 29 – Aptos 10 Ref: King
Sunny day. Pitch on the small size. Good hard hitting and spirited play. Aptos valiantly answered the call, playing 2 matches in a row. They faced the buzzsaw of SJ State, soon after finishing their first match against UC Santa Cruz. San Jose fielded 2 full sides and seems ready to fare very well this season. Cal State Monterey Bay made a fine showing for a new club with many players new to the game.

Aptos – UC Santa Cruz Referee: Bruce Ricard
No report received.

CSUMB – UC Santa Cruz Ref: Ricard
No report received.

SUNDAY
UC Davis women's round-robin

UC DAVIS 33 – UC Santa Cruz 5 Referee: Jordan Bruno
A crisp fall morning on UCD’s Russell Field allowed the UCD women’s side to display their clinical backline play and solid defense as they battled a motley crew from Santa Cruz in the first morning matchup. UC Davis provided easy ball with great rucking, allowing a mismatched UCD backline to outpace the Santa Cruz offense. UCD scrums were solid and produced good set pieces for the backs to gain ground. UCD forwards handled their opponents easily in defense and at the breakdown. UCD’s lock and kicker had a great boot on the day, converting all but one kick in the match.

UCSC 21 – Fresno State Ref: Bruno
In the final match on the day, Santa Cruz matched up well with Fresno. Forwards worked hard throughout the match, scrimmaging 15 times easily per half due to knock-ons and held up mauls. As the match continued, the backs were used less and the match evolved into a series of rolling mauls and pick and goes from the ruck. Fresno’s side saw streaks of brilliance but with little support to capitalize. Santa Cruz’s side communicated better and moved as more of a structured unit, allowing them to score as the backline broke through the Fresno defense. A close match to the very end, UCSC outplayed their opponents with more cohesive play in the backs.

There were some more games refereed by Rich Boyer, but no reports have been received.

EAST MIDS UPDATE

Rushden & Higham 10 – RUGBY SAINT ANDREWS 38 Referee: Preston Gordon
League match in Midlands 3 East (South), which I believe is RFU level 8.

Since I was going to be in England with rugby on the brain this past weekend, after going to the Northampton Saints-Llanelli Scarlets match on Friday, I got in touch with our friends in the East Mids society and offered my services if they needed me. As it turns out, they did, and gave me this appointment in Rushden. Coincidentally, this is where I stayed when on exchange here in 2008, and one of the first people I saw when I turned up at 1245 was Duncan Clayton, my host 3 years ago. I had brought him a framed photo of him with that year's exchange crew at a Northants pub after the 2 games at Moulton College, so we had a happy moment before I headed inside to the referees changing room to get down to business.

Kickoff was set for 1415, and the pre-match stuff was well out of the way in plenty of time before that. St. Andrews were a few places higher in the league table, and had had a better string of recent results, and so I was not too surprised when they dotted down a try in the opening minute. The conversion followed, as did 10 more minutes of them holding possession and moving the ball upfield using their forwards to maul effectively. Another try followed at the ten-minute mark, unconverted, leaving them ahead at 12-0. At this point Rushden began to get into the game themselves, using their speedy wings and fullback in attack. The game seesawed back and forth for the next 25 minutes with few penalties and just a few more stoppages. Rushden let a certain try go begging when one of their number hacked on a loose ball and their wing knocked the ball on about a meter from the line after running well clear of his opponent. St. Andrews were the ones who finished the scoring in the half though, with another converted try at the 35' mark, so at the break it was 19-0 to the visitors.

The second half was much the same. Rushden opened the scoring with a 22m penalty goal in the 3rd minute, but again St. Andrews was dominant. The handful of substitutions on each side didn't make much difference, although one of the tries for each side was more of a result of the defense caught napping than creativity in attack. St. Andrews converted 2 of their 3 tries, and Rushden converted their only one, leaving the final score at 38-10.

Refereeing outside your own local area is always a pleasure, especially here. I would like to thank the East Mids referees for the opportunity to get a game in, and I was happy to find that this level of match, which challenged me when I last reffed here 3 years ago, was well within my capabilities this time. And it's always nice to hear both sides tell you "great job" afterwards. Unfortunately I probably won't get to referee again in England, due to other commitments, but I may get another 80 minutes with the whistle in while in France or Germany in December. We shall see!

FROM GADOUA

He should have taken up with the oval ball:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/19/sport/football/football-referee-suicide-attempt-germany/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

At Witter Field:

Rod Chance, John Pohlman, Bruce Carter, Robert Monforte

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

FLIPPIN' THE BIRD

2011-11-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

UPCOMING WEEKEND

First time we’ve said this in a while: there are fifty games on the schedule for this early pre-season weekend and EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS AN ASSIGNED REFEREE.

I love you guys.

*** We do still need a ref for Monday evening, November 28, 7 PM in Vallejo. ***

LEFT COAST LEADS THE WAY

The 24 teams that will compete for the first-ever USA Rugby collegiate sevens title have been announced – including the top four from the California Sevens.

One-sixth of all the competitors were at the St. Mary’s tournament at the end of October!

ALL BLUES WIN WPL

The All Blues have won an even dozen Division One championships since 1994. Now they can add a Premier League trophy to their collection.

In the title match last weekend in Virginia Beach, they beat the Twin Cities Amazons 17 – 8 in a close, physical contest determined by two tries off turnovers.

The All Blues advanced to this game on the strength of their 17 – 7 victory over the San Diego Surfers in the semis.

The Sacramento Amazons finished third in D2 on their first trip to nationals. They came from behind to defeat Portland 26 – 15 and then lost to eventual-champions Raleigh by one point after having been down by twenty in the semi-final

In the third-place game they defeated Albuquerque’s Atomic Sisters 29 – 7.

Congratulations to these teams and thanks to the rugby community of Northern California for giving us so many good sides to referee.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

At the NCRRS AGM November 5, the incumbent board of directors were each re-elected to a further two-year term.

Meet the new board, same as the old board: Bruce Carter, Preston Gordon, Pete Smith, Scott Wood, and Tom Zanarini.

GAMES LAST WEEKEND

ST. MARY’S – Maritime Academy Referee: George O’Neil
No report received.

Frosh/Soph: ST. MARY’S 52 – Maritime 5 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
This was the middle game of three matches in Moraga. (St Mary's has four sides; oh my word.) This was the first match for the majority of players on the pitch. It was privilege to have been assigned the match.

And it was not only real rugby, but remarkably well paced and played. After a bit of work on binding, we went to contested scrums and they stayed up. While Maritime was outgunned, they stoutly contested the whole match. Kudos to both teams and their coaches.

ST. MARY’S BLUE – Red scrimmage Referee: Arturo Morales (Boston)
A cloudy, chilly morning turned into a wonderful sunny afternoon in the mid-fifties. SMC had their pre-season Red/Blue game after only a few days of practice and very little, if any, live scrimmaging. The two sides were mixed between first XV and second XV players, but Blue got an early advantage and cruised to a 56 to 5 win.

Overall the players had great intensity and good instincts. The scrums where typical of early season scrums, though they improved slightly through the game. That being said, if there's a place for the team work on as a whole, it is the scrums, especially the front rows as they were more unstable than they should be.

As it often happens in rugby, the score is not indicative of the competitiveness of the match and both sides played their hearts out for most of the game, although Blue did score 35 points in the last 30 minutes of the 90 minute, 3-period match. This was enabled in part by the stronger Blue side, but Red started taking more changes late in the game that resulted in turnovers and subsequent scores.

The teams adapted well to pre-emptive talk and kept it clean. This was a fun game to watch and a pleasure to referee.

5TH ANNUAL MITTRY MEMORIAL
Report by Tom Zanarini:

Shasta hosted the Andrew Mittry Memorial Rugby Tournament this past weekend with a full roster of teams: Chico State, Chico Oaks, Jefferson State Elite, Shasta, Sacramento St. A&B, UC Davis, Santa Rosa JC, Highwaymen Touring Side, Western Oregon U., Oregon Institute of Technology, HULKS (formerly Humboldt St.). (Allegedly some shenanigans happened on campus and Humboldt St. is on probation, or kicked off. I didn't get details. Not good for the integrity of rugby and growing the game, hopefully whatever tomfoolery happened didn't tarnish Nor Cal rugby's reputation.) Referees on hand included JC Van Staden, Mike King, Jim Crenshaw, Sean Peters, Kevin Brown from Oregon and Tom Zanarini.

Most of us got 4 matches, shortened to 20 minute halves, which according to my Garmin meant 7.5 miles of running. The weather was perfect for a long day outside. Preseason tournaments are a great opportunity to work out the kinks, both for referees and players! This tournament is just a grouping of matches with no elimination or championship trophy.

All the teams played with sportsmanship first and foremost and let the rugby do the talking. The Highwaymen added a little extra flair, dressing up as farm animals. This made for interesting player ID during penalty calls: 'Skunk, hands in!' and 'Turkey, roll away!'

Sunday I was able to check out the area's main attractions in the Sundial Bridge and Shasta Dam.

GAMES AT SAN JOSE STATE
Report by Preston Gordon

SJSU 34 – UC Santa Cruz 7 Ref: Gordon
AR: Bruce Ricard

FRESNO STATE 42 – UC Santa Cruz 5 Ref: Ricard
AR: Gordon, Chris Labozzetta

SJSU B 33 – UC Santa Cruz B 10 Ref: Labozzetta
AR: Gordon

SJSU Mixed 22 – San Jose Seahawks 10 Ref: Labozzetta
AR: Gordon

San Jose State 21 – FSU 22 Ref: Gordon

I think that covers everything, but Labo/Bruce, please jump in if I missed anything. All of these games were 25m halves except the SJSU-Seahawks one, which was 20m halves. They only had one game going at a time.

I also have 3 yellow cards to report for the day, which I will submit today or tomorrow. I'm transiting through Heathrow at the moment so it's taking me longer to get this info together than usual. The good news is I'll get to ref in the East Mids on Saturday!

WOMEN’S COLLEGE SEVENS
Report by Bruce Carter

The vast expanse of the newest-generation artificial turf field at Santa Clara University hosted a small Sevens tournament on November 12.

A neat innovation: instead of ground-up automobile tires, the ‘soil’ is minced cocoanut shells. They look more like dirt, but one suspects that they will be considerably cooler to play on in direct sun in the summertime.

Cal brought two mix-and match sides to play against the hosts and a combined UC Santa Cruz/San Jose State squad.

The sun broke out in spurts but clouds won the argument in the end.

Cal White 17 – Santa Clara 17 Referee: Jordan Bruno
CAL BLUE 31 – San Cruz 5 Referee: Bruce Carter
CAL BLUE 29 – Santa Clara 0 Referee: Pete Smith
CAL WHITE 22 – San Cruz 5 Ref: Bruno
SANTA CLARA 25 – San Cruz 0 Ref: Carter
CAL BLUE 35 – Cal White 5 Ref: Smith
Semis:
CAL BLUE 45 – San Cruz 0 Ref: Bruno
SANTA CLARA 24 – Cal White 0 Ref: Carter
Final:
CAL BLUE 26 – Santa Clara 5 Ref: Smith

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Here are the obverse and reverse of the latest thing you can’t live without: Pelican Flippers.

Five bucks from Scott Wood. Get ‘em, keep ‘em, give ‘em away.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

RUN NOW, EAT TURKEY LATER

2011-11-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

LARGE FLOCKING

Fifty people were in attendance at one point Saturday during our pre-season training meeting and AGM. This high-water mark would have been right about the time Koko Ohanessian served us lunch from the SF/Golden Gate clubhouse kitchen.

Six folks arrived early for the beep test. Phil Akroyd came to encourage, having met the international referee standard three weeks earlier at a referee camp in Albuquerque.

Congratulations to Rich Boyer, George O’Neil, Anthony Nguyen, Bruce Ricard, Lee Salgado and Chris Tucker for meeting the challenge.

The day’s focus was on the tackle and the Coaches Panel. This year we had Jack Clark of Cal, John Compaglia of the Diablo Gaels and Ryan Luis of De La Salle to offer us their views of our game and the referee’s art.

We also had some new referees, the surest sign of a healthy society. Please do all you can to encourage and support those who take up the whistle.

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 14, from 7 until 9 PM at SFGG on Treasure Island. Mark your calendars!

NINE WAYS TO END UP ON THE GROUND WITHOUT INFRINGING ANY LAWS

Once again on Saturday at our society training meeting we encountered consternation from some that players are often on the ground – such as at tackles/rucks in the recent World Cup – and are not penalized for it.

Please bear in mind: there’s no penalty for going to ground as long as it is not the first intent of the player and as long as access to the ball by either team is not impeded thereby.

Here’s what might happen to lead to a player being off the feet:

OPEN PLAY
Fall on the ball

TACKLE/RUCK
Be tackled
Be a tackler
Slip and fall
Be cleared from the tackle zone
Clear someone from the tackle zone
Attempt to ruck but meet no opposition
Lose footing while rucking
Be pushed over from behind by an arriving teammate

You may be able to think of more. Have some empathy for those who are playing the game, contesting the ball, as long as their actions don’t illegally decide the contest.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLOWERS

There are a number of games coming up that are not on Saturdays. Please have a look. We’d love nothing more than to assign all of these in the next couple of days and put the schedule to bed for a while.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
REDDING – need 3-4 more referees
Mittry Memorial Tournament
The Shasta club will provide hotel rooms Friday and/or Saturday for refs in need. There will be two pitches in play from 9 until 5 or so.

BAY AREA
We also have a need for at least half a dozen refs in the Bay Area.

SUNDAY, NOV. 13
STANFORD Need two refs

FRIDAY, NOV. 18
STANFORD Four full games beginning at 4 PM. Need four refs.

SATURDAY, NOV. 19
CHICO Chico Holiday Classic. Four refs so far. Need that many more.
Rooms available for refs. Let us know.

MONTEREY Four games at Cal State – Monterey Bay. Need at least two refs.

ST. MARY’S Need three refs

UC DAVIS Need two refs

FOG ROUND-ROBIN Two refs should be enough

SUNDAY, NOV. 20
UC DAVIS Round-robin – needs two refs

MONDAY, NOV. 28, 7 PM
VALLEJO – Small-college playoff game

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1
STANFORD One game, afternoon or evening

THURSDAY, DEC. 2
STANFORD One game at 4 PM

RUGBY GAMES

Saturday, November 5:
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO 27 – University of Pacific 10 Ref: Phil Ulibarri
Cold and breezy conditions welcomed the UOP Tigers when they got off their team bus at UNR’s John Salas Field. Thank goodness the snow in the Sierra never descended below 5,000 feet. The UNR pack had difficulty all game long, losing several of their own put-ins and almost all of Pacific’s; however, weak UOP defense - when Reno did get the ball - allowed five tries.

Abbreviated seconds game: UNR 47 – UOP 0

Sunday, November 6:
UC Davis 29 – Sac State 29 Referee: Phil Akroyd
ARs: Donal Walsh & Anthony Nguyen (Oldest and youngest active Pelican refs)
The overnight rain didn’t seem to affect the field and the clouds parted in time to make for a warm, dry Sunday morning on Russell field.

Davis scored in the second minute, running through a non-existent defense and again eight minutes later under similar circumstances. Twelve – nil. Looked like a long morning was in store for Sac.

The game then settled into a structure less pattern. Sac were dominant at the scrums, but had trouble putting together an attack. They had three goal-line stands in the first-half – literally inches from the goal line – but could not score points. Their issues stemmed from forwards making short bursts and getting isolated, then holding on. Davis were comfortable in defense but were consistently and unnecessarily infringing at the tackle. Sac scored points from Davis mistakes and turnovers, leaving it 19-5 at half in favor of Davis.

Given that Davis had their 10 in the bin from too many red-zone penalties, Sac scored two tries with the one-man advantage, getting it back to 19-17. Davis always maintained the lead but there were exchanges of try scoring several times, until it was tied up at 29s with about five minutes to go. Again, Sac had a long goal-line stand but failed to score after crossing a few meters out, after choosing to run a penalty in a kickable position.

Seconds: UC DAVIS 33 - Sac State 27 Referee: JC Van Staden
So, Saturday we talked about getting your head right before a game... Driving to the field, in the rain, to do 2 second side, did not help.... BUT, I arrived in the most perfect weather conditions you can imagine... Watching Phil work hard to buy us all a round next meeting ;) and having 2 teams that tried their best, made my head switch to overdrive....

Sac State came out swinging but Davis turned the tables quickly, and at half time, was leading 21 - 5. At that time it looked like Davis was going to show their first side how it was supposed to be done, but Sac State had another plan. Maybe it was the halftime speech, or the change-up in a couple of players, but the second half was a different story. Davis made more mistakes around the tackle and rucks, and Sac started to fight back... With a minute on the clock the score was 28-27 Davis, after Sac missed 4 conversion kicks.... and played a man down most of the second half. Davis did apply the pressure at the right time though, and ran in a last turn over try to make the score board look better.

California Maritime Academy scrimmage
Referee: Lee Salgado
It went well. We played three 20 minute halves and everyone got some playing time. Open field play was fast and exciting. Scrums took a few resets but started to look really strong. Fun to ref and the team looks to be coming along well.

STANFORD TENS

Stanford 10s Tournament, 10/29/11 by John Pohlman

When I was younger my mother would tell me to come in, I would beg to play longer. She would say you’re going to run those legs right off. Well at Stanford myself and a few of my age-grade referees almost did.

It was the Stanford tens. Sixteen teams, two fields and forty five games...six referees. Fortunately the games were 24 minutes started and stopped with the hooter. Tony Levitan, Sandy Robertson, Aussie Bill Gillies (from Melbourne), Bruce Ricard, Brad Richey, Jen Tetler and Jeff Ferguson joined me. Tony was king for the day and ran everything smoothly.

I think everyone refereed at least 7 games. I did seven and the final between East Palo Alto Razorbacks and San Mateo Warriors. Two women's brackets and two men's brackets. Jen Tetler did the Woman's final (NorCal Triple Threat 31, Santa Clara Women 0) along with playing a few games.

Lots of rugby. A couple of highlights. San Mateo young versus San Mateo Old in a semi final. Not sure who won but a lot of respect shown to the Master Warriors. Refreshing breath of difference in the semi-finals was the Stanford GSB which lost to EPA 24-5 but came back to defeat San Mateo B for 3rd place, 24-22.

Final
SAN MATEO WARRIORS 21 – Razorbacks 12
The Warriors combined players from both sides to play EPA in the finals.

San Mateo scored the first two converted trys only to have EPA come back with two trys and one conversion.

The final ten minutes was played at a furious pace and looked more like a mid-season game. San Mateo scored a final try to put the game out of reach from EPA.

Final San Mateo 21 East Palo Alto 12.

Brad and I joined the St. Mary's crew the next day for the 7's competition.

Hey Mom my legs didn't fall off...yet.

Full results at http://rugby.stanford.edu/blog/2011/10/stanford-10s-tournament-2011

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

At the California Sevens at St. Mary’s on October 30:
Scott Wood, JC Van Staden, John Pohlman, Eugene Baker, Tim Day, Brad Richey, Eric Rauscher, Jim Crenshaw

Not pictured: Chris Draper

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SATURDAY ON TREASURE ISLAND

2011-11-03T09:59:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

CAN YOU REF THIS SUNDAY?

Teams have been kind enough to play on Sunday this weekend to accommodate our NCRRS Annual General Meeting. We might have a game that doesn’t have a ref yet. Let us know.

BIG DAY SATURDAY

The day at the SF/Golden Gate clubhouse begins with the beep test at 9 AM, for those who would like to benchmark their performances and know where they stand with respect to national and professional referees. It involves running back and forth on the netball court, so dress accordingly if you’d like to challenge yourself.

Our annual pre-season training meeting, which will focus on the tackle, begins at 10 AM.

An AGM is required by our by-laws and will take place from noon until one, which lunch being served just before. This being an odd-numbered year, we will have an election to select our Board of Directors for the next two years.

The current board is: Bruce Carter, Preston Gordon, Pete Smith, Scott Wood and Tom Zanarini.

Be thinking whether you’d like to run, or to nominate someone.

There will be lots of fun stuff going on: Distribution of new society kit, with sales of additional kit items, track suits and custom-made flipping coins. There’s an ATM in the building if you forget your cash or check book.

ETERNAL NEED FOR REFS

Not so bad this weekend – we just need one more for Sunday.

We’ve made it through a couple of busy weekends with some old guys running too much. Help us out:

November 12: Mittry Memorial Tournament in Redding
November 19: Chico Holiday Classic

There are of course other games, but we need several folks to volunteer for each of these events.

GAMES LAST WEEKEND

BERKELEY ALL-BLUES 32 - DC Furies 14 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referees: Lois Bukowski, Kerry Kubo
Performance Reviewing Committee: Preston Gordon, Mike King, Peter Buckley (PNW), Mike Malone, Dixon Smith.

On a beautiful sunny afternoon at Morton Field in Vallejo, unbeaten Berkeley hosted win-less DC on the last weekend of the WPL regular season. Set-pieces were well-matched and open play was exciting but rather sloppy. DC executed a structured, physical game-plan and frequently found gaps in the Berkeley defense. At the breakdown, Berkeley contested fiercely and often poached ball which resulted in several long line-breaks through mid-field. Berkeley won comfortably in the end, 5 tries to 2. Much thanks to Lois and Kerry for their assistance and thanks to the multiple PR's (in-training) for their constructive feedback. Also thanks to Berkeley for hosting a nice post-match picnic/barbeque, which was well-attended by players and alumni.

Seconds: ALL BLUE 39 - DC Furies 0 Referee: Lois Bukowski
Several bruising runs and 2 tries from 1st side game AR Kerri Kubo!

SFGG 24 - Petersham 14 Referee: Rich Boyer
The touring Aussies from Petersham, an inner suburb of Brisbane, began arriving half an hour prior to game time. They had flown in the day before and celebrated their arrival that night until the wee hours of the morning. One player was dressed like one of the Blue Man Group, head to toe in a blue stretch suit bearing the Aussie flag. After some pre game warm ups he decided it was too hot and he shed his garb for the more traditional rugby attire.

Their flanker approached me to inquire if he could play the game with a movie camera strapped to his forehead….Needless to say that did not work out.

The game was played in four 15 minute periods. The Petersham lads took the first period to shake off the cobwebs and were on the back foot the entire period. SFGG were strong, but could not finish off plays with knock-ons and forward passes underscoring the fact they have only been practicing for two weeks to date.

The game was played in good spirits and the Aussies soon put together some good passages of play. The SFGG pack were stronger so the Aussies adapted a la the Irish in the World Cup and held up the ball carrier and ensuing mauls.

The remaining three periods were played at pace with limited line outs.

SFGG won 24-14.

CALIFORNIA 7s
Report by Scott Wood:

Saturday Referees: Paul Bretz, Tim Day, Pete Smith, Scott Wood
Saturday ARs: Eric Rauscher, Ron DeCausemaker, Trey Boone (SMC), Sione Finau (SMC), Jim Crenshaw

Sunday Referees: Jim Crenshaw, Tim Day, Chris Draper, Scott Wood
Sunday ARs: Eugene Baker, John Pohlman, Eric Rauscher, Brad Richey

The California 7s was hosted by St. Mary's College. A great venue with blue skies overhead and green grass underfoot. Two pools of four played three rounds on Saturday to determine seeding for Sunday's quarterfinals. UC Davis and Cal Poly dominated their respective pools each going undefeated. St. Mary's and San Diego state were 2-0 on the day. University of San Diego and Cal went 1-2 while Santa Clara and Loyola were winless.

Sunday had a shift change as Bretz, Smith, and DeCausemaker were not available. Jim Crenshaw graciously stepped to plate and Chris Draper, in town for work, was cajoled to fill in for a couple matches.

A fine set of matches to start the day. St. Mary's defeated Cal 26-17 in an exciting display of rugby. SDSU beat cross-town rivals USD 12-5. Cal Poly blew past Santa Clara 26-0 while UC Davis played around with Loyola before besting them 19-7.

The tournament format set up for Challenger and Championship brackets. Cal and U San Diego won their challenger semi-final matches while St. Mary's and San Diego State would face each other in the championship final match.

Challenger Final
CALIFORNIA 42 – U San Diego 7 Referee: Scott Wood
ARs: Tim Day, John Pohlman, Eric Rauscher, Brad Richey
Cal was very methodical in its attack but USD maintained a strong defense forcing Cal to use its speed on the outside. USD scored a try late in the second half off some superb use of speed and passing.

Third Place Match
Cal Poly 19 – UC DAVIS 24 Referee: Jim Crenshaw

Championship Final
ST. MARY'S COLLEGE 38 – San Diego State 19 Referee: Tim Day

Many thanks to Kat Todd-Schwartz for taking the time to oil up the butcher block and join us on Saturday. Her advice, insight, and wit were very helpful.

BEN QUAYE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Report by Bruce Carter:

The UC Santa Cruz Slugs hosted the second memorial tournament for their teammate who died almost two years ago.

It was another gorgeous morning on the pitch from heaven as nine or ten teams prepared for some pre-season rugger.

One surprise was a new team, Cal State – Monterey Bay, who won their first two games. (I don’t know what happened with their third – for the first time in my entire career I left before every game was finished.

(I don’t know what came over me. Perhaps it was the presence of a visiting friend, an old roommate and teammate from medical school in Georgia in the ‘70s, who doesn’t have the jones anymore; perhaps it was that our wives were back home working their magic in the kitchen. But I left while one game was in progress and another was yet to be played.)

Got four good runs in:
CAL POLY 22 – Santa Rosa JC 10
On field two the half-way line was where the north 10-meter line should have been. Everything was otherwise marked nicely and clearly visible, so we used the lines. Which meant one ‘half’ of the field was 50% longer than the other.

All of the points in this game were scored at the shorter, north end. Santa Rosa had a ten-point halftime lead, giving the lie to the pre-game handicapping that I had given my visiting friend.

UCSC 12 – Cal Poly 7
Cal Poly sat some players, perhaps looking forward to playing Sierra College.

Bad move. The Slugs played good defense, while solid work by their #7 and #8 kept the offense moving.

UC Santa Cruz II 0 – FRESNO STATE 24
The Bulldogs are learning the game, another team of recent vintage.

Nice to see new teams step into success.

UCSC 17 – Santa Rosa JC 5
Four games and I only got four different teams to ref. Fire the assignments officer!

Other refs on hand were James Hinkin and Stephen Moore, who had to leave even earlier than me, Sam Davis who was the iron man, and Bruce Bernstein who broke from a legal conference in Monterey to help out for the afternoon.

BARACUS HALLOWEEN TENS
Report by Hubie Wang:

There were four teams at the tournament Baracus, Aptos, McGeorge, and Marin. Baracus the host of the tournament played a bit shaky in their opening game due to the lack of players but beat Aptos 22-7. They then beat McGeorge in their second game. The game between Baracus and Marin turns to be the combination for the final. Both team played hard and good rugby, Baracus who was trailing the whole game came back to win it 17-12 with a last minute try. After the Lunch break the playoff started with Baracus and Marin beating Aptos and McGeorge to get into the final. The consolation game between Aptos and McGeorge was well played by both side. Final score 26-24 Aptos beating McGeorge by two points. While I am wrapping up the consolation game Jim blows his whistle from the other pitch just to end the final with a "tie". Baracus clutched the title with the perfect record coming into the playoff round.

We saw a lot of new faces on the pitch which is great. Good rugby was played and overall a great turn out for everybody.

I did not keep records of all the scores.
Note: Anthony who just started reffing in May did not ref a game due to the intensity of the games and lack of experience, however he did a great job ARing for all of us.

Refs:
Jordan Bruno
Jim Crenshaw
Chris Labozzetta
Hubert (Hubie) Wang
Mark Godfrey
Rod Chance
Anthony Nguyen

STANFORD TENS

We scheduled seven referees for this long-time stalwart fixture of the NCRFU autumn calendar – and not one of them sent in a report.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

John Coppinger attended the rugby at the Pan Am games in Guadalajara this past weekend, where the USA Eagles won bronze medals.

His camera caught two enthusiastic fans of coach Al Caravelli’s boys.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

RUNNING INTO HALLOWEEN

2011-11-03T09:56:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

TOURNAMENTS GOING BEGGING

We need more referees at each of the following tournaments this Saturday:

Men’s tens at Baracus’ pitch in San Francisco – one ref so far for two pitches
Men’s college fifteens at UC Santa Cruz – two refs so far for two pitches
Men’s and women’s tens at Stanford – four at present, also two pitches
Men’s college sevens at St. Mary’s – three refs – also need help on Sunday

Please let us know that you can help.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

This is the time of the year when those who are new to refereeing, or new to our society, should be doing plenty of games to get into the flow.

But, no, we’ve got 57-year-old birds refereeing two games and running AR for an even dozen. And this old bird has to work this weekend, so the slack either will be taken up or it won’t.

Saturday was a near-perfect day, with lifting fog as I drove up Highway 1 to the lovely campus of UC Santa Cruz. The view of pelicans and sea otters in Moss Landing is always a treat.

The women’s Slugfest took place atop the world overlooking Monterey Bay, beginning with the early day already growing warm.

We get our summer in October here in coastal Northern California. Not what some call Indian summer – no, along the coast, October is hotter than June-July-August. The months of longer days are the false summer in these unique parts.

UC SANTA CRUZ 25 – U. of San Francisco 0 Referee: Bruce Carter
Lots of fun – refereeing players who were happy to comply with referee instructions because they really didn’t always know what they should be doing or where they should be. Enough of the Slugs knew, however, to make the difference.

Red lines on green grass is problematic for this referee, especially with dark blue lines running angled at about fifteen degrees to the red ones, a low bright sun, and white lines strewn about to boot. Thanks to some patient try-scorers for waiting while I triangulated with the corner flags and goal posts.

Penalty count lower than try count: I love it.

UC Santa Cruz 5 – CHICO STATE 38 Ref: Carter
Chico State is back after some lean times and with only a nucleus of experienced players.

Sandy Robertson and John Pohlman were on hand to do the remainder of the games, so I took my leave of the Santa Cruz view with the temperatures already above eighty to drive to Stanford for the Pacific Coast Sevens.

Knowing there was a home football game and not wishing to fight crowds, I parked where we play our summer sevens and rode my bicycle to the pitch, passing a long chain of cars en route, three lanes wide, several hundred at the least.

Good thing – two of the ARs had already had to leave and there were only two left, who had been working all day, with five games remaining. So I ran all five.

This was a good event. Matt Sherman and Frank Merrill organized this qualifying tournament, which drew ten of the twelve Pacific 12 teams. With the fields surrounding the pitch being used for tail-gating gridiron fans (that game started at 5 PM), there was also a built-in casual audience.

Frank and Clarice Merrill invited the volunteers over for dinner, always a treat, and then there was a late night watching the World Cup final.

The referee crew for the event was Phil Akroyd, George O’Neil, and Pete Smith from our society, with Bryan Arciero flying in from Houston and Tim Day from San Diego at their own expense. Tom Zanarini handled the assignments.

ARs included Mike King, Tony Levitan, Bruce Ricard and Brad Richey.

Sunday featured nine trophy games. Offense wins the pool but defense wins the trophy, as Colorado demonstrated by stifling Utah’s attack, which had previously been unstoppable.

Oh – the mercury hit the high eighties both days. Even Arizona and Arizona State players and coaches commented on the heat.

GET YOUR PELICAN TRACK SUITS

Eric Rauscher:
I have NCRFU track suits available that I will bring to the meeting on Nov. 5. They are Pelican blue and have the society logo on the breast.

Sizes range from medium to XXL. The cost is 90$ and there is a limited supply.

NEW KIT UPDATE

The bill for the new kit was eight thousand dollars. We can’t afford to give it all away. So we’re reneging on the deal: active members of the society will receive shorts and socks, but only one of the two jerseys (choice of blue or yellow).

Additional jerseys of either color will be on sale for $50. Shorts are $20 and socks, $10.

This will also be available at our AGM on November 5 at the SFGG clubhouse.

See this week’s photo to see how the kit looks on a variety of body styles.

EXCHANGE REPORTS

Eric Rauscher to Upstate New York:
Ithaca Collage 14 – NIAGARA UNIVERISTY 19
Upstate New York, overcast, chilly, football field lined and flagged correctly, muddy turf

I arrived early enough to have a conversation with Annemarie Farrell (one of the few female coaches of a men's club in America) who gave me a little background on Ithaca's history. The team has been absent from campus for 16 years due to the overly-social aspects of rugby. They returned last year as a D3 club and did very well, deciding to more up to D2 this year. This was the last game of the season for both clubs. The winner when on to playoffs, the loser plans for next year. I did not know what to expect as far as the level of play was concerned. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. In fact about half way through the second half it dawned on me that I hadn't had a single scrum reset yet. I congratulated both sides and they did not let me down for the rest of the game. A first in my book, no resets in a game of 15s!

The narrow field dictated a forwards-dominated game with the backs on both sides kicking often for field position. This was not a game played between the 22s. Niagara scored first, an unconverted try in the first half for the only score of the half. Ithaca put up a spirited defense at goal to stop Niagara from scoring again. I however speculated that the size of the Niagara forwards would win out in the end.

Ithaca scored twice in the second half, trading tries with Niagara who came out in the lead at full time. If the field had been a full 70 meters wide it would have been interesting to see how the game would have played out. Next time I am in Upstate NY, I think I will try to get another game. Maybe I'll get another one with playoff ramifications!

James Hinkin to Virginia:
NORFOLK BLUES 55 – Baltimore-Chesapeake 15
ARs: Jeffrey Anderson, Aaron Fergus
Evaluator: Jim Thompson

I was honored to be selected for the annual Norfolk exchange this year, following in the footsteps of Bjorn “Pining for the fjords” Stumer, Pete “Doctor Silence” Smith, George “I’m not Irish I swear” O’Neil and Phil “I have no nickname” Akroyd. This is as fine a tradition that Pelicanland has as the hosting and the atmosphere in Norfolk are second to none.

I was met at the airport by Jeffrey Anderson and his wife late Friday night and deposited at my hotel with promises of breakfast in the morning. Saturday morning dawned warm and bright and Jeff and I headed off to the local Cracker Barrel for a genuine Southern breakfast. Eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy were my share while Jeff opted for eggs on horseback, with the obligatory grits, biscuits and gravy. After that I had a few hours to myself to catch up on some emails (working on a rugby trip? I don’t get paid enough for that...) before Jeff and his son whisked me off to a barbeque. Cognizant of my 5:00pm match I nibbled sparingly at the food but the nasal temptations of pulled pork, barbeque chicken, hot dog and burgers were almost too much. We then headed back to the hotel where I kitted up and we were off to the Norfolk Sportsplex, which had hosted the UFL Championship game the previous night (look it up).

Norfolk were promoting Breast Cancer Awareness so they took the field in stunning pink while Baltimore-Chesapeake were in their traditional green and white. After a brief consultation with the BC coach (no, you cannot play anyone who is not CIPP registered, even if you plan to register them really soon) we were off and running. BC kicked to Norfolk who went at them with a will and BC gave as good as they got. A knock-on led to the first scrum of the day and naturally to the first issue of the day as both sides were over-eager to engage before I had called them in. This persisted until a couple of free kicks convinced the forwards I was serious about the engage and things settled down from there. BC was attacking well but could not penetrate the Norfolk line but Norfolk did not seem to have the same problems. Tries in the 9th, 13th, 22nd, 29th, 35th and 38th minutes went unanswered and with 3 conversions the halftime score was 30-0 to Norfolk.

The second half started much the same as the first with one exception: BC had found a way through the Norfolk defense. A penalty to BC followed by Norfolk not being 10 meters led directly to a try in the 55th minute but Norfolk answered immediately with one of their own. Thus began a back and forth try exchange with BC dotting down in the 61st minute and Norfolk answering in the 66th and 78th minutes. BC got a 3rd try on the final play of the game to round off the scoring and bring an end to an enjoyable match.

Both sides were quick to respond to commands and were interested in playing rugby rather than engaging in side scuffles. This resulted in a fast, fun game and a low penalty count (17) that was as fun for the spectators as it was for the participants.

Final Score: Norfolk Blues 55 – Baltimore-Chesapeake 15

Once the game was done I showered (LUXURY!) and Jeffrey and his wife took me out to a fantastic Greek/Italian restaurant where the Yingling was handy and the food was amazing. Well satiated I was dropped off at my hotel for some serious Zzzzzzzz...

Sunday morning I checked out of the hotel to once again see Jeffrey waiting for me in the lobby and we headed off to tour the USS Wisconsin, an Iowa class battleship that saw action from WW II all the way through the first Iraq war. The size of the battleship combined with the awesome armaments and the weight of history left me stunned as I walked the decks and into the interior of this mighty warship. Finally the tour was complete and we rushed back to Jeffrey’s house to catch the first half of the RWC Final. Unfortunately the timing of my flight home meant that I could not see the second half until later, but as soon as I reached Hinkin Manor I was able to catch up on the action.

Many thanks to Jeffrey Anderson, his family and the Virginia Rugby Referee Society for their generous hosting. They are what makes this game so special.

GAMES PLAYED

October 8:
TRIPLE THREAT 29 – Tempe 5 Referee: Lee Salgado
This was probably one of the hardest-hitting women's games I have ever been in the middle of. Good strong runners and strong packs. It was relatively close at half time but Triple Threat was able to pull off the win by getting the ball out to the wings and power through the Tempe Defense. Jim Crenshaw was also nice enough to come by and give me some pointers and positive reinforcement.

October 15:
UOP 31 – San Francisco State 29 Referee: Paul Bretz
It took UOP 79 minutes 30 seconds to get ahead of SF state in this preseason match but the home team moved ahead of the visitors on a conversion kick.

The referee was able assisted by his 13 year old son Liam Bretz. UOP has a beautiful field and it’s refreshing to see another college support rugby.

EAST PALO ALTO RAZORBACKS 17 – West Bay Angels 12 Referee: Tony Levitan
On a glorious afternoon in Millbrae, the Razorbacks and Angels squared off in their final league match. I had reffed the Angels, a new women's club coached by Moses Similai, in a friendly a few weeks ago and it's safe to say that they have come as far as any group of players I have ever seen in such a short period of time. In fact, they had the match won with just 5 minutes remaining except for ... well, read on.

The first half saw lots of running rugby and very hard contact, tackling and rucking from both squads. The Angels got an early try on a long run burst through the EPA backline for a 5-0 lead. EPA tied it 20 minutes in on a nifty run by their shifty (in a good way) scrum-half for a 5-5 tie at halftime.

The second half was more of the same, both teams using quality ball from lineouts to launch good-looking backline attacks. Unfortunately, the scrums needed constant tending as there was an unsteady mix of inexperienced and seasoned talent, but when things settled down we saw dynamic play from the base with both #8s running smartly and physically, both teams committing to spinning the ball. I especially enjoyed the EPA scrum captain constantly reminding her teammates, "0-0 now!" when indeed it was 5-5. Same difference, I suppose ...

They second half barrage of tries began with just under 10 minutes remaining as EPA's center dotted down after knocking hard at the goal line for a lengthy stretch; 10-5 EPA. The Angels not only matched that on a hard-fought forward try by their captain and hooker, but they got a magnificent kick from their fullback, slotting the conversion from a point no more than 10 yards from the touchline. 12-10, Angels.

Unfortunately for the Angels, their impromptu celebration on their side of halfway left them horribly out of position on the kickoff and EPA took notice, driving the ball deep to the opposite side of the pitch where their talented winger headed for the goal line. A couple Angels recovered, somewhat, and slowed but failed to stop EPA's advance, which saw EPA's outside center touch down in the left corner. Maybe the air got a bit lighter in the late afternoon as EPA's kicker also slotted a long, tough angled conversion. 17-12, EPA. After a frantic ending couple minutes the match ended that way, both teams seemingly satisfied: EPA with the close win, and the Angels appreciating how close they came and how far they had come.

WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 22-23

PLAYOFF GAME:
SACRAMENTO AMAZONS 63 – Tacoma 10 Referee: Rich Boyer
ARs: Jen Tetler, Eugene Baker
The Tacoma team traveled by car to play the Amazons at Danny Nunn Park on an unusually warm day.

The Tacoma girls lamented their choice in jerseys (black) with regards to the sun.

Tacoma players were much smaller than their counterparts but nonetheless held up well in the first half. Amazons had great back ball movement and very strong rucks but were challenged getting the ball over the try line. Tacoma would commit few players to the rucks and fan out on defense. But the Amazons had the lion’s share of possession.

Finally the hard-running Amazon forwards, led by #7 and #16, broke through numerous tackles and the tries began.

Halftime 26-7 Amazons.

The second half saw the Tacoma girls wear down from playing continual defense. The Amazon backs became creative and sparked the second half “try-fest”, with Captain Sella (#12) leading the charge. Numerous successful ‘Sonny Bill Williams’ passes were observed. The Amazon forwards became more motivated by the backs’ success and soon were ripping off long runs on pick-and-goes.

Special mention to #14 on Tacoma. She stood out as a strong runner/tackler.

Olympic Club 22 – NYAC 43 Referee: Paul Bretz
ARs: Mike King, Liam Bretz
The score line makes it look like New York dominated the game. However they had to go into extra time in order to do it. The visitors took an early lead in the first half and extended it to 19 points by the first half. Olympic came back and with 4 minutes to go tied the match. Fitness played a big part in the overtime period as the visitors ran in 21 points. Thanks to Mike King and Liam Bretz for providing great side-line support.

Liam called in a dump tackle, flagged it, from the sideline that had the spectators cheering for the 13 year old AR.

[Editor’s Note: Why the overtime?, you ask. There two of the nation’s premier athletic clubs have initiated a multi-sport competition, all played on the same weekend, with an odd number of sports. Since there is a trophy, each game needs to have a winner.]

Women’s Slugfest:
Report by John Pohlman
This Saturday I joined Sandy and Bruce at UCSC, possibly the world’s most scenic rugby pitch. The weather was perfect and the field was in great shape. The rugby lines were painted red. And there were lots of other lines which made for confusion if you weren't concentrating. And it's hard to concentrate when you are running such a scenic field.

The Slugs were hosting Chico State, Fresno State and USF.
Early season rugby. Lots of rookies mixed in with talented veterans. This made for some great individual play, though fluid rugby was not the standard of the day.

I refereed USF versus Fresno. USF's #12 scored at least 2 of USF's four tries.
USF 20 Fresno 5.
My second and the last game of the day was USF versus Chico.
Chico is rebuilding but was led by their #8 who scored both tries and made the conversion.
Final Chico #8 12 USF #12 10. That's right all of USF's points were scored by #12 and all of Chico's points were scored by #8.

PACIFIC COAST SEVENS
Report by Bryan Arciero (visiting from Houston):
Unlike previous ventures to Pelicanland (preparing for 15s in the spring), this flight was for a 7s gig in the fall. Fall rugby involving 7s while the RWC Final was being played the same weekend would seem sacrilegious to the rugby purists, but it was all in the name of rugby as this was a tune-up for me for the Pan Am games in Guadalajara the following weekend.

The familiar Zanarini hotel in Mill Valley put me up for the weekend, while the likes of Pedro, George, Tim, Tom and Ramrod* put up with me for the weekend. It was a bonus to be joined by Paddy Mac and Josh (the latter I hadn't seen since the Pac-10s in 2007) for some valuable coaching that went along the lines of "Don't do that next weekend" mixed in with some very 7s-esque rugby (6 matches, zero mauls!) which overall will help me in reducing my embarrassment next weekend. Aruna even made it along for a cameo appearance, but he knew better than to waste any wisdom on me and focused on mentoring Ramrod.

To quote South Africa's 7s coach Paul Treu: "Defense wins games". How true for the Buffs, who really put pressure on Utah in the final match win 14-12 despite a final push at the end by the Utes.

Thanks to the gang for putting up with me, Bruce Carter for letting me back into Pelicanland, and Frank Merrill for hosting us on Saturday night. I leave Palo Alto knowing that a shooter isn't a drink, a sweeper isn't a cleaner, and that if you have to give an unplayable you missed something earlier! Roll on Guadalajara!

*(sorry, this is an inside joke; the announcer had no issues with saying my foreign last name, but every detail of Phil's matches, including his last name, were butchered).

MEN’S COLLEGE SEVENS AT UC DAVIS
Report by Anthony Nguyen:

Three referees were able to make it out, Rich Boyer, Mark Godfrey and me. Mark decided to run touch for the tournament while Rich and I refereed all six matches. Four teams (UC Davis, San Jose State, Sierra College and Santa Clara) got to play 3 games each so that was fair. The tournament was relaxing and well organized with generous 10-20 minute breaks in between. We all had a great time with teams included. There was an incident with a coach early in the tournament but that went off (literally) so we continued. In my excitement as an AR for one of Rich Boyer's games, I apparently snapped the linesman flag whilst running. Interesting enough, I had to declare touch shortly after. Amusing but I feel sorry now that I snapped his linesman flag. Anyway, the players played all they could without tiring themselves out, with two teams playing back to back. Weather was great and good. Probably one of the most organized tournaments I have seen. This was a friendly tournament where scores were not recorded.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE SEVENS ON MARE ISLAND
Report by Chris Tucker:

Refs: Chris Tucker, Jordan Bruno, Chris Labozzetta, Hubert Wang
(Hubie joins us from the Vancouver Island society, where he attended St. Michael’s, and is now a college student in Oakland.)
Ref Advisor: David Williamson

Four teams played a round-robin, 2 semi-finals and a final game. Oregon, Cal split squad and a combined Santa Clara / San Jose team duked it out on a beautiful day at Morton Field. SC/SJ went undefeated in the round robin, only to fall to Cal Blue in the playoffs. Oregon went 2-1, and defeated Cal White to set up the final.

Jordan Bruno took the final, which was all one-way traffic, finishing 59-0 to Oregon, who celebrated in the early evening sunshine. Bunny's comment: "Looks like Cal is ready for their dinner" -- they had played hard all day, but were out of gas by the time we got to the final.

Excellent food was provided by Vallejo RFC after the match.

One statistic of note: 56 tries were scored in 15 games, a reasonable return. However only 13 conversions were racked up. That's 23%. Even Shaq was better than that from the free-throw line. Time to work on those drop-kicks...

BEEP TEST NOVEMBER 5

The multi-stage fitness test will be offered on November 5 on the netball court at 9 AM before our society AGM.

If you have ambition as a referee, you need to take this test. If you’d like to know how to train to it, just reply and ask.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

A first look at our new kit, modeled at the Pacific Coast Sevens this past weekend.

Tim Day is wearing his SoCal uni, while George O’Neil sports the alternate Pelican jersey and socks.

Otherwise, left to right: Bruce Carter, Phil Akroyd, Pete Smith, Bryan Arciero, Tom Zanarini, Tony Levitan

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SEVENS SEASON NOW LONGER THAN FIFTEENS SEASON

2011-10-21T12:42:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

NEW KIT FLIES INTO PELICANLAND

Tom Zanarini has the news:
The 2011 kit is in! If you are receiving a kit based on refereeing 5 assigned matches this past season and gave me your size a few months ago, then you will be kitted out in the newest fashion for the upcoming season. All of those referees will receive 2 jerseys (blue and yellow), navy shorts and navy socks by Canterbury of New Zealand. The kit will be available at the November 5 AGM meeting, so this should serve as an extra incentive to attend. Those receiving kit and not attending the AGM just may have to track me down at your own time and expense (I live next to Mill Valley Beerworks, so if you wish to track me down at home I may hold your kit hostage until after the first pint). I have 6 boxes taking up space in my tiny apartment. My wife has set a statute of limitations on how long these boxes can remain, so please attend the AGM, pick up your kit and keep my marriage happy. I also have some extras, price TBD. Anyone attending the Pacific Coast Collegiate 7's in Palo Alto on October 22-23 may get their kit at that time.

REFS NEEDED SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

We could use one more referee for a men’s college sevens at UC Davis this Sunday morning, from 9:30 until 1 PM.

We also need ARs/in-goal judges for the Pacific Coast men’s college sevens at Stanford both Saturday and Sunday. This event will run 9-5 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday.

DIRE NEED OCTOBER 29-30

We need thirty referees for Saturday, October 29, and five or six for October 30. At present we have five, and one of them is a visitor from Down Under.

Here’s the lineup:

California College Sevens at St. Mary’s – this is a qualifier for the national championship. Cal vs. St. Mary’s (among others). 20 games on Saturday, 13 on Sunday.
Baracus Tens: a fun Halloween event in San Francisco. Two pitches – needs six refs.
Ben Quaye Memorial Tournament at UC Santa Cruz: men’s college fifteens. Needs six refs.
Women’s Tens tournament at Stanford
Need ARs for a Women’s Premier League game, All Blues hosting DC Furies
UOP hosting Fog
SFGG hosting a touring side from Australia

This weekend could be a disaster, a dark day for the NCRRS, if folks don’t volunteer.

GAMES PLAYED

October 13:
Stanford Graduate School of Business – Seahawks Referee: Pete Smith
No report received.

October 14-15:
Fiji Day Sevens
Report by Eric Rauscher:
Not as many teams showed up as was expected, so only two games were played on Friday and only 7 teams did two pools on Saturday. Many of the teams had different "Islander" names, but suffice it to say that many of the usual suspects were there (both EPA teams, two clubs from Santa Rosa, Sacramento). Strangely SFGG didn't have a squad there. Suffice it to say that Waisale Serevi's team down from Seattle was unstoppable, eventually winning the final.

The atmosphere was like a usual 7s tourney but more so. There were about 10 food booths, music going and a volleyball and netball competition going on at the same time. The weather was perfect and it was a very enjoyable time. The only thing that would have made it better was to have more rugby.

Maybe next year.

October 15:
UOP – San Francisco State Referee: Paul Bretz
No report received.

San Jose State – Alumni Referee: James Hinkin
No report received.

October 16:
Women’s college D2 camp scrimmage Referee: Lee Salgado
No report received.

This is pretty sorry, the lack of match reports over the past few weeks. It threatens our financial viability. We bill for matches based on the games that are played, and THE ONLY WAY WE KNOW THAT A GAME WAS PLAYED IS IF WE HAVE A REPORT FROM THE REFEREE.

The minimum report consists of the score. Without that, if teams claim that a match wasn’t played, that they don’t owe us anything, we can’t refute the claims.

NON-FORWARD PASSES ILLUSTRATED

Finally – someone makes it clear:
http://www.rugbydump.com/2011/10/2204/what-is-a-forward-pass

At the end they demonstrate the situation where the passer is tackled or otherwise stopped when passing, and the pass then appears to go forward. To this should have been added the situation where the pass crosses an existing line on the field, say the 22, and those who don’t understand the game will yell out, Forward pass! It was passed on the near side and caught on the far side!

To sum up: you can only tell if a throw is forward by watching the motion of the passer’s arms, hands and wrists. If it is not thrown forward relative to his body, it will not be a forward pass NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION IT TRAVELS.

There are three things the passer is not responsible for: the wind, the bounce of the ball, and his own forward momentum. Unless the passer is standing still and the wind is not blowing, you cannot judge a forward pass by comparing Point A to Point B (point of pass – point of catch) and seeing if Point B is closer to the opponent’s goal line. You need to see the passer’s hands at the moment of release. THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.

There is a current term to explain this, which your writer does not like but which is nonetheless in vogue among the cognoscenti: ‘forward catch’. That is, the pass was not forward even though it was caught ahead of where it was thrown.

Some of us have understood this for thirty-five years. The game of rugby has understood it for almost two hundred. Would that the Laws made it explicit.

BEEP TEST NOVEMBER 5

The multi-stage fitness test will be offered on November 5 on the netball court just before our society AGM.

If you have ambition as a referee, you need to take this test. If you’d like to know how to train to it, just reply and ask.

JOIN THE SOCIETY AND PAY YOUR DUES

We are only up to 34 paid-up members for 2012, and about half of those aren’t our ‘regulars’.

Time to pony up. Pay to play. Go to www.USARugby.org and sign up.

SCRUM CHANGING?

An interesting article for those who like to think about what might be. (Your scribe must admit to not being in this group. Tell us what the Law is and we’ll ref it.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/8834455/Fran-Cotton-Mike-Burton-and-Ray-McLoughlin-submit-paper-to-IRB-calling-for-scrummaging-law-changes.html

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

We were in Albuquerque for the 40th annual High Desert Classic this past weekend, with Ed Todd, and Phil Akroyd refereeing the final.

Imagine that we remembered to take a photo.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

ALL HANDS ON DECK

2011-10-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

ANCHORS AWEIGH

A couple of months ago Mike Malone and I received an e-mail from Mitch Eisenberg, aboard the USS Carl Vinson, who is the organizer of the ship's rugby team. The Carl Vinson was due to take part in Fleet Week festivities in San Francisco and me wanted his guys to have a run.

Not having any local contacts, he asked rugby supplier Matt Godek, a long-time friend of military rugby, for Bay Area contacts. Matt steered Mitch our way.

Mitch and Mike Malone are both attorneys, JAG officers, Mike having served in the Marine Corps.

We thought the California Maritime Academy would be a good fit and so did coach Steve Hiatt, and but for the fact that the CMA pitch is being replaced with an artificial one they would have hosted. As it was, we needed to find a third.

San Francisco-based BA Baracus has a reputation for hosting and entertaining touring sides, and true to form they readily agreed.

Two other referees were available: Bryant Byrnes and Jordan Bruno, as well as Bryant's son Clay and my grandson Ben Bravo to TJ.

The format for the competition would depend on which teams turned up with what numbers.

As it was, the fog was rolling in at the Ocean View rec center and the Navy men were late. CMA, preparing for a collegiate Sevens qualifier at the end of the month at St. Mary's, came prepared only to play sevens. So Baracus and the Maritime Academy played two games of sevens, by which time the guests of honor arrived.

Next, Maritime would play the sailors in sevens, after which the CMA team would depart. Then Baracus and the Carl Vinson would play an eighty-minute match of fifteens.

There was a large and boisterous crowd on the touch line, many of whom were new to the game and pretty much cheered or jeered at every play, depending. Perhaps ten of the sailors were taking part in their first-ever match.

Understand that they train on the hangar deck of the ship, it being a metal-surface parking structure for aircraft.

Lieutenant Commander Eisenberg played for the All Navy team early in the last decade and has taken on the responsibility of spreading the gospel of rugby.

Baracus 7 – MARITIME ACADEMY 19 Referee: Bruce Carter
ARs: Ben Bravo, Clay Byrnes
Maritime is preparing to play in the California Sevens at St. Mary’s October 29-30. This will be a qualifier for the USA Rugby College Sevens Championship.

Baracus 12 – MARITIME ACADEMY 21 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
ARs: Ben Bravo, Clay Byrnes

MARITIME ACADEMY 14 – USS Carl Vinson 12 Ref: Carter
ARs: Jordan Bruno, Bryant Byrnes
The Academy team took at two-try lead, after which the Navy men found their land legs and scored the last two.

B.A. BARACUS 60-ish – USS Carl Vinson 10 Referee: Jordan Bruno
ARs: Ben Bravo, Bruce Carter
Referee Coach: Bryant Byrnes
Naval Rehydration Counselor: Clay Byrnes
The inexperience of the Carl Vinson crew showed through, as Baracus ran in probably ten tries in the first sixty.

Ironically, their inexperience showed even on their first try, when the Carl Vinson winger ran about 68 meters toward a 70-meter try. His teammate, knowing it was the winger’s first game, called out, “Put the ball down.”

Perhaps the caller was an officer. In any event, the winger proved his obedience by dotting the ball as nicely as you please this side of paydirt. Luckily, there was support – plenty of support – and the try was collected with a minute and a half left.

After being blanked for 78 minutes, the Navy boys managed a second try after a series of phases from the re-start! There may have been some synergy for ‘let’s play two’ but the post-equinox darkness was setting in.

After the matches we repaired to Ireland's 32 on Geary Avenue, where I bent the elbow many a time in the early eighties. They used to pass the hat there for the "freedom fighters".

A lonely, near-empty Saturday-evening room was transformed into a loud, crowded, happy place as fully and rapidly as only a rugby crew can do. The bartender wisely called in reinforcements.

My wife and I decided that in this decade we would contribute to the cause of the freedom fighters, with Linda buying and pouring pitchers of Sierra Nevada, telling the sailors who said, "Thank you, ma'am", "Call me mom!"

This is not to imply that Baracus neglected their duties: no-one wanted for food or drink and the sailors' money was no good at all.

From there all were invited to Baracus' pub on Haight Street to watch the RWC quarterfinals.

LCDR Mitch Eisenberg had invited those who wished to tour the carrier on Sunday. The referee corps all wished: this is a Nimitz-class carrier whose first home port was Alameda.

Sunday morning at the Ferry Building saw sailors and Marines on shore leave and a mounting crowd for the air show later in the day. We were stopped by guards at the embarkation point only to find our names were not on the list for tours. Disappointment.

But then, the magic word: Rugby. That and 'the lawyer'. Even the guards seemed to know that the ship's attorney ran the rugby team (this on a ship with a complement of about 5000) and that he was offering a personally-guided tour, hence no list of names. Just then, around the corner strode Mitch like the Pied Piper, a contingent from the Maritime Academy in tow.

Rugby opens doors. I've played or refereed in eighteen countries, made friends all over the globe, and done some pretty cool things following the unpredictable bounce of the oval ball. Visiting one of the mightiest warships on Earth with my family and friends on a glorious, sunny day on San Francisco Bay - all I can say is, if I refereed another sport I probably would not have gotten the opportunity.

Special thanks are due to Mitch Eisenberg, who gave up a day of liberty in San Francisco to escort some new rugby friends around his sea-borne world. The Spirit of the Game is alive and well in this officer's heart.

PLEASE REFEREE

It’s not enough to read about the activities of the Flock on Hail, Pelicus!

OCTOBER 22-23: FIVE TOURNAMENT PLUS OTHER GAMES

OCTOBER 29-30: FOUR TOURNAMENT PLUS OTHER GAMES

We are hurting for enough referees to cover these events. Please raise a wing and volunteer – if you’d already done so, thank you.

And if you are reading this on Thursday night or Friday morning and you can play hooky on Friday, October 14, they could use you at the Fiji Day Sevens at Sheeran Field at Golden Gate. At present we have three refs for Friday for a highly-competitive tournament with a festival Island atmosphere.

Your scribe is off to New Mexico to help out with a Referees with Promise camp at the High Desert Classic or else he’d be there.

OTHER GAMES

In Chico:
NorCal Triple Threat – Tempe Referee: Lee Salgado
No report received.

EPA Lady Razorbacks – Opponent Referee: Bruce Ricard
No report received.

Santa Clara – Alumni Referee: John Coppinger
No report received.

UOP – McGeorge Referee: Scott Wood
No report received.

Sunday:
SF Fog 0 – TEMPE 41 Referee: John Pohlman
T.Js: Amy and Mollie from the FOG
My first rugby game of the fall was both an enjoyable challenge and a safe journey.

The safe journey relates to how I finished last season: being run into on May 29th while refereeing an under-19 all-star game, breaking a rib and puncturing a lung.

Finishing this game healthy was good. Not visiting the doctor was great.

The enjoyable challenge started at the Job Corps Field on Treasure Island. The FOG were hosting Tempe in a Division 1 Woman's game. Both teams are part of the Pacific division which includes teams from Seattle, Portland, Northern California and Arizona. I believe this may have been the end of the season for both teams.

I arrived at 10:00AM for an 11:00 o'clock kick off. It was a welcome sight to see two old friends coaching the teams. The FOG is being coached by Ben Whiskey, formerly from Vallejo. Tempe is being coached by an ex-teammate friend of mine, Brad Fligas.

Both teams had plenty of players warming up and the field looked good.

The FOG was being captained by Jen Tetler. Jen is a fellow Pelican. The FOG has lost a lot of experienced players but still looked to have 30 dressed players. Many rookies. Tempe was captained by Katie "Pudge" Wright.

Both captains did a great job. There was no complaining or arguing from the players.

Jen won the toss and elected to receive.

This was an interesting game. Both teams had good athletes but Tempe was better organized and had Pudge at #9 leading way. Tempe's #8 and #10 were also experienced players. This led to multi-phase ball which broke down the FOG defense and allowed winger #15 Mary Whittaker to score trys at 7, 14, 16, and 39 minutes. Mary was about 5'2" and 110 with full kit. But when she had space, she could carve it up.

Half time score Tempe 31 FOG 0.

The FOG slowed down Tempe in the second half, for a final Tempe 41 FOG 0.

I blew my closing whistle and heard a noise which overwhelmed my whistle. The thunder over head was planes buzzing the field. Yes, The Canadian Snowbirds started their air show with a fly over. Oh yeah it was fleet week and TI is one of the best spots to catch the action.

After the game I was gathering rosters and feedback, with the air show going on, the Navy ships littered throughout the bay...the FOG women dressing in a western theme and the smell of pig roast throughout the air. Life is good.

What... I mean what could you possibly add to this scene. While the free beer helped, it was the Daisy Duke theme that most of the FOG players chose to wear that caught my eye.

Yes take me back to the 80's and the Daisy Duke short shorts and halters, thank you ladies. Life maybe good, but Rugby Life is Great.

Seconds: SF Fog – Tempe Referee: Bruce Ricard
No report received.

DUAL REGISTRATION: CIPP WITH MULTIPLE ROLES

You can register as a referee, player and/or coach all at the same time.

Matter of fact, it’s much easier to do it at the same time… it’s difficult to go back.

If you go to:
www.usarugby.org

Membership
Membership Forms
Dual Role Registration Form

Fill out the dual role registration form and submit

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Lieutenant Commander Mitch Eisenberg, who organizes and plays for the USS Carl Vinson’s rugby team, welcomes a flock of Pelicans aboard ship.

Left to right: Bryant Byrnes, Clay Byrnes, Bruce Carter, Ben Bravo, LCDR Eisenberg, Don Goard

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

UP ALL NIGHT - QUARTERFINALS CALLING

2011-10-06T15:40:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PROMOTION

Jordan Bruno is off to a good start, and has been promoted to L3 based on his performance on the All Blues – Beantown second-side match last weekend.

Congratulations to one of our newer Pelicans. He’ll be working with Bruce Carter and Bryant Byrnes at a Sevens tournament with the sailors of the USS Carl Vinson this weekend.

Although, Jordan: send in match reports. Rugby people want to know!

REF NEEDED

Sunday, October 9
11 AM: SF Fog – Tempe Referee: John Pohlman
12:30 PM NEED A REF FOR THE SECOND SIDES

TIME TO RE-UP: GET OFF YOUR BUTT

Perhaps you haven't registered with USA Rugby for 2012 yet. Old registrations expired on August 31. There are only 26 Pelicans as of October 5…

https://membership.usarugby.org/default.aspx

You need to register here. Your 'club' is the NCRRS. Print out the waiver, sign it, and mail it along with $10 dues to:

Jim Crenshaw
c/o Delta Supply
1248 East Oak Avenue, #D
Woodland, CA 95776

Then you'll be current with NCRRS and USA Rugby.

WE TEACH REFS: IRB LEVEL ONE REFEREE COURSE

Dates & Locations offered:

Oct 2, 2011 - Bellarmine in San Jose – OOPS, too late!
Oct 16, 2011 - California Maritime Academy, Vallejo
Nov 6, 2011 - Sacramento (TBD)
Dec 4, 2011 - Elsie Allen High School, Santa Rosa
Dec 4, 2011 - Campolindo High School, Moraga

Wanna sign up? Go to www.USARugby.org, click on Officiate the Game, then follow the links to sign up for a training course.

If you are a NCRRS member (see above), we’ll cover your costs.

GAMES OCTOBER 1

Women’s Premier League:
The All Blues are undefeated in league play.
ALL BLUES 48– Beantown 10 Referee: Joe Androvich
ARs: John Coppinger, Jordan Bruno
No report received.

Seconds: All Blues 10 – BEANTOWN 43 Referee: Jordan Bruno
No report received.

Chico State 26 – ALUMNI 35 Referee: Rich Boyer
AR: Mark Godfrey
Chico State started strong and ended the first half tied with the more seasoned alumni team. The alumni had some nice back movements and dominated the third period. Chico State did not give up and scored two tries in the late stages of the game. Chico alumni won 35-26. The game was fast paced and featured strong tackling and running. A big thank you to Mark Godfrey for AR duties.

Sierra Tens in Sacramento – CANCELED

Lady Razorbacks 5 –SACRAMENTO AMAZONS 68 Referee: Pete Smith
I was optimistic it would be a great game. The Lady Razorbacks had shown so well during the summer, but just didn’t have the numbers. They kicked off with 14, had a prop go down for a while, and picked up a late arriver, finished with 13. Twenty minutes in it was 5-5, but the Amazons woke up and EPA just didn’t have the depth to compete. Final score 68-5. I will say they had a pretty good crowd. I was surprised, but most of the EPA men’s team was there in support as were several of the players from many years past.

GET OFF YOUR BUTT, PART TWO

October 15:
Friday-Saturday: Fiji Day Sevens at Sheeran Field (SFGG). Need 5-6 refs

October 22:
THIS IS THE WEEKEND WE NEED TWENTY REFS OR MORE
Olympic Club hosting NYAC on TI. Needs a team of three
Women’s Slugfest on two pitches at UC Santa Cruz. Need six refs
Women’s NorCal College Sevens in Vallejo. Need three refs
Women’s Club D2 Regional Playoffs hosted by the Amazons. Need 4-6 refs
Men’s Pacific Coast Sevens at Stanford. This will be a qualifier for the nationals in December. Need refs and ARs

Sunday, October 23:
Sevens tournament and a game of fifteens at UC Davis. Need 3-4 refs

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Here’s a big bunch of refs and refs-assist at the Aspen Ruggerfest last month.

Bryan Porter had to leave before the picture was taken. Matt Eason and Bruce Carter are at the front left.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

WORLD CUP WOES

2011-09-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

LONG TIME NO E

Misadventures abound, too much rugby and too much travel.

The root of the problem is that we forgot our portable USB drive in a different time zone, the one that contains all of our rugby files, folders, photos and programs. Some were backed up; most were not. A friend tried to ship it home but it was pilfered en route by a hitherto-trusted delivery service, the package torn open, the jump drive removed from its container, the container replaced and the package delivered still with a gaping hole in it.

Such is the state of UPS, whom we worked nights for, loading step-vans, on our way through college.

Teaching the new IRB Officiating Sevens course in Chicago was a joy – losing what will take scores of hours to restore was not.

Then five days in Aspen – and what with trying to watch every game of the Rugby World Cup – this is the first time HP was absent three weeks in a row.

SPEAKING OF THE WORLD CUP

A lot of us paid Universal Sports a fair chunk of change to be able to watch all of the games, in particular the Eagles’ matches.

What a rip-off! They were down for maintenance during the USA – Russia game and then elected not to show the USA – Italy game until 24 hours later.

Luckily, the world of p2p Internet hook-ups came through. We saw the Russia game on Indian television (the Bollywood commercials at halftime gave it away) and the Italy game on Italian TV – with commentator-babe in mini-skirt at halftime.

The world is getting smaller but the Eagles – alas – may never beat a tier one country in our lifetimes. It’s been thirty-five years of your writer’s lifetime that he’s been watching these games and hoping, but he won’t have thirty-five more.

LOTS OF REFEREES NEEDED

Please take a look at your schedule. I’ve taken a look at ours, and we need you.

Do not hesitate to volunteer. This is the time of year when you will probably be able to cherry-pick at particular game or event. PLEASE RESPOND WITH YOUR AVAILABILITY.

October 1:
Alumni games in Chico – need two refs
Sierra Tens in Sacramento – need three refs
Lady Razorbacks hosting Sacramento Amazons – need a ref
All Blues hosting Beantown on Treasure Island, Joe Androvich to ref. Need two ARs.

October 8:
Sevens tournament involving the USS Carl Vinson, the Maritime Academy, and Baracus in San Francisco. Tours of the Carl Vinson will be available on Sunday for the refs.
Triple Threat hosting Tempe. Host city TBA. Need a ref
Sunday, October 9: SF Fog hosting Tempe

October 15:
Friday-Saturday: Fiji Day Sevens at Sheeran Field (SFGG). Need 5-6 refs
Saturday: Reno Zephyr Fall Classic. Four pitches. Need a dozen refs
Saturday: West Coast College Sevens in Arroyo Grande. All the top California teams except those in the Pac 12. Need two NorCal refs
Sunday: Women’s D2 college camp scrimmage. Need a ref

October 22:
THIS IS THE WEEKEND WE NEED TWENTY REFS OR MORE
Olympic Club hosting NYAC on TI. Needs a team of three
Women’s Slugfest on two pitches at UC Santa Cruz. Need six refs
Women’s NorCal College Sevens in Vallejo. Need three refs
Women’s Club D2 Regional Playoffs hosted by the Amazons. Need 4-6 refs
Men’s Pacific Coast Sevens at Stanford. This will be a qualifier for the nationals in December. Need refs and ARs

GAMES PLAYED

Saturday, Sept. 17
SACRAMENTO LADY AMAZONS 68 – West Valley Angels 0 Referee: Phil Akroyd
ARs: Brad Richey & Eugene Baker
Not much color commentary to add on this one. One of those point-per-minute kind of games. 41-0 at half, 68-0 at full-time, even though we finished 15 minutes early due to score/injury/general disinterest.

Total of 8 penalties in the game, 3 of which came from new players who thought that hands on the ground was OK. It’s a shame that there isn’t more competition in NorCal as the Amazons have won by more than 60 points against the only two teams in the league.

Photo attached of recently-transferred Brad Richey getting into the California swing of things with a pre-game nap at Danny Nunn Park. Aspen, this is not.

Saturday, Sept. 24:
NorCal Triple Threat 0 – ORSU 22 Referee: Sean Peters
Another beautiful day in Santa Rosa. At "Pete's Sake" Rugby Pitch, the Triple Threat hosted O.R.S.U. Both teams brought great well-coached athletes that were ready to go, as the whistle blew.

Triple Threat came out fierce with their fast backs making great runs, with explosive break downs. O.R.S.U's #10 (Beckett) found her way through Triple Threat’s defense and scored the first try of the game. Just before the half O.R.S.U marched down the field again only to find themselves in front of the posts. Then scored a penalty kick to make the score at the half, O.R.S.U - 8 Triple Threat – 0

Second half, Triple Threat again came out hard, fast and swinging. They got down to the try line, then ended up getting a penalty.Triple Threat's #6 did a quic- tap and caught O.R.S.U sleeping. Triple Threat's #6 went in for the try and knocked it on, "a heart breaker" 5 meter scrum O.R.S.U.

Although most of the scrums O.R.S.U dominated by pushing the smaller Triple Threat around. Before it was over O.R.S.U found themselves attacking in the red zone and putting in 2 more trys from there (#10 great game).

FINAL O.R.S.U ~ 22 Triple Threat ~ 0
Ref. Sean Peters

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Brad Richey collects his thoughts while resting his eyes pre-match.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

TELL SOMEONE YOU LOVE THEM

2011-08-31T13:52:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

CHERYL LESLIE, RIP

Cheryl Leslie died peacefully, after a blessedly-brief illness, on Monday, August 22.

Readers solely of more recent vintage may not know her name, but long-time Pelicans will honor the debt we all carry for the work she did for the NCRRS over about a decade.

One measure of her worth to the Pelican Refs is the fact that Cheryl is one of but three winners of the Dixon Smith Award for lifetime achievement in helping this Society prosper.

I couldn't help but delight in Cheryl's company from the start, because of the circumstances in which we met. This was back when Golden Gate (ten years before they were SF/GG) played a series of Friday night home matches under the lights at Kezar Stadium. I had been assigned to run touch for Don Reordan, so after having gotten off work at noon I found myself early, having a pre-match cup of coffee at the Kezar Pub, reading Rugby Magazine, our only rugby lifeline in those pre-Internet days.

A woman approached me and said, "Do you know anything about rugby?"

With that line in a bar, she picked up an entire community. Delightful!

After I allowed that perhaps I might know a little bit about rugby, Cheryl wanted me to teach her everything possible about the game. She was dating a soldier stationed at the Presidio who said he was a rugby player, and she wanted to be conversant with his sport.

Not having the time, or the energy as we would all later learn, to keep up with Cheryl's need for involvement, after an hour or so I introduced her to the assembled referee conclave who were there to watch the evening's match, so as to be able to discharge my other duties.

Of course it turns out the soldier was only a wanna-be in a striped shirt but to Cheryl, rugby and the Pelican Refs were the real thing. I'd like to think that we supplanted her boyfriend.

With a heart as big as her smile, Cheryl became involved with planning our meetings and socials events, coordinating food and drink at tournaments, and then took over the checkbook and served as our treasurer for many years. New refs immediately assumed that she'd been around forever, as she understood who did what and how things worked.

These same traits endeared her to the Golden Gate club, as she came to perform many of the same duties for them, even during her involvement with the Society.

Those of you who recall attending Test matches at Balboa Park will have seen Cheryl in the ticket booth, or re-stocking the snack bar, or finding a lost jersey, or all of these and more seemingly at the same time.

Then the travel bug bit, perhaps when she managed the Golden Gate club's tour of the East Midlands in 1997. Making fast friends with Sue Felstead and many of our other East Mids cousins, Cheryl determined that she would return many times to England and Europe. She said proudly, "I've seen Les Miz in San Francisco, London and Paris."

And she also related that Sue had taken her to see a place she considered magical, the White Cliffs of Dover. This conversation was ten days before she died, smiling while tethered to IV tubes and surrounded by machinery, and Cheryl added, "I always wanted to see them. “

Retiring from Chevron and anticipating even more travel and rugby involvement, she was dealt an unfortunate hand when health problems intervened, precluding these activities and keeping her from the company of many of those who loved her. Fortunately but ironically, that cloud began to lift earlier this year when a perceptive doctor made a long-overdue change in medication. Alas, it was only in time for Cheryl to have to face the end bravely, as always, when another even more diabolical diagnosis appeared.

Cheryl leaves her daughters Shay and Christine, along with a sister who was dependent on her, as so many others before. She leaves bereaved friends on two continents; she leaves the SF/Golden Gate RFC without another of its illustrious alumni; she leaves the Pelican Flock flying in a missing-man formation; and she leaves us all to our memories of a delightful and giving person whom we were fortunate to have had brighten our days while we dwelt together on this mortal coil.

Her friends trust she is finding eternal delight, with a heavenly view of the White Cliffs.

ROLAND MAITLAND, RIP

Roland Maitland, who coached a variety of teams in the Santa Cruz area over the years, passed away after returning home from a visit to his native South Africa last week.

Referees will remember him as a thoughtful proponent of hard and fair play who always had a kind word for the officials of the sport.

We will miss our sideline conversations with this real rugby gentleman. Here is a photograph of Roland, some details of his life, and information regarding the memorial service this Friday at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Santa Cruz 125 High Street:

http://pacificgardenschapel.com/obituary_view/10021553

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3

The women’s league season begins with the Triple Threat hosting the SF Fog in Chico. Scott Wood will referee this one.

Sevens continues at the Pleasanton Highland Games, with Mike Gadoua and Brad Richey refereeing.

The Bloomfield Cup, Polynesian rugby (fifteens) for men’s and women’s teams, will be played at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in East Palo Alto. We have five-and-a-half referees at present and with two pitches going all day, we could use a couple more.

LET US KNOW IF YOU CAN HELP OUT ALL DAY OR PART OF THE DAY SATURDAY.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10: TRI-TIP SEVENS

Tri-Tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo: this is a great tournament, with the best food. They provide rooms for refs both Friday and Saturday, so bring a date and make it a weekend on in coastal mid-California.

We’ve got four refs and one maybe lined up. They could use some company. Let us know.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27: PERONI TENS
Report by Scott Wood:

Location: Danny Nunn Park
Referees: Bryant Byrnes, Matt Eason, [Name redacted to maintain marital bliss], Hubert Wang, Scott Wood
ARs: Ron DeCausemaker, Mark Godfrey, plus team-supplied

I was told the tournament started at 1 p.m. yet found out upon arrival that the first match started at 11. The day was hot so I was not disappointed to only referee two games. I don't have my scorecard so the scores are approximate. Kudos to Ben Parker for manning the grill and serving up tasty barbecue, including non-Aussie pies.

To the best of my recollection (brain fried by heat), the following teams were present:

Highwaymen
Sacramento Capitals
Sacramento Old Boys
Sacramento Spartans AKA Sac State Alumni
Sierra JC
Vacaville

SIERRA JC 27? – Sacramento Capitals 25
Sierra evened up the score (25-25) as time ran out. Fortunately (for the referee) the conversion was successful.

SIERRA JC 57(ish) – Highwaymen 12 (?)
Too much running for the heat. Highwaymen would attack then lose the ball. Sierra would scamper back for 90+ meter tries. Repeat.

From Bryant Byrnes:
"Freddie Forrester at the age of 77 scored all 10 points in a 52-10 loss by the Faded Roses to Sac Old Boys. His try was a masterful exhibit of speed, cutting ability, guile, and red shorts as he engaged in a bit of open field running the likes of which have not been seen for many years and may not be seen again. The field covered with the supine bodies of failed, unsuccessful tacklers, he dotted the ball down between the posts-and Bob's your uncle kicked the conversion. It was magic."

UPCOMING COURSES

We have a suite of upcoming IRB courses that you should be interested in:

Level 1 Officiating
OCTOBER 2: Bellarmine College Preparatory School, San Jose
November 6: somewhere in Sacramento
December 4: Elsie Allen HS, Santa Rosa
December 4: Lamorinda (East Bay)

We will also be offering the TJ/AR courses, but are still nailing these down.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Cheryl Leslie is delighted to be presented by Sam Davis with an award for ten years’ service to the NCRRS at our 2002 banquet.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

GET YOUR WHISTLE

2011-08-25T10:52:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PERONI TENS: WANT TO REF?

The Sacramento Capitals and Peroni are sponsoring a Tens tournament at Danny Nunn Park this Saturday, August 27: http://www.sacramentorugby.org/

We have a deep and abiding need for referees for this event.

It’s been rough lately: two weeks ago (see below), we had two refs for a six-game fifteens tournament. Last weekend, a 57-year-old man had to do six games of Sevens including a quarterfinal and semifinal.

Let us and Bryant Byrnes know if you can help out: bhbatty@pacbell.net

Also this Saturday, the SF Fog will host the All Blues in a women’s pre-season game at 11 AM on Treasure Island, with Preston Gordon to referee. Their seasons start the following weekend.

LOTS O’ REFS NEEDED SEPTEMBER 3

Want to start your Labor Day weekend with some rugby?

Your choice:
Sevens at the Pleasanton Highland Games
Fifteens at the Bloomfield Cup in EPA
We also have a women’s league match. The Triple Threat are at home, ‘home’ being either Chico, Sacto or Davis (not sure yet).

SAMOAN FLAG DAY FIFTEENS
Saturday 8/13
Report by Preston Gordon:

Burton High School, San Francisco
Bjorn Stumer and I showed up for the festivities around 9am, just in case things kicked off on time. As it turned out, we spent most of the next 2 hours watching the dignitaries, musicians, and families get ready for the opening ceremonies. The 3 flag raisings were great, as they were accompanied by the anthems for the United States, American Samoa, and Samoa proper, sung by a youth choir. The Reverend's remarks were memorable as well.

Partially because of the delayed start, we decided on 20-minute halves in each game. This would give us enough time to do 6 round-robin games among the 4 teams in attendance: East Palo Alto Bulldogs, East Palo Alto Razorbacks, San Mateo, and the Bay Area Chiefs (formerly/aka Samoa United). A final was also on the schedule, but as it turned out, the 6th game had the two best-placed teams, so we scratched the 7th and played 25-minute halves.

Bjorn refereed the first game. I did the second, San Mateo vs EPA Razorbacks, which ended up in a 12-12 draw (7-5 at halftime). The game moved pretty well, but clearly everyone needed to get the rust off as there were a lot of dropped balls and several interceptions. Mose Timoteo did the third in order to give Bjorn and I a break. Bjorn did the 4th. I did the 5th, Bay Area Chiefs vs San Mateo, which again was a low-scoring affair. San Mateo was up 5-0 at the half and held on to win 12-5.

After a 20-minute break to let the crowd build - I'd guess a couple hundred were in attendance - and the players (and me) get a rest, the two East Palo Alto teams contested the final. It was a hard-hitting, fairly good game, but both teams kept the ball tight from the rucks and despite a few line breaks, the only score in the first half came from a Bulldogs penalty goal at 23', even though they had a 1-man advantage due to a yellow card a couple of minutes earlier. The second half was largely the same, and with the players starting to tire a bit I asked the captains to refocus their teams on the objective with about 10 minutes left. That seemed to work well, and in the last minute of the match each side scored a converted try for a final result of 10-7 to the Bulldogs.

Bjorn and I, and Sam from Santa Rosa, were able to AR off and on throughout the day. This was a good day of rugby in the sun, and the Samoan community in the bay area is obviously very strong. The organizers did a good job with the rugby at this event, the food offerings were impressive (and tasty, although I had to wait until I was done reffing), and it's well worth the trip to referee it - see you there next year!

SAC LIONS SEVENS
Saturday, 8/20

The Sacramento Lions did a very good job in hosting their first sevens tournament and are hoping to make it an annual event.

We can safely say from the referee perspective (the best perspective from which a pitch may be seen) that this would be a good idea.

Will Niupalau and Aaron Frederick did a good job organizing and keeping everyone happy.

Twelve teams competed for the men’s title, which was won by the EPA Bulldogs over the home side. The Bulldogs have now won tournaments at fifteens and sevens on consecutive weekends.

Four U19 teams vied for the cup which was taken home by the San Mateo Warriors.

UPCOMING COURSES

We have a suite of upcoming IRB courses that you should be interested in:

Level 1 Officiating
August 2: Bellarmine College Preparatory School, San Jose
November 6: somewhere in Sacramento
December 4: Elsie Allen HS, Santa Rosa
December 4: Lamorinda (East Bay)

We will also be offering the TJ/AR courses, but are still nailing these down.

HERE’S WHERE YOU CAN HELP

Keep the Pelicans in the forefront of USA rugby refereeing. It takes good refs, which lots of areas have, but it also requires dedicated and talented referee coaches and evaluators.

You can do this while you are still refereeing.

Coaching of Match Officials Course
October 16: Cal Maritime Academy, Vallejo

Evaluator Course
October 28-30 (Friday evening-Sunday morning): Cal Maritime Academy

Please think at least twice about how you can best give back to the game we love. If you’d like to attend any of these, please reply or simply register at USARugby.org.

EIRE REPORT
By Brian Gildea:

Hail Pelicus!

Hope you are summering well. Hope your shifts are not too early for the next two months so you can stay up late and watch the RWC.

Sounds like the sevens this summer were fantastic.

At the Leinster Branch seminar....with over 160 attendees including Alain Rolland...the two law messages that came out were:

1) The Barrel Roll is OK as long as it is not around the head/neck.

2) If a maul forms and then collapses, the defending players are not required and should not be told to do anything. The defenders are entitled to hold on to or lie on the ball without fear of penalty.

Joe Schmidt, the Leinster coach, presented on how teams scout referees and was hilarious. Interestingly, he said that the turn-around in the Heineken Cup final occurred when Leinster decided to match Northampton with the "arrowhead" scrum.

Enjoy the RWC.

We might need to open a Pelican branch in Dublin. Marcus Williamson is going to the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin starting in September.

Thanks,

Propus Celtus

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Point 2) is worth emphasis.

We've seen too many refs 'try' to produce ball from collapsed mauls, which is when these 'penalties' occur.

(Non-intentional) Collapsed mall = turnover = dead ball.
And: the ball is dead even if it takes the ref a moment to get to the whistle.

The only penalties that can occur during dead ball are for foul play, punching, abuse, that sort of thing.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

It was a sunny day for Sevens in Elk Grove last Saturday.

As usually happens, it was not possible to assemble all of the officials at any one moment. Anthony Nguyen had left when the photo was taken, just prior to the quarterfinals, and Sione Tanoa (who did the U19 final) was preparing to play with the Sac Lions.

Eager: Eric Rauscher, Phil Akroyd, Eugene Baker, Jim Crenshaw, Liz Palmer, Mark Godfrey.
Lazy: Bruce Carter

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

ROLLING ALONG

2011-08-04T15:31:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

THIS WEEKEND

The best Sevens teams in the nation will competing for men’s and women’s titles this Saturday and Sunday at the SF/Golden Gate facilities, using Ray Sheeran Field and the GAA pitch across the street.

Games begin at 8 AM on both pitches, both days, and will be finished about five.

NEEDED: Fourth officials, scoreboard operators, and a radio coordinator.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A REFEREE TO HELP WITH THESE JOBS.

If you’d like to help, please let us know.

Fourth officials keep track of the subs, replacements and sin bins. The paperwork is easy to pick up. We like to have enough so that you only have to work half the games, so we need two for each field.

Same with scoreboard operators: you need to know when to start and stop the clock and how many points to add when something good happens. We’d like to have two per pitch.

The radio coordinators are key players: there will be half a dozen sets of four radios each. These have to be kept together, charged, provided to the team of officials one game ahead, and taken from the off-coming team immediately.

PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO VOLUNTEER.

JULY 30 RUGBY

Marin High-School Sevens in Corte Madera
Report by Eric Rauscher:

A pleasant Sevens high school tourney. I ended up doing three pool play matches with the last one being the most exciting.

Rio Linda 19 – Kennedy 17
Rio was leading with only 30 sec left in the game. They kicked it to Kennedy and proceeded to commit three penalties in a row which allowed for quick tap-and-goes ending in a try past full time The try was scored close to touch and the conversion was missed, otherwise it would have been a tied game. Shades of things to come.

John Coppinger assigned the matches after the break and told me I was doing the third in line. Just before the start of the game he asked me if I would be willing to do two in a row. I said sure. Little did I know what was in store.

BULLARD 14/31 – Kennedy 14/30
That's right, a tied game that when into overtime and ended up only a one point difference in total score. Needles to say it was a very exciting and tiring event. Then came the second game.

Rio Linda 12/19 – Bullard 12/19
Yet another tied game that ended up tied in overtime play. It was eventually won by Rio in a kick off.

After two back to back games that went into overtime, I was a tired puppy but happy.
I did notice that the level of play by all the teams that showed up was fairly high. This bodes well for the future of 7s rugby.

RENO ZEPHYRS 55 – Bishop, CA 12 Referee: Phil Ulibarri
TJs: Corey Lott and Nelo Lui

Most Bishop players drove into Reno on Friday night in order to get underway earlier than usual on a Rugby Day and beat-the-heat. But, even at 11:30 a.m., the temperature was hovering between 95 and 100 F. Thank goodness the pitch was Terrace Park which is located at the base of Peavine Mountain. So a steady 5-10 mph wind kept players relatively cool.

3/20s were agreed on at the coin toss and Reno kicked downwind to Bishop to open the first stanza. The young Bishop team – while enthusiastic – was no match for the experienced Zephyr 15, even though neither a game plan nor strategy played any part in the Reno win. A dislocated shoulder suffered by Bishop’s touring player from Punta Arenas, Chile, was the only injury on the day. The final tally added up 55 - 12.

After a sweaty 60 minutes in the dry heat at 4,500 ft, burgers, dogs, chicken and ice cold beverages were welcomed by everyone.

Mendocino Round Robin Tourney
Report by Mike King:

At least one side had to cancel, so this Mid-Summer event involved 3 sides: host Mendocino, new club Sons of Jefferson, and the Hooligans select side. It was decided to follow the format of some other round robin events and play 20 minute halves, each team to play one direction, then switch at 20 and go off the pitch after 2 halves. I was fortunate enough to ref several halves with Hooligan player-coach and Pelican ref, Sean Peters, covering the final stanza.

For a while it seemed it would turn into a hot afternoon, but the weather stayed very pleasant. Every side got in some good time and each side got on the board with scoring during the round-robin. The actual play was quite organized given the time since last regular competition and the baptism of many new players on the Sons of Jefferson. It is always heartening to see a new club continue to battle under fire, and improve during the course of the competition. Well played by all.

BROTHERS IN ARMS

Your writer attended the Referee and Laws committee meeting in Birmingham, Ala, last weekend, at the Olympic Training Center at the Lakeshore Foundation .

Rugby has been welcomed to the family of Olympic sports and now can share in some pretty good deals for room, board, and training and meeting facilities.

It was good to see Pelicus Epicuris, Ron Myers, in attendance as the new chairman of the PCRRS.

The Quad Rugby team was in residence at Lakeshore. After their coach and one of their top refs came to speak to the group, it was decided to have an early-enough dinner to attend their scrimmages that evening.

These guys, the current World Champions, are preparing for a tournament in Brazil next month, and then of course the Paralympics are in London next August.

They have a motto – ‘Smashing stereotypes one hit at a time’.

To qualify, the athlete has to have neurologic or anatomic (amputations, birth defects) in at least three extremities. One of the best players on the USA team is a quadruple-amputee, having had above-the-knee and above-the-elbow amputations all around. But ah! – he can move his torso and leverage his hips, which gives him an advantage over those with cervical injuries.

You’ve got to love a sport that allows a fellow who might evoke pity on the street to be Quade Cooper, reading the defense, outhustling everyone, putting in his hits, seeing the field as it will be a few seconds hence and scoring almost at will.

It obviously has nothing to do with rugby except that it's a hard-core sport. But they obviously feel the bond and now, so do we.

UPCOMING

Saturday, August 13: Samoan Flag Day tournament, fifteen-a-side, in San Francisco

Saturday, August 20: Sac Lions Sevens at Witter Ranch Park in Sacramento

Saturday, August 27: Peroni Capital Tens at Danny Nunn Park in Sacramento

Saturday, September 3: Bloomfield Cup, men and women fifteens in the South Bay
(This will be a two-day tournament. Not sure if the other day will be Friday yet.)

The women’s cup season also begins on September 3 with the Triple Threat hosting the SF Fog.

Saturday, Sept. 10: Tri-Tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo. Rooms provided Friday and Saturday night, within walking distance of Saturday’s post-match pub crawl.
Also: Amazons hosting Lady Razorbacks

Saturday, Sept. 17: Amazons – West Bay Angels

Saturday, Sept. 24: Triple Threat – ORSU

Saturday, October 1: Chico State alumni games. Lots ‘o rugby.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

On the occasion of David Williamson stepping down as our REO, the East Bay chapter of the NCRRS had a dinner at Crogan’s in Walnut Creek:

Standing, left to right: Chris Nolan, John Cullom, John Coppinger, Rich Anderson, Helen Marcus, Rob Hendrickson, Bryant Byrnes, Eric Rauscher (foreground).

Seated: Guest of honor

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

HOW TO SPEND THE SUMMER

2011-07-27T15:41:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

THIS WEEKEND

Saturday, July 30:
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Sunday, July 31:
Treasure Island Touch Tournament at Sheeran Field

NEXT WEEKEND

For the USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships (men and women) at the SF/Golden Gate facilities August 6-7, we could use a few more volunteers to help out with AR, In-Goal and Fourth Official duties.

With two tournaments going on, it’ll take about twenty people in toto to fulfill these obligations and we are a little short. Please reply if you haven’t already, if you could help out either or both days.

CH-CH-CHANGES

Reno Sevens, originally July 30, CANCELED

Samoan Flag Day fifteens tournament, was August 6, now August 13 in San Francisco

Bloomfield Cup (fifteens), originally August 5-6, now Labor Day Weekend

Fiji Day Sevens at SFGG, originally October 7-8, now October 14-15

PALO ALTO SEVENS SERIES SWAN SONG

The third and, unfortunately, last iteration of this year’s Palo Alto sevens was played this past Saturday.

The event got off with a bang: the first kickoff at 8:43 AM hit the cheating referee directly in the nose when the kicker switch-footed it to the ‘weak’ side. Bruce Carter blew his whistle and stopped the clock with two seconds having elapsed, reassembled his wits, and went with another kickoff rather than a scrum for ball hitting the ref.

Soon sideline calls for a blood sub were heard as a trickle of claret appeared. Of course, those calling were merely jealous referees who wished they’d been able to get a game kicked off early!

Lots o’refs!

Phil Akroyd, Rich Boyer, Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, Rhoan Laymon (PNW), Tony Maphosa (PNW), Stephen Moore, Craig Parish (PNW), Edward Parkin (AZ), Eric Rauscher, Bruce Ricard, Brad Richey, Lee Salgado, Pete Smith, Bjorn Stumer, Chris Tucker, JC Van Staden, Scott Wood, Tom Zanarini.

Also on hand to assess Sevens competency for the next day’s course were Mike Malone and David Williamson, assisted part-time by Parish and Carter.

It was as perfect day: sun, Sevens, camaraderie and a post-match picnic. Who needs to go home?

IRB REFEREEING SEVENS COURSE DEBUTS

The IRB introduced a course for Sevens referees late last year. It had been taught once previously, by Mark Aitkenhead and Dana Teagarden in Germany, and this past Sunday it was rolled out at the Doyle Family Clubhouse at Stanford.

Bruce Carter, Mike Malone and Aruna Ranaweera were fortunate to have a roomful of fifteen knowledgeable, eager and attentive students. Tim Day flew up from SoCal pre-dawn to join the group, having worked a qualifier tournament down there on Saturday.

We now a corps of formally-trained folks to help with AR and In-goal duties for the club sevens championships coming up. Tim Day and Tony Maphosa will be flying back to join us, and they will be joined by visitors LuAnn Campbell and Ann Kristoffersen.

INTERNATIONAL HOSTING

Four Japanese, two referees, a manager and a SO, will be spending the first week of August in San Francisco prior to the big Sevens weekend on Treasure Island.

They will be staying in the financial district of San Francisco. If you’d like to squire them around, show them your favorite vista or take them to your favorite restaurant, we are sure that would be much appreciated.

If you have depended on the hospitality of strangers on exchange before, you’ll know what a wonderful part of our game it is. And if not – then you have a chance to pay it forward.

Let us know if you can help, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, August 3-4-5.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Phil Akroyd receives his Grizzly from David Williamson in recognition of having attained the Territorial Panel this past season.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

TOUR DE JULY

2011-07-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

TWO BUSY WEEKENDS

Lots of busy weekends coming up! We could use fifteen or so July 30-31 (in Reno, Corte Madera, San Francisco) and thirty or more August 5-6-7. Note the fifteens being played on Friday, August 5.

Let us know your pleasure. IF YOU ARE A NEW REF – this is the time to get going!

Saturday, July 30:
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Sunday, July 31:
Treasure Island Touch Tournament at Sheeran Field

Friday-Saturday, August 5-6:
Bloomfield Cup, men’s and women’s fifteens played in the South Bay

Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women
Need 16-20 Assistant Referees

INTERNATIONAL HOSTING

Four Japanese, two referees, a manager and a SO, will be spending the first week of August in San Francisco prior to the big Sevens weekend on Treasure Island.

They will be staying in the financial district of San Francisco. If you’d like to squire them around, show them your favorite vista or take them to your favorite restaurant, we are sure that would be much appreciated.

If you have depended on the hospitality of strangers on exchange before, you’ll know what a wonderful part of our game it is. And if not – then you have a chance to pay it forward.

Let us know if you can help, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, August 3-4-5.

COLLEGE ALL-AMERICANS

When James Hinkin sent my phone a video of the final score in San Diego on Saturday, July 9, and I realized that the All-Americans had beaten the New Zealand Universities team so soundly, I immediately took Wednesday afternoon to be able to drive down to Santa Barbara for Paul Bretz’ second match in the series. Pete Smith was to be one of the ARs and they obviously needed a fourth official! It’s not often that we beat a team wearing silver ferns.

It was a perfect day for the drive: California clear once I got away from the Monterey Bay, a straight shot down 101 from Salinas to Goleta, about 225 rugby miles for the expense ledger.

The Pelicanmobile has died an ignominious death. Although running without hiccoughs, cancers were growing. My mechanic (and after what I’ve paid him over the years, I think I can claim ownership) said it had a transmission ground down almost to sand, a stuck intake valve on the turbo, and brakes pads whose continuing functioning could not be explained on the basis of their appearance.

The butcher’s bill was going to be 15-20K. This was a car with 160,000 miles. I found a sucker – I mean a restorer – who took it off my hands, full discloser included, for five hundred bucks. I told him that because the tank was full, he was getting better than a ten percent discount.

So I inherited my wife’s small, black SUV, as generic a vehicle as might be found on the highways. It does have two advantages: I don’t need a bike rack as there’s room inside, and it has satellite radio.

Two hundred and twenty-five miles is not enough to find all the stations you like, much less listen to them.

At any rate, I arrived at Harder Stadium at the same time as Tim Day, the second AR, as both teams sauntered up.

I renewed my acquaintance with Peter Tiberio, the try-scoring fiend from U of A, whom I met on the Grizzlies sevens tour to Fiji in January. Peter was to score the decider that evening on a signature intercept.

Pete and Paul arrived, preparations were completed, and they kicked off with maybe fifty people watching who weren’t either directly involved in the game or with the women’s Nations Cup also being played on campus.

It was a good game, a defensive battle, and the All-Americans pulled it out in the second half, winning the series. It was well worth watching to see how far our domestic game has come since I’ve been chasing the oval ball. College players who look like athletes! They used to look like pre-weight-room-day frat boys.

We all hoped for a bigger crowd at Stanford for the third game.

SATURDAY AT STANFORD

Festivities began at 10 AM with graduation ceremonies for the Elite Rugby Camp that had been taking place under the guidance of Matt Sherman, with help from Chris Clever, Matt Hawkins, Stanford Dallen and other stalwarts of the college and Sevens games.

This was followed by scrimmages involving the boys, who came from as far away as Sweden and Hong Kong.

ELITE GAME: GREY 44 – White 29 Referee: Bruce Carter
ARs: Ben Bravo, Matt Eason
This was better than the average high school game and with a bigger crowd. Had I known the quarters would be interspersed with a separate game for the younger campers (in which young Bravo played), I would have laid on a second referee.

Talk about tired! These kids have been drilling all week and were ready to run.

Nice to see Matt Eason’s son JR well-grown-up.

Then it was time to partake of the Land Park contingent’s picnic in the grove for the main event.

All Americans 20 – NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES 23 Referee: Joe Androvich
ARs: Pete Smith, Tom Zanarini
Fourth Official: Preston Gordon
Scoreboard: Bjorn Stumer
The stands were full and the fence at the north end of the pitch was elbow-to-elbow. In that, it was a proud day for NorCal rugby.

Tiberio scored another delightful solo effort to give the home boys a lead in the second half, but they couldn’t keep it due to repeated penalties, and penalty kicks, for destructive work at the breakdown.

There was nearly a miracle finish, as the AAs took the ball down the pitch, side to side, through well over a dozen phases only to be pushed into touch a meter or two short.

Great stuff!

DUNSMUIR SEVENS AND OLD BOYS FIFTEENS
Location: Dunsmuir City Park, Dunsmuir, CA
Referees: Scott Wood, Lee Salgado, Sean Peters
Report by Scott Wood

Teams: Shasta Highlanders, Chico Mighty Oaks, Highwaymen, Mendocino Steamdonkeys, State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club, Oregon Institute of Technology

I woke early Saturday morning, packed my kit, tent and cooler into the trunk, kissed wife and daughter and took off down the road. Due to the wet winter, spring and part of summer, the tomato harvest has been pushed back. While this may be a bane to those who gain livelihood from the product, it's a blessing in that the juice-spilling tractor trailers are not trawling the interstate.

With some practice, Nirvana is reached thanks to mind-numbing miles staring through the windshield. It is after that point that one can contemplate the co-existence of pavement and rice fields. Given the time needed to travel from Stockton to Dunsmuir, if you put you mind to it you may be able to calculate pi out 15 or 20 decimal places. Or consider the significance of the square root of 2 (it is equal to the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs of length 1) and how long it took someone to figure out its "quick" approximation 99/70.

But I digress...

Unfortunately the better part of the drive is also the shortest. I arrived in Dunsmuir to find the teams ready for action. Lee Salgado and Sean Peters readying for action. Lee got the first match, I took the second and Sean (chicken hat firmly ensconced) finished out the rotation.

This was a 15s-styled 7s tournament. The teams rarely play 7s but had some athletes (and youth) willing to pour on the speed when necessary. I refereed four matches featuring five of the six teams. State of Jefferson is a newly-formed NCRFU club with a handful of experience and a fountain of heart, passion and willingness to learn.

Shasta 7 Highwaymen 40 NB: A Highwaymen player killed the ball but I didn't penalize him because it was literally dead. He stepped on it while trying to clear a ruck and it exploded. Fortunately, Joe Leisek was not present for he would have an idea of what to do with the deceased ball...
Highwaymen 17 Chico 24
Highwaymen 27 Jefferson 0
Ukiah 24 Jefferson 12

There were 11 or 12 matches then we got ready for some OB 15s. This was originally slated to be Shasta/Chico Old Boys versus Reno Old Boys; however, the only ROB to appear was Maka Pateta. So Shasta/Chico, oldest player = 52ish, decided to take on State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club, oldest player was almost 34 (although one prop looked like a close relative of Mike Comstock). This was a fun match with experience being used in moderation. Jefferson scored first and Shasta tied it up near the end of the half. Two more tries by Shasta in the second period sealed the deal.

Many of us who stayed Saturday night did so at the Lake Siskiyou Camp-Resort. A nice place. They have a little restaurant/bar where I sampled Weed Ales "Jalapeno Weed". I love heat but not in my beer, although I would consider using it as a marinade. I'd write more about the evening but you had to be there.

SUNDAY, JULY 17

The final weekend (of three) of the NCRYA Summer Sevens took place in Dixon.

Nine referees made light work, four games each: Eugene Baker, Rich Boyer, Bruce Carter, Rod Chance, Mark Godfrey, Stephen Moore, Anthony Nguyen, Lee Salgado and JC Van Staden.

Anthony is a middle-schooler from Sacramento who is very keen. You might have seen him running the line at the PCIT or the Palo Alto Sevens. Now some of us have seen him refereeing and can safely say that he’s on his way.

The tournament is run hooter-style, which keeps the trains on time. We heartily support such endeavors.

If you have a 1:20 game, you can wander off, take a nap, go to the store, and know that the appointed time will be kept – as long as the refs hold up their end of the deal.

Too many times the hooter sounded – and then the captains came together for the coin toss. No matter whether it has started or not, that game is going to end sixteen minutes later and the lost playing time – that’s going to be on the ref.

We have often wondered two things: why no summer sevens in Sacramento, where there are a ton of players, and why no high school sevens, the kids having no reason not to be playing? Thank you to Rob Salaber for filling this need with this fine young tournament.

Saturday, August 20:
Sacramento Lions Sevens – two pitches, all day

Saturday, August 27:
Peroni Tens at Danny Nunn Park in Sacramento

Saturday, September 11:
Tri-Tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

At the NCRYA Sevens in Dixon, Eugene Baker, Anthony Nguyen and Mark Godfrey enjoy Sevens in the sunshine.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

LET THE LAWN MOW ITSELF

2011-07-13T19:58:00.003-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

SATURDAY, JULY 16

We’ve got two refs for the old boys and sevens up in Dunsmuir. That should do it – thanks to Scott Wood and Lee Salgado.

Referees are needed at the For Pete’s Sake Sevens in Santa Rosa. If you can help out, please let us know.

If Sevens isn’t your thing, Joe Androvich will be refereeing the All-Americans’ game with NZ Universities at Stanford, 1 PM. All of the officiating positions have been assigned by USA Rugby, so you’ll need to buy a ticket.

SUNDAY, JULY 17

This weekend will feature the last iteration of the NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens, with youth and high school teams competing on three or four pitches.

Your scribe finally gets to attend this time, although stories of referees doing nine games apiece have him hoping for some help.

REO NEEDED

David Williamson is stepping away from the position of Referee Education Officer that he has so ably filled for these past several years.

The Pelican flock has been fortunate to have such a dedicated and innovative person in a position to help so many of us.

This means, of course, that there are shoes to fill.

Please consider: would you be willing and able to organize our monthly meetings? That is the heart of the position. We have plenty of good speakers who need only be invited and given a stage. The format of the meetings would be...yours to determine.

If you’ve been awaiting an opportunity to give back, to help out, now is your chance.

Contact David Williamson if you’d like to know more about his perspective on the position, or Bruce Carter if you’d like to consider raising your wing.

PALO ALTO SUMMER SEVENS

Forty-two teams competed last Saturday, a modern-era record at this event.

The Flock was up to the challenge. Six, seven or eight games each: Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, Preston Gordon, John Pohlman, Bruce Ricard, Lee Salgado, Scott Wood

Three or four games (had to leave early): Phil Akroyd, Tony Levitan, Tom Zanarini

One-game critical fill-ins: John Coppinger, Rich Boyer

Anthony Nguyen and Ben Bravo ran the line for probably fifteen games each.

In one of the newest and best traditions of the Game, Mike and Bruce got the first two games kicked off a full half-hour early. We’re there; the teams are there: time’s a-wastin’!

SFGG brought a side with as many as five different starters from the team that won their own tournament the week before, and went unbeaten. The Sac Lions and EPA were also quite good. These teams are presumably going to be in Salt Lake City this weekend for the Pacific Coast championships.

It was a glorious day! With forty teams’ worth of fans and family members, a pop-up tent city appeared, interspersed with beach towels and blankets making an irregular but colorful grid. Even before someone began strumming a ukulele, it was like a perfect day at the beach.

(For those outside of Northern California – you don’t go in the water at the beach here, even in the summertime. You hang around and hope the fog doesn’t roll back in too soon. The ocean here is the same temperature all the year around, the current dropping down from Alaska. Not for nothing was the wetsuit perfected in Santa Cruz.)

Report by John Pohlman:
I arrived at the Palo Alto 7's around 8:30AM to a pretty packed Mayfield Sports Complex.

Bruce and Mike were already getting the first games of the day organized. Scott, Danielle and Baby GemMa were awaiting their assignments.

John Tyler was organizing the games for the day. John said he had 40 teams signed up. Two fields with each team guaranteed at least three games.

This would lead to close to 60 games played. I think I refereed 6-7. Most who stayed for the whole day did at least 6 each.

Great turnout!

The primary challenge is with only two fields and three games played per field an hour. Many teams would be playing once every three hours or so.

Lots of good rugby. Eight wowen's teams. At least twelve high school teams. Twenty men's sides split into two divisions.

I got out around 7:00PM, a solid ten hours of rugby 7's. One more round in two weeks. Come out and catch the fun.

TODD PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GAMES
July 9th, 2011 at For Pete's Sake in Santa Rosa
Report by Cary Bertolone:

Faded Roses 7 – Clowns/Belmont Shore/Kansas City Blues 7
Referees: Bruce Bernstein/Cary Bertolone

All I know, is there were some huge men on the pitch, playing with focus, determination and power, all in the name of their fallen hero, Todd Phillips. Todd had played for all of the teams represented and his legacy is nearly unmatched. He has friends from all over, and to show their respect, they flew in from many states to play in this game. Many had won the Natl Championship together, with Belmont Shore, and there were plenty of 6ft 6 inch, 300 lb men slamming players. Fortunately, for Rosa, their team was stacked also. They had help from Petaluma, Olympic club, Ukiah and Vallejo, but most were Rosa boys that played tough.

I reffed the second two quarters and was very impressed with the high level of play. Both teams had numbers and substituted freely, keeping the entire game at a fast pace. I can only say I was proud to be a part of such a high caliber game, such a driven group of friends and such an emotional, first class banquet, all in the name of a fallen hero, Todd Phillips!!!

Report by Ray Schwartz:
The Todd Phillips Memorial Celebration, the First Annual "ToddyFest," was a big success.

Those who could get away early gathered for wine tasting on Friday, July 8th, with over 30 making it to Rodney Strong in Healdsburg, CA, by 3:30pm. The spread laid out by (winery owner and original BATS & Eagle flanker) Tom Klein's staff was amazing and complete unexpected. The wine, as expected, was fabulous! Speeches began at 4:30...before leaving close to 6, we collected a massive bottle of Meritage for the Silent Auction to come the next night.

The weekend's "core" events were held Saturday, July 9th. For Pete's Sake, Santa Rosa, CA, saw one full match played at a very high level. It was all over too soon for most. We had in fact hoped for twice as many players, but quality prevails over quantity every time! We then enjoyed a banquet at the nearby DeTurk Round Barn in the evening.

The game featured older players (averaged close to 40 yrs of age) but also had several youngsters. The local Faded Roses played a combo made up from teams Todd had played for: the Speed Freak Clowns, Columbia Outlaws, St. Louis Bombers, Zingari (So. Canterbury, NZ), Edmonton Nor'westers, Belmont Shore, the Unicorns and Cal State Fullerton (where Toddy coached).

Just as Toddy would have played it himself, no holds were barred. No missed tackles and fierce contests at every ruck... this was not your father's old boys match!

The match ended a 7-7 tie, with the Fadeds scoring first under the posts; the Combo Team Toddy later scored in the corner and slotted an amazing conversion. Several former Internationals and National level all-stars played in the match, as well as several starters from the recent Div 1 runners-up O Club. Watching #8s Super Dave (SoCal, Unicorns, Belmont) and Sione Takataka (Tonga, BATS, Hayward, Clowns) battle it out in the first half was worth everything.

This was a world class destination in every way. The For Pete’s Sake field and pavilion (named after Fallen Rugger Peter Eiermann) was a magical place to spend the morning. We featured a "bounce house" for the toddlers and a nice spread for lunch after play, helped greatly by Faded's own Chris Curtis. The weather was sweet and slightly warm. Light breeze and not a cloud...

Willie Moore, former director of the old Golden Gate Tourney, made his first ever pilgrimage to see For Pete's Sake. Willie and Peter had been teammates w/ the old BATS. After the Golden Gate Tourney had sadly folded, Willie donated $10,000 the Tourney had raised, earmarked to help boost youth rugby in NorCal, to For Pete's Sake. The Golden Gate monies were, in fact, the first dollars collected in a cause that would need nearly $600,000 to complete.

The DeTurk Round Barn, a newly remodeled special banquet hall with 120 years of rich history (former home to SeaBiscuit!), is an architectural gem and served us brilliantly in the evening. Afa Wongking (Faded) prepared the Kahlua Pork, Teriyaki chicken and Sapasooy with love and care. Bill Jereb (Cal State Long Beach, Captain of the Collegiate All Americans) and lovely wife Andrea were the local liaisons who helped Johnny Gilmore (Unicorns), Ray Schwartz (Belmont) and Dude Bernstein (Clowns) pull the event off. Jonny Carter (all three teams) produced a stunning 17-minute long DVD of highlights from Todd's life set to wonderful music. The DeTurk's hi-tech, Hi-Def A/V system was a perfect match. Later, a pub crawl on Rosie the Trolley ensued...

Look for next year's ToddyFest, the 2nd Annual, to be held in Columbia, Missouri, on or about April 7th, 2012. We hope to grow the scope of the event and rotate it to SoCal in 2013. Monies from the 1st are still rolling into the 501(c)(3) (we take checks, cash...!), but it appears we have successfully raised over $5,000 towards helping build a trust fund for Todd's soon-to-be 3 year old son Zealon, and what a wonderful kid he is!

Perhaps more importantly, we brought many old and new friends together, and have forged a promise to carry on having fun and working for this wonderful cause... just as Toddy would do it himself!

Please revisit http://toddsphillips.com/ and ... until further notice,

Celebrate Everything!

Saturday, July 23:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens

Sunday, July 24:
North American debut of the IRB Refereeing Sevens course
At the Doyle Family Rugby Clubhouse at Stanford

Saturday, July 30:
Nevada Sevens in Reno
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Sunday, July 31:
Treasure Island Touch Tournament at Sheeran Field

Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women

Saturday, August 20:
Sacramento Lions Sevens – two pitches, all day

JUST ADDED:
Saturday, August 27:
Peroni Tens at Danny Nunn Park in Sacramento

Saturday, September 11:
Tri-Tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

The Fallen Assistant Referee succumbs to ten-plus hours of action at the Palo Alto Summer Sevens while Mike Gadoua packs down a scrum in the background.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

BUNNY HOP?

2011-07-13T19:58:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

REO NEEDED

David Williamson is stepping away from the position of Referee Education Officer that he has so ably filled for these past several years.

The Pelican flock has been fortunate to have such a dedicated and innovative person in a position to help so many of us.

This means, of course, that there are shoes to fill.

Please consider: would you be willing and able to organize our monthly meetings? That is the heart of the position. We have plenty of good speakers who need only be invited and given a stage. The format of the meetings would be...yours to determine.

If you’ve been awaiting an opportunity to give back, to help out, now is your chance.

Contact David Williamson if you’d like to know more about his perspective on the position, or Bruce Carter if you’d like to consider raising your wing.

SFGG SEVENS

SF/Golden Gate hosted a Sevens tournament on Saturday, July 2, in order to dry-run their organization for the nationals coming up in a month, as well as to provide some good competition for the aspiring teams of the NCRFU.

Teams included: SFGG Black, SFGG Green, Sac Lions, San Mateo, EPA Razorbacks, Samoa United A and B, River City and Santa Rosa.

Referees were: Bruce Bernstein, Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, Eric Rauscher, Bruce Ricard, Lee Salgado and Mose Timoteo.

Mose played in six games, including the final, and very-capably refereed two more. He had the knack. If Mose ever gets tired of starring on the top super-league in the nation, he has a second rugby career waiting.

The Sac Lions went through the preliminary rounds dominating, with the only unblemished record. (SFGG Black and EPA had no loses but tied each other.)

In the first semi-final, the Razorbacks beat the Lions with Lee Salgado refereeing. Then SFGG Black took down Santa Rosa, with Bruce Ricard handling the whistle.

Final: SFGG BLACK 17 – Razorbacks 10 Referee: Mike Gadoua
ARs/IGJs (rotation): Carter, Rauscher, Ricard and Salgado

This was a re-match of the pool game which Eric Rauscher refereed to a draw.

It was a bit of a reunion: three of the Razorbacks’ players have appeared for Golden Gate in the past year, but played at fast-forward and full-contact nonetheless.

Both of these teams, along with Sac Lions, should have their sights set on the PCRFU championships in Salt Lake City July 16.
NCYRA SUMMER SEVENS
July 3rd, Dixon CA
Report by Chris Tucker:

Pelicans Present: Jeff Richmond, Rich Boyer, Rod Chance, Ray Schwartz, Nick Boyer, Chris Tucker.

Snow up in the mountains blocked the road to the trailhead Caroline & I were supposed to be using for our backpacking trip, so instead we did a couple of day hikes and behold! Sunday opened up. Just what I needed, 9 games of 7s in 98 degrees. Good conditioning. Tip o' the hat to Jeff Richmond who was the other workhorse on the crew -- he must have done a similar number of games to me. Remaining refs were either coaching or playing, and fitted their games in to give us a breather every now and then.

The setup is on two pitches, with 3 divisions -- 2 varsity and a girls division, each with 5-6 teams from around the Bay. All was organized and efficient, with games starting on time and finishing on the sound of a hooter. Props to Rob Salaber and the rest of the Dixon staff for putting on a fun event.

The games themselves showed considerable variance in style, with some clearly still mentally playing 15s, with plenty of rucking and a lot of needless kicking away of possession. But it's also clear that these players are beginning to get it, and the better teams (Islanders, Motley alumni, CK McClatchy) are showing decent structure going forward, if not yet quite figuring out the defensive aspects. But this is likely their first season playing 7s, so there's plenty of time.

Generally good fun all round, another great addition to the calendar. Those available on the 17th should definitely consider going (take a cooler.)

Saturday, July 9:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Todd Phillips Memorial at For Pete’s Sake
--Old boys fifteens, two or three games

Saturday, July 16:
Dunsmuir Sevens and annual Old Boys match
For Pete’s Sake Sevens
USA College All-Americans vs. NZ Universities at Stanford, Referee: Joe Androvich

Sunday, July 17:
NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
--Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, July 23:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens

Sunday, July 24:
North American debut of the IRB Refereeing Sevens course At the Doyle Family Rugby Clubhouse at Stanford

Saturday, July 30:
Nevada Sevens in Reno
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Sunday, July 31:
Treasure Island Touch Tournament at Sheeran Field

Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women

Saturday, August 20:
Sacramento Lions Sevens – two pitches, all day

Saturday, September 11:
Tri-Tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Three Bruces and friends accost the Nesquik Bunny at Sheeran Field Saturday:Bruce Bernstein, Eric Rauscher, Bruce Ricard, Lee Salgado, Bruce Carter.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SEVEN SELECTEES

2011-07-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

REFS NEEDED

Prepare to celebrate the Glorious Fourth of July by refereeing this weekend:

Saturday:
SFGG Nestle Nesquik Sevens at Sheeran Field, beginning at 9:30 AM. We have three referees so far. At least a couple more would be ideal.

Sunday:
Youth and High School Sevens in Dixon, starting at 9 AM. Same drill: three refs so far, several more needed – this one is played on three pitches.

Let us know if you can help.

ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET

At our annual season- (never-) ending soiree, Pete Smith announced the Pelican Awards:

Rookie of the Year: Stephanie Bruce
Most Improved: John Coppinger
Ambassador of the Society: Aruna Ranaweera
Pelican of the Year: Phil Akroyd
Bryan Porter Award: Mike Malone
Scriptoris Award: Eric Rauscher
AR of the Year: Tom Zanarini

Congratulations to all. The trophies are stylish and handsome, deserving to be displayed either in the rugby room or the main room of a home.

Two of these seven worthies were on hand to accept their hardware. For those who weren’t, contact Pete to arrange receipt of your trophies.

Thank you to Bill Yungert of the Marin Highlanders and JC Van Staden of Peltier Station Vineyards, each of whom contributed mightily to the conviviality by donating a case of fine wine.

PALO ALTO SUMMER SEVENS BEGINS

By Eric Rauscher:
More of a reflection than a game report. I did 5 games. Some of them displayed inspired rugby, some were more on the mediocre side. It is still early in the 7s season so we can hope to see improvement. It is other things on that Saturday that stand out in my mind. Getting positive feedback from other refs watching your game or getting pointers on ways to improve your game is a very wonderful aspect to the tournament setting. The ease with which you can both give and get ref coaching is a great benefit to the 7s settings. There is also a great chance for interactions with players off of the field. At one point I has a player come up to me and say "I have seen you around for a while." and proceeded to ask for clarification on the fine points of gaining or not gaining ground when the ball is kicked into touch and how the 22m line comes into play. It is also great to see the camaraderie amongst the players. After one of the coin tosses, the opposing captains gave each other hugs and wished each other well during the upcoming game. It was also great to see a kid (in a high scroll game) run down and attempt to tackle an opponent fully twice his size. I may not be able to remember each game distinctly, but is is these little moments added together which make for a memorable day of rugby.

By Bruce Carter:
Our readers know this is the highlight of the year for your writer, and has been since I moved to PelicanLand in 1980.

My wife enjoys the day watching fast action in the un-Monterey Bay-like warm sunshine. The price she pays: responding to the alarm’s call at 5:30 and being on the road before 6, for we have a standing date for coffee with that other Sevens’ maven, Mike Gadoua, always at 7:30.

We meet at Peete’s near Cubberley even though the tournament has migrated, in homage to tradition. This is conveniently located in the same shopping center with Piazza’s Fine Foods, a wonderful if pricey place to plan and purchase a Sevens’ picnic.

The cheese section alone is worth the drive, and the price of admission.

The day’s initial goal is to be at the pitch with a table between the two pitches secured by 8 AM. And it’s a good thing: at 8:09 all of the tables were claimed.

You may want to read this twice: it has probably never happened before in rugbydom: both first games kicked off fifteen minutes EARLY. This is possible due to the eagerness of the referees no less than the players.

The tournament featured eight HS teams and six women’s, with the remaining twenty being men’s clubs. Far-rangers included Dartmouth, Cal Poly, and the Arroyo Grande youth.

SF/Golden Gate, after taking last summer off, appears ready to challenge for the club title on their home pitch August 6-7.

The referee crew up until 4 PM consisted of: Stephanie Bruce, Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, James Hinkin, Tony Levitan, George O’Neil, Eric Rauscher, Pete Smith and Scott Wood.

As this crew departed to get ready for the banquet, the reins were handed to Rich Boyer, Bruce Ricard, Sandy Robertson and JC Van Staden.

The next iteration will be July 9.

Saturday, July 9:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Todd Phillips Memorial at For Pete’s Sake
Old boys fifteens, two or three games

Saturday, July 16:
Dunsmuir Sevens and annual Old Boys match
For Pete’s Sake Sevens

Sunday, July 17:
NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, July 23: Palo Alto Summer Sevens

Sunday, July 24: North American debut of the IRB Refereeing Sevens course
At the Doyle Family Rugby Clubhouse at Stanford

Saturday, July 30:
Nevada Sevens in Reno
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

There is a Pelican Building on the UC campus in Berkeley. Who knew?

Here is this year’s Scriptoris Award winner, Eric Rauscher, perched out front.

The building itself has pillars with pelicans making up the design for the capitals.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

DEATH BY REFEREE

2011-06-22T20:33:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

DINNER AND DRINKS SATURDAY EVENING

See you at Scotts in Walnut Creek this Saturday? It’s not too late to make plans to attend the NCRRS banquet and awards ceremony. Just let Bjorn Stumer know: bstumer@comcast.net

REFS NEEDED: OYSTERFEST IN CORTE MADERA

This Saturday will be the fun-filled Olympic Club Oysterfest in Marin County, a festival of touch.
If you think touch is what you used to play at practice before the coach blew his whistle, think again. This is a sport with its own world cup, which as a matter of fact starts June 22 in Edinburgh.

The rules are easy to learn for the official. We could use a few folks to help out.

Saturday, July 2 JUST ADDED:
SFGG Sevens at Sheeran Field

Sunday, July 3:
NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, July 9:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Todd Phillips Memorial at For Pete’s Sake
Old boys fifteens, a round-robin with five teams

Saturday, July 16:
Dunsmuir Sevens and annual Old Boys match
For Pete’s Sake Sevens

Sunday, July 17:
NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, July 23:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens

Sunday, July 24:
North American debut of the IRB Refereeing Sevens course
At the Doyle Family Rugby Clubhouse at Stanford

Saturday, July 30:
Nevada Sevens in Reno
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women

ALL BLUES SEVENS IN SANTA ROSA
Saturday, June 18
Report by Stephanie Bruce:

Tournament report:
It was a perfect day in Santa Rosa for a rugby tournament. For Pete's Sake pitch is in good condition and visiting teams loved the rustic wooden uprights. The tournament kicked off about 10 minutes late (Not bad for rugby time, not great for 7's rugby time), and went smoothly for the length of the tournament.

4 Men's teams (SFGG, Rosa, Sac and "Mixed Bag" - a compilation of local players) and 6 Women's teams (Two All-Blues teams, Sac, Stanford, Glendale, and San Diego) competed. The NCRFU ref's were represented by Steph Bruce, Sam Davis, Bjorn Stumer, Eric Rauscher and Bruce Ricard. We were also joined by Ramey Marshall, who we hope will be joining the union, and a late addition of newcomer Scott Griffin.

The men's bracket was fairly evenly matched, with a mix of very athletic newcomers and seasoned sevens players. At the end of the tournament, the boys were not ready to stop playing and we were able to give Scott a few "king of the pitch" halves after the Championship game.

After the round-robin portion of the women’s tournament, Berkeley Gold was at the top of the standings having narrowly defeated the Surfers during pool play with 3 wins and no losses. Head to Head results set the rest of the seeding to Surfers, Glendale, Stanford, Berkeley Blue and Sacramento. Stanford was under-represented and decided to fold out of the knockout rounds so Berkeley Blue and Sac combined to play San Diego in the semis while Berkeley Gold played Glendale. Both Berkeley Gold and Glendale won convincingly to make the finals. The final match started off close, but the Surfers showed their sevens’ experience in the last game of the day and took the match 19-7.

EXCHANGE REPORT: CALGARY
By Stephanie Bruce:

When I arrived in Calgary, I was promised that there would be no shortage of matches for me, which was an understatement. I was picked up from the airport and was on a pitch reffing a U15 club match within the hour. Useful to be aware that Canada (as well as Australia) employs a Mayday* provision in their U19 laws, where extra precautions are taken during scrums. I was not aware of this, so while thankfully no one was injured, one of the coaches was a bit flustered at my "nonchalance" at checking that players were alright in a collapsed scrum. A lesson learned quickly though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSDkvkOSLFs

That evening we had a late dinner at a restaurant next to our tournament lodgings and I met many of the refs that would be working the ASAA Alberta High School Championship over the next two days. Refs came from the local area as well as from Edmonton (4 hours away) and Saskatchewan (6 hours away).

The first day of the high school tournament started early. While winter may be a dark time in Calgary, by the beginning of June the sun comes up at 4:30 in the morning. Even with blinds drawn, I was waking up at 5 every morning.

Calgary rugby has an impressive location with a large clubhouse (one of the largest I've seen), and four regulation sized fields (with a fifth one on the way). All fields were in use as there were 32 teams competing in the tournament, comprised of two tiers of girls and boys teams.

As to be expected, there was a range of experience and athleticism in the tournament, but overall I was impressed with the skills and proficiencies of the High School teams. Interesting to note that although the participation of rugby in Canadian high schools is high, there are still hurdles created by more established sports. Due to The Track and Field Championships overriding the Rugby schedule, teams from the Calgary and Edmonton city districts were unable to compete due to a school blackout for exams. Judging from the quality of the rural and suburban schools competing in their place, I am sure the level of the city schools is comparably quite high.

By the end of the first day I had reffed three 40 minute matches, and ARed another three. There was a little socializing on Friday night for the referees and I was presented with two Rugby Alberta referee jerseys which I excitedly wore the following day. Saturday was the finals and I reffed the Tier 2 girls consolation and the Tier 1 Girls Championship (60 minute matches), and ARed the Tier 1 Boys Championship and Tier 1 boys consolation.

Although the matches were abbreviated (so as to fit within the time limits imposed on U-19 players), the scores were not:

Day one
Tier 2 Girls: Beaumont 0 – Highwood 33
Tier 2 Boys: McNally 0 – St. Francis Xavier 29
Tier 1 Boys: Strathcona Comp 52 – Lloydminster Comp 0
Day two
Tier 2 Girls Consolation: Springbank 46 – Frank Maddock 5
Tier 1 Girls Championship: Raymond 44 – Sturgeon 0

As if to give me the true scope of Canadian weather, day one of the tournament was a gorgeous sunny and mid 60’s day, punctuated by the mosquito happy hour at 4pm.

Day two, in contrast, was drizzly and in the low 50’s. Luckily the real rain held off until after the final match of the day.

During the tournament I was fortunate to be reviewed by a few of the referee coaches and received helpful feedback on my approach and positioning as well as a forthcoming analysis of the Championship match and assessment of my overall performance at the tournament. Thank you to Bjorn Stumer and Mike Laporte each for facilitating the exchange, Mike L. and Jared Morrison for the reffing assessments, Andrew Petti for organizing the tournament, and to Danica, David and Lisa Robinson for hosting me on Saturday night.

SMALL WORLD

The Senate adjourned to Las Vegas with Penelope for a five-day weekend around the Midnight Sevens. The Sevens was canceled but the weekend proceeded.

Walking out of the Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian we heard our name called and turned to see Aruna Ranaweera, in town for a friend’s bachelor party.

That makes two refs, and no rugby, in Sin City, a potentially bad combination.

DEATH BY REFEREE

It was nice to hear again from Joe Leisek, who was the first to clue us in to this delightful 'news' article.
All sports officials have been blamed for a lot of things, but this one takes the cake:

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/weird/Graldiators-Epitaph--124194494.html

We are once again mindful of Ecclesiastes 1:9:
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SUMMER STARTS

2011-06-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

UPCOMING EVENTS: SIGN UP NOW

Let us know which events you’d like to work and plan your weekends:

Saturday, June 18:
All Blues Sevens at For Pete’s Sake in Santa Rosa
Need half a dozen refs

Sunday, June 19: NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, June 25:
Work up an appetite for our annual society banquet at one of these fun-filled days:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens, the granddaddy of them all.
Need eight-ten refs

Olympic Club Oysterfest Touch Tourney in Corte Madera

Sunday, July 3:
NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, July 9:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Todd Phillips Memorial at For Pete’s Sake

Old boys fifteens, a round-robin with five teams

Saturday, July 16:
Dunsmuir Sevens and annual Old Boys match
For Pete’s Sake Sevens

Sunday, July 17: NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs

Saturday, July 23:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens

Sunday, July 24:
North American debut of the IRB Refereeing Sevens course At the Doyle Family Rugby Clubhouse at Stanford

If you’d like to take the course, reply to this e-mail

Saturday, July 30:
Nevada Sevens in Reno
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera

Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women

OUTGOING EVENTS: READ ALL ABOUT IT

Saturday, June 4: Five Loaves and Two Fish Hope Chapel Charity Sevens Tourney

Report by Mike Gadoua:
Five Loaves and Two Fish, good competitors, and lucky pelicans, Gadoua, Rauscher and Stumer participated, on a rain-drenched day. The sum equals great Sevens. It rained non-stop during the day, and the Tongan Yankee icon, Vuka Tau, and his young San Mateo squad, were knocked out during pool play. The rain storm stopped at the start of the semis and sun light emerged (briefly). The first semi saw the well-experienced and lightning-fast Sacramento Lions spent 14 minutes inside EPA’s 22 - winning decisively. United Samoa claimed the second semi. And the Lions and United met in the Final. Players experienced a torrential side-ways downpour, limiting vision and causing the younger players to ask that the game be stopped (it wasn’t). While United scored a single try, the speed and experience of Sacramento’s older players made the game appear lopsided. The scoring ended at 17-7. Hope Chapel fed the pelican well and the tourney will return next year.

Report by Eric Rauscher:
Most rain on June 4th since 1934. Five teams showed up. Both EPA teams, Sacramento Lions, San Mateo and United Samoa. The tourney was played in a round robin with semi-finals and a final. I ended up reffing 4 games. Not quite sure that I can remember the match-ups or the scores, my scorecard has long since turned to mush.

The Vallejo Mare Island field is quit a nice location with bleachers, lights. For this event a sponsoring church from Santa Rosa (Hope) had a food concession with BBQ, drinks and snacks. The highlight of the day for me I didn't really think much about until the next day. I was under a tent leaning on one of the tables and stretching out my back. One of the players from one of the teams (I do not recall which), came up behind me, grabbed my shoulders and massaged my back for a couple of minutes. The next day I thought about when I used to go to Cal home football games. We started off sitting in the family section on the north side of the stadium. After every game as the crowd is leaving, the police would form a corridor for the refs to run out of the tunnel and into the waiting vans to be whisked away before anyone could get to them. At football games the refs are protected, at rugby games the refs get back rubs from the players.

