WSU Hosts Palouse 7s
The second annual Palouse 7s kicks off Saturday at Washington State University in this the third week of college 7s tournaments in the Pacific Northwest.
ECRC Clash Highlights Weekend
After weeks of posting impressive scores against fellow ECRC opponents, AIC and Boston College get to meet each other.
And they get to this meeting traveling two different paths.
AIC scored tries. A lot of tries. In going 4-0 the Yellowjackets have averaged over 60 points a game. Christian Adams has scored seven tries in those four games, and Jihad Khabir scored six. Bryce Neff has scored 68 points.
Meanwhile Boston College is 3-0 thanks to their defense, holding teams to 21 points in those three games.
“We have scored a lot, but we’re pretty proud of our defense,” warned AIC Head Coach Josh Macy. “We’ve got backs who can finish, but we have a great group of forwards. It’s just that we haven’t had games where we don’t have the ball a lot. That’s why we’re looking forward to this game.”
Oklahoma Offense v Texas Defense in DallasAfter just two weeks of the Red River Conference season, a Big Game is upon us as Texas hosts Oklahoma in a somewhat neutral site of Dallas Friday evening. Texas has already handled TCU and Baylor, while OU has defeated Baylor and Texas A&M. At 2-0, each has accomplished this differently. Oklahoma has earned their 2-0 record with offense, averaging over 50 points a game, but giving up over 30. Texas has done it with defense, allowing just 13 points in the two matches. Longhorns Coach Chris Hopps sees the Oklahoma attack and is concerned. “We are massive underdogs,” Hopps said. “OU is bigger stronger and faster than us. They have been posting huge scores.
Aircraft Carter Solutions PoW - Taylor Hayes
Taylor Hayes scored two tries for Texas in last Saturday’s defeat of Baylor, and was a rock in defense, and that’s been part for the course for the Longhorn center.
Perhaps the central elder for Texas, Hayes might be driving the engine of the team, and driving engines is something he knows a little bit about.
Hayes started playing rugby in 7th grade while he lived in Dhoa, Qatar. His father worked in the oil industry, which explains the exotic location, and his dad was also influential in what sport Hayes played.
“My father had previously played and got me into the sport by bringing me out to the Qatar youth club's practice and I've loved it ever since,” he said.
DIA Rankings Week 5
St. Mary's remains at the top of USA Rugby's Canterbury DIA Top 20 as voted on by a panel of coaches, experts, and media (including Alex Goff from Goff Rugby Report).
Penn State moves up from #7 to #6, and Air Force, following their defeat of Navy, moves up from #9 to #7. Cal Poly and Davenport drop down.
Canterbury D1A Top 20 – Week 5
1 Saint Mary’s (1)
2 Life (2)
3 Kutztown (3)
4 Lindenwood (4)
5 Army (5)
6 Penn State (7)
7 Air Force (9)
8 Cal Poly (6)
9 Davenport (8)
10 Michigan (10)
11 Wheeling Jesuit (11)
12 Oklahoma (13)
13 Colorado State (12)
14 Santa Clara (14)
15 San Diego State (15)
16 Arizona (17)
17 Indiana (16)
18 Wisconsin (18)
19 Colorado (19)
20 Wyoming (20)
Strong Field of Teams at West Coast 7s
San Luis Obispo hosts the West Coast 7s this weekend, with several of the top college programs from the West Coast set to face off.
Among the intriguing entries are St. Mary’s, getting the #1 seed, San Diego State, which won the Cal State 7s in Sacramento, two-time defending CRC winners Cal, and new varsity program Grand Canyon.
St. Mary’s might be the #1 seed but it’s still a huge question how they will do. Most of the Gaels upperclassmen are concentrating on starting the 15s season soon, and it’s a young group that Tony Samaniego and other coaches will take to San Luis Obispo.
Sophomore Alec Barton out of San Diego is a talent in the forwards, and back Austen Middleton is also a sophomore with promise.
Newcomer Vili Helu hurt his shoulder in training and will miss this weekend, but Samaniego said they have more depth.
Men DII College Rankings 2014-15 #4
Week 4 of the Goff Rugby Report Men's DII College Rankings sees no change in the top five, but some movement elsewhere.
Fairfield keeps beating good teams and jumps up to #6. Vermont jumps from nowhere to #10 because ... OK because we forgot to include them last week (!). So that's just a correction. Vermont plays Rhode Island (#7) in Oct 18 and against a week later, so we'll see where they stand after that.
Old Dominion drops down after a loss to #3 James Madison, as JMU solidified #3.
Last Week's Predictions - How We Did
Having made predictions on the DI college games last week (minus one or two), it seems only fair I should report the results.
Here's how I did:
ACRC Coaches Poll Week 5
Kutztown University remains atop the ACRC Coaches Poll, and while there are a few shifts in this week's ballot results, for the most part the top ten has remained in the top ten.
Penn State leapfrogged Army to #2, returning the favor Army doled out last week. Dartmouth won twice, including a big one over Princeton, and that shot them past AIC for #4.A Also moving up, Michigan, after beating #11 Wisconsin, moves to #8, while Wisconsin drops to #17. Bowling Green keeps winning in the MAC and is now at #9.
Wheeling Jesuit drops behind those two from #8 to #10, while Stony Brook, big winners over Brockport, moved up to #11.
URugby Announces ACRC Bowl Series in CharlottePHILADELPHIA, Pa. — High-level collegiate rugby competition comes to Charlotte, N.C. Nov. 21-23, 2014 with the inaugural American Collegiate Rugby Championships Bowl Series. This series of matches in traditional bowl format brings the very best college rugby teams from around the country to Charlotte’s Rugby Athletic Center, a sports and events venue located just three miles from downtown. The ACRC Bowl Series will feature eight championship bowl games over three days. Many of the participating teams are selected based on their finish in their respective collegiate conferences.
North Texas Turns Heads
With their 75-6 defeat of Texas A&M, North Texas put their hand up, way up, in the Southwest Rugby Conference.
Sure, this was A&M's 2nd side as they run their 1st side in the Red River, but, still, 75-6 says something, and A&M Director of Rugby Craig Coates was highly complimentary of the Mean Green.
"We are instilling a hard work, blue collar ethos in the players," said Michael Engelbrecht, who is coaching the team along with Andrew Marshall. "We emphasize spacing, one speed, and positive-grade tackles."
It's a basic approach, and one that also emphasizes execution in the set pieces, which has paid off. The scrums, in particular, are a strength for UNT.
Cal Announces Freshman Class for 2014-15
BERKELEY - Sixteen new student-athletes have joined the Golden Bears this fall as rugby embarks on its 133rd year as the oldest intercollegiate sport on campus at the University of California.
With an even split of eight forwards and eight backs, many with a Cal history in their families and most of whom attended Nike Cal Varsity Rugby Sumer Camps, the incoming class reflects a typical geographic profile in recent years, ranging from San Francisco, Marin County and the East Bay to Sacramento and Southern California, with two international students from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, respectively.
“Really happy to have these boys with us at Cal,” said head coach Jack Clark. “They’re strong students with good athletic potential. Overall, a good fit for us.”
STRONG SACRAMENTO PRESENCE
Vermont, Rhode Island Stay UnbeatenUniversity of Rhode Island and University of Vermont will have a lot to say to each other in a couple of weeks as they prepare for two games against each other in a row. URI and UVM both won this weekend, one relatively comfortably and one in nail-biting fashion, to move to 4-0 atop the New England Collegiate Rugby Conference standings. Rhode Island defeated Norwich 23-5 Saturday. Lock Kevin Hoelzer scored a try on an overthrown lineout to start the scoring. And while the Cadets tied it up, Sav Varca’s run through a gap and 25-meter gallop to the tryline put URI up to star. A penalty from flyhalf Anthony Kennedy in the first half made it 13-5. Then a scrum drive allowed No.
Xavier Makes a MoveXavier College of Cincinnati put themselves in control of the Great Lakes South with a 36-21 defeat of previously-unbeaten Marshall. The two teams had already met once, with Xavier coming back from 17 points down to tie the game 22-22. So with both tams having beaten their other two in-conference opponents, Kent State and Cedarville, this second game seemed to be for all the marbles. And it was the home team, Xavier, that came through. Led by young Matt Flynn, a prop who slotted in at No.
Roger Williams, Salve Regina Winning Again
Salve Regina and Roger Williams are still at the top of the Colonial Coast Men’s DII college conference after convincing victories this weekend.
Salve defeated previously-unbeaten Plymouth State 48-10.
“This was our biggest fight so far,” said Salve club president Alex DiMauro. “The first two games weren’t all that hard for us. This one was. Their defense was bunching in round the rucks, so we ran some wide crash balls and that opened things up for us.”
Plymouth won the ball off the initial kickoff and almost scored in the first couple of minutes. But Regina was able to hold them, and that minor scare woke them up a little.
“Once we got the ball we kept it,” said DiMauro.
Freshman Joe Guff had a strong game for Salve Regina - he plays both hooker and flanker.
