ONE SEASON LEADS TO ANOTHER

HAIL, PELICUS!

SEASON’S HERE – SEASON SOON TO START

Christmas and New Year are upon us. Hot on their heels is Rugby 2013, with games beginning January 5.

Out with the old and in with the new: Pete Smith will be taking over assignments.

Your scribe has done this since 2000. It’s a big job, but it has its rewards: allocating some of the best games in the United States to some of the best referees. It has been my privilege do to this and to play a part in the development of several referees who did Internationals.

We appreciate all of the volunteers who make it possible to fill in the spreadsheet blanks, and trust that they will continue to do so for Pete.

CALL FOR REFEREES

Please let Pete know your availability for the Saturdays in January: me@PetesWeb.com

For new referees: this is how you get games. E-mail Pete that you are available. Same for old referees.

Pete cannot read your mind any better than I could. IF YOU DO NOT LET HIM KNOW YOU ARE AVAILABLE, YOU WON'T GET AN ASSIGNMENT.

We need about ten refs on January 5, twenty on January 12, and then forty or more thereafter until mid-April.

Plus the following non-Saturday/evening opportunities:

The Stanford Invitational will be Saturday-Sunday Jan. 12-13.
Friday, Jan. 18: two games at Cal Maritime.
Wednesday, Jan. 23: one game at Cal
Friday, Jan. 25: two games at Maritime, one at Stanford

REMOTE GAMES

We have even more games that are remote from the Bay Area/Sacramento nuclei, where most of our referees live.

This is where we demonstrate our love of the game the most: driving to do these games.
For example:
January 12: Home games in Yreka, Ukiah, Arcata, Reno, Turlock, Paso Robles
January 19: Redding, Colusa, Arcata, Turlock
January 26: Fresno, Yreka, Ukiah, Reno, Paso Robles
We’ll need everyone to travel at least twice this year. Get in the running for Pelican of the Year by raising your wing for some distant games!


BACKLOG OF GAMES

December 8
SIERRA FOOTHILLS MEN 10 – Sierra JC 5 Referee: Rich Boyer
I met up with Jim Goddard, new head coach as Sierra JC, and we walked from there nearly a mile, or so it seemed, to the pitch in Rocklin.

Both teams had a number of new players and the coaches requested a brief session illustrating tackle, gate, last foot on D. It was agreed no kicking, except for touch, for the first 10 minutes. This mutual agreement last about one minute and no complaints/offsides arose.

Sierra Foothills were a little surprised at the intensity and tackling of their younger foes. SF pushed hard with pick and drive, using their strong forward pack, but Sierra JC would not break. First try went to Sierra JC off a free kick for early scrum engagement. The Mens club was challenged to get back 10 and the Sierra JC backs took full advantage with Pate scoring under the posts. The kicker (hooker) forewarned me that his kicking style was "unorthodox". No tee was used; he held the ball upright on the ground with his index finger and simultaneously kicked. Needless to say it missed....

The Men’s club woke up after that. They were much stronger and experienced in the scrums and it showed, damp ground adding to the effect. After sustained pressure and pick and drives the Men’s club #8 Nate scored a converted try using brute strength and straight forward running. 7-5 Men’s club.

The remaining two periods saw good forward play and rather limited back play due to the slick conditions. Sierra JC tackled like no tomorrow, and the Men’s passage of play was many times inches away from a big break then little issues would crop up: knock on, penalty, etc.

Close to half the Men’s club took a penalty conversion. 10-5.

Try as they might, neither team came close to scoring for the remainder of the game. 10-5 Sierra Foothills Men in a physical game played with great sportsmanship.

Sierra JC #12, from South Africa, had the hit of the day off a Men’s runner from ruck play.

I enjoyed refereeing Pate, Niko, David and Jordan, four young men I coached in summer sevens a few years back. I also enjoyed refereeing Luigi, Brent Bueno and Dopson.

Jim Goddard is doing a great job with the JC and Dave Faingold has instituted a great pattern of play for the Men’s club.

FRESNO STATE women 17 - UCSC 7 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Match/scrimmage got moved to Marina because of last week’s rain.

Fresno State in its first year has some great players who knew what to do including a big center with nice moves & dominant #8.

When they play together even more & get scrum downs better they should be fighting in the playoffs.


University of the Pacific 22 – FRESNO STATE 35 Referee: Giles Wilson
UOP hosted Fresno St - the hosts were much smaller than the visitors but tacked hard and attacked the contact zone to great effect which knocked Fresno off their stride in the early stages.

Both teams were well drilled and eventually the effects of making tackles and missing some conditioning during the recent storms wore down the very game UOP players. The first half ended 20 - 12 and the final was 35 - 22 in favour of Fresno.

The teams then played a "third half" to get all the players on the field, many players from the first game carried on. This was played as two 20 minute halves with Fresno leading 21 - 0 at half time and 33 - 0 at the end.

I was good to see Walt from Fresno and Kreg from UOP coaching these college teams; both have well drilled teams and they were a pleasure on the sidelines.


ST. MARY’S 58 – Diablo Gaels 24 Referee: John Coppinger
ARs: Rich Anderson, Bryant Byrnes
It was a beautiful day for rugby at St. Mary's. Diablo Gaels roared out the gate to score two quick tries against St. Mary's, which seemed to unsettle the home side for the first part of the match. Diablo did not have the fitness to sustain the effort and sloppy handling and aimless kicks by the Diablo Gaels allowed the young Gaels to settle and then attack with power, pace, and advantage in numbers as the young Gaels of St. Mary's ran away 54-28. Diablo Gaels battled throughout scoring at the end of the match after the clock had expired fighting through many phrases of play and penalties by St. Mary's.

Thanks to Rich Anderson and Bryant Brynes for their services as ARs.