Saturday, June 11:
Baracus 14 – ALUMNI 20
Referee: Bruce Ricard

Very nice game played between the Baracus team and the alumni under a nice but a bit hot sun of June. They decided to play four quarter-times of 20 minutes. The young ones scored a converted try in the first quarter. The older ones started the second quarter with a converted try, to which the young answered immediately by another try. But the alumni are resourceful, and scored another try just before the end of the period. Score at half time: 14 - 12 for Baracus team.

Third quarter was very excited, both teams wanted to make the difference, but nothing was scored. The fourth and last quarter showed tired alumni, but alumni never quit! After a beautiful maul, and a great work from their forwards, they score a very nice try, and take the lead. The last minutes were intense, and after several picks and go 22m from the Baracus goal line, the full back of the alumni receives the ball from the scrum half and drop kicks the ball towards the posts. The ball passes a few inches on the left of the right post, and a few inches over the crossbar. Drop goal awarded!

The young guys couldn't get over this incredible kick, couldn't score anything else.

KEELHAULERS ON TOUR

Report by California Maritime Academy Coach Steve Hiatt:
Well, my ragtag team lost both in NZ and Australia but came out of both games with a lot of respect. We lost 34 – 3 in NZ, but the score was only 17-3 sixty minutes into the game before I cleared my bench and it was nice seeing the thought cross the Kiwis’ minds 5 minutes into the game that “wow, we’re really in a game and not just babysitting some Yanks for 80 minutes”. It was definitely hard hitting and fun even if we never really threatened to win.

The game in Sydney was a different story even if the result was the same. Cal Maritime lost to the University of New South Wales 34 – 24 in a back-and-forth and entertaining game that saw 6 lead changes with both teams usually only 3 points apart until the last play of the game. The referee was impressed and happy at the breadth and pace of play from both teams and commented on the CMA cadets’ outstanding behavior and enthusiasm. (And their team had quite a few players that were older than 18-22, but it didn’t matter).

My 6 days aboard ship sailing across the Tasman Sea (3 days were in rough seas) were a cool experience and I’m glad I did it – and glad I’m not spending 60 days on ship like everyone else did!

Articles regarding our game in Wellington, NZ:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_embassy_newzealand/5783827451/

http://kiwiscots.blogspot.com/2011/05/rugby-diplomacy-in-time-of-war.html

http://kiwiscots.blogspot.com/2011/05/golden-bear-sails-into-welly.html

ANNUAL SOCIETY BANQUET AND AWARDS CEREMONY

The 2011 NCRRS Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 25th. Drinks at six, dinner at seven.

Those who are eligible for free kit (5 or more club/college games by assignment in the past season) are also eligible for free dinner. Drinks are on your own and guests are fifty dollars.

RSVP to Bjorn Stumer: bstumer@comcast.net

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SUMMER RUNNING

2011-06-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

OPPORTUNITIES TO REFEREE SATURDAY, JUNE 4

Ref needed: Colusa. Fifteen-a-side.
Experience the famous Colusa referee hospitality with three 30-minute games to work up a thirst. That’s barely more than a regular-season outing. Lots of ruggers would be happy to see you, including the newest NorCal team from Siskiyou County.

Refs needed: Vallejo. Sevens.
The Loaves and Fishes Sevens will be played on Morton Field on Mare Island, starting at 8:30. We have three refs and could use one or two more.

BIG WEEKEND

Best of luck to the Olympic Club and Fresno as they play for national championships this weekend in Glendale, Colo. These might be webcast.

We also wish well to California in the College Rugby Championship (sevens) near Philadelphia, which you can watch on plain-vanilla NBC, Versus, and Universal.

The Eagles will be playing in the Churchill Cup, with a game at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton against the homeboys.

THREE-DAY RUGBY WEEKEND

Well, almost: a high-school all-star tournament was played at Sheeran Field Saturday and Sunday, with a Monday game being canceled late.

Players representing the four NCRYA conferences and Oregon at the U15, U17 and U19 levels had a lot of fun showing their stuff in front of coaches and scouts, including Paul Barford with the USA age-grade programs.

Saturday’s conditions were most decidedly unseasonal: a late-May overcast and rain blocked even the view of the recently-topped-off tower for the new suspension portion of the Bay Bridge. Sea, sky and horizon all looked the same and Treasure Island might as well have been in the middle of the North Sea for the scenery on view.

But rugby wills have a way, and nine games were played.

Referees were Bruce Carter, Pete Smith, Jen Tetler, Sione Tanoa and Tom Zanarini. With invaluable help from Mark Godfrey and Ray Schwartz, we were able to cover every game with a team of three even though huddling under an umbrella seemed a better idea.

Sunday’s better weather attracted a smaller flock for seven games: John Coppinger, Mark Godfrey, John Pohlman, Bruce Ricard and Pete Smith.

Oregon was very strong, as were the Bay and Sacramento Valley conferences. We don’t have a compilation of the scores to be able to tell who ‘won’, in part because the rain turned Saturday’s list into palimpsest.

Under-17:
BAY CONFERENCE 18 – Sac Valley 17 Referee: Bruce Carter
The contrast between January high-school rugby and May all-star stuff is amazing, even after you’ve experienced it year after year.

The first half the Sac boys controlled the ball, playing phase rugby and scoring 17 points at the leeward end of the pitch.

The second half the Bay did the same except that they scored 18 points downwind.

Of particular note was a Bay player whose name your reporter should have gotten: two of his clearing kicks each went 70+ meters, thence into touch, and Bay scored on both of those trips down the pitch.

ANNUAL SOCIETY BANQUET AND AWARDS CEREMONY

This year’s banquet will be held on the evening of the first iteration of the Palo Alto Summer Sevens. Unless you live along the Palo Alto-Walnut Creek corridor, why not get a room in Walnut Creek in which to clean up and later recover?

The 2011 NCRRS Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 25th. Drinks at six, dinner at seven.

Those who are eligible for free kit (5 or more club/college games by assignment in the past season) are also eligible for free dinner. Drinks are on your own and guests are fifty dollars.

RSVP to Bjorn Stumer: bstumer@comcast.net

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Scott Wood, Tom Zanarini, Phil Akroyd and David Williamson meet at Lafayette’s Round-Up after the St. Mary’s – UCLA game April 30.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

12 AND 2 AGAINST THE BEST OF THE REST

2011-05-27T09:53:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PROMOTION

Bruce Ricard has earned promotion to L2, in part due to a fine performance on his recent exchange to New England.

REFEREES NEEDED

The need for good referees to support great NorCal rugby doesn’t end. Please respond if you can help at any or all of these:

Saturday and Sunday, May 28-29: All-Star competition for U15, U17 and U19 featuring teams from the four NCRYA conferences and Oregon. All games will be played at Sheeran Field. We need two or three more refs/ARs for Saturday and three or four more for Sunday.

Friday and Saturday, June 3-4: Loaves and Fishes Sevens at Morton Field in Vallejo. So far we’ve got one ref (yours truly) for Friday. We could use at least three each day.

On Saturday, June 4, there will be three short games of fifteens in Colusa. One or two refs would be fine for this runaround.

Saturday, June 18: Two events:
Women’s Sevens in Santa Rosa at For Pete’s Sake, played on two pitches
FogFest: Harlot-style fifteen-a-side expecting six men’s teams and four women’s.

DOMINANCE

Northern California teams went 14 – 4 in knock-out championship games this past weekend, two of the losses coming against fellow NCRFU teams. That's 12 - 2 against the Best of the Rest.

Three teams brought home national championship trophies and two more remain in the hunt.

Super league: SF/GOLDEN GATE 20 – Life 15 Referee: Chris Henshall

College Premier Division: CALIFORNIA 21 – Brigham Young 14
Referee: Gareth Morgan
ARs: Paul Bretz, Aruna Ranaweera

Boys High School:
JESUIT defeated Penn High School 47 – 0 and then in the semifinals took care of Gonzaga 45 – 7.
Boy's High School National Championship
JESUIT 50 – Xavier 27 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referees: Eric Norgate (Utah), Ivan LePendue (Utah)
#4 Official: Leah Berard (Minnesota)

Girls High School: Sacramento AMAZONS opened by subduing Sebastian River 32 – 5.
In the semi they put the Kent Crusaders to the sword, 12 – 10.

However, in the final Fallbrook of SoCal got revenge for last year’s championship defeat, winning 60 – 0.

The following games were played in Chula Vista. The winners move on to the final fours in Glendale June 4-5.

D1: OLYMPIC CLUB 33 – Dallas 5
SACRAMENTO LIONS 34 – Austin 21
O CLUB 25 – Sac Lions 15

DII: FRESNO 40 – Pasadena 10
SANTA ROSA 28 – Fort Worth 5
FRESNO 11 – Santa Rosa 8

DIII: SOUTH VALLEY 14 – Ventura 13
South Valley 11 – SOUTH BAY RHINOS 40

FREE DINNER GOES BEGGING:
ONLY SIXTEEN FOR THE ANNUAL SOCIETY BANQUET SO FAR

Make your plans now to attend the 2011 NCRRS Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 25th. Drinks at six, dinner at seven.

Those who are eligible for free kit (5 or more club/college games by assignment in the past season) are also eligible for free dinner. Drinks are on your own and guests are fifty dollars.

RSVP to Bjorn Stumer: bstumer@comcast.net

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Pelicus Propus Celtus (Brian Gildea, former NCRRS stalwart) appears to have stolen the Heineken Cup and gotten clean away with it!

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

A TIME TO SOAR

2011-05-20T13:32:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PROMOTION

Bruce Ricard has earned promotion to L2, in part due to a fine performance on his recent exchange to New England.

FRINGE BENEFITS

There are a lot of experiences that rugby referees enjoy which probably are rarely, if ever, appreciated by our colleagues in other sports.

For example: does a local basketball ref ever find Michael Jordan in one of his games?

Tom Zanarini went out to do a game involving a touring side against Baracus last Wednesday evening. A substitution is made and now he’s refereeing the most capped forward in rugby history, a man who played on four teams that won the Grand Slam and one that took home the Webb Ellis Cup, a member of the International Rugby Hall of Fame and also a fellow who has the distinction of having scored as many tries against his country as for it.

The rest of the story is below!

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND

We wish the best to the eight Northern California teams still playing for USA Rugby national championships.

These four will be decided this weekend:

Super league: SFGG – Life
College Premier Division: California – BYU
Boys High School: Jesuit in the final eight
Girls High School: Sacramento Amazons in the final eight

These men’s clubs are playing this weekend to qualify for the finals, which will be June 4-5:

D1: Olympic Club and Sacramento Lions
DII: Fresno and Santa Rosa
DIII: South Valley

ANNUAL SOCIETY BANQUET

Make your plans now to attend the 2011 NCRRS Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 25th. Drinks at six, dinner at seven.

Those who are eligible for free kit (5 or more club/college games by assignment in the past season) are also eligible for free dinner. Drinks are on your own and guests are fifty dollars.

RSVP to Bjorn Stumer: bstumer@comcast.net

SUPER LEAGUE SEMIFINAL

SF/GOLDEN GATE 53 – Old Puget Sound Beach 22 Referee: Paul Bretz
ARs: Phil Akroyd, Chris Tucker
#4s: Scott Wood, Bruce Carter
Scoreboard Operator: Preston Gordon

May 13
Men's Collegiate D1 National Semi-Final
UC SANTA BARBARA 30 – Bowling Green State University 3
Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referees: John Coppinger, John Pohlman

May 14
Men's Collegiate D1 National Final
DAVENPORT UNIVERSITY 38 – UC Santa Barbara 19
Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referees: Marc Nelson (USA/Colorado), Scott Florence (Florida)

COLLEGE PREMIER SEMIFINALS

Cal defeated Utah while BYU beat Arkansas State, setting up a Cal – BYU final for the sixth year in a row.

If you don’t have whatever obscure network is necessary to watch it, find a sports bar. This should be a great game.

PACIFIC COAST HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

JESUIT 79 – Dixon 17
Jesuit also beat Fallbrook 47 – 8 to win the California State Championship

Wednesday night Rugby:

BA Baracus 10 – CHINGFORD (London) 22 Referee: Tom Zanarini
AR's: Bjorn Stumer, Steph Bruce
#4: Preston Gordon
Touring sides are the lifeblood of rugby. It really demonstrates why we play and referee rugby and not some other sport. 30 men fly from London to San Francisco, bang heads for (in this case) 60 minutes and then become lifelong friends after, if they can remember each other's names after the keg floats on the melted ice.

Chingford, based in Northeast London, was on an end-of-season tour after finishing mid table in their league London North 1, I believe (Level 6). First stop was SF, second stop, Las Vegas.

Arriving at the field was its own comedy of errors. Chingford emailed BA Baracus's match secretary confirming the pitch address, only to interpret his 'email signature' with corresponding work address as the field. Half an hour before the 6:30 kickoff we discover the bus is in San Mateo and is hightailing it back to the City.

Chingford literally rolls of the bus in full kit, do a few hamstring stretches and off we go. As one would expect, Chingford was not fully prepared with their game plan, or hands. Knock-ons and scrums ruled the first half. Baracus scored a delight of a try after kicking forward and two Chingford backs both going for the ball take each other out. The winger retrieves the bouncing ball and dots down center post. This concludes the first half with Baracus up 10-0.

Chingford finally warmed up ready for the second half. They sorted out their arrangements and attacked with fury. I should add that both clubs were match fit and ready to go full steam for as long as it took.

A little into the second half, Chingford subs out a prop. The new guy looks like he's played a few games, puts on the old jersey then manages to singlehandedly demolish Baracus' scrum. This happened at every succeeding scrummage. Chingford had a great rolling maul in the corner and Bjorn was in perfect position to rule a try. He then finds a moment to tell me the subbed prop is none other than Jason Leonard. Ah, domination confirmed.

As the sun set, the clocked ticked zero. Baracus had a keg of America's finest (Pabst). Hopefully they treated them to better beer at the after party.

Moral of the story is...never pass up a touring side match. You may have the honor of telling Jason Leonard to get his bind on the jersey.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Apologies for the low-resolution telephone cam, but it’s all that was available to capture the moment: Bjorn Stumer, Preston Gordon, Stephanie Bruce, Jason Leonard and Tom Zanarini.

Propping up the Refs in the same folder as Hail Pelicus on the jump drive.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

WHET YOUR APPETITIES

2011-05-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

ANNUAL SOCIETY BANQUET

The 2011 NCRRS Banquet and Awards Ceremony will be held at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 25th. Drinks at six, dinner at seven, and they start turning the chairs over at eleven.

Those who are eligible for free kit (5 or more club/college games by assignment in the past season) are also eligible for free dinner. Drinks are on your own and guests are fifty dollars.

RSVP to Bjorn Stumer: stumer@comcast.net

CAN ANYONE REFEREE IN REDDING THIS WEEKEND?

There will be several teams playing a number of 20-minute halves. It’s nice up there this time of year. Let us know if you can help out. At present they don’t have any referees.

NORCAL SEVENS CALENDAR

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Mark your calendars and make your plans!

June 3-4 Santa Rosa Fijian Sevens (Friday-Saturday)
June 25 Palo Alto Sevens
July 2 Marist Sevens (somewhere in the Bay Area)
July 9 Palo Alto Sevens
July 16 Dunsmuir Sevens
July 23 Palo Alto Sevens
July 30 Nevada Sevens in Reno
August 6-7 USA Rugby Club Championships at Sheeran Field (Sat-Sun)
October 7-8 Fiji Day Sevens (Fri-Sat)

CR1 GAMES

OLYMPIC CLUB 26 – Los Angeles 12 Referee: George O’Neil
ARs: John Coppinger, Bruce Carter
#4: Bjorn Stumer

Old Mission Beach AC 15 – SACRAMENTO LIONS 30

PROVO 30 – Santa Monica 23

BELMONT SHORE 60 – Northside Tigers 7

These four winners advance to the round of sixteen in Chula Vista May 21-22.

PACIFIC COAST MEN’S D2 CLUB PLAYOFFS

SFGG 50 – Tempe 21 Referee: Mark Woods (Pacific Northwest)
ARs: Bret Reordan (Portland), Sasha Goodwin (Portland)
#4: Bjorn Stumer
Scoreboard Operator: Preston Gordon

FRESNO 32 – Eastside Tsunami 0 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
ARs: Bret Reordan (Portland), Sasha Goodwin (Portland)

SANTA ROSA 34 – Red Mountain 12
ARs: Lois Bukowski, Mike King

PORTLAND 20 – Oregon Rugby Sports Union 12
ARs: Lois Bukowski, Mike King

May 8
Pacific Coast Men's D2 3rd-Place Final
San Francisco Golden Gate 12 – SANTA ROSA 20
Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
ARs: Bret Reordan (Portland), Tasi Toala (Utah)
#4/5 Officials: Bjorn Stumer, Eric Rauscher

On a very windy but sunny 55F day at Sheeran Field on Treasure Island, NorCal #2 seed Santa Rosa battled NorCal #3 seed SFGG for the 3rd and final Pacific Coast playoff spot in the National Round of 16. Wind affected the play of both teams, but Santa Rosa played intelligently with the wind at their backs to lead 10-5 at half.

In the second half, Santa Rosa established structure through their forwards to nullify SFGG's wind advantage and scored twice to lead 20-5. SFGG made several athletic breaks, but missed numerous scoring opportunities due to handling errors and isolated ball-carriers. SFGG edged within 20-12 with 10 minutes remaining, but in the end, Santa Rosa played more controlled team rugby to win the match, 3 tries to 2. Much thanks to Bret and Tasi for their help as AR's and Bjorn and Eric as #4/5 officials. Also, thanks to Dave Williamson and Helen Markus for hosting BBQ dinner for the large group of Pacific Coast match officials on Saturday night.

Fresno, Santa Rosa and Portland all advance to the round of sixteen in Chula Vista May 21-22.

PACIFIC COAST MEN’S D3 CLUB PLAYOFFS
Report by Phil Akroyd

Saturday: Bud Bay 15 – 46 SOUTH VALLEY 46
I’d been checking the weather forecast all week for the Tucson area. Highs of 97 degrees and clear skies, so I was a little concerned about the heat and running two games on a potentially rock-hard field. When I arrived at the venue, I was pleasantly surprised as the field was firm, yet had moisture with a good breeze blowing each day. It was well lined and full-sized. I learned that a number of local rugby teams club together and pay the city to maintain it and it seem to be effective.

Bud Bay drove the 1,600 miles down from Olympia, WA, while South Valley drove from Morgan Hill for the second game of the day in the D3 Pac Coast playoff (the first being Camelback of Phoenix against Tucson Magpies – the Magpies won comfortably). Although South Valley is a Nor Cal team, I had not seen them in action. They were quite impressive.

South Valley dominated scrums, rucks, tackled hard and had a 10 that looked as though he had played at a much higher level in years gone by. They had a good blend of youth and experience and a significant weight advantage over Bud Bay. In contrast, Bud Bay had a problem with getting the ball in straight at lineouts, looked indecisive at the half-back positions and made many unforced errors. They gave away two interception tries, kicked badly and mis-handled.

South Valley were the kings of the set piece. They scored most of their points from scrums and fast tap-down lineout ball. They scored four tries by half time to one PK goal from Bud Bay (3 – 29 half-time score). It continued in the second half, although Bud Bay did pull back two tries, courtesy of poor penalty discipline in the final ten minutes from the NorCal boys. The result set up Sunday’s championship game at noon.

Sunday Championship Game: TUCSON MAGPIES 19 – South Valley 17

Not knowing too much about either team, it was difficult to infer any direction in which the Championship game would go. Given the performance on Saturday, South Valley looked good, but most people who watched the Magpies on Saturday were talking up the home side.

The Magpies went up after three minutes from a PK, then ten minutes later, scored a wonderful breakaway try down the right wing to score about halfway between the posts and corner flag. Not an easy kick, given the swirling wind, but it was made and the visitors were not happy. They didn’t seem as slick as the previous day and it wasn’t from lack of effort. Things just weren’t going their way. Things got worse six minutes later when South Valley conceded another penalty in the red zone that was also kicked successfully. South Valley were showing signs of self-destruction with a lack of discipline at the tackle ruck – off feet- and a lack of discipline in relation to cheap stuff off the ball.

South Valley responded with a try before half time which began a period where the momentum began to swing back to Valley. The Magpies lost their Captain and number 8 seconds before the break in a freakish injury. He was carrying the ball at speed and a Valley player did a tap-tackle around the 8’s knee. He dropped as though he had been shot in what could well have been a knee ligament type of injury.

Valley came out and scored another try fifteen minutes after half-time and the Magpies another PK, but at 16 -10 with just under fifteen minutes to play it was still up for grabs and obligingly the tinder box ignited as both teams realized that they needed to go out and win it.

The Magpies got over a period of being a man down (cynical play in the red zone) and South Valley were coming toward the end of a period of being a man down (high tackle during a promising attacking move). During more attacking play by Tucson, a Valley player was in the ruck and slapped the ball out of the Tucson 9’s hand, resulting in another period in the bin. As the card was being administered, I heard a significant amount of verbal abuse coming from the Valley touchline on the far side of the field. It continued and escalated and built to one of the players being restrained by his teammates while he pulled a flag out of the ground and marched toward the field of play. It was actually quite comical to watch, but then I realized that the waling banshee was the guy who had 30 seconds left on his yellow card… So he never came back on the field.

So with Valley down to 13 and Tucson in an attacking position, it looked like a good opportunity for them to extend their 16 – 10 lead. Not so, as Valley recovered possession and moved almost the entire length of the field to score in the left corner. Wow. Did not see that coming and neither did Tucson. Valley were one point down with the conversion yet to come from the kicker who had only made about two conversion in the entire weekend. So guess what, he made it from the sideline to put them up 16-17 with six left to play.

Solid play continued and Tucson continued to attack in the opposition half for several minutes. Tucson drove the ball forward and a Valley sub failed to roll after making a good tackle, creating another perfect PK opportunity in a kickable, but not easy position. The kick was good and Tucson regained the lead 19-17.

After the restart, a few phases came to nothing from the NorCal boys and the Arizonans put the ball out at the first opportunity to take an extremely hard fought win. The closeness of this game was something to behold and was played on just about the right side of feisty. Valley were obviously disappointed in the loss, but realized themselves that they self-destructed a little with indiscipline but Tucson battled far above their weight. Well played to both teams who now go on to Sweet 16s in Chula Vista in 2 weeks, with Tucson taking the higher seeding. And guess what I’m doing in 2 weeks? Reffing D3 Sweet 16s in Chula Vista. If it’s half as good as that game, it’ll be a good weekend.

PACIFIC COAST GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFF

AMAZONS 50 – Lowland 0 Referee: Stephanie Bruce
Sacramento Amazons defeated Lowland Girls 50-0. The field was atrocious, albeit because the grass had not been mowed, prompting jokes that balls might be lost in the field of play. This did however soften the impact of tackles it was like landing on a soft pillow.

The Amazons had way too much size for the Lowland girls to absorb. Both teams showed a lot of heart, but Lowland couldn't retain possession or absorb repeated tough runs by the Amazons. Good luck to the Sac girls at nationals.

COLLEGE PREMIER QUARTERFINALS

CALIFORNIA 43 – Life 10 Referee: Tim Luscombe
ARs: Tom Zanarini, John Pohlman
Cal will play Utah in the semis, next Saturday in Glendale, Colo.

ARKANSAS STATE 30 – St. Mary’s 17
Arkansas State will play BYU in the semis.

PACIFIC COAST HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

JESUIT 79 – Dixon 17

PLAY RUGBY USA COMES TO PELICANLAND

What: Play Rugby USA- California San Francisco, VIP Benefit & Silent Auction
When: Thursday, June 9th, 6 – 8 PM
Where: Pacific Union Club, 1000 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
Why: To support the development of Play Rugby USA programming for at-risk youth in the Bay Area

Play Rugby USA is introducing its unique youth development programs to the Bay Area this year. Please join us as together we look to create future opportunities for Bay Area youth through delivering our mission of "developing youth through rugby".
http://prusasfbenefit.charityhappenings.org/

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Hail, hail, the gang’s (mostly) all here, at the SFGG clubhouse May 7:
Left to right:
Standing: Bruce Bernstein, John Coppinger, Bernie Brown (Pacific Northwest), Brett Reordan (PNW), Peter Simpson (USA), Tasi Toala (Utah), Dixon Smith, Preston Gordon, Ed Parkin (Arizona), Bjorn Stumer, John Pohlman, Matt Eason
Sitting: Mark Woods (PNW), Tim Luscombe (USA), Aruna Ranaweera, Sasha Goodwin (PNW), Eric Rauscher
Kneeling: Bruce Carter
Outside or at the bar: Ray and Kat were there, George O’Neil, maybe a few more we’ve forgotten...

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

INFAMY AND IRON WILL

2011-05-03T20:58:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

From Hail, Pelicus for the week of September 11, 2001:

INFAMY AND IRON WILL

It was the bloodiest day on American soil since Antietam.

We lack the words properly to mourn and commemorate the missing and the dead or sufficiently to celebrate the heroism to be found in the skies of Pennsylvania or on the streets of Gotham, undoubtedly the greatest city in the world.

Our small family is even smaller now.

Spare a moment for the family, friends, loved ones and teammates of Mark Bingham. Mark played his rugby in high school, at Cal, with the Olympic Club and the San Francisco Fog.

Mark was aboard United flight 93, the one that was thwarted on its imposed mission of evil.

Those who knew him are convinced that he would have been with the other Bay Area heroes who made known that they were going to rush the cockpit.

Faced with terror beyond anything this nation had ever imagined, informed by the loved ones they telephoned that aircraft were being used as weapons of mass destruction, the doomed passengers of that fated flight VOTED to act.

No starker example of the strength of the system that our Founding Fathers invented on this orb two hundred and twenty-five years ago may be imagined. It may be contrasted with the methods of madness that led to these horrors.

The New York City rugby community is missing six members, including rescue and office workers.

No rugby folks that we know of are missing in the Pentagon.

We appreciate our friends and the sacrifice of strangers. Thank you. Rest in grace, rest in glory, rest in peace.

HOSTS NEEDED THIS WEEKEND

If you’ve been on exchange you’ve been dependant on the kindness of strangers. If you’d like to go on exchange you could earn valuable Exchange Points this weekend.

We’ll have a total of seven visiting referees, ARs and evaluators who need a place to hang their boots this weekend. All will be working at Treasure Island.

We could also use a few more refs – well, ARs really – so you could host, be someone’s ride, and get a run-around for some playoff games all at the same time.

Let us know.

UPCOMING AVAILABILITY NEEDED

Saturday MAY 14:
Three-way friendly in Redding. Get a jump on the summer fun!

PLAYOFF LAYOUT

Girls High School
April 30, NCYRA semi-finals, in Morgan Hill:
MOTHERLODE – Alameda Referee: Don Reardon
AMAZONS 42 – Bishop O’Dowd 7 Referee: Bruce Carter

Final: AMAZONS – Motherlode Referee: Drew Sagar (Vancouver, BC)

The Amazons are scheduled to host the Utah #1 finisher this Saturday in a Pacific Coast playoff game.

Boys Single-School
April 30, NCYRA final in Morgan Hill:
DIXON 31 – De La Salle 22 Referee: Bruce Carter

Dixon and Jesuit advance to the Pacific Coast playoffs in Sacramento this Friday and Saturday.

Boys U-19
April 29, NCYRA semi-finals in Morgan Hill:

GOLDEN GATE 38 – Hayward 15 Referee: Tom Zanarini
ARs: Preston Gordon, Stephanie Bruce
A beautiful Friday night on Treasure Island. A hard hitting well played semi-final. SFGG had the pace and skill to keep the win out of Hayward's reach. Many thanks to Preston & Stephanie for their assistance. Excellent job, as always.

JESUIT 20 – San Mateo 12 Referee: Andrew Lin (SoCal)
ARs: John Pohlman, Mark Richards (SoCal)

Final:
JESUIT – Golden Gate Referee: Sione Tanoa (Fiji)
We believe that Golden Gate will advance to the U19 track of the playoffs.

Men D2 College
April 30-May 1, Final four, in Pittsburgh, PA:
Sierra College lost to U. of Wisconsin, Whitewater, 20 – 29, in the national semifinal.

Women D1 College
April 29-May 1, Round of sixteen:
STANFORD 40 – Dartmouth 15
VIRGINIA 37 – UC Davis 17

Stanford lost to Penn State in the final.

Men D1 College
April 30-May 1, Round of sixteen, at UC Santa Barbara:
Stanford beat Northern Colorado, 33 – 12 in the regional semifinal, and then lost to UC Santa Barbara in the final.

Men D1 Club
April 30, Pacific Coast playoff game, in Reno:
EAST PALO ALTO BULLDOGS – Northside Tigers Referee: Jim Crenshaw
ARs: Lee Salgado, Phil Ulibarri
No report received.

Bulldogs will play next week in a CR1 game against a SoCal team.

ST. MARY’S – U. of California, Los Angeles Referee: Phil Akroyd
ARs: Tom Zanarini, Scott Wood
#4: Ron Decausemaker

Seconds: St. Mary’s – UCLA Referee: Tom Zanarini
UCLA informed St. Mary's Friday night at 9:00 pm that the B side will not travel. I found out when I arrived at the pitch. I wasn't too heartbroken since I had a great match the night before and was still AR'ing for Phil Akroyd in the A match.

PACIFIC COAST HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Report by Eric Rauscher:

Rather that describe each game I did individually, suffice it to say that this end-of-the-season Tournament displayed marked improvement over the games that I did at the KOT at the beginning of the season. The skill level has improved remarkably. Hats off to the coaches who take complete novices and put together competitive teams in just a few short months. The highlight for me was running AR for one of the girls’ championship playoffs.

These games were played on a field right next to a synth turf field with a chain link fence in between. There was a girls’ soccer game being played at the same time and the team beach was right next to the field the rugby game was on. I looked over and saw all of the girls sitting on the bench watching the rugby game rather than watching their teammates play a game of soccer!

Looking forward to seeing NorCal High School rugby only get better and better.

CDP GAME IN ELLENSBURG

CENTRAL WASHINGTON U 36 – San Diego State 27 Referee: Chris Tucker
AR: Dave Pelton, Bob Sproull (both Pacific NW)
Glorious day of rugby in Ellensburg, WA, as two well drilled, up for it teams went the full 80 with gusto and sportsmanship.

SDSU was out of the gate early, breaking through for a try after only 3 minutes and adding a penalty shortly thereafter. The game settled down after that, and the score just before the half was 22-7 in favour of the visitors.

CWU were pressing hard inside the 22, and the ball carrier chipped the fullback, who promptly took out the kicker, late and dangerously. He got the worst of it, however, injuring himself in the process. With him prostrate on the ground, the CWU captain called for a scrum, and with enough room for safety, we played on. Protests came that the game should be stopped to treat the fallen, but why do we need a fullback in a scrum? Feed, heel, pick, spin, score. 14-22 at the half.

2nd half opened brightly, with the home side scoring just before 1 minute was up. In total they managed 4 tries to the Aztec's 1, as the wind at their backs gave them a boost. Both sides could have scored more, with only last minute execution letting them down.
Final whistle went and several players went to ground, such was the furious pace of the last 10 minutes. Both sides left it all on the field, and your correspondent felt humbled to have had the best seat in the house. Thanks to David and Bob for their sterling work on the touchlines.

Back in the clubhouse, we got to chat to the umpires of the baseball game taking place on the next field over. First pitch was at the same time as our kickoff, and THEY WERE BACK IN THE CLUBHOUSE before we got there. When was the last time you went to a 9-inning baseball game that took 1hr 40 mins???? Apparently they have them on a watch, both between innings and between pitches. Exceed the watch, it's a ball. And if the coach complains? Well now that's arguing balls and strikes, and you get the thumb, no questions asked. Surprisingly, no-one argues, because no-one is ever late. Funny what a credible threat with no right of appeal will do...

MATCH REPORTS

SAN FRANCISCO GOLDEN GATE 95 – Dallas Harlequins 7
Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referees: John Coppinger, Cary Bertolone
Referee Performance Reviewer: Kat Todd-Schwartz
Referee Coach: Mike Geach (USA/Texas)

75F and sunny at Sheeran Field at Treasure Island for the final weekend of the RSL regular season. SFGG is unbeaten and has already clinched the #1 seed for the RSL West semi-finals; Dallas is winless. The many spectators in the bleachers witnessed a track meet as SFGG scored early and often to lead 45-7 at half and dominate the match, 15 tries to 1. The margin would have been larger had SFGG not made numerous unforced handling errors while running up the field. Thanks to John and Cary for their assistance during the match and Kat and Mike for their feedback afterwards.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Your writer celebrates on the weekend that Infamy met the Iron Will of our nation in a far corner of the world, almost ten years later.

(Photo courtesy of David Barpal. Touch flag courtesy of Ray Schwartz Outfitters.)

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

PLAYOFF PRECIS

2011-04-27T22:16:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PROMOTION

Stephanie Bruce has earned promotion to L2 on the basis on a fine showing in a D3 semifinal at the end of her first season with the whistle.

Long may she run!

SORRY I'M LATE

We normally get HP type-set and ready to run on Tuesday night-Wednesday morning.

However, this morning found the editorial staff atop Yosemite Falls, a brisk hike after a pre-dawn start finding knee deep snow, fresh air, and solitude broken only by squirrels. It's the antidote to civilization.

Now, where were we?

ONLY TWENTY-ONE FOR FREE KIT?

From Quartermaster Tom Zanarini:
“At this point I only have 21 responses for free kit. If you are doing a Hail, Pelicus! this week please include another blast for kit sizes. Give a May 1 deadline, hopefully that will light a fire to get responses in. Tell them it’s a $170 value.”

Who’s gonna pass up free Pelican swag?

Send your shorts and jersey sizes to: t_zanarini@yahoo.com

PLAYOFF LAYOUT

Girls High School
April 30, NCYRA semi-finals, in Morgan Hill:
2:30 PM AMAZONS – ALAMEDA
4 PM MOTHERLODE – BISHOP O’DOWN
(The final will be Sunday morning at ten.)

Boys Single-School
April 30, NCYRA final in Morgan Hill:
10 AM DIXON – DE LA SALLE

Boys U-19
April 29, NCYRA semi-finals in Morgan Hill:
4 PM HAYWARD –GOLDEN GATE
5:30 PM JESUIT –SAN MATEO
(The final will be Saturday at 1 PM.)

Women D2 College
SANTA CLARA lost in the round of sixteen April 16

Men D2 College
April 30-May 1, Final four, in Pittsburgh, PA:
SIERRA COLLEGE will play U. of Wisconsin, Whitewater

Women D1 College
April 29-May 1, Round of sixteen:
STANFORD will play Dartmouth in Buffalo, NY
UC DAVIS will play Virginia in Bowling Green, OH

Men D1 College
April 30-May 1, Round of sixteen, at UC Santa Barbara:
STANFORD will play Northern Colorado

College Premier Division
May 7, Quarter-finals:
CALIFORNIA will host Life College
ST. MARY’S will travel to Arkansas State

Men D3 Club
May 7-8, Pacific Coast Championships in Tucson:
SOUTH VALLEY plays Budd Bay and REDWOOD plays the Magpies

Both the USA Rugby and PCRFU websites don’t show the layout of the playoffs. Last year three Pacific Coast teams advanced to the nationals, but only won one first-round game and one loser game among them. It may be only two this year.

Men D2 Club
May 7-8, Pacific Coast Championships at Sheeran Field:
FRESNO, SANTA ROSA and SFGG COLTS will compete for three spots in the USA playoffs from among eight teams.

Men D1 Club
April 30, Pacific Coast playoff game, in Reno:
EAST PALO ALTO BULLDOGS will host Northside Tigers of Salt Lake City

May 7, Competitive Region One USA playoffs:
OLYMPIC CLUB will host the SoCal #4 finisher
The SACRAMENTO LIONS and the winner of the game in Reno will travel to SoCal.

Rugby Super League
May 14, Semi-final:
SF/GOLDEN GATE will host Old Puget Sound Beach

UPCOMING AVAILABILITY NEEDED

Saturday MAY 7:
Could use a few more refs; we need ARs, fifteens and Sevens refs.

Saturday MAY 14:
Three-way friendly in Redding. Get a jump on the summer fun!

Please let us know if you can help out. We’re still short.

PELICANS ABROAD

The flock is greatly diminished this weekend, by the absence of those with territorial and national appointments:

Phil Akroyd: St. Mary’s - UCLA
Joe Androvich: College men D1 playoffs in Santa Barbara
Paul Bretz: Army hosting Navy
Jim Crenshaw: EPA Bulldogs – Northside Tigers (Salt Lake City)
Matt Eason: Coaching Tim Luscombe at Air Force Academy
George O’Neil: Claremont – Cal Poly
Don Pattalock: College men D1 playoffs in Santa Barbara
Aruna Ranaweera: SFGG – Dallas super league
Pete Smith: Glendale – Denver Barbarians SL
Kat Todd-Schwartz: Evaluating Aruna’s game
Chris Tucker: Central Washington – San Diego State

This list needs to be a lot longer. Make it your goal to join our elite!

MATCH REPORTS

D3 championship:
SOUTH VALLEY 56 – Redwood Empire 10 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
ARs: John Coppinger, Tony Levitan
65F and partly sunny at the Morgan Hill Sports Complex with about 150 spectators on one sideline. The first half was a stop-and-start affair with neither team establishing structure and demonstrating a lack of discipline indicative of teams unaccustomed to being in the playoffs. South Valley was slightly more organized and lead 24-10 at the half. Under the watchful eyes of the AR's and thanks to effective intervention by the captains, both teams settled down in the second half and played more attractive rugby with better continuity and flow. With quicker ball movement, however, South Valley rattled off 32 unanswered points as Redwood was unable to keep pace. In the end, South Valley dominated, 9 tries to 1. Much thanks to John and Tony for their help as AR's, which was invaluable for this type of match.

Boys’ High School NCYRA Quarterfinals:

Friday
SAN MATEO over Cougar Rugby Club Referee: Preston Gordon

HAYWARD 48 – Dixon 46 Referee Eric Rauscher
What a game! As you can tell by the score, trys came in abundance. The size of the Hayward players was uniformly about 20/30 lbs more than the Dixon team. Hayward played a lot of pick and go and delivering the ball out for crashing runs by their backs. Dixon took what was on offer in the first half by way of penalty kicks and a penalty try (not back ten within 5m of goal). The score at the end of the first half had Hayward up by 27/13.

Dixon made adjustments for the second half and decided to get the ball out wide as quick and as often as possible. One memorable play by them was a quick throw in about 10 m from their own goal which was quickly distributed across field to one of their speedsters and 90 m later scored a try. They also had a little chip kick off of a ruck that was picked up and run in for a try. Dixon piled on 33 points in the second half but with Hayward putting up another 21 they were not able to pull ahead.

I had an instance of great sportsmanship on the Hayward side. The Dixon #3 barreled towards the goal line with a Hayward player in tow and reached out to dot the ball down right on the line. It hit the ground and bounced forward and there was general consensus among the players of both teams that it was a knock-on.

Hayward #13 came up to me and agreed that it was indeed a good try. It is exciting to see a player respect the play of his opposition.

This was the type of game that I wished both teams could have won. They were both winners in my eyes although only one gets to advance.

[Editor’s Note: This last clause of an otherwise-excellent report is not true. Due to the vagaries of having NorCal playoffs that lead into two separate USA competitions, U19 and single-school, both teams now advance to semi-finals that will be played this Friday afternoon, April 29, at the Morgan Hill Athletic Complex.]

JESUIT 42 – Peninsula Green 5 Referee: Phil Akroyd

Monday, April 25:
Marin Highlanders 9 – GOLDEN GATE 14 Referee: John Coppinger
SF/GG U19 met Marin U19 on the turf at Drake High in San Anselmo in a playoff match. It was one of the better games I have been privileged to referee this year as both teams came out attacking with ball in hand and playing intense in-your-face defense. In the first half, both teams concentrated their attack in the forwards and Marin was able to convert three penalty goal attempts into points to take a 9-0 lead at half. Tempers flared in the second half and a yellow card to Marin gave SF/GG some room and SF/GG began to take the ball wide stretching the Marin defense. SF/GG scored a converted try while up a man and added a second converted try to stake 14-9 lead. SF/GG then withstood an urgent and sustained Marin attack to hold on to win 14-9. It was a great game played by some great, well coached kids in front of big crowd.

Saturday
BA BARACUS 39 - Chico 31 Referee: Bruce Ricard
(This was a rain make-up fixture. Glad to see teams playing after the ‘season’ is ‘over’.)

Seconds: BA Baracus 19 – 19 Chico Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Another great second team, second division last match of their season two weeks in a row!

Tried my hardest not to have this happen by awarding Baracus a penalty from about 20 out with about 5 minutes left & they opted to not kick (nor score) & then Chico missed an even easier penalty kick from the same distance with about 2 minutes left.

And a Baracus wing tip toed down the sideline & almost scored form about 70 meters out with no time left, but I would have felt guilty if I didn't call him for barely touching the touch line around the fifty; resulting in a TIE.

Thanks for Dave Williamson watching me & giving me some positive feedback & some things to add to my repertoire.

DANVILLE 34 – Pleasanton 27 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
One of the great things we refs perhaps see better than anyone is how much high school teams improve over the season and how good they are at the end. This ''friendly'' for neighborhood bragging rights was a case in point. It has been a long season for both; Danville is pretty new and Pleasanton moved up to the tougher gold division this year. And yet they played their hearts out -with consummate skill.

Danville scores right out of the gate, within a minute, and leads 17 10 at half. It stays close. With about 7 minutes left Pleasanton get a nifty try the hard way and it is a two-point game. Danville returns the favor and is up by seven. The game ends with Pleasanton driving about 15 meters from paydirt, but dinged for a not-releasing penalty. Great game!

SOCAL REPORT

Jackie Finck’s biology career has her in the northern reaches of Southern California for an extended period, and she’s seconded herself to their society:

Men's Div II Finals
B-Side Kern County 22 – NC GURKHAS 52
Referee: Jackie Finck
Location: Standford Field, Bakersfield, CA

After AR'ing for the A-side match, I ref'd the B-side match; a 10's game with 20-minute halves. Most of the guys in the B-side match played in the A-side match, which meant they were pretty tired for the second game. Although both teams capitalized on creating space for scoring, it was the stamina of NC Gurkhas which outlasted and out-fatigued Kern County.

VISITING CANADIAN TEAMS

Thursday April 21
BISHOP O'DOWD 36 – Northwestern Huskies (Ontario) 24 Referee Eric Rauscher
AR: Bryant Byrnes
What a great game. Bishop O'Dowd is at the end of their season and at the top of their form. The Huskies are just now coming out of the snow, but play some very good rugby. Scoring see-sawed back and forth five times in the first half with BOD up by 17/10.

The second half was almost the same, but with BOD being able to put on an extra try in both halves, they won the game. Both teams played in the spirit of the game with not a hint of discord.

After the game there was a wonderful BBQ and presentation of awards (Jerseys and tee shirts). Yours truly is now the proud owner of a Bishop O'Dowd rugby tee shirt.

My thanks to Bryant Byrnes for doing double duty as both AR and a little bit of coaching.

BRYANT BYRNES
O'Dowd Girls 17 – Northwestern Huskies Girls 17

This was the front end of a double header. I am delighted to see high school girls touring with the boys.
[Editor’s note: Probably not as delighted as some of the boys!]

It was all Lady Dragons the first half and mostly Canada the second. At midpoint, the Dragons substituted in much of their bench and the Canadian lassies got their passing in sync.

Following the boys' match, the O'Dowd hosts put on a splendid feed-with speechifying and gifts. Our Canadian guests clearly felt the tour was off to a great start.

John Coppinger:
Saturday night, Piedmont hosted sides from Stratford, Ontario.

I ran the Stratford Girls/PITS Girls tilt with the help of Rich Anderson and a Piedmont senior. The Canadian side was more athletic and seasoned, and better organized and looked to attack from anywhere on the pitch. The match, played in a steady rain and in very good spirits, resulted in a 33-0 win for the visitors.

Rich Anderson handled the boys' match, with Matt Heafey and me as the ARs. It was a very physical game generally played in tight quarters and PITS battled to a 10-0 win.

Everyone seemed to have a great time, particularly the Canadian side, almost all of whom changed into shorts post-match, despite the rain and the chill. Better than snow, eh.

ELSIE ALLEN 34 – Stratford, Ontario, Canada 24 Referee: Mike King
The visitors having enjoyed time earlier in the trip with Bishop O’Dowd and Piedmont, were happy to wind up their tour in Santa Rosa, hosted by the Lobos. The match was hotly contested right out the gate, with battle lines drawn at each ruck and set piece. Stratford had a size advantage, but the Lobos gave no quarter. Both sides tried to pick and jam around the loose play, to no avail. The defense proved worthy to the task. Elsie Allen then began to mix hard straight running to set up the second phase of spinning to the backs wide. Coupled with the excellent passing and some fine open field running, they were able to open up at 24-5 lead, only to see a converted try scored off their miscues just before half to make it 24-12. It seemed again that the Lobos had the stronger attack in the second half. They proved their own worst enemies at times, stopping some fine multi-phase rugby with miscues or penalties. The lead was stretched to 34-17, but it seemed at times that it would be more. The match finished on a penalty try for repeated penalties near the try line that thwarted Stafford from converting. While aggressive rugby may have led to few points for the visitors, it certainly led to more points for the hosts.

Saturday, April 16:
Seconds: Fresno 12 – SFGG COLTS 49 Referee: Bill Long
ARs: Ben Bravo, Bruce Carter
Well, both teams seemed energized to play a full forty twice, as it was the last game of the regular season, and I was expecting a good match. I was disappointed. With Bruce Carter and his Grandson Ben running touch the game was well covered and I received some great pointers during and after the game thanks to Bruce and his headsets. Fresno scored first 3 minutes into the game and GG answered 4 minutes later and from then on out it was GG with 8 more tries and Fresno could only answer one. 32 GG 5 Fresno at the half. 49 GG 12 Fresno at the end. 20 minutes short due to some extracurricular activity that took place in the middle of the 2nd half.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

WHEN GAMES MATTER MOST

2011-04-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

PROMOTION

Tony Levitan has earned promotion to L2. Congratulations are in order!

The Referee Development Committee is aware that there were significantly fewer promotions among the flock this year than in most.

We do not feel this is due to a lack of accomplishment and progression on the part of our referees, but rather a relative lack of evaluators and other report-writers, without which these promotions do not happen. They are the coin of the realm.

You can help: become a referee coach and/or an evaluator. Let us know of your interest.

No matter how good a referee is, without formal recognition and recording of his worth he cannot advance.

The more qualified and dedicated referee assessors we have, the farther our members can go in their careers.

You do not have to stop refereeing in order to give back in this manner. Please consider it.

UPCOMING AVAILABILITY NEEDED

Saturday MAY 7:
We still need another six to eight referees for this weekend.

CR 1 match needing ARs
CDP quarter-final needing ARs
ARs for the Pacific Coast D2 playoffs at Sheeran Field, Saturday and Sunday
Sevens tournament in Santa Rosa
Girls’ HS playoff
Friendly club matches

Friday-Saturday MAY 13-14:
College finals at Stanford, men and women, D1 and D2
Need ARs and fourth officials for Friday and Saturday
Super-league semi-final needing ARs
Club friendly games

Please let us know if you can help out. We’re still short.

RUGBY GAMES GALORE

Friday
SANTA ROSA JC 70 – Sonoma State University 0 Referee: Cary Bertolone
A newly formed team, Sonoma State had new rugby shirts passed out before this inaugural meeting between schools that are only 10 minutes apart. They also had nice, new team jerseys, a couple of coaches with great attitudes and a lot of bodies. Some of their players were experienced, and some were new to the game. If the coaches stick with it, this team will be good.

Unfortunately for them, SRJC is a really good team. I modified are scrums to "contested in the engagement and hook, but no pushing more than 6 inches". I made it up, so Sonoma State could practice the engagement, but not get pushed off the ball every time. SRJC was only up 21-0 at the half, so Sonoma State was playing pretty good rugby, rucking for the ball for second and third phase offense. Two of the best players on the field (SRJC #8 Bryce Paulson and a lock for Sonoma State) had to leave, early in the game, from split foreheads from a nasty collision.

In the second half, SRJC started hitting on all cylinders and ran away with it, but Sonoma State had great attitudes and it was a fun late afternoon game at For Pete's Sake field in Santa Rosa.

Friday:
AT STANFORD PC Playoffs College Women D1

UC Davis 22 – BYU 45 Referee: Pete Smith
ARs: John Pohlman, Eric Rauscher
#4: Ellen Owens

STANFORD 38 – Chico State 5 Referee: Preston Gordon
ARs: Stephanie Bruce, John Pohlman
#4: Ellen Owens

Saturday:
Third-place: UC DAVIS 22 – Chico State 20 Referee: Pete Smith
ARs: Sandy Robertson, Mike King
#4 Ellen Owens

Championship: Stanford 7 – BYU 24 Referee: Preston Gordon
ARs: Sandy Robertson, Mike King
#4: Ellen Owens

Stanford and UC Davis both advance, along with BYU of course, to the USA round of sixteen playoffs back East at the end of the month.

USA COLLEGE WOMEN D2
In the USA D2 Women’s College playoffs, Santa Clara lost to Shippensburg 38-17 in the round of sixteen.

USA COLLEGE MEN D2
#4 Sierra defeated Cal State Long Beach 44-13, and then defeated Pepperdine 32-17 to advance to the nationals at the end of month.

#6 Cal Maritime escaped a determined #4 St. Louis University team 31-10 but then lost to a dominant Wisconsin-Whitewater 19-36.

D2 FINISHES THE SEASON

Well, there’s one rain-out game that will be played April 23, but the playoff participants have been determined: Fresno, Santa Rosa and SFGG Colts will advance to the PC playoffs at Sheeran Field May 7-8.

Vacaville 8 – DIABLO GAELS 34 Referee: Sean Peters
AR: Ray Schwartz
"Saturday is a rugby day!" A perfect day in Vacaville, they hosted the Diablo Gaels. I arrived early and got to watch both teams arrive, Diablo Gaels walked in all together which you really don't see anymore (great organization). After talking to both sides’ captains, the game was on. Right off Vacaville started fast, and were attacking going forward down the field and ending up with 3 points. The Gaels also marched down the field and ended up with a penalty kick in front of the try line 3-3. This looked like this was going to be a tight game.

Then the Gaels big forward pack started to control the scrums by pushing the smaller Vacaville pack. Which opened a lot of room for the Gaels to move the ball around and put up a couple more trys before half 24-3.

In the second half Diablo seemed to win most of the rucks, by either attacking or defending. They also were still winning the scrums, but was caught with a overload and Vacaville made them pay for it with try. But wait, it wasn't over. The Gaels came back and scored 2 more trys to put the game away. FINAL 34 -8 Diablo Gaels

Seconds: Vacaville – Diablo Gaels Referee: Ray Schwartz
No report received.

SANTA ROSA 83 – Chico 33 Referee: Cary Bertolone
Santa Rosa scored the first two tries (in the first 8 minutes) and I thought it was going to be a one sided affair. Chico changed my mind when they retaliated for long tries that made it a seesaw scoring affair with Chico on top 26-24 at the half.

Santa Rosa stopped knocking it on in the second half, and remembered how to tackle, scoring a try about every 4-5 minutes, nine of them in the second half alone, for a convincing final score of 83-33.

Seconds: SANTA ROSA 19 – Chico 3 Referee: Bjorn Stumer
As Chico traveled short, most of the A side players soldiered on for an additional 40 minutes under a hot sun at the For Pete Sake field in Santa Rosa. The hosts however had a full side determined to play in what was their last match of the season. Regardless of circumstances, Chico gave Santa Rosa a good game and fought valiantly throughout. Final score: Santa Rosa B 19 (5), Chico B 3 (0) obtained through a drop kick towards the end. This was a good, clean match that could have well ended quite differently had Chico traveled with a few more folks. Good fun!

Fresno 28 – SFGG COLTS 50 Referee: Bruce Carter
ARs: Bill Long, Ben Bravo
It was predicted to be eighty degrees in Fresno on Saturday. During the match it was very hot; then the clouds came in, it cooled off, and by the time it was nice out after the seconds’ match, it had dropped to 82.

From the Pelican Nest, Fresno’s pitch is only thirty miles farther than Golden Gate’s. At six bucks to cross the Bay Bridge and only five to park at the Fresno Regional Sports Complex, my AR and I saved a dollar.

The drive over the Pacheco Pass is spectacular this time of year. It is, of course, springtime on both sides of the coastal ranges but temperature differences start to tell around this time of the year as you crest the hill and view the Central Valley. Time to pull over, put the top down, and invite the world in.

The reservoir is full up, as my mother would have said, the waters licking the roadside as you curve around the rim.

Clouds try to hide from the wind, darting here and there, adding a checkerboard of shadows atop that of the crops and orchards.

And on trips to Fresno there’s always one thing to look forward to: Valley Pistachio just off Highway 99 at Avenue 20. It’s the Baskin-Robbins of nuts, with samples of all varieties, as well as the other bounty of the most productive agricultural region in the world. There’s a winery attached if you have company along, or are stopping on the way home.

Golden Gate’s team bus arrived at the pitch just as we did, with more than an hour to spare and pitch preparations nearly finished by the home fifteen.

The game was going to be big. Unofficial standings compiled by the Fact-Checker (uh-oh) suggested that Fresno had no losses, having defeated the other previously-unbeaten team the weekend before in Santa Rosa. And Santa Rosa had given Golden Gate its only loss in a freezing downpour only four weeks before this day’s scorcher.

So: Fresno in first at 8 – 0, then Rosa with a record of 7 – 1 and Gate at 6 – 1, their rain-out game with Marin not having been played or rescheduled. Even though these top three move on to the Pacific Coast playoffs, jockeying for playoff position is an exciting sport to referee.

And how!

Walking the pitch with young Bravo pre-match, I noted the thick and heavy dotted five-meter line, explaining to my apprentice that ‘someone will think they’ve scored a try on this line today’.

This was one of those late-season games that begin in the middle: teams have their warmups perfected, they have their patterns, they’ve had enough of referees suggesting to them how to play by blowing early penalties and they’ve learned that the best way to win is not to feel your opponent out but to attack. Off we go.

The first half was very even. Fresno scored after ten minutes, Gate after twenty. In an omen for the future, Gate then scored again a minute later. But then they traded tries and Fresno scored at the end of the first half, 3 – 3 tries with Fresno having made all of their kicks for a 21 – 19 lead.

Exciting stuff. Five minutes to wash the running sun-block from my eyes, review the course of play with my ARs, and suck down all the warm Gatorade I could find.

But the second half was a different breed of cat than the first: Gate won five trys to one.

However, we did get our try ‘scored’ at the five-meter line. The Gate left wing broke, juked, and saw the line. The referee saw the line and realized it was the wrong one.

The player belly-flopped with the ball underneath. The referee announced very loudly into his ear: RELEASE AND ROLL AWAY.

The player rolled over and away, from the look on his face as much to argue as anything else. But as he did so his captain and scrumhalf, Westy, picked up the ball and went the further five to score.

All in all, a good day of rugby with plenty of pistachios for munching on the way home.

Seconds: Fresno – SFGG COLTS Referee: Bill Long
ARs: Bruce Carter, Ben Bravo
No report received.

MARIN REDS 37 – Berkeley 31 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Evaluator: Dixon Smith
This was a game between teams at the bottom of the stack, but both teams played as if it had playoff potential. The play was of a high quality with both teams scoring on a regular basis. Berkeley pretty much dominated the first half, outscoring Marin 24 to 10. Marin reversed the trend in the second half with a total of 27 to Berkeley's 7. Berkeley scored a converted try at full time to make the final total to just a six point difference.

The social after wards at the Flatiron in San Rafael was a wonderful way to finish the last game of the season.

Looking forward to seeing both teams next year move up the rankings.

Seconds: Marin 12 – BERKELEY 17 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Had a real good time watching two close matches with each team taking turns scoring & singing at the party highlighted by 2 Marin players as old as me shooting the boot correctly as opposed to Berkeley's less experienced drinkers/spillers.

Seahawks 13 – BA BARACUS 41 Referee: Rich Anderson

Seconds: SEAHAWKS 31 – BA Baracus 27 Referee: Tony Levitan
A great run in an ultra-competitive second side match, played with full 40-minute halves at the behest of both clubs, eager as they were to give their boys an earnest rugby outing... which frankly speaking, was a wonderful change from a rag-tag, half-hearted first division B-side match I reffed earlier in the season. At 5 tries each, 2 additional conversions by San Jose made the difference in the final tally.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with the Seahawks drawing first and second blood, the latter try converted. After trading scores, Baracus' try with 8 minutes remaining in the half was a work of art, running through at least 10 phases of recycled ball before being dotted down. A third Baracus score at the halftime whistle brought us to 19-15, San Jose.

Baracus jumped out quickly in the second half, scoring with less than 2 minutes gone. The Seahawks regained the lead 7 minutes later, only to give it up again just less than halfway through the half with what would prove to be the final Baracus points of the day. San Jose scored the match's 10th try while playing a man up. Once back at full strength, Baracus made a furious effort only to be met by staunch Seahawks resistance, both sides running up and down the firm pitch in juking bursts with quality support. Stout defense and intense pressure by both sides generated somewhat ragged, less fluid play at the close. After four lead changes over the course of the 80 minutes, San Jose held on to win 31 (5 tries, 3 conversions) to 27 (5 tries, 1 conversion).

D3 PLAYOFFS SEMIS

Colusa 20 – REDWOOD 24 Referee: Tom Zanarini
This came down to conversion points. Redwood made 2 of 4, Colusa made 0 of 4. Great match to referee. Congratulations to Redwood for making the final and to Colusa for a massive first season. Once again, they had around 250 fans in support.

SOUTH VALLEY 42 – Vallejo 3 Referee: Stephanie Bruce
Evaluator: David Williamson
No report received.

South Valley will host Redwood this coming Saturday for the league championship.

Fog women TENS round robin
Referee: Ed Mortlock
FOG 55 – Shehawks 5
Fog 12 – AMAZONS 17
Shehawks 12 – AMAZONS 24

UC Davis 12 – CAL POLY 48 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
ARs: John Pohlman, Jordan Bruno
Week 7 of the College Premier Division (CPD) included Picnic Day at UC Davis: sunny 80F with lots of onlookers in the bleachers and all around the field. 30 minutes into the game, the score was deadlocked 5-5 before Cal Poly edged ahead 17-5 at half. In the second half, Cal Poly used their size advantage to control the forward encounters, which opened up lots of space for their backs. In the final count, Cal Poly won comfortably, 8 tries to 2. Much thanks to John and Jordan for doing a nice job as AR's.

SUNDAY
UC Santa Cruz 24 – CALIFORNIA frosh/soph 87 Referee: James Hinkin
A picture-postcard day in Santa Cruz saw the Young Bears overpower UCSC. The Slugs competed gamely and scored some opportunistic tries off of Cal mistakes (namely, interceptions) but could not stop the Cal Machine when it got moving. The score was lopsided but the game was played in good spirit aside from one unsavory incident. The offender was duly punished and play moved on. Rugby was accomplished at every level and I got my first Official Sunburn of the dry season. Pity it is raining as I type this.

REPORT FROM APRIL 9:
Report from McGeorge Alumni match
Danny Nunn Park, Sacramento, Field #2
Ref: Ray Schwartz

I handled a decent McGeorge side at Baracus 10s back in October, but otherwise had not seen or heard much from them in years, and so did not know what to expect. Frankly, I wondered if the game would even get played, but took the local assignment and gave it my best shot.

With a noon kickoff, I was dismayed to find no field markings or goalposts on a hard and rutty pitch. But McGeorge was there (their coach Darren is a good guy), and the alumni was slowly starting to roll in as well. A former co-worker of Kat's greeted me on the sidelines, "Mr. Kat Todd!" Matt Eason rolled up with my two ARs in tow. Mike Chaput and several other old boys had been my former teammate or rival and we had fun saying hi. Eventually the game started a bit late, with cones located at key points (still no flags or paint) but we had 30 eager players, a thriving crowd, and plenty of subs still arriving.

Seems the alumni all flew in the day before and dedicated a new rugby room on campus (upstairs in the library!?). Many had been out until the wee hours. And some played like it, but some hard-hitting, spirited play ensued. Jeff Lusich showed w/ his young son Chris, who booted up to inject some youth into the old boys. He would score twice to help keep the game close.

By the 3rd 20-minute period the alumni were withering, but peaked out at 18 on the pitch to help slow the young boys attack. The McGeorge Captain, Garrett, had a convincing breakaway run up the middle which immediately got blown, "You're too young and too strong to not pass!" No one argued with my call. Otherwise the game was pretty close. A total of 70 minutes were played, w// Jeff Lusich handling the last ten. But this is where the story really starts.

I made my way over to watch Don Pattalock finish up the Sac Lions win over the Capitals (on the adjacent field). Saw and said hi to Tony Latu, Rich Anderson and many others, then off to the swimming pool at McGeorge. Nice crowd, nice BBQ and keg, and over $4,000 was raised for the club from a simple pass of the hat. Suddenly Matt Eason was the ringleader getting many to "shoot the boot," starting w/ Lusich and I for letting the young boys win. Good rugby songs and camaraderie ensued.

Home for a quick change, and then back out to meet the alumni at the free cocktail hour at the Embassy Suites Old Town. From there we headed for a stroll and ended up w/ a fabulous dinner in a private dining room at Rio City Cafe. With Kat out of town in a blizzard in Salt Lake City, I was free to relax and enjoy a great day with some top company. Well done McGeorge! And what a beautiful day!

HIGH SCHOOL GAMES

Tuesday, April 12
Berkeley Rhinos 0 – LAMORINDA 48 Referee: Eric Rauscher
This was truly a game of two halves. In the first half, Lamorinda only scored one converted try. The play was pretty even and it looked to be a very close game. I am not sure what happened at the half time break, but Lamorinda came out like a team on fire and scored about every time they got the ball.

I called the game early due to Berkeley being down two men (Yellow cards for late tackles) and there really being no point to drag it out. If only the second half had been like the first.

Friday, April 15
Jesse Williams Cup at Elsie Allen
Elsie Allen 12 – SANTA ROSA/NEWMAN 20 Referee: Sean Peters
Friday night under the lights at Else Allen High School. The Lobos vs the Santa Rosa / Newman, for the Jesse William cup.

Jesse William was a Santa Rosa rugby player who was killed in the line of duty in the war in Iraq. Jesse William's father came out and spoke on behalf of his son, that was followed by the EAHS choir signing the Star-Spangled Banner and the presence of our U.S Army was a spectacular event to unfold.

The Lobos came out hard and fast, but Santa Rosa had the same plan scoring the first try of the game 7-0. Then Lobos answered with a try of their own Both teams were hard hitting and not backing down from one another. 12 - 10 at the half.

Second half was just like the first half both teams determined to out ruck the other. Santa Rosa had some great runs from their big forward pack, which lead up to 2 more trys. When all said and done, both teams are ready for their play-offs. FINAL 12 - 20 Santa Rosa / Newman.

Saturday
SKYHAWK CHAMPIONSHIP
SAN MATEO 27 – Peninsula Green 7 Referee: James Hinkin
A close game at the half with a score of 10-7 San Mateo opened it up in the second half. Pen Green had no answer to the pace and skill of the San Mateo backs who took over for the final period. Pen Green battled hard and had several breaks but could not convert as scramble defense caught up to them.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

John Pohlman enjoys the attentions of Colusa’s Referee Support Team

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

WHO WANTS FREE KIT?

2011-04-14T09:41:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

MEETING TONIGHT

The final NCRRS meeting of the 2011 rugby season will be tonight from 7-9 at the Golden Gate clubhouse on Treasure Island.

Please join us! Food will be laid on from 6 PM.

NEW KIT COMING

If you are an NCRRS member who has refereed at least 5 matches by appointment (club and college matches – we don’t appoint high schools and youth), you’ll be getting some new kit.

Send your shirt and short sizes for the new kit to Tom Zanarini: t_zanarini@yahoo.com

Jerseys are traditional cut and shorts are sized by the waist in inches.

CARTER'S LAW

As the busy season will be over come May, your assignor has crystalized some thoughts about the assignments process:

The number of referees available is always 10-20% less than the number of games that need referees.

Corollary:
When referees become unavailable after the schedule is made, one of them will always be the referee with the most remote game.

The corollary NEVER fails.

MAYBE YOU CAN DOUBLE UP?

Everyone who said they were available this Saturday, April 16, got a game or an AR assignment.

But of course, we are short. We have one fellow doing three games, but they are short tournament games.

More than that, we need ARs for the Pacific Coast women's college D1 playoffs at Stanford:

FRIDAY
5:30 PM UC Davis – BYU Referee: Pete Smith
7:00 PM Stanford – Chico State Referee: Preston Gordon

SATURDAY
5 PM Third place: winner goes to the USA round of sixteen, loser goes home
7 PM Championships: both teams advance to the nationals

Please let us know if you can stop by Stanford on Friday or Saturday evening and help out.

UPCOMING AVAILABILITY NEEDED

Friday, April 29: NorCal high school playoff games in Morgan Hill in the afternoon
(We’ve had a good response for the tournament on April 30-May 1. Thank you.)

Saturday May 7:
Lots of referees needed:
Sevens tournament in Santa Rosa
Girls’ HS playoff
CR 1 match needing ARs
Friendly club matches
ARs for the Pacific Coast D2 playoffs at Sheeran Field, Saturday and Sunday

Friday-Saturday May 13-14:
College finals at Stanford, men and women, D1 and D2
Need ARs and fourth officials for Friday and Saturday

Please let us know if you can help out. We can’t do this without you.

COLLEGE RUGBY HIGHLIGHTS: PLUG INTO RUGBY

From Matt Trenary, with USA Rugby:
Love reading your blog, Bruce. Figured you and the rest of the NorCal refs would enjoy seeing the Cal/SMC highlights:
http://cr-films.blogspot.com/2011/04/cpd-pacific-cal-vs-st-marys.html

Matt Trenary
College Rugby Films
http://cr-films.blogspot.com/

RUGBY GAMES GALORE

Thursday
Santa Rosa JC 21 – CALIFORNIA frosh/soph 31 Referee: Tom Zanarini
(halftime tied at 14)
ARs: Rob Hendrickson, Mike King
For Pete's Sake Field was reborn in very good condition after the mudbath/rugby match from two weeks ago. The grass was long and the field was as flat and firm as could be expected. My compliments to the groundskeepers.

A Thursday night match is a welcome invitation to take a half day off work, and this match did not disappoint. No team dominated possession, most tries were breakaway affairs. Hard rucking and a lot of mauling all match long.

Thanks to Rob and Mike for minding the lines and providing great support.

Saturday

D3 PLAYOFFS
The quarter-finals were played last Saturday.

D3 SEMI-FINALS APRIL 16
Colusa County – Redwood Empire Referee: Tom Zanarini
South Valley – Vallejo Referee: Stephanie Bruce

COLUSA 25 – Monterey 20 Referee: John Pohlman
TJ's from the teams
Colusa hosted Monterey in the first round of the Third Division playoffs this past Saturday in Colusa. Game time was scheduled for 1:30PM to make sure the Monterey team had time to make the drive.

I arrived around 11:30 and took a drive around Colusa. My first time in Colusa a pretty, farming community of 5,000 on the Sacramento river. Lots of old Victorians and loads of trucks.

Both teams arrived before noon and so a 1:00 kick-off was agreed upon. Monterey looked to have more than 20 players and Colusa looked to be able to almost field two sides.

Colusa had outstanding fan support. 200 plus fans had gathered, most with Colusa tee-shirts. Colusa won the toss and decided to choose ends.

Early on I realized this was going to be a competitive match. Monterey having a stud Samoan center with Australian and English second rows. Monterey captain Alex Doseff was my man of the match scoring two tries and strategically leading his team.

Colusa on the other hand had passion, commitment and a desire to play a very physical game. Most of their players had not played rugby prior to this season.

The passion showed through by the 6 or so Mohawk haircuts. A few had colored their Mohawks green, Colusa and Monterey colors. And winger Chad Bunner had the hat trick with a green Mohawk and face painted.

Monterey captain Alex started the scoring with a penalty 6 minutes in. Colusa's aggression made the tackle a challenge. Through the gates, on your feet and no shoulder charges when cleaning out were my first priority. The good news was that the players were quick to learn and the penalty count was pretty low for a third division game.

Monterey #6 Chris Leon scored at 22 minutes for an 8-0 Monterey lead.

Colusa was starting to question themselves, having a 7-0 record, playing at home
and all.

The Colusa aggression paid off when hard charging prop Shane Cabrel took a penalty from 15 meters out and broke a few tackles for Colusa's first try. Cabrel ran hard all day. If possible he could make a great inside center.

At 31 minutes one of the more experienced players #8 Cody Beckley who played for the Sacramento Capitals for a few years scored a converted try for Colusa's first lead of the day.

Five minutes later #9 Alex Doseff got his first try of the day weaving through traffic and out pacing the defense to put Monterey back on top at half time.

Monterey 15 Colusa 12.

Eight minutes in Colusa finally spun the ball wide to winger Lukas Polit, the fastest player on the field who turned a quick corner for a try and another Colusa lead.

Colusa 17 Monterey 15.

Monterey had a few scoring opportunities in the next 20 minutes but great tackling
And cover defense stopped any scores.

Monterey #12 Lui Maaola made a number of great runs only to be finally brought down. Monterey scored their final try of the day at 27 minutes.

Monterey 20- Colusa 17.

Colusa turned frantic wanting the win. The fans were cheering with all their lungs. #10 Morgan Marengo, another experienced Colusa player tied the score with a penalty at 30 minutes.

Monterey continued to control possession and were knocking at the try line for the next five minutes. Unfortunately Monterey #10 Huston Hedinger got into a pushy-pushy confrontation with his opposite.

Huston tried to rip his arm free then threw a light punch to the arm. All of this, I could live with except for the following two punches, still to the arm, but a yellow was necessary.

Colusa kicked downfield and applied pressure to Monterey. A couple of minutes of this pressure led to an ill-advised kick which was caught by Colusa's faster player winger Polit who again put on the gas and scored the final try as time ran out.

Wow, what an exciting end!

Thanks for a fun game and after party. The Colusa fans really stood out.

SOUTH VALLEY 121 – Reno 0 Referee: Pete Smith
Reno did not bring a full complement of player, just as South Valley is hitting their stride.

SF Fog 12 – REDWOOD 50 Referee: Cary Bertolone
On a clear, but windy day at Treasure Island, Redwood wasted little time, scoring their first try at 1:01 PM by an upfield move by their flyhalf that reeled in 50 meters and 5 points. Two more trys by unimpeded runners had the score 19-0 after 7 minutes. It was 38-0 at the half. In the second half, the Fog started to tackle the Redwood runners, which slowed the scoring down. Redwood and the Fog each scored two tries for a much closer second half and a 50-12 final score. No red cards, no yellow cards, no dangerous play; good sportsmanship from both clubs!! The game finished just in time for some of us to see the super league game between Golden Gate and Denver.

VALLEJO 33 – Stanislaus 20 Referee: Bruce Carter
AR: Jim Crenshaw
Morton Field is another pearl on the string of fine Northern California rugby facilities. Vallejo and the Diablo Gaels use it as a home pitch; their industry and loving care are evident.

Big, flat and green – what else do we need? How about: grandstands, a press box, scoreboard and clock, changing shed, concessions including bake sale, raffle, bone marrow donation volunteer tent and plenty of fans?

Oh – and a flagpole rescued from the deck of a Navy ship proudly perched on the northwest corner of the property!

We took the field after Donal Walsh refereed the Berkeley girls’ game with Dixon, the first of four games on the day.

Both teams were keen to win, warming up early and ready to roll almost before the referee, who had to borrow shorts and a whistle from his AR (insert two separate long stories).

Matter of fact, one player carped a bit more than the referee is used to. When challenged he said, “We just don’t like losing,” a sentiment anyone who ever played the game will understand and probably the best answer in the circumstances.

The home crowd was treated to a victory which had to be preserved without the services of Vallejo’s quite capable fullback, who was issued a red card at the end of the first half. Stanislaus converted a penalty kick on this occasion from near touch, forty meters out, to trail 23-6 at the half.

Stanislaus had the better of the second half on the strength of their kicker, converting both of their tries to Vallejo’s two unconverted.

Penelope Pelicus accompanied the referee, joined by an old Army buddy who is a nurse in Fairfield. The two women took the Bryant Byrnes-recommended tour of Mare Island while the rugby proceeded, and then an impromptu date was arranged as Jim Crenshaw joined in, four for a lovely late lunch across the Carquinez Strait at the Dead Fish.

Sorry, Bryant. All that scene-setting and he didn’t get any ARs…

SFGG SL 50 – Denver Barbarians 24 Referee: Joe Androvich
ARs: Tom Zanarini, Scott Wood

Sac Capitals 26 – SAC LIONS 31 Referee: Don Pattalock
AR: Rich Anderson, Tony Latu
Report by #4, Chris Tucker
4th official for the first time in earnest this season thanks to irritating injuries on both legs -- couldn't even limp around the pitch. Still, time to brush up on law 3, and good job I did. Not one, but two out-of-the-ordinary situations came up. First Lions sin-bin was a prop, on as a replacement for a flanker in the blood bin. Second, 2 minutes later, was another prop. Not only can the blood-bin not come back on, but we have uncontested scrums (Lions declared only 22 on their roster.)

As it was, Donny got the scrums right, the blood bin stayed off anyway, so the knowledge was only useful to know we were doing it right. And I got to watch a thoroughly entertaining game from a great vantage point. Lions pulled it out in the end as the Caps made key errors as time wound down. The final straw being late in the game, on top of the Lions goal line, with penalty advantage on, the Caps scrum half decided to stamp on the offending player, thereby reversing the penalty, ending his afternoon and the last attacking opportunity for his team. Reminds me of a great expression I saw used by the ref in the LV Cup: 'I'll move him, you be careful where you put your feet.' Wise words.

Seconds: SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 24 - Sacramento Lions 12 Referee: Rich Anderson

BARBARIANS 29 – EPA Razorbacks 26 Referee: James Hinkin
First Half ARs: Preston Gordon, Bruce Ricard
Scheduling conflicts meant that this match was to be played at San Mateo HS after the conclusion of the San Mateo – Olympic Club match so a late kickoff was on the offering. Many thanks go out to Preston and Bruce for performing as ARs in the first half until other engagements took them away. This was a fast, exciting match that saw the first half dominated by breakaway tries. EPA scored first to start the scoring and the Barbarians responded with a try out wide to bring the score to 7-5. This set up the pattern for the day as each side started politely taking turns scoring tries. EPA ended that half up 21-12 as they were able to start and finish the scoring.

Showing good sportsmanship both teams continued to take turns scoring with the Barbarians taking the first turn this time. EPA’s lone try came after a dancing run from their flyhalf but was not centered so the conversion was wide which meant that the match went into the final 5 minutes tied 26-26. A penalty against EPA at the 10 meter line for not rolling away was taken quickly and the ensuing not back 10 penalty moved the spot to a kickable range for the only penalty goal of the match and set up a rousing finish. With seconds remaining the Barbarians had another penalty kick missed that set up a final play starting with a 22 dropout. EPA recovered the kick and started setting up the phases until a knock on put the ball in the Barbarian’s hands and they promptly kicked the ball out to end the game.

Seconds: BAY BARBARIANS 28 - EPA Razorback 24 Ref: Hinkin
With the field permit technically expired the captains agreed to a B side match of 7s. This was played in a great spirit with both sides laughing their way through and some nifty sidestepping. Both teams scored 4 tries – the Barbarians centered theirs for the win. After the match it was generally agreed that summer has officially started and that nobody was in shape to play 7s yet.

(SPEAKING OF WHICH: Mark your calendars for the Palo Alto Summer Sevens on June 25, July 9 and July 23.)

San Mateo 7 – OLYMPIC CLUB 36 Referee: Preston Gordon
ARs: Bruce Ricard, Jordan Bruno
I managed to get in another half as an AR (with Bruce Ricard) for James Hinkin's Barbarians-EPA game, too.

Seconds: San Mateo 0 – OLYMIC CLUB 69 Referee: Jordan Bruno

DIABLO GAELS over Marin Referee: Jim Crenshaw
ARs: Bryant Byrnes, Bruce Carter

Seconds: DIABLO GAELS 31 - Marin Reds 12 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
Morton Field, Mare Island. This was the last match in a trifecta of games at the old Naval Shipyard. I must take my hat off to these fellas. Most of them had just completed a full match, and while the bureaucrats and camp followers were eating the food and drinking the beer on the side lines, they are still out on the field running into each other with unflagging enthusiasm. Thank god for short halves or it would have been 60 to 30.

By the way, Mare Island is a hidden gem and a treat to explore. It is large, rambling, and fascinating, Founded in the 1850s, during WW2 it employed 40,000 workers! It is now a place that time has forgotten. It has a museum, tours, protected Bay estuary. A treat.

Chico 21 – SEAHAWKS 35 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Pleasant Valley High School, Chico full sized field, correctly flagged and lined, firm but dry, cool and sunny.

This truly was a game closer than the score indicates. San Jose came out strong and scored four converted tries in the first 25 minutes. Chico then came back to score two converted in the last minutes of the first half. Chico scored first in the second half and looked to tie it up but San Jose held on and scored once again to put it out of reach. Both teams played very well and moved the ball back and forth across the field and up and down enough to put up respectable numbers.

Santa Rosa 8 – FRESNO 24 Referee: Rob Seiler (Virginia)
ARs: Phil Akroyd, Bjorn Stumer
Evaluator: David Williamson
Report by Phil Akroyd:
Not sure if Rob sent in a report, but there was no let-off in intensity for the entire eighty-minutes. Both teams were incredibly evenly matched: Rosa couldn't win a lineout, Fresno couldn't win a scrum. The difference was the Rosa ball control, or lack of it. They had two first half knock-ons, while un-impeded over the try line, in the first half, in addition to multiple open field knock-ons. They gave away an interception try in the last few minutes to seal it, but credit to Fresno who ramped up the effort level and execution in the second half.

Seconds: SANTA ROSA 76– Fresno 7 Referee: Phil Akroyd
Thirty-five points after twenty minutes. Eighty-three points in sixty total minutes. Young kids versus old guys, and the young kids won. 'Nuff said.

Berkeley 21 – BA BARACUS 66 Referee: Stephanie Bruce
Baracus was too strong for the home team and ran away with it. Berkeley started to put some plays together but was unable to get that bonus point as time expired.

Seconds: Berkeley – BA Baracus
Not sure if this one was played.

SFGG Colts 55 – Vacaville 21 Referee: Tom Zanarini
Part two of my weekend rugby tour was a fast paced match on the now firm Sheeran Field. SFGG ran away with this one, putting in 6 tries in the first half and 5 in the second. Vacaville fought back hard dotting down twice in the second. All told this referee ran 12 miles of rugby this weekend. Time well spent.

Seconds: SFGG – Vacaville CANCELED

McGeorge – Alumni Referee: Ray Schwartz
No report received.

Humboldt State – San Francisco State NOT PLAYED

SUNDAY

St. Mary's 34 – CALIFORNIA 60 Referee: Paul Bretz
ARs: Pete Smith, Bruce Carter
#4s: John Coppinger, Tom Zanarini

Seconds: St. Mary's 12 – CALIFORNIA 46 Referee: John Coppinger

NEVADA 63 – Fresno State 38 Referee: Lee Salgado
Sunday is a rugby day? The sun was out and it was perfect temperature for a game. This was very clean and fast-paced match. Both teams had their share of speedsters in the back line which made for outstanding breakaways. UNR's ability to maintain possession of the ball with consistent support in the rucks and crisp passes to support was the difference in the match. Fresno fought back in the second half with two beautiful 80 meter runs, one of which was from a kickoff return. However, it was not enough to overcome the point difference. All in all, it was a great game to officiate.

HIGH SCHOOL GAMES

Thursday:
JESUIT RED 23 - McClatchy 20 Referee: Phil Akroyd
A close game that went down to the wire. McClatchy outscored the home team by 4 tries to three, but Jesuit took the pragmatic option of kicking easy PKs. The game was tied in the last minute when Jesuit were attacking the away side line. An over eager McClatchy player tackled way too high and Jesuit took the goal opportunity.

That was not the way the game deserved to end, but it was the call that had to be made.

Friday:
Varsity: VACAVILLE 43 – Christian Brothers 27 Referee: Rob Seiler (Virginia)

JV: VACAVILLE 24 - Christian Bothers 19 Referee: Phil Akroyd
CB went out strong in the first half but struggled to hold back a resurgent Vacaville in the second half. Vacaville had a one-try lead going into the last seven minutes, and CB had several close attacking opportunities in the final minutes, but could not make it through.

PITS 17 - De La Salle 6 Referee: Rob Hendrickson
PITS hosted De La Salle at Mills College's grass field for a Friday evening game. PITS played one of its more inspired games, scoring 3 tries, and getting the ball out wide to its wing for big gains. Both teams' defenses mounted spirited goal line stands, with the scoring difference being PITS' ability to get the ball out wide. Good HS rugby.

ELSIE ALLEN 20 – Sonoma State 10 Referee: Sean Peters
Friday afternoon game at Elsie Allen High School, where the Lobos hosted the first Sonoma State Rugby Club side of the year.

Sonoma looked great in numbers, because they had a bunch of players from the local high schools and local areas. It was great to see some new faces to the sport. Both sides elected to play 4 / 15 min half's. First half started with a no contest scrum since Sonoma hasn't had much time at the scrum. After that I felt like they were ready, and the following rest of the game the scrums were contested. The Lobos came out quick in the first half attacking right at the bigger Sonoma State side. With their fast rucking and attacking wide, caught Sonoma off sides and made them pay with a try between their centers 7-0. Second half was more the same. Sonoma's big forwards were starting to warm up and make big runs down field, to set up a try from there back-line 7-5. Right before half Lobos again found the try line making it 12-5 at the half. Starting the 3rd half both side lines had their talks from their coaches now they seemed to be more focused. Sonoma State was very aggressive around the rucks, and found some daylight with a big run from their scrum half. Setting up another try from there back-line 12-10. Last half the Lobos went back to work again hitting the rucks with numbers and attacking wide to put up another try for the Lobos. Towards the ending of the game a high tackle penalty awarded, Lobos decided to kick for try and made it. Final 20 -10 EAHS

SANTA ROSA 60 - Montgomery Vikings 0 Referee: Cary Bertolone
A Friday night game under the lights at Cardinal Newman, Rosa High rugby club dominated. Apparently, Montgomery coaches sent a few seniors packing for having bad attitudes and their remaining players only had two seniors left. At one point, when Montgomery's players were getting frazzled and down about 33-0, I brought them in and told them sometimes rugby is not about who wins, but it is about making some tackles, making some runs, supporting your teammates and having some fun. That inspired them and they seemed to enjoy the rest of the game without getting down on themselves. Rosa won the first game 60-0

In the second game, it was much closer and everyone had a good run. Lots of young players!!!

SFGG U19, 39 – St. Mary's C 19 Referee: Preston Gordon

Elsie Allen girls 5 – ALAMEDA 71 Referee: Sean Peters
A beautiful day out at Elsie Allen High School on the turf the Lobo Girls host the Alameda High School. Both teams looked like they were ready to do battle. Each team with a great amount of numbers. Lobos came out hard and fast but made a mistake and Alameda scored a try. After the kick off the Lobos found their way to the try line, 5 -7. Looked like the Lobos were in battle when Alameda's scrum half stated to pick the Lobos apart, with big runs and setting up their big forwards. Scoring a few more trys before half time 31-5. Second half was more like the first but Alameda's #1 and #10 had a show of their own, with some big runs and multiple trys. Final 71-5 Alameda

Saturday
SAN MATEO HS 61 - East Palo Alto Razorbacks HS 17 Referee: Tony Levitan
On a glorious day for rugby, two of the Peninsula's top high school teams squared off in a key pre-playoffs match. Unfortunately for EPA, their numbers were light as we neared kickoff time. San Mateo was gracious enough to push kickoff a further 15 minutes but we still opened play with only 12 players wearing EPA's red and white unis. The numbers imbalance was addressed soon thereafter as more EPA players showed up and rushed onto the pitch, but by then the damage in organization and preparedness for the match was done.

San Mateo charged out to an insurmountable lead in the opening 10 minutes, running in three quick tries (two converted), all marked by a combination of hard running, superior handling and -- unfortunately for EPA -- overlap situations. Once both sides were at full numbers, play evened out a bit, with EPA showing their flair for running rugby as well. San Mateo's fourth try was a sight to behold, with the pill being handled by at least half their side. A try with six minutes left in the half got EPA on the board, and then one more from San Mateo brought the halftime score to 29-7.

The second half track meet saw an additional eight tries, albeit the bulk of them coming from San Mateo. In one try of note, Flyhalf and captain, Michael Latu, scored on a simultaneously graceful and physically brutal determined run through the EPA defense that would have made good YouTube fare had the video team been on hand. The connections among players on each side were apparent as the competitive nature of the match was sprinkled with moments of playfulness, joking, and some chippy back-and-forth, supporting a generally well-played 70 minutes of high school rugby. Final tally, 61-17 for San Mateo.

PENINSULA GREEN 22 – Bellarmine 18 Referee: Chris Fisher

The Skyhawk Conference championship game will be this Saturday at 11 AM, San Mateo hosting Peninsula Green.

Sunday:
Marin Highlanders 24 – Elsie Allen 24 Mike King
Better weather for a Sunday morning rugby match is hard to imagine. Both sides came ready to play, but there was a great deal more enthusiasm initially with the Lobos. The sides traded some hard hits and both were effective stopping the attacks off the rucks at first. Elsie Allen struck first with a penalty kick and added 2 converted tries before the half. The Highlanders seemed to recognize the opponent was serious. They woke up to finish off the first stanza with a converted try. 7-17.

Momentum then continued in Marin’s favor into the second half. Some very nifty passing and running put 3 tries on the board, but 2 were at difficult angles for the kicker. Only one converted. Just when it seemed they were on the road home with a loss, however, the Lobos roared back to score a converted try to knot things up. As the clock wound down to the final whistle, the participants knew that they had a real contest that day with no losers among the players, the coaches, or the fans.

Monday:
BISHOP O'DOWD 42 – Danville Oaks 17 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referees: Eric Rauscher, Rod Chance
BOD led 14-12 at half, but Danville took the lead 14-17 early in the second half. BOD edged ahead to 19-17 for most of the second half, but scored three tries at the end to win comfortably, 6 tries to 3.

Girls: O'Dowd 0 - MOTHER LODE 28 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
ARs: Aruna Ranaweera and Eric Rauscher
This late Monday night match, I was told, was a money game; the winner breaks a three way tie and takes the lead in the league. I am more familiar with O'Dowd's program and laud its growth and success in the last several years under Ray Lehner.

What I do know about the Mother Lode side is that they put on a bit of a clinic against good opposition. Their rucking was text book (including subtle sealing in the first half) and back play both of quality and relentless. Their number 6 flanker (Stacey?) was masterful.

Thanks to Eric and Aruna for being ARs-above and beyond the call of duty and a rare treat.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Beautiful day, good friends and rugby at Morton Field:
Bryant Byrnes, Jim Crenshaw, Bruce Carter

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

IN JOY STILL FELT

2011-04-06T13:28:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

In memory yet green, in joy still felt,
The scenes of life rise sharply into view.
We triumph; Life's disasters are undealt,
And while all else is old, the world is new.

Isaac Asimov

REFEREE NEEDED SATURDAY

We don’t have a referee for Chico hosting the Seahawks at the moment, due to an injury. If you are willing to cover this game, we can pull a swap to cover whichever game you already have. (We have a couple of extra refs who can’t travel.)

This is a D2 league match. Please!

REFEREES NEEDED SUNDAY

The season-ending tournament for NorCal’s U10 and U12 leagues will be held in Danville. This is the event that was rained out two weeks ago on Treasure Island.

The U10s will play from 9:30 until noon. Then the U12 event should last from noon until 4:30, at the Mustang Soccer Complex, 4680 Camino Tassajara, Danville, 94526.

We also need a blower for a Sunday game, April 10, University of Nevada men hosting Fresno State.

And – possibly also for a men’s lower-division round-robin on Treasure Island from 11 until 2.

Please let us know if you can help out.

LOTS OF REFS NEEDED APRIL 29 – MAY 1

The Pacific Coast High School Invitational Tournament will be held in Morgan Hill:
http://sites.google.com/site/pacificcoastinvitational/

The event will include NorCal playoff games. There will be four full-length playoff games on Friday afternoon, April 29, from 3-6 PM that obviously need refs, and then EIGHT fields will be in use all day Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1.

Rooms will be available at a very reasonable rate across the street from the sports complex. The referee society will spring for Saturday night’s dinner for referees.

Please check your calendar and clear it for that weekend – the only other rugby going on in Pelicanland will be a super league and a college premier game that need ARs.

Eric Rauscher is organizing the referees for the event. Let him know: ericrauscher@comcast.net

APRIL SOCIETY MEETING

The last regular-season meeting of the NCRFU will take place on Wednesday, April 13, at the SF/Golden Gate clubhouse from 7 till 9, despite what the fact-checker reported last week. Lucky thirteen.

Please make every effort to attend. We will be discussing open play and restarts.

The playoff season approaches. We’ll need ARs for the next two months, as well as referees of course.

RUGBY GAMES

OLYMPIC CLUB 71 – Sac Capitals 24 Referee: Rich Anderson
ARs: Aruna Ranaweera, Cary Bertolone
Evaluator: Dixon Smith
It was a perfect day for Rugby as these two Division One squads met on Treasure Island.

Both teams put on some dazzling offensive moves, but the Olympic Club was able to play a little better defense to control the match.

Apologies to Bryan Porter and Dixon Smith, who watched the match without the presence of Suzie, and thanks to Cary Bertolone and Aruna Ranaweera, for running touch and keeping score.

Seconds: Olympic Club 21–SAC CAPITALS 23 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
ARs: Anderson and Bertolone
Although exhausted from being up since 1am to watch the Cricket World Cup final, it was some consolation that at least four people (Bryan Porter, Dixon Smith, and both team coaches) offered sympathy at Sri Lanka's close loss to India. Under sunny skies on a well-marked Treasure Island Field B, OC lead 11-6 at half, but Sacramento made some impact substitutions in the second half to finish ahead 3 tries to 2. Thanks to Rich and Cary for their assistance.

Sac Lions 23 – SAN MATEO 24 Referee: Don Pattalock

Seconds: Sac Lions – San Mateo
No report received.

EPA Razorbacks 14 – EPA BULLDOGS 76 Referee: John Coppinger
AR: Bruce Carter

Seconds: EPA Razorbacks 5 – EPA BULLDOGS 12 Referee: Bruce Carter
After a serious and determined first-side match, the first-ever between two rivals for the affections of a small town, the seconds played more in joy than in anger.

I certainly enjoyed it.

Forming two D1 teams from a city of maybe 30,000, tops, has brought some of the old(er) and young(er) into the fold, especially in the seconds.

I renewed a number of acquaintances and we remembered when we were all right where we belonged, in the firsts.

BA BARACUS 25 – Diablo Gaels 22 Referee: Pete Smith
I was fortunate enough to ref this match up last year and it was an end to end wide open affair that ended in a tie despite having watch trouble that added 8 extra minutes. The players remembered last year’s game and this year’s game was almost a carbon copy.

The score was 8-7 in favor of Baracus at halftime. Baracus jumped on Diablo with two quick tries to open the second half and a 22-7 lead, just 5 minutes into the second half. Diablo struck next with a try to bring it to 22-12. Baracus answered back with a penalty kick to go up 25-12 with only about 10 minutes remaining. Diablo did not give up and managed another try to bring it 25-17. With the conversion about 10 meters left of center, but time running out, the kicker rushed the conversion knowing that was less than 5 minutes remaining and hocked it wide left. That kept the difference at 8 point and less than 5 to play. Diablo scored a well-earned, hard-fought try to bring the score to 22-25, but with time expired, the conversion was a mere formality instead of the difference between defeat and victory. That is how it ended, a 3 point game that could have/should have been a 1 point game with the conversion to decide victory and defeat. These teams now have identical 3-3 records!

Berkeley 26 – SFGG 66 Referee: Sean Peters
Referee Coach: David Williamson
It turned out to be a great day in Berkeley, where they hosted SFGG from right across the bay. The field was marked with red tape ,the try line was barely visible , but SFGG knew right where it was at the beginning of the game , with big runs from the #11 but Berkeley fought back and scored a try before half making it 28 -7.

Second half Berkeley stepped on the field and scored 2 trys right off the bat from mistakes from the Colts, but fell short ,due to the Colts’ forward pack dominating the smaller Berkeley forward pack, the Colts #6 and #7 making solid runs and tackles opening their back-line to make impressive break-away runs again with their #11 #15 and #9 , both teams were fun to ref.

Also want to say Thank you to David Williamson for his time as Referee Coach

Seconds: Berkeley 7 – SFGG COLTS 32 Referee: Eric Rauscher
AR: Jeff Ferguson
Albany Middle School artificial turf field, but full size and lined correctly sunny and warm.

I mistakenly assumed that Berkeley would be playing out at TI, so I agreed to do a HS game before the Berkeley B side game. As Is usually the case, no match ever runs the amount of time it is supposed to and I discovered mid-week that Berkeley was going to be playing in Albany. No problem I thought, I can still make it. As I got off the bridge the traffic was backed up going north. Suffice it to say I was late and the match had already started. Berkeley's coach was out on the field with the whistle. At the next dead ball, I relieved him. This is Berkeley's first year up at Div 2, and it is a higher level of play than they are used to. SFGG won the game with ease, but Berkeley did manage to get a score, and played with gusto. There was a good sense of enjoyment in the game and a nice social after wards at one of the Berkeley player's home.

Chico – Fresno Referee: Jim Crenshaw
No report received.

Marin 7 – SANTA ROSA 63 Referee: Tom Zanarini
Marin scored in the first 30 seconds, then Rosa took over scoring 4 tries in the first half and 7 in the 2nd.

Seconds: Marin 5 – SANTA ROSA 50 Referee: Lois Bukowski
Add to the list of the dangers of refereeing: dog bites!

This uneven match produced some good running rugby by Rosa. A tired Marin team (most if not all who already played in the A side blowout) constantly slowed the ball down but were finally rewarded for their effort(?) with a try in the second half.

Rosa looks good! They have some fitness and athleticism and their depth will benefit them as they move into playoff time.

After the game, I walked back to my car and decided to briefly visit with a cute dog I saw roaming the sideline. I had to put my dear Jackson down in January (16 years old!) and so now I seek out the company of furry friends when I can. Unfortunately, the dog did not like my refereeing (even though she was a Rosa fan) and promptly attacked my inner thigh. Injury to the insults I already experienced. Kicked by a man (deep thigh contusion), taken down (tackled in the try zone), strained Achilles and then a dog bite (my first ever!) Yes, I am whining :)

VACAVILLE 17 – Seahawks 10 Referee: Scott Griffin
Referee Coach: Bryant Byrnes
The visiting Seahawks started out strong with two unconverted tries in the first 20 minutes, only to be shutout for the balance of the game by a sharper Vacaville team. Vacaville added 17 points of their own to earn the W.

VACAVILLE 28 – Seahawks 21 Ref: Griffin
Two 25 minute halves saw Vacaville keep its edge over the visitors with a 28-21 win.

No reds or yellows.

Reno Zephyrs 24 – Mendocino 0 Referee: James Hinkin

FOG women 26 – Oregon Rugby Sports Union 12 Referee: Cary Bertolone
At Treasure Island on a sunny Saturday morning, the Fog kicked off and a great game ensued. The Fog had a little more speed in the backline, but it was the persistence of the forwards at the ruck that helped them to a 14-0 halftime lead. They scored a third try at the one minute mark of the second half for a comfortable 19-0 lead, but the Oregon team, who also played well throughout the entire game, scored two tries to make it a little closer. Fog finished with another try for a 26-12 win. Great game!

UC Davis 25 – CENTRAL WASHINGTON 36 Tucker
ARs: John Pohlman, Ron Decausemaker
Assessor: Mike Malone

Davis played the full eighty mins and left it all on the field, but were beaten out by a highly organized and disciplined CWU squad.

It was still close in the 4th quarter when the visitors had their loose head sin binned for the third questionable tackle. Davis took quick advantage, driving down to the 5 where they won a scrum. I asked if CWU needed to sub on a prop, but they rearranged so their *inside centre* moved into the front row. And promptly destroyed the Davis scrum. Any thoughts that this was a fluke were dispelled 2 minutes later when the same thing happened on another attacking Davis scrum. Apparently he used to be the starting #1, but had greater value out wide. Impressive athlete.

Chico State 5 – SACRAMENTO STATE 31 Referee: Scott Wood
AR: Ray Schwartz
Location: CSU Chico
Temperature: At least 10 degrees cooler than Friday
Wind: 15 mph gusting to F1

Chico started with the wind to their backs. Unfortunately, kicks above 10 feet sailed over the dead ball line. Sacramento was strong in phase play and moved the ball well. Chico scored early in the left corner but Sacramento came back with two tries to have a 14-5 lead at half.

In the second half, Sacramento kicked only when going for touch at penalties. Whatever was in the water worked as Sacramento turned up the heat in the scrums blowing Chico backwards.

Sacramento needed a bonus point to keep in contention for first place. They got it at full time.

Seconds: Chico State 31 – SAC STATE 48 Referee: Ray Schwartz
Wow! Big fun in the B Side match. After helping AR for Scott Wood in the A Side, where Sac St shut out Chico, the scoring opened up. End to end fun.

I’ve only reffed a few league matches this season, but oddly the home and away for this very match are two of them. Sac St totally dominated the first, played at home, winning by more than 40. Oddly, same lame postmatch Little Caesar’s $5 pizzas too!

But this match saw a tie early on, and only 5 points separated the two, w/ 19-14 Sac St at the half. Captain Robert Kwoka scored twice from #8 for the Hornets.

One anomaly, w/ 7 minutes left in the first half, I noted a trend, having penalized the Chico #10 three times for similar offences, once was gate entry at the tackle, the other two were for creeping up the side of the ruck and poking at the opposing scrumhalf with his toe. I warned him and his captain to cut it out, that the 10 was leaving me no choice… On the ensuing play, hardly 20 secs in, he again enters the tackle from the side (right in front of me!), “tweet” and a yellow card. Rick Flynn’s kid, like father, like son! (I had seen Rick the week before in a muddy monsoon in Davis, but today was sunny, windy and the ground hard. Striking difference.)

Sac St. scored twice with Flynnie in the bin, but Chico St would come roaring back, twice more bringing the game within 5 points. Chico’s prop, Danial Pevear, a little fireplug, smaller but nearly as athletic as Eagle Chris “cookie monster” Biller, was playing his 2nd game ever, needed instruction in front row technique / safety from scrum #1, but got it squared away and would end up scoring 3 tries, in pants! Dork. #12, Kyle Tallet, a Senior who took up the game 3 years too late, was a dynamo; powerful and sure in contact, real impressive.

Some subs for Chico in the 2nd half were also impressive. SH - James McIntosh pressed the pace like a real scrummie, but might have only just tried playing there on the day. He had no idea what to do at the scrum put in, funny! He’s a good fit, and scored an opportunistic and powerful try. Fullback - Tori Pinelli, reminded me of Belmont Shore’s 7s and 15 winger, Tony Frantangelo; tall, lean, fearless and with great balance, drive and determination. The future seems bright, if Coach Mitch Jagoe and the Wildcats can recruit some talented beef for their A Side pack...

Another anomaly, though Chico St played clean, Sac St seemed more willing to wrench necks and fling players in shirt tackles. A yellow for repeat team infringement: Dangerous Tackles, w/ 8 minutes left in the 2nd half, sent a confused rookie (who had just subbed in) to sidelines.

But this day belonged to Sac St. Each time Chico State caught up, hard teamwork, and brilliant individual play, would keep the Hornets pulling away. #12 Dante Walters scored a brilliant try, showing great balance, power and skill, dancing up the sideline 25 meters to score a try Chico St. could not deny. And William Gillingham,a tall, scrum-helmeted, yellow-shoed, “Freak,” scored 4 times, each a go from 40 meters or so. He seemed to take off when given a wee gap, and no one would touch him, again and again and again... I couldn't even get over the 22 as he scored his last try!

A bit sad and confused that Josh Imong never played in the A or B game. I’d pay to see him play. He was ready to sub in, and’ll be running with the Philippine National team next week, or so he said.

Thanks for driving and fine company Scott!

Santa Clara 18 – STANFORD 39 Referee: Preston Gordon

Seconds: SANTA CLARA 19 – Stanford 17 Referee: Bruce Ricard
The only cloudy day in two weeks, this was the perfect weather we got to play this game.

The first half was very balanced, not a lot of infringements, not a lot of points, but a great battle. First seven points scored by Santa Clara at the 15th minute, followed by 5 points from Stanford at the 22nd. Finally Santa Clara add another try at the 31th minute, and the break is called on this 12 - 5 score.

At the 15th minute of the second half, 15m from their goal line, a Santa Clara forward is penalized for off-side at ruck. After the quick tap, and a pick and go, a ruck is formed 5m from the goal line, and the same forward is again caught off-side. He's temporarily excluded, and on the penalty kick that followed, after three phases played by the forwards, the ball is sent to the backs, who score a try between the posts. At the 25th minute, on a turnover, Santa Clara launches a terrific counter attack, and their full back runs alone to score a try. Two minutes later, Stanford scores a nice try on the 15m line, unconverted.

Unconverted unfortunately for them, because those were the lasts points scored in this game, and the game is ended on the score of: Santa Clara University 2 19 - 17 Stanford 2

MEN’S D2 COLLEGE PACIFIC COAST PLAYOFFS

Both Sierra College and the California Maritime Academy advanced to the USA Rugby playoffs round of sixteen.

Sierra defeated Utah Valley while CMA knocked off Idaho. Then they played each other to determine seeding at the nationals and for NorCal bragging rights, not having met during the regular season. Sierra won that one 20 – 3.

Humboldt State – San Francisco State RESCHEDULED

UC SANTA CRUZ 48 - Fresno State 5 Referee: Tony Levitan
Rugby weather doesn't get much better than that which greeted the newish Fresno State team when they journeyed to Santa Cruz to take on the Banana Slugs. A spirited effort from both A-sides generated lots of running rugby with a total of nine tries. Unfortunately for Fresno State, most of those were scored by UCSC, who at most times seemed a step faster, a wink more instinctual, and a player or two in excess at the breakdown or in open play.

In a first for this referee, the respective captains both wore #2, and were assuredly the best player from each side with UCSC's Captain/hooker dotting down for the first try of the match just 3 minutes in. UCSC benefitted from very strong back row play as well, all day long, with a number of long, hard runs by their #7, most notably from restarts after tries. Santa Cruz tallied 6 tries during the first half, 4 of which their flyhalf converted. Fresno State, which suffered from a number of seriously untimely knock-ons, put their lone try across midway through the opening period for a 38-5 halftime score.

Juggling within each team's front row -- for blood or normal substitutions -- resulted in too-many 2nd -half scrum resets to make any of us happy. But everyone stayed safe and focused in the scrums and once re-settled, well-contested set pieces prevailed, launching creative play from each side in the 2nd half. Even down significantly, Fresno State played gallantly and did themselves proud by working hard till the closing whistle blast.

Stanford women 19 – GRIZZLIES MOTLEY 50 Referee: Stephanie Bruce
Scrimmage. 30 min halves with open substitutions. Stanford exploited the Grizzlies' lack of cohesion on defense, in the first half, but could not keep up with the depth in numbers as the coaches put in their more experienced players.

SUNDAY
Claremont 7 - UC BERKELEY 62
ARs: Anthony Yeo, Tim Day (both SoCal)
Cal's 2nd string was too much for a game but limited Claremont outfit, who remain winless after 3 games. Their schedule gets easier from here on out after opening with CWU and St. Mary's.

Try as I might I couldn't get Cal to stay on their feet, earning a snide disapproval after from senor Clark. Reality was they didn't need to, they could win without sealing it off, but they kept going to ground, earning a card in the 2nd half, long after the score was beyond the home side.

Claremont used the man advantage to good effect, driving down to the goal line, spinning out to the backs where the fly half saw the over-eager rush defence, waited for it to go past, and tucked up through the hole to score.

The other 62 points were the result of 80 minutes of hard running, always hitting the gap at full speed and being always up in support.

Thanks to all concerned this weekend for helping me out, your assistance was invaluable.

HIGH SCHOOL GAMES

Friday

Battle for first place in Sac Valley:
Cougar RFC 10 – JESUIT 35 Referee: Scott Wood
ARs: Chris Tucker, Jordan Bruno
Location: Will Rogers Middle School, Carmichael
Temperature: 80+
Humidity: Same as temperature (or so it seemed)

The score does not reflect how well Cougar played. They had three scoring opportunities missed by mere meters due to errant passes and knock ons. Halftime score: Jesuit 15-0

Thanks to Chris Tucker and Jordan Bruno for running the sidelines in this well-tempered, aggressive and fast match.

SAN MATEO 41 - Peninsula Green 22 Referee: Tony Levitan
While multiple accidents slowed the pace of travel up 101 to get to San Mateo High School, there was little bogging down of any sort once this fixture kicked off on an initially-balmy Friday evening.

Both sides played quality rugby over the course of the match albeit Peninsula Green took a bit longer to get rolling, battling their bigger, faster and more creative rivals to a 2nd-half tie. The final score line was not as close as San Mateo put over 5 tries (2 converted) during an active 1st half that was marked by long runs, quick recycling, and enviable handling by San Mateo players, regardless the number worn on their backs. Peninsula Green scored two tries (1 converted), used a few strong lineout possessions to launch their more productive play. 20-10, San Mateo at the half.

The 2nd half saw a protracted run of back-and-forth play between the 22s, with each side scoring an additional 2 tries (1 conversion) for the final 41-22 scoreline favoring San Mateo.

Saturday

RAZORBACKS 97 – Silicon Valley 0 Referee: Bruce Carter
This was the triumph of sportsmanship over one-up-manship.

I arrived early at Terman Middle School, as is my wont, crossword puzzle in tow in case I was the only one around.

But nope, plenty of rugby people putting a pitch together – and plenty of midget league baseball people putting an overlapping diamond together.

Both groups of course were sure they had permits. In fact, both were as certain of having them as they were deficient in not having them along. What to do?

The touchline between the 22 and halfway ran parallel to the first-base line, just beyond the infield grass. So, if a six-year-old rightie could make good contact he’d hit it onto the pitch.

So we used the five-meter line as touch for that side, for all three of the Razorbacks’ games, and simply did not allow kicks to touch that might find their way onto the diamond. Ground rule #1: a player opting for touch from a penalty was given a favorable lie some distance up the way.

As astute readers will have inferred from the score, the Razorback high school team did not invoke this ground rule.

Varsity: SF/Golden Gate 17 - JESUIT 40 Referee: Paul Bretz

SFGG Silver 15 – ALAMEDA 21 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Tale of 2 halves at TI. SFGG scored 5 minutes in & went ahead 15-0 at half; only to watch Alameda use what little ball it won by scoring 3 unanswered tries starting with the first also five minutes to start the 2nd half.

Alameda had some tough defense when SFGG backs had the ball & themselves had some long runners who ran around & through would-be tacklers.

Alameda also had a potential try taking away in the first half with the ball being held-up; & ended their scoring with no time left in regulation. However SFGG used the full 2 minutes tacked on as injury time by taking the kick-off down the field; getting a penalty for an Alameda tackler killing their ball; & down by 6 & needing a converted try they had one last gasp botched when their center bullied his way about 10 meters through tacklers & while putting the ball in end zone lost control as he attempted to touch down.

So great game & unfortunate for either team to lose such a close match.

BISHOP O'DOWD girls 52 – Davis 12 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Davis showed up with 15 players, and only injured player in reserve. They never gave up. In fact, my "Girl of the match" goes to the Davis #12, Rachael Reid, who played with fire in her eyes. She seemed to be in every tackle, at each breakdown, etc. Bishop O'Dowd is well on their way into the playoffs. What impressed me most about them was their support play. There always seemed to be a player right there either to set for the ruck or to just pick the ball and go. The continuity was a wonderful thing to behold.

Frosh/soph: SF/Golden Gate 19 – JESUIT 36 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Both teams had some very heads up players and displayed decision making skills on the field. The SFGG lineout seems a little confused at times, and they did not act fully as a team in a consistent manner. Jesuit was guilty of repeatedly not being back ten meters at penalties which at one point resulted in a yellow card and a penalty try.

Bravo to both teams for giving me a fast, open game with both sides scoring in both halves.

Date: Sat., Mar 26, 2011
Match: Northern California RFU, U-19 Girls League
BISHOP O'DOWD Lady Dragon 24 – Alameda Riptide 22 Referee: Paul Berman
Venue: Bishop O'Dowd School, Oakland
Enclosure: Spectator stand on the northern side/touch-line; high fence on the southern side; all weather turf field running east west; American football goal posts; rugby football flag poles except on goal/try & dead ball lines, each marked with low American football pylons, both sets in front of goal posts; field marked with heavy white American football grid iron lines; faint dark rugby football touch lines dotted with shallow pools of rain water.
Weather: Blustery, intermittently rainy with slight occasional wind from the west. Perfect rugby weather!

Comments: Originally billed as a home game for Alameda, due to the in-climate weather this meet was kindly hosted & transferred to the all-weather surface at O'Dowd. A seesaw battle of two determined & focused teams saw the lead change hands four times during the course of this evenly fought struggle till the final nail biting whistle. Eight tries in all, four tries a piece paid testament to excellent handling skills under adverse conditions. Rucks & line-outs were slightly tipped in favour of the home team Dragons, while strong scrummaging, tackling & piercing running were the hallmark of a balanced Riptide outfit. One marvelous conversion goal-kick from 10 meters in from the right hand touch-line in the dying moments of this monumental struggle was all that separated these sides.

High praise: Under significant peer pressure, the young Bishop O'Dowd lad who ran touch for me was astonishingly mature, professional & responsible well beyond his years.

On a gastronomic note: Alameda's parents delightfully catered this affair.
Sadly, unnecessary tension was created, fanned & inflamed by an extremely verbally abusive coach, who shocked all within ear shot. I was personally troubled by this experience & found his behaviour inexcusable deeply offensive.

Date: Sun., Apr 3, 2011
Match: Northern California RFU, U-19 Girls League
Result: Alameda Riptide 0 – MOTHER LODE 10 Referee: Paul Berman
Venue: Thompson Field, Alameda High School, Clement Ave., @ Walnut St., Alameda
Enclosure: Spectator stand on western side/touch-line; pitch running north south; tall fence along the eastern perimeter; ground hard under foot; American football posts; rugby football flag polls; grass even though patchy in several large areas, most lines clearly marked; field enclosed by cinder running track.
Weather: Sunny, bright, slight wind from the west
Comments: Mother Lode drove down on a glorious Sunday afternoon from El Dorado Hills in the Sierra foothills, 35 km north east of Sacramento, on a quest to continue their unbeaten 2011 NorCal League record. Alameda were looking to build on their previous day's strong win v Berkeley RFC.Mother Lode were well coached & drilled with a 'hurry-up' game plan of quick throw-ins, back line chip or punt & chase with the occasional cross field kick to their on rushing wings. These actions proved very effective in gaining territory. Initially, only through shear group will power, bravery, catching & tackling were Riptide able to stay with them. Though Alameda counter attacked through strong running from both their forwards & backs, Mother Lode's creative adventurism eventually paid off with two well taken tries, one each half, spear-headed by their confident & powerful straight running pack. By mid-second half Riptide had discovered how to neutralize their opponents quick throw-ins.

With many new players this season Alameda continue their upward trajectory & growth, while Mother Lode seem balanced confident & well coached. A clean, hard fought affair. Mother Lode recycled the ball well & played with class & elegance seldom seen at this level.

On a personal note: It was great catching up with my old pal & fellow Pelican ref Rod Chance, who graciously ran touch as my assistant referee.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Mauricio Sanmartin runs the website www.Rugby7.com

It will come as no surprise to our readers that Scriptoris and Mauricio are friends of long standing.

Vacationing in Venezuela, Mauricio saw something that made him think of us – and now we think of him.

Although - somebody cannot count!

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

MORE MUD

2011-03-31T18:31:00.001-07:00

HAIL, PELICUS!

REFEREE NEEDED

We need a blower for a Sunday game, April 10, University of Nevada men hosting Fresno State. Let us know.

CHECK THE ASSIGNMENTS – SOME OPTIONS HAVE CHANGED

There have been a number of changes for April 2’s assignments, in large part necessitated by the putting off of the D3 quarter-finals for a week.

Please double-check your assignment on the website on Friday. Write for confirmation if you are uncertain.

APRIL SOCIETY MEETING

The last regular-season meeting of the NCRFU will take place on Wednesday, April 9, at the SF/Golden Gate clubhouse from 7 till 9.

Please make every effort to attend. We will be discussing open play and restarts.

The playoff season approaches. We’ll need ARs for the next two months, as well as referees of course.

RUGBY GAMES

Tuesday
SANTA ROSA JC 53 – Univ. of Washington 0 Referee: Cary Bertolone
Santa Rosa did not provide a very warm welcome to the touring University of Washington Rugby Club. Not only did a steady downpour greet them for the 4:00 PM match, but so did a larger than expected rugby club from a Junior College. I think they were surprised at how good the SRJC team is as the home team powered in 4 tries for a 24-0 halftime lead and followed up with 5 more in the second half for the final 53-0 score. The For Pete's Sake field held up through the heavy rains, but it was still slick and sloppy.

Thursday
Sacramento State – Univ. of Washington Referee: Jim Crenshaw
No report received.

Friday
California women 17 – UC DAVIS 32 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
55F and cloudy at the Gilman artificial turf in Berkeley. Regulation scrimmage between two teams bound for Pacific Coast playoffs. Cal had the edge in lineouts and mauls, but Davis was stronger at the breakdown and in open field. Cal led 12-10 at half, but Davis controlled possession in the second half to finish ahead, 6 tries to 3.

The UPS Bowl?
MARITIME ACADEMY 15 - San Jose St 7 Referee: James Hinkin
A wet, muddy night in Vallejo saw wet, muddy rugby. By the end of the game brown was playing brown but brown won because brown took advantage of the mistakes brown made in brown’s end. Brown defended well but brown was able to break brown’s line. Brown won the day.

Saturday
SFGG SL 32 – Utah Warriors 8 Referee: Paul Bretz
ARs: Lois Bukowski, Bruce Carter
#4: Jim Marsh; Scoreboard operator: Stephanie Bruce
Evaluator: Kat Todd-Schwartz

SFGG Colts – Marin RAINED OUT
Seconds: SFGG Colts – Marin RAINED OUT

Sac Capitals – EPA Razorbacks Referee: Jim Crenshaw
No report received.

Seconds: Sac Capitals – EPA Razorbacks Referee: Jordan Bruno
No report received.

SACRAMENTO LIONS 59 – Barbarians 26 Referee: Scott Wood
AR: Eugene Baker; TJ: Various Lions players
Location: Hagginwood Park, Sacramento
The Lions were able to secure use of a brand new artificial turf field for this match. Based on the park's availability, they got the field from 4 pm to 8 pm. Duct tape was used to extend the width of the playing area but fencing constrained the length. While the dimensions did not exceed the maximum allowed by the Plan, the pitch was rectangular.

Barbarians travelled short and both matches involved mostly the same players. The Lions have enough numbers to support two sides. The B Side match started at 4 pm (refereed by Eugene Baker) with the first XV slated for 5:30. Unfortunately, the clouds parted around 3:30 pm and we were left with sunny skies.

Participating in back-to-back matches takes a toll and it showed in the first half. The Barbarians were able to defend the middle of the pitch but the Lions managed to exploit the sidelines. Seven tries were scored to none in the first half. 42-0.

A Tale of Two Halves or How Reserves Spend Time When Put in the Game: The Barbarians fared much better in the second half as the Lions committed penalties at the tackle/ruck phases. The host's reserves missed tackles and would occasionally fall victim to two- and three-step misdirection that opened up gaps for the visitors to exploit. The Barbarians won the second half four tries to two but the damage was already done.

This was a very fast and enjoyable game played in good spirits. Thanks to both teams for a fun afternoon and to Eugene Baker for running touch.

Seconds: Sac Lions 12 – BARBARIANS 27 Referee: Eugene Baker
Cleanly played match with some backline speed on both sides. Wish the Barbos had more bodies; they were gassed during the "A" side match, which was played after this one.

EPA Bulldogs 17 – OLYMPIC CLUB 34 Referee: Pete Smith
AR: Bruce Ricard

Seconds: EPA Bulldogs 19 – OLYMPIC CLUB 40 Referee: Bruce Ricard
Both teams were pretty tired, and didn't have that many players to play a second game, so we played halves of 25 minutes.

First half was completely dominated by the Olympic club, more realistic, and helped by the many infringements of the Bulldogs. They scored 4 tries against one, leading 26 - 5 at the break.

The second half was much more interesting, both teams were really close, and scored each 2 tries (14 - 14).

SANTA ROSA 41 - Diablo 8 Referee: Tom Zanarini
An exceptionally muddy day at For Pete's Sake Field. The heavy rains held off for the matches, which was nice. Lots of attacking despite the conditions. Well played by both sides.

Seconds: Santa Rosa 0 Diablo 0 Ref: Zanarini
Snake eyes. I'm buying.

SEAHAWKS 27 – Berkeley 3 Referee: Bruce Ricard
The first half was pretty balanced. Nothing scored during the first part of the game, the Seahawks scored two unconverted tries at the 18th and 36th minutes. Berkeley made a penalty kick at the 39th, and this half ended on 10 - 3.

The second half was very different, San Jose scored 3 tries (one converted), and Berkeley didn't score anything.

FRESNO 30 – BA Baracus 10 Referee: Dan Wilson
With the wild weather and intense storms that had been hitting the Central Valley as well as the game being played at a farmer’s soccer field in the city of Lemoore, I was envisioning a complete mud pit of a game. Surprisingly, the field was in fantastic condition, with hardly any mud whatsoever. The best part was that it did not rain at all during the game!

Baracus had traveled the 3-hour drive with good numbers (more than 30 players). The game started off with both teams trying to feel out each other by crashing off of the rucks but not really spinning it past the centers for the first 10 minutes. Fresno finally scored the first try (unconverted) at the 14th minute when they were able to get their backs involved by spinning it fully across the pitch. Baracus pressured Fresno back with an unconverted try of their own at the 18th minute.

Baracus seemed to keep Fresno off their game for most of the first half by effective counter rucking and scraping for the ball at every turn. Also, Baracus' scrum also seemed to fluster Fresno's scrum no matter whose put in it was. Each team was able to score another try (Fresno converted theirs) and Fresno added a penalty kick prior to half, but going into the break, it seemed to be either team's game. Half-time score: Fresno 15, Baracus 10.

In the second half, Fresno seemed to control their scrums more effectively and attacked more with their compliment of backs. Utilizing the width of the field allowed Fresno to penetrate the defensive lines on a more regular basis, while Baracus still controlled the rucks by effective counter rucking. Fresno was able to touch down two more tries (one converted) and another penalty kick while keeping Baracus primarily out of their 22 zone. Final score: Fresno 30, Baracus 10.

Seconds: Fresno 17 – BA BARACUS 27 Referee: Bill Long
It was my first club match so I was a little anxious, both Dan Wilson and Jeff Jury stayed to help coach me. The first half was a fairly even game I believe BA scored first then Fresno twice then BA and finally with about 3 min remaining BA took a penalty kick to end the half in the lead. The players were extremely chatty with the BA a Captain doing a slightly better job of bringing the complaints from his team to me whilst Fresno players were a little more vocal with less control by the captain. The second half had more captain control although, there was an altercation between two for which I spoke to the captains and they settled the issue well. There were no further problems between players away from the ball after that. Fresno and BA went back and forth with no really remarkable play in the second half, BA seemed to scrum slightly better and was exceedingly better at the lineouts. Fresno had no answer for the extra try and conversion in the second half and ended up short.

CHICO 19 - 15 Vacaville Referee: Chris Tucker
Good news is that the gophers at the old Chico pitch have all drowned. Bad news is the holes are still there. The ball did not move particularly fast, except forward off the players’ cold, wet hands. The war of attrition was won by Chico in the last 10 mins with a come-from-behind try.

Reno Academy – Colusa CANCELED

RENO ZEPHYRS 12 – Shasta 7 Referee: Blake Crawley
On a very windy but otherwise lovely day in Fernley, NV, the Reno Zephyrs ground out a 12-7 victory over an evenly matched Shasta side. All the tries were scored in the first half. The most impressive play of the match was the Shasta try conversion at a tough angle and against a stiff wind. The ball was fluttering and dancing about in a life of its own but had enough steam to barely make it over the cross bar. Shasta began the second half with the wind to their backs but it proved a disadvantage as several promising kicks went into touch in goal, costing the visitors dearly.

Vallejo – Humboldt RAINED OUT

MENDOCINO 13 – Redwood 12 Referee: Bjorn Stumer
This could have been a pretty good match, albeit played in a mud bath, but was marred by indiscipline and back chat to the referee. Mendocino soon got the message and capitalized on Redwood's continued indiscipline to turn a halftime deficit into a one point advantage. As Redwood could not be controlled, and as their frustration was turning dangerous for the opposing team, and as one of their ejected player refused to leave the playing enclosure as required by the Safety Protocol, your referee called the match with 10 minutes to go and went home. This gave Mendocino a 1 point victory which way well have been overcome by Redwood had their demeanor and discipline allowed the game to continue.

SAMOA UNITED over Monterey by forfeit

Saints – Arroyo Grande Referee: Liz Palmer

Paso Robles 5 - SAN FRANCISCO FOG 27 Referee: Jen Tetler
A would-be-beautiful-if-it-weren't-raining-so-hard drive down to Paso Robles ended at an actually beautiful pitch in the middle of wine country.

It was probably the first rugby game in history to start EARLY since everyone was ready to go 5 minutes before 1pm, or maybe they just wanted to get warm and out of the rain sooner.

Paso Robles won the toss and elected to start the game defending into the wind, which was pretty strong. That might have been a bit of a detriment, since the Fog used their first half wind advantage well, starting the scoring with a penalty kick about 5 minutes in. There was lots of mauling and lots of kicking in the game.

The Fog scored a couple of their 4 tries in the first half off of some nice running lines by the backs, and the others from some strong forwards mauls off of a lineout. Two of those tries converted, leaving the first half score at 27-0.

Paso Robles came out hard in the second half, hoping to finally use the wind to their advantage. The only try of the second half came from a ball that flew out of a ruck and was picked up by a Paso Robles player who ran it all the way to the try zone.

Both teams started to get a little mouthy at the end, but the excellent wine tasting nearby made up for that.

Stanislaus 9 –SOUTH VALLEY 49 Referee: John Coppinger
South Valley traveled to Turlock to play Stanislaus.

The match was played on one of series of three retention basins built to provide storm water drainage for a housing development.

Surprisingly, although we have been pounded by rain and one of the retention basins was full of water, the pitch was firm under foot and held up nicely despite persistent heavy rain throughout the second half.

South Valley was simply too big, fast, powerful, and organized for Stanislaus, but Stanislaus was game and battled hard until the end and then wanted to play an added 10 minutes to prepare for the playoffs.

ST. MARY’S 44 – Claremont 0 Referee: George O'Neil
ARs: Aruna Ranaweera, John Fouts
#4: Rob Hendrickson
Evaluator: Dixon Smith

Saint Mary's College 2nd/3rd XV 20 – SAN MATEO 1ST/2ND XV 45
Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
50F on a muddy SMC field with intermittent rain; 40 minute-halves, running time. San Mateo led 21-10 at half and tallied a total of 7 tries to 4. San Mateo earned 4 yellow cards, all related to repeated team offside; the last two yellows were elevated to red according to a rarely invoked detail of law 10.3(b).

UC Davis 5 – UCLA 14 Referee: Leah Berard
ARs: James Hinkin, Ray Schwartz
#4: Ron Decausemaker
Evaluator: Mike Malone

Seconds: UC Davis – UCLA RAINED OUT

Nevada – Fresno State TO BE RESCHEDULED

SIERRA JC over U. of San Francisco by forfeit

Humboldt Girls U19 5 – Berkeley 5 Referee: Eric Rauscher
This was indeed the wettest field I have ever been on. Huge swathes of 2/3 inch deep water, but no rain until the end of the match.

The teams were evenly matched as is reflected by the score. Neither team scored until the second half. But I also saw something in the second half that impressed me greatly. As I was setting the 125th scrum, one of the locks noticed that her opponents boot was untied. She knelt down in the mud, put the girls' boot on her leg and proceeded to tie her boot for her. This exact same thing happened a little while later, but reversed. I was staggered by that level of sportsmanship. Kudos to both teams

Humboldt State 0 –SANTA ROSA JC 29 Referee: Eric Rauscher
So Bonnie and I took a road trip North. You make a river crossing at least 15 times and drive through some of the loveliest landscape that California has to offer. We drove up Friday almost all the way through rain. It rained all night. Ate breakfast and the rain stopped. Miracle! Got to the pitch at 10am to do a girls game.

The pitch is basically at sea level and it had been raining for a week. After the girls game it was a quagmire. As for the game, I have done Humboldt for the last two years and was looking forward to doing them again They have some fine players on their team, but just weren't able to handle Santa Rosa's cohesiveness as a team. Humboldt was able to make line breaks, but were a bit slow in support and were never able to really sting together enough phases to get traction, even in the mud. By the end of the game, most everybody was covered with a fine layer of the field. I would have liked to have hung around to socialize a bit after the game, but we had to be back home that evening.

BAY AREA MASTERS GAMES
OVER-50 RUGBY
Bertolone, King, Levitan, Ulibarri, Pohlman, Carter

Report by Cary Bertolone:
I only had one game; it was between San Jose Silverhawks vs the PAXOs. As in most of the games I saw, knock-ons dominated the game with the rain adding to the issue of nearly cold dead appendages (hands/fingers) being unable to catch the slippery thing. I should have brought whistles for the Silverhawks as most of them were more concerned about the calls than the rugby. PAXOs beat the Silverhawks 15-5. The PAXOs thought I reffed a great game. The Silverhawks thought otherwise.

After everyone played 3 games each, and most everyone still having to play two games more, and most everyone having already had their fill of rugby, rain and mud, tournament organizers tallied up the records and found Old Southwest tied with the Bald Eagles with 2 wins and a tie each (tied each other). Tournament organizers gave first place to Southwest because they traveled further, and the Bald Eagles received second place medals and the Up an Under Catering service promptly tapped the keg, which was thoroughly drained in record time.

Report by John Pohlman:
Stanford is hosting the Bay Area Senior Games this week with rugby being the opening competition.

This is an over 50's competition with close to 2,000 athletes competing in numerous sports. Many sports competitions were postponed due to rain...but as we know if they let us play rugby, rugby will be played.

Five teams converged at the Stanford Rugby Complex this past Saturday. Ages 50-76. A record day for rain. Even Stanford's pitch could not keep up with the downpour. Everyone was soaked.

Teams competing were Old Southwest, Hastings, Silverhawks, Bald Eagles and host PAXO/Back Bay.

Frank Merrill was the president in charge of rugby. Great job Frank. I was in charge of the referees who included players Levitan, Boyer, King, Bertolone, Gadoua and Pohlman.

Refereeing but not playing Pelicans included Ulibarri, Carter and Williamson.

Around 3:00 the rain stopped, unfortunately so did the tournament. In the final pool game, all teams had played at least three by then, a pretty severe concussion stopped play requiring a ambulance. The player was released from Stanford Hospital the next day and was driven home by teammates. He seems to be recovering.

At that point it was decided enough rugby had been played. Points were totaled and the hardware awarded.

First place went to Old Southwest, second to the Bald Eagles, Third Silverhawks.

I want to thank all the players who refereed the games. We had no complaints about refereeing. And if there is a blessing to being over 50, this type of competition must be part of it.

SUNDAY

Stanford women 22 – ALL BLUES 27 Referee: Sandy Robertson
The two sides came together for a friendly at Stanford on Sunday. Over the first 30 minutes or so the ball saw all of the field, except the in goal area as the teams battled back and forth. Finally Berkeley got a try. In the second half Berkeley stayed in the lead as the teams traded scores. With a few minutes to go and about 5 points down Stanford had a lineout near midfield when one of their players absentmindedly ambled up the lineout just as the hooker was about to throw. Berkeley quickly took the free kick and after several phases got the try with about a minute remaining. Stanford kicked off, quickly regained possession, marched to the goal, and after a few minutes of battering got the consolation try.

NorCal Youth Championships RAINED OUT

HIGH SCHOOL GAMES

Thursday

Frosh/soph: ELSIE ALLEN 36 – Marin 20 Referee: Cary Bertolone
The heavy rains stopped for an hour and we kicked off at 5:30 between these two evenly matched squads. I was impressed at how many good players were on the field at the same time. The rugby was fluid with both teams having multiple phase possessions, good rucking and clean rugby. A heavy-duty hail storm nailed us towards the end of the first half. "SIC" was a popular phrase and everyone thought it was cool playing in the hail (the fans, not so much).

Friday

Friday High School Match
RAIN 3 – Scott Refereeing in the Rain 0

Saturday

Varsity: LAMORINDA 38 – Pleasanton 5 Referee: Rob Hendrickson
Lamo's varsity teams got quite a run Saturday morning, starting with a 9:00 game at O’Dowd, after which they quickly piled into cars to come back and play an 11:30 game against Pleasanton at Campolindo HS in Lafayette. Lamo's gold team dominated in the first half in terms of possession, and score, and at half time the score was 26 - 0.

Pleasanton's defense stiffened and they put more offensive possession together in the second half, which was only 12 - 5. We had decent weather for most of the game except for 15 minutes of hard rain midway through the second half.

Elsie Allen Lobos girls 0 - AMAZONS 94 Referee: Alan Petty
TJs: Jack Petty, Kevin Digulio
The Amazons showed up at Elsie Allen HS with only 13 girls, but they were the right ones. They scored often and through many different players. The #7 and #9 were really special players, the left wing was very difficult to tackle. The Lobos played all the way through and kept their heads up, but these two teams are on different levels.

YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS SUNDAY, MARCH 27

TONY LEVITAN FINDS HIMSELF IN THE FUNNIES

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris