PETE SMITH’S PROMOTED TO B2
Congratulations to Pete, who is flying into the thin air. There have probably been fewer than ten NorCal refs ever make it to B2.
BO RODMAN’S PROMOTED TO C2
More good news! The Referee Development Committee of the NCRRS has recognized Bo Rodman as a C2 ref, based on recent performance.
THE STATE OF THE SOCIETY (IN BRIEF)
We stopped and thought the other day, in response to a comment by Joe Leisek.
Since last year, the Pelican Society lost three stalwarts: Ed Todd, Peter Hansford, and Steve Hawker. Each of these gentlemen did a
There are any number of
No offense to these dear friends, but we haven’t missed a beat.
We stopped and thought today when we looked at the list of our referees who are currently injured and can’t do games: Scott Wood, Tony Latu, Chris Parkhouse, Sam Davis, Paul Berman, Ray Schwartz, and soon when he undergoes surgery, Dave Pope.
No offense to these folks, all of whom we wish a speedy recovery, but we appear to be capable of covering our responsibilities through the dedication of all of our other members.
How many referee societies could lose seven dedicated, week in-week out refs, and still function?
We are so lucky!
LEVEL ONE REFEREEING COURSE MARCH 12 IN
A Level 1 Referee Course will be conducted Sunday, March 12, 2006, at the Bay Club in
NOBODY IS REGISTERING FOR THE CONFERENCE
Well, almost nobody.
Very few people have registered for the conference we will be offering around the Churchill Cup, Rugby
Through the Looking Glass, June 8-9.
This is especially disappointing in terms of NCRRS members. We need to project attendance for several reasons, most of which have financial implications.
Any society member who has refereed five or more assigned games (the same standard we use for paying for referee training courses) does not have to pay any registration fee at all. But they still need to register!
Please take a moment to visit our website and register:
http://www.pelicanrefs.com/registrationform.htm
TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL
High school rugby is one of many jewels in the crown of the Northern California RFU; one of the bright, shining facets that attracts attention and inspires covetousness.
If our readers are keen, they can easily double the number of games they would normally do in a season. It is not unheard of for a referee to do three high school games a week and an adult or college match on Saturday afternoon.
They can also referee several of the best teams and programs in the
Most of the high school conferences have a coordinator who would be happy to hear from you if you’d like to work some of these games.
Redwood: Joe Leisek
Skyhawk: Pete Smith
The Bay Conference does have a coordinator. The best we can advise is that you contact someone affiliated with one of the teams if you would like a match.
Below is a list of scheduled matches for the upcoming week, the first week of March, 2006. Note that this does not include non-varsity games, of which there are many: some teams have three and four sides.
Friday
Montgomery – Santa
Elsie Allen – Windburg (Windsor/Healdsburg)
Rancho Cotate –
Del Oro – Christian Brothers
Jesuit II- Islanders
Davis – Jesuit I
Rio Rugby –
Friday or Saturday
Peninsula Green –
Aptos –
Valley Christian – Live Oak
Saturday
SF
Piedmont –
Marin – Lamorinda
Berkeley – Oakland Military Institute
Tuesday
Christian Brothers – Cougars
Del Oro – Jesuit I
Jesuit II –
Mother Lode – Rio
And this just in: what should be a very good inter-conference game has just been added to the schedule for Saturday night, March 4: Elsie Allen hosting Live Oak. Let us know if you would be available for this match.
WANT TO WATCH A GOOD GAME IN A GREAT STADIUM?
Rugby under the lights returns to Kezar Stadium in
At 7:30 PM, the Olympic Club will take on the current Super League champions, the New York Athletic Club.
Paul Bretz will referee this one. Touch judges will be Jon Moore, visiting from
So often we referees have to miss the best games because we are working other matches. Not this evening – there aren’t any other games to referee.
Remember the Kezar games we used to have regularly in the early nineties? Come revive and relive those fond memories!
Especially if you work in
THE MEAT OF THE MATTER
Wed 22,
I traveled up to
The
In the post game pizza social,
Thursday, 7:30 PM
U. of the Pacific 15 – UC
UOP were in control in the first ten minutes. They were led by a flyhalf from a southern hemisphere. rugby nation. No name nor country mentioned, since he's on a scholarship playing another sport. But his love for rugby draws him to the game.
S-Cruz woke up and opened the gates, both backs and forward.
Friday, 7:00 PM
MARITIME ACADEMY 44 –
Coach: David Williamson
Cal Maritime hosted USF on a cool Friday evening under the lights, prevailing 44-5.
CM scored tries from two scrums, two penalty plays, a maul, a ruck, and two open plays. USF's stalwart play was highlighted by its scrumhalf, who took many quick penalty taps twenty or more yards upfield. USF scored its try 10 minutes into the second half from a lineout.
4:00 PM
SF/Golden Gate 17 –
Evaluator: Matt Eason
This was probably the best performance of
The Lions spent a few days training in the Bay Area for the second year in a row. Although completely out of season, they synchronized well from the opening kickoff and scored a multi-phase try in the second minute.
Eagle Phillip Eloff may be their best-known player, but several of the backs and the second row are all big line-breakers. They broke the line for four tries in the first half, while Gate were denied a couple of tries by timing errors in attack near the try line. It was 24 – 3 to the visitors at the half.
An accident on the
The
Each team scored fourteen points in the second half, and each team had one try well worth describing.
The
His teammate Eloff, trailing along on his right hip in a low crouch, picked the ball up the instant it was placed and then fell forward across the line. This was done so seamlessly that non-disingenuous
The referee indicated the tackled player – #1 – and the try-scoring player - #13 – and indeed it was two different people having moved in tandem, the symbol of a team.
He was checked out by the referee, who pronounced the shoulder as no longer being dislocated. The Chicago Lion’s trainer, not being aware of the referee’s qualifications in this regard, also rendered his opinion that the shoulder had spontaneously reduced itself and that the player might elect to continue playing; it was up to him.
Pretorius went through characteristic contortions and grimaces for this sort of injury and then bravely elected to go once more into the breach.
It was a five-meter scrum to his team. They won the hook, wheeled with the head and he, bad shoulder and all, scored a lovely try through two defenders.
Saturday
Super League Pre-Season Matchup:
3:00 PM SF/GOLDEN GATE 16 –
Saturday I was treated to one of the most challenging matches I have had in my refereeing career both on paper and in substance. Chicago Lions have been in
The game was tight in every sense of the word. The players played in tight with both teams mauling (primarily SFGG, but Chicago could drive when they needed), pick and driving and crashing inside. Both teams played a furious pace throughout with fitness not seemingly an issue for either side. SFGG scored first on a penalty kick from Grant Wells, only to have
As much as the first half had it share of confrontations, the second half seemed to turn up the heat even more. The rucking from both teams was prevalent throughout and from what I saw all within the laws with one exception. Several Chicago and SFGG players wound up with nicks and cuts with most notably Tony Vontz taking a deep cut over his eye on some off the ball foul play. Unfortunately, I was watching play and neither my TJ nor I saw what had happened to Mr. Vontz. At this point it seemed as though the game was about to become something other than rugby. Despite not being able to positively identify the culprit that injured the SFGG captain, I needed to re-take control of the situation and use the tools that I have been taught to this point. After consulting with my tough judge at length, I called the
The next few minutes went well until at 9:48 by my watch the recently substituted 2nd row for
However a high tackle on the SFGG wing at full time 15 meters in front of the right post was all Kennard needed to slot the game winner at the final whistle-SFGG 16-13 over
DIABLO GAELS 38 – Olympic Club 17 Referee: Joe Leisek
Evaluator: Bryan Porter
Diablo
Arriving at DVC on a brilliantly sunny, warm day, I was welcomed by the host side with directions to the locker room. Nice. DVC's soccer field was beautifully marked for rugby. Looked across the pitch, which seemed wide. Bryan Porter paced it, estimating about 90 yards. Thus the game was played in expansive fashion, with lots of opportunities for scrumhalves and flyhalfs to skip at least one player with long torpedo passes.
This game was intense and furious. It felt like playoff-style determination on the field. O-Club, captained by Andrew Armstrong, had the better of the first half, with skilled flyhalf James Brandon directing the attack. Both teams scored a converted try in the half, with O-Club also kicking a penalty goal late in the half to take the lead. Throughout the match the O-Club forwards drove the ball...as a fan of the game, it was great to see No. 8 Chris Clever on the pick-and-go and Eagle lock Carl Hansen dragging two and three defenders several meters downfield.
The second half started at an incredible pace. Within about three minutes, three tries were scored: two by the Gaels and one by the O-Club. The Gaels eventually pulled away with a display of confident attacking and stout defense. One player who stood out for the home side seemed maybe a little older than the rest, but had an excellent half of rugby at flyhalf. A post-game conversation left me curious; later I realized he was Vaea Anitoni. The former Eagle put his mark on the second half by scoring a try and ending the game with a gracefully executed drop kick from about 25 meters.
A wonderful day.
Seconds: Diablo Gaels 17 – OLYMPIC CLUB 51 Referee: Sam Reagle
Conditions: Perfect
OC only brought about 25 guys total so several had to do double duty from the A game. The first 2 scores of the game were penalty kicks. Not a good start, in my opinion, for Division 1 teams, but things settled down and the game opened up. The two packs were comparable, but OC's back line seemed too much for the Gaels to handle as they repeatedly broke tackles and scampered on long runs. By halftime, OC had controlled things pretty well and owned a 32-5 score.
However, the second half was much better for the Gaels. They were playing more cohesively, scoring 2 more tries while giving up 3 to the visitors. During the last 10+ minutes of the game when I have seen fatigue become stupidity elsewhere, these 2 teams played some of their best rugby, each scoring a try without committing a single penalty.
On another note, there was a first for me. I threw my first spectator out of the enclosure. It wasn't my original intent, but it felt so natural after hearing her say: "YOU CAN'T THROW ME OUT, I'M A SPECTATOR."
No report received. Please send in the score if you know it, so we can calculate the standing.
Seconds:
Touch Judges: Giles Wilson, Tom Phillips
There was lots of rugby on Saturday in
But now to the game of the day.
Seahawks controlled the first half with their quick tap and quick line out. Their backs shut down the attacking backs of
But at the half
Thanks to Giles and Tom from the Seahawks for running touch. Great food at the Why Not in
Seconds:
Final
BARACUS 13 –
Evaluator:
Polo Fields, SF
This was a fairly close and exciting match. The first half was marred by Baracus penalties around the ruck (primarily late poaching attempts) which was eventually sorted out by a yellow card for repeat infringements. The score was 9-0 for
Seconds: Baracus 21 –
Polo Field
A great sunny day in the city. The second-side match was evenly contested in the first half with the visitors ahead 17 - 14. Baracus was not able to capitalize on several large gains due to late breakdowns. "Luckily" we seemed to have 31 referees on the field so the appointed referee had plenty of help in making the correct calls. Boys, when you are playing well and in the lead on the road, don't try to "help" the referee so much...
The second half quieted down and
Goff on Rugby said this was a game to watch, with
Warmed up and focused,
The rubber match in Fresno-probably for the league championship-is to be anticipated.
Seconds:
Humboldt 16 – APTOS 17 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Aptos only had 14 players and no trained front row, but Humboldt graciously decided to play the match with uncontested scrums and without forfeit.
The match was sloppy at times with a lot of rookie players on both teams. Even then, rugby was played with much enthusiasm and the game was exciting right to the end.