Olde Gaels 0 – DUENDES RFC 31 Referee: Jordan Bruno
ARs: Matt Hetterman, Eric Rauscher
A touring Argentinian side stopped off in Orinda on a crisp Wednesday evening to play the Olde Gaels. The Argentines arrived fresh from airport and seemed to be a bit jet-lagged during warmups--this quickly wore off as their side scored early, breaking through the Gaels defense and slotting down with a forward drive. The next try of the first half was handy work done by the Duendes backs, who were able to offload with ease in the tackle. The Gaels had a few opportunities to score in the first half, but were unable to secure ball in hand, leading to lost momentum. The start of the second half saw more speed in the Duendes backs leading to a couple of more tries. A more stalwart Gaels defense prevented the Argentines from running up the score, and great forward crashes saw a structured pack move upfield with progress. Overall, a great exhibition match. Many thanks to Matt Hetterman and Eric Rauscher for running at AR, to David Williamson for post match commentary, and to John Compaglia for hosting a great match.

St Mary's 3rds 42 – Diablo Gaels 2nds 15 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
A beautiful day for a fistful of games in Moraga; this was the first match of four.
This being early days for both teams, the younger fellows were well matched by the Gaels forwards in the pack and lineout. But in spite of Tim's earnest claim of ''new guys'', the St Mary's backline literally galloped against a backline that really was shaking hands for the first time.


EPA RAZORBACKS 46 – Bay Barbarians 10 Referee: Bruce Ricard
The game started 30 minutes late, on a nice grass pitch with freshly drawn line. Apparently the line drawer was drunk, and the pitch looked a bit like an Australian football field with its curvy lines. The 2 inches wide lanes also gave me a lot of trouble during the whole game...

The game started on a nice pace, with the Barbarians scoring a try in the first minutes of the game. The Razorbacks passed a penalty kick from the 22 a few minutes later. The Razorbacks had a difficult start, someone who knows the team could say "as usual", but they had a very good game after the first 10 minutes. The game was pretty even the whole game, but the Barbarians were way to undisciplined, maybe due to the quite large amount of new players in the team, which gave the home team a lot of penalty kicks.

Some of the new players in the Razorbacks' senior team had their skill level improve a lot in the last year. Especially one prop, who made a few 10m breaks though the defense, and pushed his team forward.


UC Santa Cruz women 7 – FRESNO STATE 17 Referee: Bruce Bernstein
Match/scrimmage got moved to Marina because of last week’s rain.

Fresno State in its first year has some great players who knew what to do including a big center with nice moves & dominant #8.

When they play together even more & get scrum downs better they should be fighting in the playoffs.

CHICO MIGHTY OAKS 34 – Sacramento Capitals 22 Referee: Ray Schwartz
Dec 8th, after a 3-hour volunteer workday w/ 30 shovels helping to grade out the pitch at Bidwell Middle School, Chico

I was originally scheduled to ref in Santa Rosa but opted instead to go ref where two teams were legitimately registered w/ USA Rugby. Hard to believe these guys would not have had a ref if I hadn't switched at the 11th hour.

I arrived at Bidwell Middle School (the site of a gopher infested rolling moor of a pitch John Coppinger had declared "the worst field ever" last spring) to see not enough cars to represent two teams, but an old baby blue Mt. Zion Baptist school bus. Made my way to the pitch and sure enough two sides were warming up, and the fence was lined w/ 30 well used shovels.

Though the bus surely helped, this match surely proved how tough it can be for a DII to travel in the preseason. I had reffed the Caps at home just a few weeks earlier, and this side was missing some key players. But, opportunity for others to step up. Out of the gate, however, Chico was sharper, and jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. Chico always seemed to have the upper hand, though the Caps appeared dangerous at times. Lots of hand-to-hand combat and fierce tackling.

The Caps got in the try zone once but failed to convincingly dot it down. The same player did not make the same mistake again when in the tryzone next. Midway though the final 20 the Caps brought it to within 3, at 20-17. But Chico finished strongly w/ 2 converted tries.

A nice BBQ at the pitch, some time to relax in the sun, and then the Caps (and the bus) were gone. A relaxing shower and beverage lead to the Bear where the spirited Mighty Oaks held their annual Ugly Xmas Sweater party.

December 15

Chico Holiday (hypothermic) Classic
Dec 15th, Bidwell Middle School
Refs: Favor Taueva, Mark Godfrey, Sean Peters, Ray Schwartz
This poor event seemed destined to be rained out! First scheduled, then rescheduled and finally rescheduled again as a rain or shine event... the field dwindled as the timing now conflicted w/ Finals week at schools. Chico Mighty Oaks started out at 10am vs Colusa, w/ Favor at the whistle, and as I diligently tried to take referee coaching notes, the light drizzle started and never stopped. My pen eventually failed! Sean Peters reffed Shasta v Vacaville as I debriefed w/ Favor. Mark Godfrey would ref the Chico Women v Humboldt St, but Humboldt was snowed in, unable to come over the pass to attend, so Chico women played a good intersquad match and then went home to shower, warm up and study.

As the Men's games resumed it was now a light rain, constant and cold. Favor handled the Mighty Oaks v Shasta, I took Colusa v Vacaville, Favor got Chico Mighty Oaks again, this time v Vacaville (playing back to back). But whereas Vacaville stayed warm, Chico could not warm up... hypothermia was setting in! No 2nd women's game, no Colusa v Shasta... we ended early, took long showers and enjoyed the warmth of good company at the Bear soon enough. Favor made some good adjustments on the day. He will make for a very good ref this season, very useful.

Colusa, not the strongest team on the pitch, clearly won the party! Hats off to the fighting rice farmers!

SF/Golden Gate seconds 28 – OLDE GAELS 43 Referee: Paul Bretz
Gaels beat SFGG2 43-28 in their preseason match. Both teams showed a lot of potential. On a personal note Gaels started 4 players that played for my high school team several years ago.

SFGG 84 - EPA Razorbacks 0 Referee: John Coppinger
This match was billed as the EPA Bulldogs at SF/GG and SF/GG and I were surprised to see the EPA Razorbacks stroll into the SF/GG grounds on TI.

The Razorbacks fielded a young side with relatively little experience and never really put SF/GG under pressure as SF/GG ran past and over EPA 84-0. SF/GG was slowed by the weather conditions as a steady rain fell throughout the match.


Santa Rosa 18 – SAC LIONS 32 Referee: Phil Akroyd
There were two main headlines to this game. The first being that Santa Rosa were all over this game for the first 35 minutes and the second that mistakes dominated.

The field was heavy, conditions cold and wet with plenty of knock-ons. In fact there were three occasions of attacking players knocking on in-goal. Rosa scored first, Lions countered with two tries, then Rosa kept it interesting with a penalty goal just before half, making it 10-12 to the Lions at half. They turned it on in the second half but there were still plenty of mistakes from both sides. A pretty entertaining pre-season game.

Seconds: SANTA ROSA 29 – Sacramento Lions 17 Ref: Akroyd


Stanislaus 12 - SIERRA FOOTHILLS RENEGADES 39 Referee: Bryant Byrnes
An early season match in lovely Turlock on a gray day in its sunken fields (part of the Pacific Flyway?). At half, the new guys led 15-5 over Stanislaus. Stanislaus went to the D3 playoffs year, but is experiencing the bane of Valley rugby-reloading every season. For this match they fielded 8, 9 new guys to replace that number who are not back.

On the other hand, Sierra Foothills Renegades are the offspring of the junior college team of the same name; at least half played with the JC team. They also had an interesting infusion of Sac City JC football players, studs but new to the sport.

The Renegades won fair and square, but Stanislaus made them work for it. Game highlight-several excellent red zone defensive stands by the Renegades.

SEAHAWKS 26 – Sierra 25 Referee: Bruce Ricard

Seahawk B 0 – SIERRA A (playing again) 22 Referee: James Hinkin
On a cold wet Saturday there was still rugby to be played and only the Mayan Apocalypse could stop it. Fortunately that is the following Friday so after the A side match the teams regrouped and did it all again. Sierra was expecting the local JC to travel with them and play the B side but that never materialized leaving the A side to play both matches. The captains agreed to 20 minute halves, the kickoff and defensive ends were decided and we were off.

The Seahawks have a squad deep enough to fill out 2 sides comfortably in December so that is a good sign for them, but at this point there are too many inexperienced players. This, of course, is why they need to play these games but the lack of rugby nous was exploited by the veteran Sierra side. Case in point: I called a “rookie reset” on a scrum because the Seahawk flanker kicked the ball out of the Sierra scrumhalf’s hands as he was putting it in. Things were explained and we moved on. The Seahawks never really looked like scoring because every time they started to get close to the Sierra 22 they either foolishly kicked away possession or bad passes/knock ons would kill the move. Sierra, while making their share of mistakes as well, were far more clinical and had a couple of runners that were very hard to stop. Look out for a dreadlocked center (or flanker?) who is a powerful runner and a strong tackler when he remembers to use his arms.

That being said, there are some athletes there on both sides and with coaching and experience they will do well.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO



This reminds us of why we need to get away from the keyboard now…

HAIL, PELICUS!

SHOPPING FOR RUGBY

HAIL, PELICUS!

GAME TONIGHT

Would you like to see a good match this evening? The Old Gaels will be playing Duenas from Argentina at 7 PM in Orinda.

The game will be at the Orinda Sports Fields just north of Highway 24 on Camino Pablo. Jordan Bruno will referee. Matt Hetterman is one AR – wanna be the other?

REFEREES NEEDED DECEMBER 8

We need three or four refs this coming Saturday, including one in Chico and one in Humboldt.

December 15 is covered. Thanks to the even dozen refs who are available.

GAMES DECEMBER 1

Baracus over-thirty 30 – BARACUS under-thirty 62 Referee: Eric Rauscher
TJs from club
I woke up Saturday morning to pouring down rain. Great, a good soaking day, and I wasn't really looking forward to it.

The game had been moved from a grass field to an synth turf field, Franklin Park in SF. As I got to the SF side of the bridge, the rain let up, and it did not start raining again until after the last period of play.

This game is their annual "old boys" vs young whipper-snappers. The game was played in five 20 min periods, with time for re-adjusts in between. The final score does not do justice to the level of play early on. Period by period the score line ran
10/22/27/30/30 and 14/21/31/43/62. As can be seen, the first couple of periods were pretty close, but young legs are a real asset towards the end.

Once again youth won out over beauty. The old boys displayed a better feel for play and savvy of the game, but feeding the ball out to the young backs made the difference.

One interesting thing was two drop kicks by the old boys. It is not very often you see one in a game let alone two, and both were set up and thing of beauty to watch. There was a lot of chatter by both sides. If it had been a regular season game I think I would have clamped down on it, but it wasn't mean-spirited, mostly just banter among friends.


Maritime Academy 26 – ALUMNI 36 Referee: Bruce Ricard
A lot of players were on campus to play this game. About 50 students, and 25 alumni. The game started under a light shine, which stopped pretty quickly to let the backs play their game.

The alumni scored the first try of the game after their left prop got tackled 2 feet from the goal line, and reached this line with the ball in a beautiful single movement. After that I believe that only back tries were scored, which is not that surprising when you know how this team plays.

The game was pretty balanced, but the students went to the break with a 9 point benefit. (21 - 12)

Both teams came back on the field with the energy to win the game, and both teams scored early in the half. At the beginning of the last quarter, the students were leading 26-24.

The coaches told me at the beginning of the game that the alumni were old and out of shape. I was expecting the students to kill the game in the last 20 minutes, but the alumni found the energy to finish the game, and scored 2 more tries to take the lead for the first time 10 minutes before the end, and to finally win the game. Final score 36 - 26.

The new players of the team wanted to play some more rugby to get experience, so a second 25-minute half game was organized between those players as the rain started to fall. They for sure got experience playing under wet conditions.

Stanford men: WHITE 34 – Cardinal 29 Referee: John Coppinger
On the very dry oasis of Steuber Rugby Field in the middle of a very drenched Northern California, the White side held on to overcome the Cardinal side 34-29 in a preseason inter-squad match. Lots of running and a great way to start the season. I only had to reset the scrum once for lapsing into the old engagement sequence.

Stanford women: White – Cardinal Referee: Bob Polito
No score reported. The ref said he had fun.


RAIN-OUTS:
San Jose State – Opponent
Seconds: San Jose State – Opponent

NO REPORTS RECEIVED:

Santa Rosa – UC Davis Referee: Matt Hetterman
Seconds: Santa Rosa – UC Davis Referee: Giles Wilson

St. Mary's – Vacaville Referee: George O'Neil

GROWING THE GAME

A level one referee course was taught at Bellarmine in San Jose on Sunday, with 56 students in attendance. People from elsewhere always think your scribe is exaggerating when he says we have courses with such numbers.

There’s something about the first week in December: we taught one with 45 students last December 4 at Campolindo.

In line with that, I spent Saturday at the Los Gatos youth team’s first practice with my grandson. This club was founded by Chris Fisher two years ago. Now it has almost 200 members. This is just a reflection of what’s happening all over Pelicanland, and elsewhere.

Encourage everyone who loves the game to take up a whistle from time to time. Absent easy cloning of existing referees, this will be the only real solution to our growing problem.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

TOO BUSY TO BEAK

HAIL, PELICUS!

REFEREEING IN DECEMBER

December 1
We are showing ten full games plus a tournament in Chico this Saturday, and only six refs available at press time.

The Chico Holiday Classic was delayed from November 17 on account of rain. They may have hit an unfortunate daily double with the current forecast. But if not -they are going to need referees.

Let us know if you can do a game in:
Chico (two pitches all day)
Humboldt (two games)
Santa Rosa (two games)
San Francisco
Stanford (two games)

December 5
Night game in Orinda

December 7
Night game at Maritime

December 8
Stockton
St. Mary’s (four games)
Ukiah
Santa Cruz

December 15
Only one game on the list so far, but expect a few more

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO

The Coaches Panel at the annual pre-season meeting of the NCRRS on November 17 featured Matt Sherman, John Cullom and Mike Caravelli (right foreground) and was moderated by Preston Gordon (hidden by pole).

The assembled society hangs on to their every word.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

ALL BLUES AGAIN

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PROMOTIONS

Three referees have earned the C3 grade recently: Austin Brown, Neil MacDonald, and Stephen Valerio.

If you see any of these worthies, they owe you a drink…

SOCIETY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING THIS SATURDAY

Plan to be at the Golden Gate clubhouse this Saturday, November 17, for our first meeting of the 2013 season. The meeting will be from 10 until 3. Early arrivals will find breakfast snacks and rugby conversation.

Our first speaker will be Ed Todd, the original Pelican Ref.

ALUMNA
From Phil Akroyd in Florida:

The WPL final was reffed by Anna McMahon, who started as a ref in 2007 in NorCal. I think we can chalk that one up to the Pelicans.

I should also mention that Berkeley won again!

GAMES

MARITIME ACADEMY 25 –Univ. of the Pacific 7 Referee: Jen Tetler
Another chance to referee at the beautiful new pitch at Cal Maritime. The first half started out with both teams ready to play, though it was a "friendly" game to start off the season. Cal Maritime dominated the first half and scored two tries, but UOP kept up their intensity and scored in the last minute of the half off a penalty quick tap. The first half ended with a score of 10-7. CMU opened it up a little more in the second half and got 3 unanswered tries. Two of them were beautiful 8-picks off of scrums. Unfortunately, CMU was having a little trouble with their kicks, and didn't make any conversions. Final score: 25-7 CMU.

MARITIME ACADEMY 24 – Sonoma State 12 Referee: Donagh O'Mahoney
Very good game. As it was a training game we played 4, 20 minute periods. Both sides trying to play open rugby and it was played in good spirits.

Maritime were the better team for the opening 20 minutes and opened the scoring with a well-worked try in the last play of the first 20 mins to lead 7-0. The balance of the match was even with Sonoma scoring 2 tries with 1 converted to Maritimes 3 with one conversion.

At Sheeran Field: Bald Eagles 17 – VANCOUVER ROWING CLUB 49 Referee: James Hinkin
AR: JC Van Staden – many thanks
San Francisco was showing off for our northern visitors and you could not have picked a better day for rugby. The match was played on the Gaelic Football fields a few blocks up from the SFGG clubhouse and the field, while erratically lined, was in great shape. This will be significant later. I showed up to see both teams with most of their members ready, although the lads from Canada were a little bleary eyed after what was apparently an epic drinking session the night before. Once everyone was present and accounted for we set out the ground rules for the match (VRC player: 5 minute halves sound just about right) it was decided to play 4 15 minute periods with the Bald Eagles playing their A side for the first 2 periods and their B side for the final 2 periods.

The match started with some early pressure by the Americans that almost resulted in a try. After busting through the defense with ease the Bald Eagle #8 strolled into the try zone and dove beneath the posts to ground the ball. The only problem is that the posts were on the dead ball line not the try line so he succeeded in giving the opposition a 22 meter drop. After the laughter died down and I told him that I had explained to both captains where the posts were before the match.

We restarted and the Bald Eagles took the ball back towards the goal line. This time, the CBE ball carrier was determined not to make the same mistake and once he broke free and saw the line he dove and grounded the ball... about 3 meters short. He had grounded it over a Gaelic line. The third time was the charm as the Bald Eagles were able to finally turn their pressure into points and score a legitimate try.

By now the Vancouver side had shook the cobwebs free and almost immediately replied with a try of their own. The first period ended tied at 5 apiece. The second period was another back and forth affair with the only score being to the visitors who ended the A game with a 10-5 lead.

The third period saw the Bald Eagles put in their B side and it showed as the Vancouver team started scoring at will. 4 tries in the third period put the game out of reach but was notable for possibly the best training ground move I have ever seen. A scrum to Vancouver deep in their end was spun out to the fly half who ran about 3 steps and put the ball on the ground. The center then ran to the ball and FLIPPED IT OFF THE GROUND BETWEEN HIS LEGS to the onrushing weak side winger who ran the length of the field untouched. Timed perfectly that move had both sides cheering and shaking their heads in amazement.

The final period was a bit more balanced as the Bald Eagles were able to put 2 tries on the board to eh VRC’s 3 and the match ended at 49-17 to the visitors.

Then we drank beer.

Final score: Bald Eagles 17 – Vancouver Rowing Club 49

[Editor’s Note: This description of the ‘training ground move’ reminds me of a play from a Pebble Beach final in the mid-eighties.

[The Combined London Old Boys had kicked the crap out of everyone they’d met. Your writer knows – he played for Monterey against them in the first match on the main pitch.

[The final was against the Old Blues, at the time perennial USA champs. But CLOB continued to dazzle.

[From a lineout about midfield, they won the ball and spun it. To the outside center. Who caught it on a full sprint, placed it on the ground about ten meters from touch, and kept running. His wing ran along in parallel with him, downfield and away from the ball.

[The ball was just lying there as they ran away. The Blues all started to move toward it – leaving any defensive organization behind. Who has practiced defending something like this?

[But the fullback – he had been lined up very deeply. He ran onto the ball and fly-hacked it on a dead run, all the way across the pitch, to the far-side winger who had been precisely on-side, caught it in stride and jogged the rest of the way for a (four-point) try.]

ST. MARY’S thirds 58 – U. of San Francisco 10 Referee: Jordan Bruno
A warmup scrimmage for the upcoming season saw St. Mary's 3rd side score early and often. USF showed good defense at the ruck, but St. Mary's forward pack was too powerful a force to compete with in open play. USF's defensive backline did well to stop the St. Mary's backs from making too many breaks down the field in the first half. A few missed tackle assignments led to St. Mary's tries later in the match. USF had great opportunities to score in the first half with solid drives by a few standout forwards. Overall, a great friendly.

SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 60 – Modesto Harlots 17 Referee: Ray Schwartz
AR: Mark Godfrey
Danny Nunn Park, Sacramento
Very preseason for both teams, Modesto seemed to have arrived early but lacked front row players, the game eventually got started with a borrowed prop. And at the first scrum Sacramento’s loosehead “Vince,” a nice guy, but a 400-pound monster of a man, asserted himself. He seemed to back off from there, but clearly, if Vince keeps playing and getting fitter, he’ll be a force. He would later score and convert his try with a drop goal.

The Caps came out strong and confidence built as they scored 26 points in the first 20-minute period. Subs came in for both teams in the next quarter, and a carload of ruggers from South Valley turned up wearing Modesto uniforms. The game changed, becoming decidedly more competitive. Modesto outscored Sac 17-12 over the next 40 minutes, but injury and fitness took its toll as Sac scored 4 more unanswered tries over the last 20 minutes. A speedy Fijian back scored early, and again late. Where had he been all game, I asked? Out of the middle periods w/ a little injury.

A nice day, nice crowd, some talented players on display. I’d like to mention two: Rollan Pacheco of Modesto, so small and skinny you’d hardly notice him (5’ 9” and 150 lbs wet), but the kid can play! He started playing at age 17 and now at 19, the former pole vaulter, gymnast and high school football player has found his niche. His ability to pounce on a mistake and elude tacklers was breathtaking.

Justin Mano played in only his 2nd game at flyhalf for the Caps (just beginning his 2nd season of play). The 21-year old Samoan looks the part: Fit, strong, great intensity, good passing and kicking skills. Late in the game, Mano dialed up an “I” formation backline off a scrum center, that sent his support players every which way, and cut his Fijian flyer free for his 2nd try. Executed perfectly, it was impressive.

The party rolled to a Sacramento classic, the Club 2-Me, where we feasted on delicious grub and tasty beers. Things are looking bright for the Caps. Coach Jason Crother (also the chef!) recognizes the club bottomed out last season trying to compete at D1 with a number of D2 players. The club is rebuilding with new faces and a new attitude. A lot of decent Sac St. ruggers are sticking around to play, which is of course a very good thing. Many thanks to AR Mark Godfrey.

Saturday at CSUMB:

There’s been a passing of the torch at this Monterey Bay-side campus, with last year’s driving force Ryan Scott giving up his rugby responsibilities in order to be able to graduate next month. Marc Ferguson has stepped up, with the help of a slate of newly-elected player-officers, to try to build on the momentum of last year for this young program.

This was the third time they’ve been allowed to play on the soccer fields, the two gorgeous pitches that the 49ers built on campus and donated to the university. It may also be the last: their rugby pitch is being sodded this week and the soccer players can keep to themselves.

Three games were laid on. It was sunny but the first cold day of the year, the wind brisk off the bay, spectators bundled by blankets into groups of three and four.

Craig Lusiani was there – a once and future Pelican, to judge from our conversation. Craig is practicing law in Carmel and perhaps he thought he’d lost the rugby jones when he moved here from Sacramento.

Seconds: CAL POLY 51 – San Jose State 5 Referee: Bruce Carter
The Spartans of San Jose State played all three games – good on them. The Mustangs of Cal Poly played two games, while competing in and hosting the California Sevens at home at the same time – good on them. And the hosts, as you will see, made a nice 2013 debut in front of their fans – good on them, too.

San Jose State scored first, a well-worked multi-phase try in the right corner. Celebrations all around – then the deluge.

Cal Poly’s horses ran wild. I guess that’s what mustangs do, by definition.

Cal Poly 15 – SAN JOSE STATE 31 Referee: Neil MacDonald
Referee Coach: Bruce Carter
SLO hauled San Jose back from a 10-0 lead, only for San Jose to get back in front with a converted try right on half time. San Jose scored two more converted tries in the second half before SLO scored just before full time.

CSUMB 39 – San Jose State 0 Referee: Eric Rauscher
ARs: Bruce Carter, Neil MacDonald
Sunny with a constant cool breeze coming off the bay. I arrived at CSUMB for the last of three games that day. Bruce and Neil did the first and second and I got the home team match-up. The pitch is the field that the 49rs built as their practice field, and as I understand it, only used for six weeks. CSUMB is actually building a rugby-specific field with full sized pitch, bleachers etc that is supposed to go into action for this upcoming season.

The game was a pretty lop-sided affair as can be noticed by the score. Each game that day was two 30 min periods, and SJSU had already played two games so they were pretty tuckered out. The funny thing was that SJSU dominated the scrum like nobody's business. At CSUMB's put ins, they normally found themselves going backwards with the ball won by the opposition. At one point I had to remind the CSUMB scrumhalf that even though they were getting pushed around, he still had to put the ball in straight.

One unusual play happened after I awarded a penalty to CSUMB. They elected to kick for touch, but the ball was shanked so badly that it traveled about one or two meters forward and pretty much directly for the touch line. A CSUMB played caught it on the run and made 5/10 meters forward until being shepherded into touch with the lineout going to SJSU. It was one of those "I don't think I have ever seen that before" moments. Basically, a foot-pass.

In the last quarter of play, CSUMB sent a couple of players in and the game took on an Islander feel. Long passes back from a tackle and across field for a very wide open style of play. One pass off a tackle in the middle of the pitch went back at a 45 degree angle and traveled at least 20-25 meters. Another of those moments.

All in all a good day with my thanks to Bruce and Neil sticking around to AR for me.

Fog men 5 – RENO ZEPHYRS 46 Referee: Stephen Valerio
It was a good rugby day.

A 50 hour hiatus between 2 business trips gave me the opportunity to pick up a match and I was rewarded with a match under sunny skies and the temperature comfortably in the 50s. Cool enough to run around in comfortably and the spectators weren't freezing.

After taking care of the pre-game matters, I looked over to the sideline to see the cheerleaders (?!?!) getting ready. This was a definite first for me and they kept going strong after 2 games, plus an extra half. A nice touch by the Fog.

The game kicked off and Reno rapidly struck for 12 points. While the pack and breakdowns went back and forth, the potent Reno backs took advantage of any gaps in the defensive line. The Fog picked up a try but 2 more by Reno before the break left them comfortably ahead. The second half found Reno holding a decided territorial advantage from which their backs were able to strike for 4 more tries. While a lack of front row forwards meant the last couple of scrums were uncontested, the match kept moving overall (though there were some long breaks at the scrums while we waited for all the forwards to join). Both sides kept the ball moving and generally in hand, which made for a fun match to cover.

For a final touch, several World War II era aircraft flew overhead as the match wound down. While I can't be sure the flyover was for the ruggers, I'd like to think so.


Fog seconds – UNR Referee: Bruce Ricard
We played 3 periods (30 + 30 + 20), on this first cold Saturday of the year.
UNR really dominated the first 2 periods, scoring 8 tries against 0, despite the two yellow cards received for not staying on their feet at the rucks. In the 3rd period, FOG used more players from their first team, and both teams scored 2 tries.

SUNDAY, Nov. 11

Stanford Sevens College Qualifier
Referees: Jen Tetler, Tony Levitan, John Pohlman, Neil MacDonald, Bruce Carter
ARs: Mike King (10 games), Eugene Baker (11 games)
Referee Coach: David Williamson
Videographer: Bruce Carter

Report by John Pohlman:
This past Sunday Stanford women's 7's hosted Oregon State, Cal. Chico State and Santa Clara University in a national qualifier.

Not sure on the details of qualifying. One of the coaches said Cal and Oregon State had already qualified. Those two teams were clearly the best in this qualifier.

My first game was Stanford versus Cal. Cal scored three trys in the first half and another three in the second, with two converted for a 34-14 win.

Next was Santa Clara versus Chico State. The first half was pretty even. Half time score Chico 14 Santa Clara 7.

Chico's bigger player broke through tackles and controlled the second half. Final score Chico State 43 Santa Clara 7.

The final pool game saw Cal. playing Oregon State. This would be repeated for the final an hour or so later.

Very good game. Oregon State played better sevens and pretty much all their players were skilled, fast and tackled well.

#10 was the standout player of the tournament. She made try-saving breakaway tackles, poached ball and generally ran the back-line. She told me she had been playing for 6 years.

Of note, once play began there was no distinction in player positions for Oregon State.

Cal won and controlled the first half with two trys. Half time score Cal. 10 Oregon State 7.

Unfortunately Cal lost two players to injury. Their captain Aubry and a winger who may have been the fastest player in the tournament.

With these two off Oregon State scored two trys to none for a 17-10 win.

This was a great game to referee and possibly the best game of the tournament. Before the game I wondered if both teams would play the best players. I was certainly hoping so. I believe both had already qualified for the finals.

Thanks for a great game to officiate.

Report by Bruce Carter:
This was a great event, professionally run, with programs, announcers, and keen Sevens players on parade.

We started with frost on the grass but by the time the sun was above the yardarm it was comfy and nice. You could work up a sweat during a match and not miss it afterwards.

Stanford and Oregon State had won their opening games handily, so I anticipated their matchup.

Stanford 0 – OREGON STATE 38
The Beavers have some dynamic players, including two Hannahs at the halfbacks, who ruck/tackle/run/pass/score interchangeably.

Hannah Lockwood, the captain, is the best Sevens player I’ve seen in the women’s game this side of Las Vegas. She isn’t large but wins solo counter-rucks several times per match.

OREGON STATE 19 – Chico State 15
Chico State was in it from the start, controlling the ball for two minutes and scoring a try. But Oregon State is disciplined and all seven players support, loop, and take a perpendicular to the try line when they get the ball.

3rd place: STANFORD 17 – Chico State 12
This game demonstrates the fallacy of reasoning by relative scores, which suggests Chico State by 34.

Stanford has the big-game experience from fifteens and is learning how to play up in Sevens as well.

Report by Jen Tetler
STANFORD 40 – Santa Clara 0
The tournament kicked off at 9am with Santa Clara looking a little small (in numbers) compared to Stanford. Santa Clara put up a strong fight, but Stanford had a few people who were great at running through tackles and giving stiff-arms. Stanford scored 3 tries each half, while keeping Santa Clara to none. Final score was 40-0.

OREGON STATE 61 – Santa Clara 0
It was clear who was the dominant team in this match-up when Oregon State received the kickoff and ran for a try in the first minute. Oregon State had a few really fast girls, and their kicker was excellent. Santa Clara just couldn't get the Oregon girls down. Oregon had some nice passes and changed the field really well to get where the defense wasn't. Santa Clara didn't give up, though, and kept playing through the second half. The final score was 61-0.

11/9/2012 – WOMEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Fort Myers, FL
Report by Phil Akroyd:

Pittsburgh Angels 21 - 12 Norfolk Storm
This game took place on Friday lunchtime in the beautiful Fort Myers, FL. It was the location of the Women's National Championships, which we were using for the second half of the Level 3 course. The games afforded the opportunity to display on field competencies, in front of the assembled Performance Reviewers and IRB Educators.

I felt less than ready to impress, as I got off the red-eye that had departed Sacramento at 11:45pm on Thursday evening and arrived in Florida, via Atlanta, at 10:00am. I'd had a solid three hours sleep on the plane, then headed to the fields.

The venue was in the "Fenway Two" complex that houses JetBlue Park - a very impressive, purpose-built minor league baseball park used by the Red Sox for Spring Training. We were in the shadow of the stadium, on the multi-use fields, that resembled the Las Vegas Invitational fields surrounding Sam Boyd Stadium. That may be a little harsh as they weren't quite as dry and firm as Vegas, but equally large and fast.

I had one of the DII Quarter Final Games and had a pretty good time. The good thing about Championship tournaments is that it's win or go home, and the quality of play tends to rise a little. From looking at the pre-game warm-ups, Norfolk looked the more athletic and more organized but Pittsburg were no slackers. The Angels took a fourteen point lead, but Norfolk came back with twelve points in the final three minutes leading up to half-time. That made it interesting and more pleasing for me, their second try came after a long period of advantage that I was in two minds whether to call back. Glad I gave them the opportunity to play!

The game held at 14-12 for most of the second half, but the Angels scored on an interception try late in the second half to seal it 21-12. Both teams were great and a pleasure to ref. They made it really easy for me to just get out of the way and let them play a very fast, competitive game.

11/11/12
Norfolk Storm 19 - 24 Las Vegas
Sunday is trophy day, but not for all teams, particularly Norfolk Storm and Las Vegas. That's OK, because the good thing about rugby is that players want to win, even if it's just for the sake of winning.

This was the 5/6 place DII decider, but it felt like the WPL Final. Norfolk took an early 3-0 lead with a penalty goal, but then Las Vegas went out to 3-21 in a pretty short period. However, just like in the Friday game, Norfolk put points on the board just before half, making it 8-21. Without too much exaggeration, there could not have been more than eight penalties in the first half. There were just long periods of extended play, and as the weather was already in the mid-70s by half-time, the players were starting to feel it. More specifically, Vegas were starting to feel it.

The Nevadans were a considerably bigger team and it later turned out that Norfolk's game plan was to play fast and hard and rely on their athleticism to pull through the second half. They clawed their way back with another two penalty goals - yes, that was three by now - making it 16-21. The game was pulling in players, officials, spectators and everyone around. I could feel the tension building, the players sounding more hectic, the sniff of blood in the water and Norfolk were trying to bite.

With fifteen to go, Las Vegas appeared to have given themselves a little more breathing room with their own penalty goal (now a total of four) at 16-24 but Norfolk did as Vegas predicted - "They are going to come back at us with their hair on fire!"

Just three minutes later, the Vegas left-wing took down her Norfolk opposition with a high-tackle, outside the twenty-two and between the 15m and 5m. Again, a shot at goal, and another three points with the score at 19-24 (take note NorCal D1 men, this is a women's D2 game with five difficult but successful shots at goal).

The final thirteen minutes were a joy to be a part of. (Lady) balls-out rugby for no other reason than playing to win and displaying hard running, great hands and good tactics. I just had a smile on my face all the way through. The game went down to the wire but Norfolk could not pull it off. Oh well. Both teams were fantastic and made me fall in love with the game again. Great weather, in Florida for the weekend, hanging out with rugby types and enjoying reffing good teams with nice players and coaches. It does happen every so often.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO


Refs in Monterey often end up at English Ales in Marina, as here you see Neil MacDonald and Eric Rauscher. This is also often the destination after mountain bike rides on Fort Ord. We know a Salinas resident who would be happy to take you there and stand you a pint.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

I VOTED FOR RUGBY

HAIL, PELICUS!

ANDREW MITTRY MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Report by Bruce Carter

I moved to San Francisco in June of 1980, having towed my Toyota Corolla behind a 24-foot Ryder truck containing my and my roommate-to-be's belongings, all the way from Georgia. And I found Rugby Heaven in Golden Gate Park before I even found a place to spend that first night: I played touch with the old Hastings RFC.

They were excited about the coming weekend's sevens tournament in Dunsmuir. Would I join them?

As much as I loved Sevens even then, I had to find an apartment and prepare to begin my medical internship. Regrets.

So, I had been meaning to cash my Redding-area rugby rain-check for 32+ years. After all, there will come a day when I can't do this any more, and before then I want to experience every pitch and pub of Pelicanland.

When I saw the Andrew Mittry Memorial on the schedule I said to Penelope, "Wanna take a Friday off in November and go to Redding?"

She demurred. But not me!

Giles Wilson and Stephen Valerio met me at the San Joaquin General Hospital, conveniently located on I5 in French Camp, and we rode up together. It's about 350 miles for me, but the miles are as nothing when rugby folks are getting to know each other better.

Stephen's from New Jersey - he hadn't heard our stories, nor we his. Even better.

Andrew's brother Andreas was nice to enough to arrange for rooms at the Red Lion. The new guy got the roll-a-bed. We immediately decamped for the Alehouse, just a few blocks down Hilltop.

This place literally has more beers on tap than it has seats for patrons. You've heard of three or four of them - if your beer-knowledge is well-whetted.

We asked some people if they were rugby, but they weren't. They said the rugby guys had already gone home(!)

So we limited ourselves to dipping our toes into the beer-pool for an hour and then went to bed.

Saturday dawned clear and warm, and we saw how pretty it is up there. Redding is in the foothills just north of the great Central Valley, on the way up to higher altitude and Mount Shasta. And the rugby pitches at Enterprise Park were full-sized and gorgeous.

I was lucky enough to be assigned an opening match – the two guys in the front seat were considered to be the ones who arrived at the pitch first – and my teams were warming up well ahead of time.

CHICO STATE 31 – Southern Oregon 10
Chico’s outside backs had three tries in about twelve minutes, then went off the boil and we had an even match the rest of the way.

SOU is from the Shakespeare-festival town of Ashland. I should have worn my AVON CALLING shirt with a picture of the Bard.

SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 17 – Shasta 10
I don’t believe I’d ever refereed Shasta. Matter of fact, I hadn’t: I just word-searched the 2300+ games in my Matches list for ‘Shasta’ and ‘Redding’. There were two hits, both for November 3, 2012.

Good bunch, typical D3 mix of talent and energy, inexperience and enthusiasm. Vociferous players who argue specific points of law loudly, dead wrong in public, but always punctuating their complaints with ‘sir’.

D2 meets D3, and a close match to boot. Good stuff.

SIERRA 29 – Shasta 10
If the touchline scuttlebutt is correct, Sierra has morphed from a top-notch community college team into a men’s club. While this is a loss for the college scene, it allows them to welcome some mighty fine alumni back into the ranks. [This seems to be true – Sierra is listed in the East division of men’s club D3 on the 2013 schedule.]

They are taking up in the club ranks where they left off in the colleges: running in lots of tries.

After Lee Salgado did the last match, we discovered there were tri-tips grilling. But: still grillin’. Not yet done. Tempting, but not quite enough so to delay the start of a long drive home.

Our 5 PM departure was fortuitously timed. Giles saw that the Pelicanmobile has XM and said, "My favorite station is First Wave." That's the channel it's normally on, button #1, and 5 PM is when the Saturday night Safety Dance starts.

I got home to my wife at 10:30, having listened the entire way to a continuous dance mix of the songs that welcomed me to California half a lifetime ago.

There’s a line in a Squeeze song, “Singles remind me of kisses, albums remind me of plans.”

Let's hope the next half of my life has as much rugby and music, friendship and love, as that one did. It’s certainly in my plans.

OBTAINING REFEREES FOR MATCHES: NO POACHING ALLOWED

The referee assignments process isn’t a matter of finders-keepers.

Games need to be assigned through the normal processes established by USA Rugby or there's no liability coverage, certificates of insurance don't apply, etc.

If you are a team that has an upcoming game, ask the NCRRS or the NCYRA to assign a referee.

If you are a referee who is asked to referee a game, pass the information on to either the NCRRS or the NCYRA, or ask the team do to so.

This includes alumni games, friendlies, touring sides, old boys matches – any actual rugby game. A scrimmage at a practice among players of the same team, with the same coach, that would be okay to do if asked.

There are a number of considerations in the assignments process.

The games that referee societies assign are their primary vehicle for referee development.

We may have a ref coming up on an exchange or an important evaluation in a week or two who needs games, or a particular type of game.

We may have a referee coach available to watch that game that we want to pair with a ref who would benefit from the observation or even earn promotion.

We may have an incoming exchange ref who needs a game, or visiting ref from a society to which we owe a favor (or wish to incur favor).

If none of these things apply, then the assignor would normally assign the person who was asked to do the game, assuming the ref is otherwise qualifier to do the match.

So: when you get these kinds of requests, direct them to the assignor. For the NCRRS, for the remainder of 2012, that is Bruce Carter. Beginning in 2013, it will be Pete Smith.

GAMES

More Mittry Memorial Action:

Matt Hetterman and Lee Salgado also joined the Pelicanmobile crew, netting five refs for this fifteen-game event.

SIERRA 17 – Sac State Alumni 12 Referee: Stephen Valerio
After a scoreless first half with plenty of back and forth the tries started coming in the 2nd half. In the waning minutes it was 12-12 when Sac St got a Yellow Card after they stopped Sierra from taking a quick tap on a penalty. Even with the man advantage for the last 5 minutes Sierra couldn't breach the line until a penalty in stoppage time. Despite being right in front of the posts they elected to run in a quick tap and scored the try, avoiding an unsightly tie.

SANTA ROSA JC 31 – Sacramento Capitals 5 Ref: Valerio
The game started off with Sacramento's captain and fly-half getting knocked out with an injury. Santa Rosa showed excellent sportsmanship in making sure he was taken care. The game was closer than the final scoreline would suggest with Santa Rosa leading 12-5 at the break. But several high tackles finally led to a yellow card for Sacramento and they couldn't hold off the disciplined Santa Rosa attack.

CHICO 42 – Sac State 10 Ref: Valerio
At the end of a long day there was a lot of one-way action here. Sacramento St. struck for a couple of tries, but Chico's dominance at the breakdown courtesy of greater numbers arriving first prevented any sustained Sac St attacks and allowed Chico to move the ball around the pitch.

OTHER MATCHES

SONOMA STATE 24 – San Francisco State 5 Referee: Ray Schwartz
AR: Mark Godfrey
Observer: Mike Gadoua
My first visit to Sonoma St, this was their first match of the preseason, and with their new coach Anasa. They had about 40 kids suited up to play and some big boys, some tough and decent ruggers. Dean White is coaching SF St and they looked good too, but with maybe 24 kids and not as much size. The pitch was inside the track and so not as wide as you'd like, but there was a big Collegiate Ultimate Frisbee tournament going on, pushing rugby onto the track field. A crowd of perhaps 200 arrived in time for the 1:30 kick off.

The lads played 20-minute periods, hoping to squeeze an extra 20 or more out of everyone to help rookies get a chance to play. Sonoma came out slow, but quickly created a turnover and was soon scoring the first points. Later in the 1st period they pushed through again to lead 10-0. The 2nd period saw SF St. assert themselves, score a converted try, and just before halftime looked to score again, but a turnover turned into a 100 meter team try for Sonoma. Tough way to go into halftime, 17-5.

As more rookies came on for Sonoma, my skills as a ref were tested. No cards, but teaching moments and a few admonishments. Lots of rookie mistakes: slapping the ball forward at a line out, leaving a scrum early, failure to wrap at tackles. It got a little chippy, but I kept a cork in it, and the lads enjoyed playing on. A lack of fitness and a few injuries added up to limiting play to a full 80 minutes. Only Sonoma St scored in the 2nd half, but overall this was a close, well-contested game, 24-5 final.

November 3, Stanford
Referees: Eric Rauscher, Pete Smith
This was a pre-season warm up between Stanford and Nevada, Reno women

It turned out to be four 20 min periods with a final period between two Stanford sides. Reno showed up with around thirty players (they drove down that morning) and Stanford had at least 40. By the end of the fourth game, Reno was dead on their legs. I did the first and the fourth games and the final scrimmage. Pete did the second and third. Stanford looks to be on track for their national championship form with the usual complement of faster than lightning backs. Reno pretty much held their own and can feel good about their performance. They were able to get points on the board and not get hammered too bad. The day was perfect weather, maybe even too hot. One interesting thing for me was that I have been doing High School games for long enough now that I am seeing players I know playing for the college teams now. It is nice to see that continuity.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO


Perfect day in Redding:
Standing: Lee Salgado, Matt Hetterman, Giles Wilson, Stephen Valerio
Sitting: Bruce Carter

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris