ANONYMOUS RUGBY SOURCE

HAIL, PELICUS!

BILLET NEEDED

Have you ever been on exchange? Were you hosted and did it add to your enjoyment of the experience?

Would you like to go on exchange, and be interested in accumulating some Brownie points that might come in handy?

Two exchangees will be coming to Pelicanland on the weekend of September 19. One, Kimberley Godeseth from Alberta, will be hosted by the Zanarinis. The other, Anthony Yeo of the SCRRS, needs a home away from home.

Anthony’s game will be the Triple Threat hosting Tempe, to be played at Granite Park in Sacramento. Please let us know if you can help out – otherwise we’ll have to get him a hotel room, and that’s not the best way to maintain our reputation as a desirable exchange destination.

ASSISTANT REFEREE NEEDED SUNDAY

The All Blues undertook their title defense last Sunday in Minnesota, defeating the Valkyries 38 - 0.

This Sunday, September 13, the other Minnesota premier league entrant will be in town.

The All Blues will host the Twin Cities Amazons at 10 AM on the GAA fields on Treasure Island. Paul Bretz has been appointed to referee. We have one AR but of course that means we need one more.

Please let us know if you would like to run.

PLEASANTON SCOTTISH GAMES
Report by Roberto Santiago

APTOS 12 – Stanislaus 5
The match was very competitive throughout especially in the first half which due to penalties by the defending team went beyond the halfway time mark. With about one minute left in the first half Stanislaus had a set piece ten meters from the Aptos try line. As play progressed Stanislaus came within inches of scoring but were denied each time. A penalty five meters out gave Stanislaus new life as one of the Aptos defenders was caught out of position while confronting the ref with "But I thought you said that was the last play!" Yeah kid, but not when you commit the infringement to stop an attack. Moments later the Stanislaus ball carrier knocked-on. This would have been the last action (with a shout out to R Scott) if not for the Aptos player who scooped up the ball and ran up the sideline for a full field try. I constantly marvel at how much talking players can do while allegedly giving a full effort to playing the game. The take away here is don't argue with the ref because that last play may the one where your teammate runs for the only score of the half. Aptos scored again six minutes into the second half but did not convert. One minute before the final whistle Stanislaus put one over to avoid the shutout.

GAELS 26 - Aptosislaus 5
The Gaels came out looking like a team set for the regular season opener rather than friendly. It showed on the score board (aka the paper I keep in my pocket) as well. Diablo came out and scored three converted tries in the first half to nothing for the mixed Aptos/Stanislaus side. After scoring another try with thirteen minutes left the Gaels made it a point of pride to preserve the shutout. Aptosislaus never backed down though and put one over with thirty-five seconds left on the clock. In retrospect sending out a group that had played a match already and then watched a rousing game of shinty to play a rested and non shinty-coma-induced Gaels side may have left little doubt as to the outcome on the score sheet. But it seemed that everyone had a good time. I especially enjoyed the day as there is nothing like having a national panel ref playing all day making calls just before you process them. Having confirmation of my calls (just before I made them) was like having a little referee coach in my ear (that everyone within 20 meters of the pitch could hear too). All joking aside, this fellow who didn’t get hurt, was a great resource after the matches.

Thanks to all three teams for a fun day.

CR1 GAMES

SF Fog 10 – BELMONT SHORE 35 Referee: Preston Gordon
No report received.


TRIPLE THREAT 35 – Seattle 17 Referee: Phil Akroyd
T.T – 6T, 1C, 1PK
Sea – 2T, 2C, 1PK

It’s Saturday lunch time, so it must be women’s league rugby at Granite Park. After ARing the Triple Threat last weekend, I was out in the middle this weekend. I knew that the TT can play, after they easily saw off SF Fog women a week ago. If Seattle brought a decent team, there would be a chance of a high-quality game.

I wasn’t disappointed.

We kicked off in 80 degree weather, but the rubber pitch seemed to add about 20 degrees. The first 20 minutes were brutal, with collision after collision, hard hit after hard hit. The style of teams and my willingness to let the game flow meant that there were very few stoppages in the first half, however, a penalty in front of the posts after a couple of minutes was slotted over by the TT captain. It took at least twenty minutes for a further point to be scored, which was a break-away try for the home team after a sloppy kick to touch by Seattle. Another try just before half seemed to deflate the travelers who were unaccustomed to the NorCal heat. TT was up 15 to 0 at half.

The second half reinforced the trend of the first half, which was a collision-fest in the middle of the field, followed by forty meter sprints when the respective teams had sucked in enough players to the midfield. Although the Triple Threat scored six tries, Seattle had the most impressive, with a flat crash ball in front of the posts, about fifteen meters from the try line. The Seattle center went in under the posts and TT didn’t lay a hand on her.

Seattle clearly have a good team and if the two were to meet again in the winter, with no issue of heat, the game could go either way. This was a hugely entertaining game for me and I had great fun out there in my first game of the season. I counted three possible broken fingers, several cases of cramp, a concussion and no complaining.

Thanks to Eugene Baker and a svelte and slender Rod Chance for ARing, Donal Walsh for meaningful words and the two teams for reminding me why I missed reffing for the last two months. When is the next game???

Sunday
Sacramento Amazons 12 – SEATTLE 52 Referee: Rich Boyer
I arrived at Luther Burbank High School to find only the Amazons. The Seattle team thought the game was at a different location. Perhaps they were still smarting from their loss the day before.

The game commenced shortly after Seattle's arrival. The Amazons dominated the first ten minutes, scoring an easy try by the inside center. Seattle's defense seemed timid, and offensively the team was not clicking. Seattle scored and converted a try off a rolling maul, but then gave up a 90 meter try to Burbank's new winger. My thoughts were that the Amazons would dominate this game.

How wrong I was. Seattle implemented expert rolling mauls, and their ball possession and fitness soon began to show. Flanker Black and eightman Miller were especially prominent during the mauls, at the breakdowns, and on set scrum plays. Flyhalf Marty threw perfect flat passes time and again to an expertly bursting #12. Captain Rose (#13) paired well with the inside center and made numerous breaks and tries. The loosehead prop jackaled a number of balls.

The Amazons were much bigger, but Seattle's well coached team simply strangled the Amazons of possession. Seattle, although lacking the Amazon's physicality, were technically precise.

The end of the first half saw Seattle leading 33-12.

The Amazons would not back down and showed bursts of good play in the second half. Their fitness was sorely lacking as Seattle's dominance continued. The Amazons had very good passing, but the Seattle defense always had the overlap, and they were nearly always first to the breakdown.

Seattle flyhalf Marty began kicking expertly to space. One kick died at the 5 meter line a few meters from touch and was taken by the Amazon wing, who was overcome by three chasers, one of whom took the ball and scored a try. Marty made the conversion 5 meters from touch. She only missed one conversion on the day.

A number of men's high school and college coaches could learn from Seattle's game plan. It was obvious that they had practiced numerous hours together; they all communicated; and they were all on the same page. It wasn't "crush the other team", rather, it was hands through the tackler, offload flat passes to an always bursting player, unselfish play, and communicate.

It was a very clean game and both sides had smiles on their faces at the end. It was a nice group to referee. Seattle 52-12.

CIPP REGISTRATIONS FOR 2009 HAVE EXPIRED

2009 CIPP memberships expired August 31. The NCRRS has 19 registered participants as of Tuesday morning.

Go to www.USARugby.org
Click on Registration ’09-’10 just below Welcome in the column on the left.

Take the first option: Create/Renew Individual Membership. Go from there.

REMEMBER to print out the liability waiver. This needs to be signed and submitted in hard copy to our treasurer, Jim Crenshaw, with your $10 annual NCRRS dues.

UPCOMING

The Hawaii invitational has been canceled for 2009. The Harlequins have promised to keep us in their plans for 2010. Pray for the economy.

October 3: Chico State alumni games
October 10: Reno (fifteens) tournament – four pitches, all day. Lots of refs needed.
October 17: Society training meeting at AGM at St. Mary’s
October 31: Stanford Tens, and the Baracus Tens on Treasure Island. We’ll need every available ref this Halloween
November 7: Mittry Memorial Tournament in Redding
November 14: Level One referee course at Sacramento State
November 15: Touch Judge and Assistant Referee courses at Sac State
November 21: Chico Holiday Classic

SAN FRANCISCO GOLDEN GATE SPEAKER BANQUET

The San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club presents: The Grand Rugby Banquet
Featuring Guest Speaker: Wallaby Legend John Eales

Eales played lock for Queensland Reds and Australia
55-cap reign as captain of the Wallabies
Won the Rugby World Cup twice in his illustrious career, first in 1991, and later skippering his country to victory in 1999

St Gabriel’s School
2550 41st avenue
Saturday October 17
6:30 PM
Proceeds to benefit Bay Area Youth Rugby

Tickets include three course dinner, wine and entertainment
To Purchase a seat or table
Tickets: Individual $125 or Table of Ten $1200
Contact: Paul Keeler (415) 362 1010
sfggcoach@gmail.com

This will be in the evening after our AGM. If you’d like to attend and sit at a ‘referee table’, let us know and whether you’ll have a guest. It’s for a good cause!

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Walter enjoys the weather and the view at the Scottish Festival.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

FLIGHT PLANS

HAIL, PELICUS!

UPCOMING

We need a referee for a game in Sacramento this Sunday, September 6. Let us know.

Time to update your PDAs, day-planners, diaries and significant others:

The Scottish Games are covered. All of these others want you!

September 5: Pleasanton Scottish Games
October 3: Chico State alumni games
October 10: Reno (fifteens) tournament – four pitches, all day. Lots of refs needed.
October 17: Society training meeting at AGM at St. Mary’s
*******
October 23-24: Hawaii Harlequins Invitational
They need four referees for this one. You pay the air fare, they cover the rooms. This is one of the benefits of being a NCRRS member. Take advantage! Let us know if you are interested.
*******
October 31: Stanford Tens, and the Baracus Tens on Treasure Island. We’ll need every available ref this Halloween
November 7: Mittry Memorial Tournament in Redding
November 14: Level One referee course at Sacramento State
November 15: Touch Judge and Assistant Referee courses at Sac State
November 21: Chico Holiday Classic

FIFTEEN-A-SIDE

August 22:
Triple Threat hosting Fog in Chico.
We’re not sure whether this was played. We’d be happy to be enlightened.

August 29:
NORCAL TRIPLE THREAT 55 – San Francisco Fog 5 Referee: Chris Tucker
ARs: Eugene Baker, Phil Akroyd
OK, back to 15s. Longer, slower game. Slightly different laws. Completely different set of priorities. Suffice it to say it took me 20 minutes to stop positioning behind the back line, but other than that the adaptation was mostly smooth (according to my assistants anyway, and both coaches seemed annoyed in equal measure, so by one estimate it was at least fair.)

My positioning was helped by always knowing where NorCal were going -- Missile Left and Missile Right were crash ball, and when they got bored of that, Texas signaled that the ball was to be spun out. This didn't help the defence much -- the NorCal side dominated the first half, with 5 tries (3 converted) and would have had another had the scrum half finished her elusive 40 metre run with a proper grounding. Instead as she arrived untouched under the posts, she got close to the ground, then dropped the ball the last 3 inches. Not good enough, scrum 5. It did little to change the momentum.

As it was, the temperature was too darn hot (95 at kickoff on a plastic pitch which was over 110) and the air quality was poor, and so players got subbed early and often. NorCal lost 3 in the first half, two with trouble breathing, and by the end had run their bench dry, mostly with injuries rather than tactical replacements. This did even things up some, and the Fog got on the board early in the second half as they stole ball at the lineout and fed their back line who tore the defence to bits in one move. This spark was seen infrequently and there was no doubt to the better side.

Thanks to Phil and Eugene for keeping me straight, although the first conversion attempt merits a quick mention. Avid readers of my reports will remember last year my team of three messed up a simple kick at goal. Well, good judgment comes from experience (which comes from bad judgment, thanks Jim) and when Phil and Eugene disagreed on the kick we got together. Phil said good, Eugene (who wasn't quite in line with the ball-post vector) said no (wide left) and I said maybe (straight, but did it have the distance?) We had a quick chat, and figured it out. Definitely inside the posts, definitely over the bar, definitely 2 points. And definitely better than guesswork.

August 30:
SF FOG – Amazons Referee: Ryan Luis
The game was a forfeit to Fog, but they played 3 20 minute periods of ten-a-side.

SEVEN-A-SIDE

The Arroyo Grande Sevens were held on August 29th at the admirable Talley Farms pitches.

Only the second of the full-size fields was needed for this five-team event. AG, SLO, Baracus, Kern County and Fresno met in this north-south crossover tournament.

It was one hundred degrees on the nose when the Pelicanmobile arrived in a cloud of dust precisely at ten AM. That was the cool part of the day: it hit 113° in the afternoon by the in-dash thermometer. The only shade was under the posts. And with no wind to dissipate perspiration, running felt cooler than non-running.

Of course, two of the five teams wore black jerseys.

The referee corps comprised Paul Phillips and Paul Cappellano from the local area, along with Pelicus Scriptoris, alternating games with binge-drinking of bottled water. When you drink three pints an hour for most of the day without nature once calling… well, then you should have been drinking four pints.

The teams were keen, perhaps warming up for the Tri-Tip Sevens in two weeks. The tri-tip was also warming up, slow-cooking, offering aromatic enticements, just behind the concessions tent.

The local teams had the better of play on the day, but your scribe had to leave just before the final in order to keep a date with Penelope Pelicus to see the Pretenders at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.

LEVEL 2 REFEREEING COURSES THIS YEAR

The Level 2 referee course is needed in order to be promoted from C1 to B3. The course is generally only given once or twice a year within easy migration range.

This year’s Pacific coast entries will be held in Vancouver, Wash. (near Portland), 19-20 September, run by Jim Kautz and another at Cal State, Long Beach 26-27 Sept, run by Mark Aitkenhead, with Dixon assisting.

You may register for these on the USA Rugby website. Plan ahead – if you’ve got the B Panel in your sights, why wait?

NATION’S BEST REFEREE SOCIETY HAS TEN MEMBERS

Our membership for 2010 has grown from five to ten in the past two weeks. You need to renew your relationship with USA Rugby – 2009 memberships expired August 31.

Go to www.USARugby.org
Click on Registration ’09-’10 just below Welcome in the column on the left.

Take the first option: Create/Renew Individual Membership. Go from there.

REMEMBER to print out the liability waiver. This needs to be signed and submitted in hard copy to our treasurer, Jim Crenshaw, with your $10 annual NCRRS dues.

SAN FRANCISCO GOLDEN GATE SPEAKER BANQUET

The San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club presents: The Grand Rugby Banquet
Featuring Guest Speaker: Wallaby Legend John Eales

Eales played lock for Queensland Reds and Australia
55-cap reign as captain of the Wallabies
Won the Rugby World Cup twice in his illustrious career, first in 1991, and later skippering his country to victory in 1999

St Gabriel’s School
2550 41st avenue
Saturday October 17
6:30 PM
Proceeds to benefit Bay Area Youth Rugby

Tickets include three course dinner, wine and entertainment
To Purchase a seat or table
Tickets: Individual $125 or Table of Ten $1200
Contact: Paul Keeler (415) 362 1010
sfggcoach@gmail.com

This will be in the evening after our AGM. If you’d like to attend and sit at a ‘referee table’, let us know and whether you’ll have a guest. It’s for a good cause!

GOT A MINUTE? UP YOUR GAME

Thank you to REO David Williamson for cluing us in:
http://www.irblaws.com/EN/guidelines

2009 IRB LAW RULINGS SUMMARY
August 27, 2009
By Peter Watson

There have been seven Rulings so far this year. There was also a decision made regarding the Experimental Law Variations that went into effect on August 1, 2008. All were accepted as full Law, with the exceptions of:
• Entering mauls with head/shoulders below hips (no longer allowed = FK)
• Pulling down mauls (no longer allowed = PK)
• Numbers in lineouts (team throwing in sets the maximum and opponents must have the same number or fewer in the lineout = FK)
The Rulings issued last year regarding when a maul ends (General Ruling # 4 and ELV Rulings # 1 and # 5) remain valid.
• If opposing players leave a maul voluntarily the maul continues to exist and may be driven forward without sanction for obstruction.
• If opposing players leave a maul involuntarily the maul has ended. The referee should communicate this and the team in possession is liable to sanction for obstruction if they continue to move forward (PK).

Ruling 1 – Knocked into touch
The question asked was about playing advantage from a knock-on that subsequently went into touch with the throw belonging to the team that did not knock-on. Can advantage continue so the non-offending team can take a quick throw-in if they so choose?
The Ruling is that once the ball has gone into touch, it has become dead. If advantage had not yet been gained, then the scrum should be awarded.

Ruling 2 – Grounding in In-Goal simultaneous with touching the Dead Ball Line
The scenario posed was one where a player touched the ball down in In-Goal and at the exact same time stepped onto or over the Dead Ball Line.
The Ruling was that the game was stopped with no evidence to award either a try or a 22 drop out. Therefore Law 20.1 (c) says there should be a five-meter scrum and 20.4 (d) awards the scrum to the attacking team. This is very similar to a “held up in In-Goal” situation.

Ruling 3 – End of Time at scrum or lineout
If a scrum or lineout has been awarded and then time expires, the referee must allow play to continue until the scrum or lineout has been completed and ball next becomes dead. The question asked concerned a scrum that collapsed or was lifted without penalty. Should this scrum be reset or should the half be ended?
The Ruling was that since the scrum was stopped for safety reasons without reaching a successful conclusion, the scrum had not been completed and must be reset.

There was a similar question regarding a lineout that is awarded and then time expires. If the ball is thrown unfairly (e.g. not straight), the referee should end the half. The original lineout has been completed and there has been an infringement that made the ball dead.

[Note that if there were a penalty or free kick offense committed during the lineout, the kick should be awarded and play allowed to continue until it next becomes dead.]

Ruling 4 – Formation of Ruck
This Ruling addresses the dividing line between a tackle and the formation of a ruck. At a tackle players who have complied with Tackle Law (on their feet, correct zone entry) may attempt to gain possession of the ball with hands. At a ruck players must not play the ball with their hands.

Since the definition of a ruck carries the direct implication that no player has possession when a ruck forms, if a player has possession of the ball prior to contact with an opponent (which would otherwise form the ruck) then that player may continue to play the ball.

This Ruling was accompanied by a video illustrating acceptable examples of players gaining possession and continuing to play the ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbNg9kkDjmo

Note that in all examples shown the outcome is immediate production of the ball. If the actions of the first arriving player do not result in the ball becoming immediately available, then those actions should be viewed critically. “Protective” is not the same as “productive”.

Ruling 5 – Front Row Replacement
In the situation presented, a team started the match with the required number of front row replacements. The team had used its entire list of nominated replacements and due to injuries was no longer able to scrummage safely, resulting in uncontested scrums. The question asked was could the team bring in one of their other players who had been substituted to replace the front row player whose injury necessitated uncontested scrums (per Law 3.12)?

The Ruling was that the purpose of 3.12 is to allow contested scrums to continue. If there were no available front row players AND all other reserves have been used, then the team is not allowed to bring in some other player for the purpose of keeping fifteen on the field.

Note that the question asked and the answer given were quite narrow. Do not read more into this than there actually is, and don’t try to extrapolate.

[Editor’s Note: If a team has used up all of its replacements when another player gets injured and has to leave the pitch, they have to play short whatever the position of the last-injured player.]

Ruling 6 – U19 Reduced Numbers in Scrums
This Ruling clarified that under U19 Variations, Law 20.1 (f), which requires matching numbers and formations in scrums, only requires reduced numbers in scrums if either team is short a forward.

• If either team loses a back (for any reason – injury, send-off, etc.) then scrums can continue with eight players.
• If either team loses a forward, then scrums must be reduced to seven for both teams.

Ruling 7 – Joining a Ruck
This question addressed the manner in which players may join rucks. Law 16.2 (b) requires that a player join by binding onto a teammate. The Ruling stated that players joining a ruck must bind before or simultaneously with contact by any other part of the joining player’s body, including the shoulder. This is a safety issue. Players cannot come in like a missile and then bind as an afterthought. The Ruling also recognized that in some cases a ruck turns such that a player coming from an on-side position to join as required by 16.5 (c) will bind onto an opponent. That is acceptable, keeping in mind Law 10.4 (j) [no dangerous charging].

Directives
In addition to the Rulings, the IRB also issued two directives requesting increased attention to two areas.

Dangerous Tackling
The IRB reiterated a 2007 Ruling regarding tackles in which the ball carrier is lifted and tipped horizontally and then dropped or forced to the ground. The sanction for this should start at Red Card and work backwards only if there are extraordinary extenuating circumstances.

This was accompanied by a video example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Dso8Gc0gc

Maul Obstruction
The IRB issued instructions for increased referee vigilance regarding obstruction at mauls. The three specific areas addressed are:
• Formation at a lineout, particularly by supporters of the jumper.
• Formation in open play, primarily from kicks.
• Ball carrier detaching at the back and continuing to move forward.

There is a video containing examples.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vVswqjHhqI&feature=related

Please contact me with any questions.
Peter Watson
Chair, USA Rugby Laws Committee

TIME ON TOM’S HANDS
Tom Zanarini forwards this:

Just doing a little browsing and came across this fitness test for collegiate soccer referees, thought it was interesting...
http://www.nisoa.com/index_files/Page859.htm

The most interesting thing is conclusion 5, which hasn’t always seemed to be a consideration in fitness testing for rugby referee officials.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Mike King accepts the award as the Society’s top bird from Pete Smith at the men’s national Sevens championships.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

H STANDS FOR RUGBY

HAIL, PELICUS!

RUGBY TREASURE IN THE BAY

Treasure Island is well on its way to becoming the epicenter of American rugby that the polo field in Golden Gate Park used to be.

Treasure Island was created to host a World’s Fair and then to serve as the Bay Area’s major airport. (You can see the control tower on the corner to the right at the stop sign where the entrance gate used to be.) The lower deck of the Bay Bridge was at that time covered with railroad tracks – the airport would have been at the heart of the mass-transit network. But this was in 1939 when storm clouds on both the Atlantic and Pacific horizons led the government to take possession of the engineered island for the Navy.

Those clouds finally dissipated fifty years later when the Berlin Wall fell and with the retrenchment of our forces Treasure Island freed up for civilian development.

The San Francisco/Golden Gate club has developed an enviable facility on the southeast corner of the island, with Rocca Field running parallel to Avenue H between California and 1st.

Golden Gate has dreams of resurrecting the Golden Gate tournament, and what could be more appropriate? With the Gaelic Association having three pitches along Avenue H, each of which is much larger than a rugby field, the athletic acreage exists already.

There is also the possibility that SFGG will be developing a second pitch of their own just to the north of their clubhouse.

Recently, the San Francisco Fog have obtained the use of enough land at the corner of 6th and H to build two full-sized fields or to squeeze in three playable pitches in order to realize their dream of hosting a Bingham Cup. They also have two choices for potential clubhouses. One is 70,000 square feet. The other was formerly a YMCA, which means it already has changing rooms. If we word-associate ‘YMCA’ and ‘San Francisco’, 'Fog' can’t be far behind.

And then, of course, there are those three Gaelic pitches. The Fog and Golden Gate are on good terms with the GAA. There could be six or eight athletic grounds along Avenue H where never a soccer ball fears to tread...

CIPP EXPIRES AT THE END OF AUGUST

In order to remain current with USA Rugby everyone reading this needs to register for 2010.

Go to www.USARugby.org
Click on Registration ’09-’10 (sic) just below Welcome in the column on the left.

Take the first option: Create/Renew Individual Membership. Go from there. It's $60.

REMEMBER to print out the liability waiver. This needs to be signed and submitted in hard copy to our treasurer, Jim Crenshaw, with your $10 annual NCRRS dues.

Your ‘club’ is the Northern California Rugby Referee Society. So far, we have five members for 2010. We’ll need more than that to meet the regular-season schedules.

TWO NATIONAL SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Belmont Shore won the USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships hosted by SF/Golden Gate this past weekend at Rocca Field, defeating Aspen and gaining revenge for their defeat in last year’s final.

SF/GG reprised last year’s performance, winning the Plate. This requires finishing the round-robin in the top half of the sixteen-team field, losing a quarterfinal, and then winning two in row to go home with hardware.

NOVA won the first-ever nationwide women’s club competition hosted by the Fog at the GAA fields at the northern end of Treasure Island, along Avenue H between 10th and 11th.

The All Blues were dominant in their first six games, giving up only one try. However, in their final game they gave up six trys to the NOVA juggernaut.

NOVA 2 won the Bowl, emulating their men’s team who also won the Bowl at the other end of Avenue H and were on hand to watch the women triumph.

Readers will recall that there wasn’t a USA Rugby-sponsored Girls High School Championship until after the girls proved their interest by holding it themselves. Perhaps these women’s efforts will be similarly noticed and rewarded.

MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
Report by John Pohlman:

This was Golden Gate’s 2nd year of a three year contract to host the USA National Club 7's.

Props to Golden Gate for doing a great job. Way too many GG supporters to name all. Mike Walker stood out by organizing the ball boys and generally keeping the tournament on schedule. It looks like they may have even come close to making a profit.

The Pelicans were well represented in all phases of officiating. We had members @ 1-8 or whatever includes referee, AR's, In Goal Officials, evaluators, substitution officers, etc...

My Saturday started by arriving at Treasure Island around 7:45. This allowed enough time to check out the woman's Club 7's hosted by the FOG.
I was one of the first officials to arrive. The main group coming from SF were detoured by a mail truck which closed the Bay bridge. But being well prepared officials and leaving plenty of time, the tournament started at exactly 9:00AM.

Sweet Donnie Pattalock was deputized by Patty Mac to organize the AR's and IGO's. Patty does a great job running the referees, always positive and loads of energy. Donnie set up assignments for the AR's and IGO's.

Paul Bretz got the opener. Denver versus Life. First game and everyone was warming up. Aruna had the third game. Not bad three games two Pelicans already in the middle. Unfortunately a player rolled into Aruna's knee in the first half. He had to leave the game with a fractured tibia and will be out for an extended period.

First day saw 28 games played. I ran AR or IGO for 14 of them. The first eight hours were fun with the energy of the tournament fueling the competitive juices. By the end of the day I had 'almost' had enough rugby. Fortunately three things happened. First and foremost, Tony Wells GG workhorse and tournament organizer, brought me a Genius at the end of the last game. Yes I did the first game of the day and the last. Second, the Pelicans from the FOG tournament showed up with birthday cake for Mike Gadoua's 50th. And last rugby really was over for the day. Finally got home a little after 9:00PM.

Sunday got to sleep in. First game at 10:00AM. I arrived before 9. Most of the officials were there, no mail mis-deliveries.

And day two starts with renewed energy and knowing this is A-game day. The competition is heating up. A loss and you are gone.

I am not going to get into details of the games, you can go to a number of website and get specifics. Aspen, last years champions played Belmont Shore. Aspen's roster was filled with players from everywhere...except Colorado.

But Belmont Shore won and certainly deserved to win. They seemed to improve every game. And as the completion got faster and stronger so did they. Tom Lyons did a good job refereeing the game.

One quick plug for the Golden Gate boys. I was talking with one of the GG organizers who said they were hoping to resurrect the Golden Gate tournament at Treasure Island. They have four fields available. Thinking this would be a post season tournament sometime in May. If you have any interest in helping out with this project please contact the GG's website.

PELICAN UP NORTH
A narrative of my exchange to Alberta
By Bjorn Stumer

Customarily those who travel up North to Alberta make a week of it, with matches in Calgary one week-end, in Edmonton the following week-end with some sightseeing in between. I could not spare the time but arrived on Thursday for the long week-end hosted by the Alberta Society. I was met at the airport by David Robinson who, even though only in his late forties and still quite fit, has been refereeing top level rugby since the early nineties. As a matter of fact he remembers refereeing one of the night matches played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, a series that I remember playing in 1992. Since then he had many important assignments including in Dubai.

After picking up my bags, David drove me to a local watering hole where I met Andrew Petti, my host for the week end, and another referee. After snacks & a few pints we made our way to the car, but on the way met another ref. who was coming to join us. This required us to stop at another pub for an additional pint. We finally retired at the Petti’s house, having stopped on the way to stock up on liquid refreshments and steaks that Andrew ably BBQ’d for our supper. The Petti family and their two fine dogs are all most hospitable, and I was given full use of their furnished basement with my own TV and music system.

As both Andrew and his wife had to work on Friday morning, I was met by David Robinson who graciously took me for a brief tour of Banff National Park, about an hour away from Calgary. I said brief tour, because the park is so beautiful that days on end could be spent there exploring. As a matter of fact I plan to return with my wife who fondly remembers a summer spent there as a kid. After our tour, David drove us straight to the Calgary Irish Rugby Club, where I was scheduled to do a Div. 3 match between the Irish and the Canucks.

This Division 3 match was portrayed to me as a hodge-podge match comprising inter-divisional players, old boys, and even a couple of playing refs, to include David. This might have applied to the Irish, but the Canucks were a much younger and fitter side, who put in 50 points on the 5 scored by the Irish. If I were to point out the difference between the match and a Division 3 match here in NorCal, I would mention the great handling skills of both teams. Our teams would have had far more knock ons. I should also point out that there was quite a bit of running in this match, and the 3000’ feet altitude and extremely dry weather seriously affected my pre-season form. After the match I enjoyed the hospitality and atmosphere of the Calgary Irish clubhouse, then off to bed in order to approach the Saturday match in a more professional manner.

Saturday morning my host Andrew and I went out for a full Dutch breakfast and still had time to watch the South Africa – Australia tri-nation match prior to our setting off for the Saturday matches. The Rugby day unfolded at the fine facilities of the Alberta Rugby Union: Three fine pitches, the main with bleachers, a ground floor set of changing rooms, including referee facilities, and a second floor clubhouse with bar, terrace, and the usual memorabilia and accoutrements you would expect at such a Rugby venue.

This time I had a second division match. Once again pitting the Calgary Irish versus the Canucks. This was a closely fought and fast match, played by two fit, young, and determined sides. I felt much better than the day before and felt more able to follow the game, but feel that this match would have been better served by a more capable referee. Having said that, the team meant to win did on the day did, and the Irish reversed the table by handing out a defeat to the Canucks. The score was pretty close but, since no official match card materialized for this match and I gave my notes to Andrew for the official record, I cannot remember what it was. I felt that I had a decent first half but, as the score was pretty close and the rivalry high, the second half seemed to slip away from me a bit, and the penalties increased as tempers began to frail. Fortunately I did not have to resort to cards, and a good time was had by all. Oddly enough the coach of the losing team approached me later and told me that I had a good second half – go figure!

Following my match, I assisted with two more matches, both first division, one ably refereed by my host Andrew. My fellow assistant referee for both matches was Kim Godeseth, a good natured young and attractive female referee who has great potential within Alberta and Rugby Canada. I see great things for her in the future, especially if she will visit Northern California on an exchange as planned and get some of our assessment assistance as part of her development. After the 3 matches I was pretty tired, especially since all of them were played in fairly hot weather. This after weeks of incessant rains experienced in the area. I was tired, but not enough not to be able to repair to the clubhouse for the customary après’ rugby activities. The food choices were great, the company congenial, and the beer flowed freely – a great time indeed!

We had a nice lazy Sunday morning, then lunch with Andrew and his wife and a ride to the airport for my trip back home. All of the referees I met were incredibly friendly and hospitable, the Rugby on tap was great, and this was a wonderful experience for me. David Robinson gave me a super Rugby Canada tie and I in return gave him a San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby ball. Andrew Petty proved the perfect host and gave me two polo shirts as gifts. One from the Alberta Referee Society, and another from his old club the Calgary Canucks. In turn I gave him a few goodies including our Society tie and flags. Just a wonderful exchange!!! Thanks to all up in Calgary and to our Society for sending me up.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Pelicus Septenae Potioris (who of course prefers Sevens), Mike Gadoua, celebrates half a century with his wife Susan and hundreds of like-minded folk at Rocca Field on Saturday.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

HIGHER AERIES

HAIL, PELICUS!

ATTENTION TO ORDERS

Aruna Ranaweera has been promoted to the USA Rugby Referees National Panel, and Joe Androvich to the USA Rugby Referees Focus Group.

Congratulations to these hard-working and talented officials.

This is the third year in a row the PelicanRefs have put someone onto the focus group, and now two of them have moved up.

The pump is primed for those of our membership who are following this flight path.

WOMEN’S CLUB FIFTEENS SEASON BEGINS AUGUST 22

A couple of shots in the arm have revitalized the club schedules for 2009.

The first thing to know is that last year’s Davis Double Deckers are now the Triple Threat, referring to their plan to play home games in Chico, Sacramento and Davis. The other teams are the Sacramento Amazons, the San Francisco Fog, and the Berkeley All Blues.

The All Blues will be competing in the new super league.

Eight teams in two conferences will play home-and-away within their conferences. Games will be played on Sundays beginning September 6 and ending October 25.

The top two from each conference will advance to semi-finals on November 6 and finals on Nov. 8. (We believe these will be on Treasure Island but can’t cite a reference.)

The All Blues are in the Red Conference with Minnesota Valkyries, Twin City Amazons and ORSU.

The Triple Threat, Amazons and Fog will play in the new CR1 league with six other teams: Seattle, Budd Bay, Mudhens, Belmont Shore, Scottsdale and the Surfers. League play will run from August 29 until mid-October.

The third- and fourth-place teams will advance to national play-in games leading to the quarterfinals. The first- and second-place teams receive byes into the quarterfinals. These games will all be on October 24-25.

The national semi-finals and finals will be on Treasure Island November 7 and 8.

Our NorCal season starts with a friendly, the Triple Threat hosting the Fog in Chico on August 22, Joe Androvich to referee.

This makes it official: rugby balls will be in the NorCal air every weekend from now until Christmas. Let us know which weekends you can ref and whether you’d like to AR for some good games!

QUINCY CLASSIC
PAXO OLDE BLACKS 8 tries – Nevada Old Boys (NOBS) 7 tries Referee: Scott Wood
For two consecutive years we experienced cooler than normal temperatures. Obviously, this data definitively demonstrates that global warming is a sham. However, I have carbon credits for sale if you are in the market.

D and I loaded the Pookiemobile, fed the dogs and bolted for the hills. After a brief stop in Marysville to view its skyscraper, we headed up Hwy 70. This is a very beautiful drive through the Feather River Canyon into the Shasta Cascade region. We arrived at the secret match location to find players of all ages, shapes and talent in various forms of readiness. This year's iteration was moved up one weekend due to the forthcoming National 7s Finals. Unfortunately, this caused the game to coincide with the SFGG and Reno 7s and may have been the cause for fewer players on hand.

Nonetheless, we had a lot of running (yes, running), passing and scoring. One referee was almost flattened by Dave Cuadro(?). Dave and Conor Calder are two players from SFGG who were up for the day to demonstrate their future potential to those who may be forgetting much of their past. After three iterations, we retired to the wonderful mountain home of Frank and Clarice Merrill for great conversation and award winning chili. No player of the match was awarded. Although Glenn Mills received a First Place Friendly Dart League trophy. Russ Wilkening accepted the Third Place trophy on behalf of the NOBS.

Sunday morning, we woke to another beautiful day. We continued our circle of the Sierras and drove south to Truckee. Lunch at Smokey's BBQ then off to the I-80 parking lot. Home later than desired but satisfied with a fulfilling weekend.

SPEAKING OF SEVENS

The teams of the NCRFU warmed up for the national Sevens championships this coming weekend with two tournaments involving a total of two teams.

Reno Sevens: Canceled

SFGG Sevens: The first two referees arrived at 8 AM. The visiting Diablo side was there are 9 AM. The hosts were late. Six referees all told made appearances.

John Coppinger made but a cameo, the hills of Marin calling him and his mountain bicycle. That left five officials to practice their rotation for next week’s nationals.

The teams were divided into a pool and then played three complete round-robins.

First round: SF/Golden Gate 14 – Diablo 14 Referee: Mike Gadoua
Team of five: Bruce Carter, Mark Godfrey, Preston Gordon, Roberto Santiago
This was not a good start. Every match in the entire round-robin ended in a tie. Tie-breakers to resolve much occurrences were invoked (most total points, total point differential, most tries, most converted tries, fewest red cards, fewest yellow cards, head-to-head result) but none of them unknotted the standings. The round had to be declared a complete and utter draw, with every team precisely on even footing.

Thus the referee certainly must owe more than the traditional penalties for a single tie game.

Second round: SFGG 35 – Diablo 7 Referee: Roberto Santiago
Team of Five: Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, Mark Godfrey, Preston Gordon
Golden Gate has fifteen or so players working at a high level of Sevens proficiency. Several changes in personnel told the story here and they rolled.

Third round: SFGG 33 – Diablo 19 Referee: Bruce Carter
Team of Five: Mike Gadoua, Mark Godfrey, Preston Gordon, Roberto Santiago
Now SFGG was in gear, hopefully ready for the toughest pool in the national brackets next week, swimming with NOVA, Chicago Lions and Glendale.

With the three rounds completed, the teams were ranked from first to last, with the top team advancing to the knock-out round:

SFGG Green – SFGG White Referee: Preston Gordon
Team of Five: Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, Mark Godfrey, Roberto Santiago
Golden Gate won this one.

Play was followed by not watching the South Africa – Australia TriNations match, something having gone wrong with the recording process in the clubhouse. But outdoors on the patio it was sunny, calm and beautiful and the rugby conversational ball was passed around late into the afternoon.

TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ON OFFER THIS WEEKEND

Lucky Sevens!

The first-ever women’s national club Sevens championship will be played this weekend, just a few blocks down the street from the men’s event at Rocca Field.

Hosted by the Fog, the women will play on the GAA (Gaelic) fields. We believe this will be the first use of this very attractive facility for rugger.

San Francisco/Golden Gate will be hosting the USA event for the second of the three years they’ve been awarded. Lessons have been learned and improvements to the use of space implemented – the pitch west of Rocca Field will be used for warming up and H Avenue between the two pitches will be closed to vehicle traffic for the weekend.

Not too many referee societies could lend a dozen or more highly-qualified and experienced officials to each of two such tournaments at the same time, but that’s the ask for the PelicanRefs, to which the flock answers in the affirmative.

Play begins on both pitches at 9 AM Saturday morning. The women will wrap up by 3:30, when a Gaelic match is scheduled, whereas the men will continue until 7 PM.

Sunday’s play begins at 9 for the women and 10 for the men. The men’s final will be at 3 PM. We’re not sure of the women’s precise schedule at press time.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE DREAM VACATION CONTINUES
Report from George O’Neil:

Week of July 13
This week I was awarded a Division Three game between High School Old Boys (HSOB) and University. I had University in my second week here and they were a much-improved side on the day. The day was perfect for Rugby about 60 degrees and no wind. HSOB came out of the gates running and scored a quick try and a penalty. University replied with a penalty to make the half time score 10 to 3 in favor of HSOB. After the half the University team slowly wore down on the opposition of and scored four unanswered tries to win the game 20 to 10. I didn’t have a referee coach to observe me but I have attached my game summary sheet and self review.

Before this game I was also an assistant referee for the Christ College Wamimia College this is a Crusaders Cup game. This is a high school level game that is part of a regional competition that includes Colleges from the entire south island. The head referee was Blair who is an academy referee. Also the other Touch judge was Chelsea who is a Women’s National Panel referee. Before the game both teams did the Haka which was a very cool experience. I didn’t know this was coming and was surprised at it but it set the stage for a great game. Christ College hung on for a 2 point win with Wamaia College knocking on a ball to end the game.

Also Volney Rouse and Jim Barrett continued their winning ways with the Linwood Rugby Club. Volney played for the division one side and they secured their top four playoff spot with 26 to 29 win over Brighton RFC.

Week of July 20
The playoffs for Division one and two have started so I was given a Division Four game between University of Christchurch and Mervale. The conditions were great no wind and not a cloud in the sky, so much for bad weather Johnny. Division four is much slower and the teams barely practice but it was a good to get a slower game that I could really think about positioning. I did have Paul Duggan come to watch me and I want to talk about the discussions we had on Monday night at the referees meeting. A little background on Paul: he is the coach for the four highest referees in the union including Vinny Monroe, who is on the national panel. He took me through what the national panel is going through with all the top referees. It was all about “time and space” how to position yourself to get the most time and proper spacing. I have attached his report and he will be watching me in the next two weeks. It was a great contact to make and a great learning experience.

Week of July 27
On Wednesday July 29th I did an under 16 game between Christ College and St. Bede's. It was a great opportunity to apply what Paul and I had talked about. My only goal in the game was to be the third person at every ruck. This was accomplished with little struggle and it was a very fast game. I have noticed that the younger level kids here are faster games, as they are less physical at the breakdown. It was a good game the only difficulty was that at that level they don’t wear any numbers so it was a challenge to identify players on the ground or at the break down. Jim Barrett took some pictures of the game that I have attached.

On Saturday I was given a Division three game between High School Old Boys and Suburbs. It was an interesting game, as I gave my first red card in New Zealand and a yellow. HSOB needed a bonus point to secure a top four finish in Division Three and they nearly got one as the won the game 29 to 16 but failed to get their fourth try. I gave the red card for referee abuse. Besides that the game was smooth and flowed very well. On a side note, the new mandate from the IRB, allowing the tackler to have his hands on the ball for longer has created more turnovers at the breakdown in my games and has lead to a few more holding on calls. Again my goal for the game was to be the third person at every breakdown, this lead to much better management at the ruck and better “time and space”.

The Linwood rugby club lost by one point to Christchurch RFC, 19 -20. This means that the game on the 8th is a must-win game to get to the finals. I’ll let you know how it goes. Also NPC has started and it’s great to watch games live Thursday through Sunday.

I was also able to watch an Army game that was between the South Island and the North Island. It was great game with the South eventually winning by a large amount. I have attached a picture of that as well.

SARANAC EXCHANGE REPORT
By Ryan Luis:

I flew out Thursday morning to arrive in upstate New York for the Saranac Lake Tournament beginning on Friday July 31st and ending on Sunday August 2nd. I was under the impression that I would arrive in New York late Thursday evening, but other arrangements were made. So after a 5 hour flight, 4 hour layover, 1 hour flight, 15 minute drive, 4 hours of sleep in Vermont, 20 minute drive, a 20 minute ferry ride across Lake Champlain, and an hour drive we arrived in Lake Saranac at 7:30am for breakfast and our game assignments for the day.

Friday was Old Boys day with over 30’s, over 45’s, and over 50’s. I was assigned two games this day. The first being at 11am was the O45’s with the Ancient Warriors vs the White Plains and the second being an O50’s consolation semis between Virginia Cardinals and Pequea. I received coaching in both games and was fairly satisfied with my performance in the game given it had been my first two games of referring in about 6 weeks. I was very impressed with the pace of both games given the median age of the players involved. The simple fact is that because of the age of the players management was the word of the day. All players put forth a gainful effort, but players off their feet at the breakdown needed to be managed in both, along with savvy vets trying to feel out and push a younger ref. Over all the games were very good. White Plains won the first one by a three tries margin, and Virginia won the second game by 25+ points.

On Saturday morning we had breakfast at 6:30am (which definitely did feel like 3:30am California time) to receive our match assignments. I was given three games this day, the first at 11am between Brooklyn and Virginia Cardinals. I felt this was one of the best games I did on the weekend. I was watched and coached. I took a very long time to get warmed up before the match as it was my first game of the day, and to wake myself up as much as possible given the time difference. The biggest problem with this game was that both teams were wearing blue with white trim. In the first half this created a lot of confusion as neither team was sure which blue or white I meant when I called a color and name. This lead to no response as players assumed either I wasn’t talking to them or that I didn’t see them. In the first half there were 10 penalties, 2 free kicks, one yellow card and no score. After a talking between both sides at halftime and making sure each side knew their own color and discussing the breakdown the second half opened up. The second half ended with a score of 14 points to 3 for Brooklyn with a penalty count of 4 and 2 free kicks.

After this game I had a long break until 3pm when I did a game between the Saranac Lake Mountaineer Women (who were just called Mountaineer Women) and Albany New York Women. Going into this game I expected it to be an opportunity to work on my running lines and keeping my feet active around each breakdown. As it turns out I had no idea that these two women’s team are very big rivals as they are about two hours apart and compete in the same division together. I also didn’t know till right about kick-off time when roughly four to five hundred people started to congregate around the field that this was also the Hometown women’s team. The game was hotly contested and a confrontation of two styles. The Albany women looking to play wide and let their outside backs loose while the Mountaineer women looked to consolidate and play tight with their bigger pack. The game ended with a 24 to 17 score line for Albany women. This was one of the first games I have refereed where literally every call I made was followed by an ooh or an ahh by the crowd and was collective enough to be heard by all.

After this I took a 20 minute car ride over to Lake Placid for my third and final game of the day at 6pm between Akron and Toronto T.W.A.T.S. Obviously the name was meant to be a joke but the abbreviation was legitimate of some place and/or organization. This was a loser’s consolation for the social division, and that’s exactly what it was. The Toronto Women’s Team had also come down for the tournament, and had already been eliminated at this point so they spent the game jeering from the sideline and many jokes concerning the team name were had. Both teams were also informed that the winner would have a game the following morning at 8am. This changed the attitude of many players and I found the attitude quickly became who can lose the most valiantly. In the end Akron won running away and the Canadians didn’t seem that upset about it in the end.

After all this I went back to the motel and got cleaned up. We had a BBQ at the gazebo outside the motel which was sitting right on Flower Lake with a breathtaking sunset over the mountains in the background. After the meal we had a referee’s kangaroo court which was definitely fun, especially since I was judged not have committed any crimes over my time there. During the dinner I was informed that I wouldn’t have any games the following day and that I was more than welcome to explore the town and festivities taking place. A few refs and myself all went down to the Watering Hole which was the local bar sponsoring the tournament. There were quite a few people out, roughly 800 rugby players to be exact; quite an outing for a Saturday evening.

Sunday I awoke and went out to the main field for the finals of each division. There was quite a turnout given the poor weather conditions. A good 1500 people there were watching all the games in the pouring rain. I watched all the games except the big finale in the men’s premier division. I had to leave to get back for my flight home. As it turned out this is where my only real troubles occurred.

We began with an hour drive back to the ferry across Lake Champlain, a 30 minute drive to the airport and then a long wait. It turned out that the power had gone out at the airport so we were delayed. The plane was also delayed about an hour because of weather. This created problems as I had about an hour and 20 minute connection time for my flight from Dulles back to SFO. So we left Burlington Vermont about an hour late. We landed in Dulles with just about 20 minutes till my next flight. I ran to the next gate and my ticket was taken by the attendant and I walked calmly down the ramp only to have the attendant at the plane close the door inform of me and inform me that I was too late. I was extremely upset with this, though I did not make a scene. The man in front of me who had been flying for over 20 hours already coming from Africa made enough of a scene that the lady threatened to call security. I figured this was not attention that was going to help get me home so I decided to go to the customer service counter to make arrangements otherwise. At the ticket count I was informed that there were no other flights leaving Dulles that night (it was already 10pm D.C. Time) for the West Coast. I was told that the first flight leaving for SFO with possible space wasn’t till Tuesday or later. The same was true for Oakland. My only choice was to take a connection flight leaving the following day at 5:50pm from Dulles to Denver and then Denver to San Jose after a two and a half hour layover. I accepted and found a hotel for the night. So after a hotel night stay, a lot of waiting around, a four hour flight, a two and a half hour layover, and a two hour flight I was back in San Jose. I was picked up by a friend at 11:30pm Monday night. We then made the 45 minute drive back to my car that was parked at Orinda BART Station. I was sure that my car would have a ticket given that it was there a day longer than I had planned. To my surprise there was no ticket, but another little surprise to be found just after my friend had left to go home. As I went to enter the driver side seat I noticed I had a flat tire. With great frustration I changed the flat and went home. Finally I got to bed by about 2am so I could get up at 6am for work at 7am the next morning.

Overall the trip was very good, and the exchange was very worthwhile. The style of rugby was different from NorCal Rugby so the tight game with a lot of breakdowns presented a different challenge and allowed me to work on managing players and my movement around the breakdown.

SHOOTER

Melanie Ryding (nee McGowan) has visited Pelicanland twice before, first on exchange in 2002 and then on honeymoon with Mark a couple of years later. She acquired an appropriate sobriquet at the craps tables of the Lake Tahoe area.

She has since refereed for England and now, in her post-rugby life, she will be competing in triathlon for Great Britain.

And, no doubt, tomorrow the world!

http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Melanie-fit-for-world-challenge.5502448.jp

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

Every team is represented at the pre-tournament Captains, Coaches and Referee’s meeting Saturday at Rocca Field.

Mike Gadoua clarifies things with Grant Wells and Mose Timoteo of Golden Gate, and with John Compaglia and Mo of Diablo.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

SHORT NOTICE

HAIL, PELICUS!

DUELING TOURNAMENTS

There are going to be two sevens tournaments on this Saturday, August 8: Reno and Golden Gate.

(This is reminiscent of our having had tournaments in Palo Alto and Sacramento on the same weekends this summer.)

Both of these will be single-pitch tournaments. We could use 3-4 refs for each event. Please let us know if you would like a run.

PACIFIC COAST QUALIFIER

Perhaps a more organized summer schedule would generate more interest. As it was, the Pacific Coast qualifier featured four teams and a grand total of six matches.

Four referees were flown into Flagstaff, Ariz, to work this event. Ouch!

Tempe and Golden Gate qualified to make up the final sixteen men’s teams that will be playing at Rocca Field for the USA Rugby title August 15-16.

AUTUMN CALENDAR: RESERVE THE DATES

Saturday, October 17: Society training meeting, AGM, and election of Board of Directors
At the SFGG clubhouse on Treasure Island.

There will be two vacancies on the five-member Board. Well, there could be more at the discretion of the voters, but we will need at least two new faces among our leadership. If you are interested, or know someone you think would be a valuable addition to the board, now is the time to start talking it up.

Saturday, November 14: Level One Officiating course, at Sacramento State. This will be taught at the same site with a USA coaching course.

Sunday, November 15: Assistant Referee and Touch Judge courses, also at Sac State.

If you are interested in attending a Level One course in the Bay Area in October, please let Rob Hendrickson know of your interest and which of the following dates you would prefer: Oct. 3, 10 or 24.

IRB REFEREE TALENT IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM 4 (TIP4)
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Report by Aruna Ranaweera

Week 2.

SATURDAY July 25

Fitness testing was conducted for the TIP referees at 8am on the track field. The TIP Strength/conditioning coaches supervised the warm-up and administered the tests. Both 10m and 40m sprints were timed electronically. We also did the "T"-test for agility. We moved to an indoor basketball court to do the multi-stage beep test, but after about 4 levels, the CD started to skip (probably due to vibration from the wooden floor), so the test was postponed to Tuesday.

After lunch, the big event on everyone's agenda was the TriNations match between New Zealand and South Africa. Since the match was being played in Blomfontein, we couldn't watch it live, but thanks to my roommate Horatiu's rugby collaboration with Chester Williams in Romania, the Romanian trainer and I were invited to watch the match at Chester's place in Cape Town. As Chester drove us out of Stellenbosch, he pointed out several rugby matches being played in the black neighborhoods of the town. We arrived at his hill-top house with a stunning view of Cape Town, including Table Mountain and the ocean. Chester showed us his memorabilia from the 1995 World Cup and we were joined by several other guests to watch the Springboks control possession to defeat the All Blacks 28-19. Chester and his wife Maria then treated everyone to a delicious feast that included marinated springbok. After an evening of joviality and reminiscing, they drove us back to our hotel in Stellenbosch. What great hosts!

Most of the TIP participants went out to celebrate our first week in Stellenbosch. The bars and clubs were packed with locals, mostly students, some of whom have started to recognize us from our refereeing during the week (positive reviews, so far!).

SUNDAY July 26

Stellenbosch is South Africa's prime wine region, so appropriately, TIP participants were treated to lunch at Spier, a safari-themed winery that includes a wildlife area featuring live cheetahs and wild African dogs. Dining was buffet style under a large tent, complete with native dancers and couches. Everyone ate too much.

After lunch, most of us were bussed to scenic Cape Town for shopping at the Waterfront area. I seem to have caught a cold, so I went to bed early.

MONDAY July 27

We were treated to a presentation about creating winning teams and attitudes, in which we were shown video of how the Springbok team was motivated and focused for their World Cup campaign in 2007.

The TIP referees participated in a practical session for scrum management in which we took turns refereeing the Western Province Rugby Institute (WPRI) players during their morning practice. Tappe Henning led us through a practical session on running lines recognizing that top-level players are often faster than referees. TIP participants also took an MBTI survey for categorizing personality type.

In the evening, we watched four of the TIP referees officiate Division 5 hostel matches (uncontested scrums).

TUESDAY July 28

At 8am, TIP referees ran the multi-stage beep test. Unfortunately, the wooden gym surface turned out to be quite slippery, so we started to lose our footing around level 6. Consequently, the beep test results will only be used to estimate relative aerobic fitness within the TIP group.

Referees then took turns refereeing the WPRI players during maul practice. We were impressed by the bizarre "spider-maul", an innovative variation of the rolling maul that is sure to confuse anyone who hasn't seen it before, especially defenders and referees!

TIP participants then watched and analyzed video from the Lions versus Springboks 1st test. The video clips had been sorted and categorized using "Fairplay" software that dramatically increases the efficiency of post-match video review.

In the evening, four more of the TIP referees, including myself, officiated Division 4 hostel matches (uncontested scrums). We are able to put our new running lines to good effect.

WEDNESDAY July 29

We listened to a presentation on counter-attack and kick defense by former Springbok and current assistant coach of the Blue Bulls, Pieter Roussou. He started his presentation by showing video of the famous Cal vs Stanford football play from 1982! (The message was to not relax and play till the final whistle.)

Tappe then lead the TIP referees through a fascinating presentation on practical refereeing, which included excellent recommendations on the approach one should take to balance the laws and the game. He and Kosie Horn emphasized that a lot of useful material is available on the IRB website (www.irb.com).

In the evening, we watched three of the TIP referees from Monday officiate Division 3 hostel matches. The matches were videotaped for assessment purposes.

THURSDAY July 30

Tappe led the referees through more discussion about laws and the game using video clips. He emphasized the need for referee accuracy, i.e., the first clear and obvious infringement that has material effect. We were also introduced to several innovations to the sport including "power-play" advantage and also the use of software for time management. The latter is expected to be used globally by #4 officials for substitutions/replacements at high level matches.

In the evening, three of the TIP referees from Tuesday, including myself, officiated Division 2 hostel matches. The matches were videotaped for assessment purposes. There were supposed to be more matches, but Stellenbosch has been hit by the flu, so some teams had to withdraw on short notice due to illness.

FRIDAY July 31

On the last morning of TIP4, we were treated to several stimulating presentations. First, we listened to a presentation by Paul Treu, coach of the World Cup champion South African sevens team. He stressed that his team's success was in large part due to continuity (tenure) between both players and staff. Furthermore, South African sevens players are full-time, i.e., they do not play 15's. They are also monitored on a daily basis for fitness and health.

We were also treated to a fascinating presentation by Jake White, who coached the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2007. He focused on attention to details and showed how, starting from basic plays, he had created an elaborate play-book for the Springboks with an emphasis on defense. His presentation was especially useful for the TIP coaches, since it showed the level of preparation and tactical detail that is needed to win at the highest level of international rugby. I couldn't help but notice how the Springbok playbook was somewhat similar to an American football playbook!

We also listened to an entertaining presentation by Tim Noakes, professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Cape Town. He emphasized the need for recovery and impressed the audience with data on performance and training, using international teams as examples. He also highlighted the mental aspect of training and performance, using Roger Bannister's 4-minute mile as an example. Prof Noakes also stressed that in terms of literature and professionalism, American football was "40 years ahead" of world rugby, so rugby has a lot of room to learn and grow. In fact, it struck me during the past 2 weeks that even though USA is considered a second tier rugby nation, the tier 1 nations look to professional American sports as an example of how to grow and commercialize rugby. Many of the TIP presenters used examples from American football to highlight their points.

All TIP referees had brief 1:1's with Tappe Henning to touch base on future plans and options. We bade farewell to him and agreed to keep in touch.

In the evening, I enjoyed watching the visiting All American rugby team defeat the Stellenbosch Markotters 36-24. Even though the Markotters are essentially a 3rd string varsity select side, beating them is no mean task since Stellenbosch has the top university rugby team in South Africa. I congratulated Matt Sherman and Dave Williams who were at the stadium with the USA team.

TIP organizers and participants were treated to a hearty farewell dinner BBQ in which we thanked everyone for their efforts and company. Steph Nel and the Western Province Rugby Institute (WPRI) were very good hosts.

SATURDAY August 1

My 18-hour South African Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Washington DC was poorly timed as it took off during the 2nd TriNations match between New Zealand and South Africa. In case anyone was wondering about the score, the pilot announced that the Springboks had won 31-19, which drew loud applause and cheers from the passengers.

SUNDAY August 2

After a 36-hour trip from Stellenbosch to San Jose, I now have to get back into my regular routine despite jet-lag...

I would like to thank USA Rugby for nominating me for this great opportunity in Stellenbosch. I will be a better referee as a result and I intend to share my new-found insights and knowledge with my USA referee colleagues.

Regards,
Aruna


SUMMER FUN WITHOUT A RUGBY BALL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-KczCp0OQ4&feature=related

HAIL, PELICUS!

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