Aptos led 10-3 at the half thanks to some quickly recycled ball out wide. As some of Humboldt's key players arrived (late) at the field, the home team was able to step up and tie the score 10-10 midway through the 2nd half. Soon after, a bizarre spectator incident occurred.
After the whistle was blown for a knock on off a lineout, one of the Humboldt players emerged bleeding and alleged that he had been elbowed away from the ball by an Aptos player. Both players were held back by their teammates (near the sideline), but before play could resume, an elderly spectator stepped into the field and hit the Aptos player. Turns out the elderly person was the Humboldt player's father! Order was quickly restored (the spectator was asked to leave the field) and play continued without further incident.
Humboldt kicked two more penalties to lead 16-10 with 4 minutes to play, but they then had a defensive lapse: the Aptos Number eight picked up the ball at the base of the scum and ran in untouched for a 35 meter solo try. Aptos converted to lead 17-16.
Humboldt almost scored during the last minutes, but a turnover ended the match.
Soon after, players from both teams met up at the Humboldt Brewery for a hearty celebration of a closely contested match.
Berkeley RFC hosted
The second half started with some strong forward tackling.
At 36 minutes
Last week I was supposed to do the Humboldt –
MISSION 46 –
REDDING by forfeit over
15 minutes into this game on a very hard uneven field with
The second half referee came from
St. Mary's 7 –
Evaluator: Mike Malone
Scott Wood picked me up at 10:30 Saturday morning and we headed off to
It was great to see a number of old friends before the match that, it seems, we never get to a chance to see often enough. Among them was Ed Todd, the new head of referee development for USA Rugby and Mike Malone, who was kind enough to drive over from Marin to give me some excellent feed back and coaching after the match.
This game was billed as the battle for first place in college men's D-1 and by 12:30 there were no parking spots left in any of the parking lots. The field was completely surrounded by spectators by game time and all of the four small stands were packed.
St. Mary's kicked off promptly at 1:00 and the battle began. For the first 20 minutes both teams were playing pretty evenly as first one would control the offense, lose the ball and then the other would counter. Slowly the amount and time of possession shifted to
The second half began at the same amazing pace and with
Final score UC Berkeley 40 St. Mary's 7
Many thanks to Ed Todd, Mike Malone, Scott Wood and Lois Bukowski for all the help they provided
Additional report:
Spectator-looking-for-four-leaf-clover #1: Scott Wood
SMC shut
Seconds: St. Mary's 7 –
Spectator-looking-for-dandelions #1: S. Wood
Evaluator: Tom Martinez
The good news in this match is that once again
Humboldt scored early and often, and their size and strength are the keys to their winning ways. Robert Montgomery is another center with size and speed, and getting the ball to him was all the Loggers needed to set up their scores. Humboldt's pack had the Spartans overpowered, winning several set scrums against the head. Brendan Leigh converted most of the tries, later in the game using drop kicks, as he had been inspired by seeing
Santa Rosa JC 19 – GOLDEN GATE U-23, 49 Referee: John Coppinger
Evaluator: Jake Rubin
On For Pete's Sake
The match was delayed for 5 minutes as we waited for the SF/GG kit to show; however, when the kit manager called to say that he had indeed managed to find Santa Rosa and would be at the pitch shortly, he also confessed to leaving the SF/GG kit in the City. SF/GG took the pitch as the motleys.
SRJC took the kickoff cleanly and scored immediately as SF/GG seemed surprised to find the match had started; however, SF/GG took control and cruised to an easy victory. SF/GG played expansive 15 man rugby while SRJC's numerous chances were spoiled by a lack of support.
A good match played in good spirits.
My thanks to Jake Rubin for his coaching insights.
Seconds: Stanford 14 –
Videographer: Bruce Carter
Stanford 6 –
It was Parents’ Weekend at Stanford. That meant a bigger than usual crowd for the match and better than usual food for the post-game repast, two things to warm a referee’s heart.
Stanford is starting to gel. They held the lead on two penalty kicks, 6 – 5, for much of the second half. This excited the crowd to respectable decibel levels, although it must be noted that there was also a lot of noise when
It was a heartbreaker for the home side: with the clock winding down they were only six points in arrears and had all the possession. They had been keeping the ball and getting it to their backs with more regularity than in the first half. One line break could have made the difference.
But it was not to be. Time expired as a scrum was set,
STANFORD women 59 – Chico State 31 Referee: Geordie Hawkins
Coach: David Williamson
Videographer: Bruce Carter
Blue skies, a bright sun shining, a magnificent rugby pitch at Stanford and two well coached and athletic teams made for an exciting match at Steuber Field on Saturday as the Stanford and
Both teams were tight to start the match, with several knock ons stopping play. It was 0-0 with about 24 minutes left in the first half when the athletic Stanford backs, with the help of some shoddy Chico tackling, unleashed 8 tries, putting up 52 points in the remaining 24 minutes.
The game was actually much closer than the score indicated, but Stanford's #10 Jossy Tseng and #13 Olivia Anglade had too much pace, skill and athleticism to contain. Both consistently made line breaks, either finishing off their long runs with tries or off loading to a teammate for an easy score. Look for big things from Stanford's #10 and #13 in the future.
Chico State is also very talented and continued to fight in the second half, tackling hard and actually outscoring Stanford in the second half 17-7. For
A truly entertaining game from start to finish.
Great colligate game on Saturday. Both teams were pumped up and ready to go. Humboldt scored first with a converted try and mid way through the 1st half
Same intensity was maintained in the second half with
Seconds:
Berkeley and Humboldt women's B sides played 10 per side and 20 minute halves following the bruising A side game. The Berkeley backs opened up the scoring with several quick first half tries, finding themselves out in front 33 - 0 after the first 20 minute half. Humboldt came back in the second half, scoring 2 tries and blanking
CSUMB –
Sac State women – UC Davis seconds CANCELED
This match was played on a nice, wide pitch adjacent to Spartan Stadium under clear and warm weather conditions. Sac came out blazing with two tries within the first six minutes. For both tries, the ball was spun quickly out to the wing. These were the first two of many tries where the backs broke out. The score at the half was 26 to 0.
Sunday
USF – UCSC CANCELED
ST. MARY’S women 66 –
Although St. Mary's women ran the ball often and with good results, I was surprised when I finally tallied the score and saw their victory to be so massive. To their credit, the
COACH DEVELOPMENT DAY AT STANFORD
Report by David Williamson:
Stanford's Jonathan Griffin assembled an excellent group of coaches from around the globe as trainers for Sunday's Coach Development Day. Ian Mallard (formerly from the Christchurch Crusaders, now SFGG's coach); Gary Henderson (RFU), Josh Sutcliffe (formerly Australia RFU, now Stanford Women's coach), and Steve Gray (UC Davis) each made presentations in the conference room and on the field, putting Stanford's men and women rugby players through drills and question-and-answer sessions. Coach Griffin greeted us with bagels and coffee, and provided a buffet luncheon of salad, two choices of hot pasta, soft drinks, and dessert.
About 25 high school and college coaches from near and far (including five Pelicans) learned about coaching from the experts and from each other. Each trainer/coach showed us how to train specific skills, and to reinforce what was being learned by pulling information from the athletes. Instead of telling players how what they were doing right and wrong, the coaches asked questions. Through their answers, the players showed their understanding of the drill's purpose, and how they could perform better. Plus, and perhaps more importantly, the players said they were "having fun."
Josh Sutcliffe demonstrated how to plan a training session involving progressive, engaging drills with a particular purpose in mind. Given his plan, he prepared questions to enhance the players' understanding. He didn't have to ask the players whether they were having fun or not. Their happiness was readily apparent!!
Monday, 7:00 PM
Cal Maritime – Santa Rosa JC Referee: Sam Reagle
No report by press time.
HIGH SCHOOL GAMES
KUDOS
From Bryant Byrnes:
This weekend's hero – Deb Hart. Deb was called Sunday 4 hours before the match and with a reckless disregard for weather and home comforts, she whistled two Lamorinda frosh-soph matches (and did a nice job). Well done!!!
By Deb Hart:
Here's my report for the High School Boys Frosh Mini-Tournament Games:
A freshman boys’ high school mini-tournament was held at La Marinda High School on Sunday to give the freshman a chance to compete against other freshman. Even though it was raining, the all weather surface pitch provided an excellent playing surface. I refereed two matches of twenty minute halves.
LAMORINDA 27 – De
In this first match, the two sides seemed evenly matched with both scoring one try each in the first half. The second half belonged to Lamorinda. They scored one minute into the second half and continued with three additional tries to bring the final score to 27 to 5.
De La Salle 10 – SF/GOLDEN GATE 52
The SFGG high school development is very impressive. In this match, GG started the scoring off in the 2nd minute. De La Salle answered with a try in the next minute but GG brought in three more tires to end the first half. The scoring was the same in the second half - GG scored four tries and De La Salle scored one try. GG made all but two of their conversion kicks; De La Salle made one.
GILES
Man, I’m too old and slow for 3 games in 24 hours.
PIEDMONT 15 – Marin 5
Friday night; Piedmont vs Marin under lights at Witter field in
Marin started slow giving up a quick try (converted) and then another unconverted before they really woke up. Marin came back for a try in the 1st half for a 12 – 5 score. The second half was much tighter with the only score being a Piedmont Penalty.
The Marin #8 will be a player to watch once he gets some more experience, while Piedmont have several players of experience and promise, including their #8.
Saturday
Arriving at
A first half of big hits and strong running brought Hayward 2 tries (one converted) to SFGG’s 3 tries (2 converted) for a 19 – 12 half time score for the visitors. The second half saw more of the same, big tackles and strong running with two tries apiece, SFGG converting both and Hayward only one. Final score SFGG 33 –
Then I got to run touch for a very good
Hayward U 12 boys and girls;
And then I got to do my third match in the middle, the
MORE HIGH SCHOOL REPORTS
JESUIT 50 – Mother Lode 0 Referee: Sam Reagle
Conditions: Perfect
Mother lode played well the entire game and had several chances to score during the day, but the outcome was never in doubt as Jesuit scored their first try 4 minutes in, culminating in 4 tries in each half to control the tempo of this game. This game was a pleasure to officiate. I would have preferred a closer score, but Mother Lode (and Jesuit) played with a lot of heart and honor throughout.
De La Salle 7 – LAMORINDA 17 Referee: Chris Parkhouse
A very hard fought game held very tight for the first 50 minutes with a single try and conversion separating the two teams. Lamorinda dominated the line out for much of this game and showed a lot of fluidity in passing and running. De La Salle were really starved of good clean ball to the backs and consequently failed to get a good consistent rhythm going. Unfortunately two yellow cards in the game meant De La Salle played for nearly twenty minutes with 14 men. The margin of victory could certainly have been wider. Lamorinda had several efforts fall short of the line, a long reach falling short of the line, a knock on 2 m from the line and failing to release following an isolated run.
BERKELEY12 – Tri-Valley 10 Referee Rob Hendrickson
The Berkeley Rhinos scored their second (and winning) try in the last minute of the game. Tri-Valley scored first, with the score 5 - 0 at the half, and carried a 10 point lead into the last 10 minutes of the game, when the Rhinos came charging back with 2 late tries.
THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
Sandy Robertson, David Williamson, Geordie Hawkins, Bruce Carter enjoy the day down on the Farm.
HAIL, PELICUS!
For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris
