USA RWC Home Bases Announced
Rugby World Cup LTD. and the IRB announced the team training bases for the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup.
The USA, which qualified in March, will be based in Haileybury School in Hertfordshire, in the early part of the tournament.
“We are extremely excited that Haileybury will be part of Rugby World Cup 2015 and we look forward to welcoming the Argentina and USA teams next year," said former Wales captain Michael Owen, who is the Director of Rugby for the school. “We have a rich rugby heritage and being chosen to be a team base for the tournament is an honour for our College."
Then the Eagles will move on to Leeds Trinity University in Yorkshire, Portsmouth Royal Navy Rugby Union, and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire.
Should the USA make the knockout rounds, they will have another base of operations.
The pool matches for the USA are as follows;
WJAAs Take it on the Chin
The Canada U20s defeated the USA Women Junior All Americans 43-6 tonight in Ontario, thereby winning the Can Am series by a convincing 94-11 margin.
Today’s game began very similarly to Wednesday’s. The hosts commanded possession during the first quarter, flashing signs of its very potent, fluid attack, but falling short of the try zone due to unforced errors. A resilient defense also helped Canada off the scoreboard, and according to USA captain Kyla Chipman, who spoke to Goff Rugby Report hours before kickoff, that was all part of the plan.
“We changed the focus of our goals from the previous match,” Chipman said. “We’re really going to be focusing on our defense today, and we changed our attack pattern to better fit Canada’s defense, so it really should be a different match.”
Preps Needed Prep Work for Nanjing
Well we learned something from Nanjing, and the main lesson is, you can’t half-way the Olympics.
Now, I’m not saying that the coaches phoned it in or the players didn’t care, or anything like that. What I am saying is, it’s not that easy to just get a bunch of young players together, most of whom can count the number of 7s tournaments they’ve played on one hand, and win a medal.
In the end, what the USA teams did was not a surprise - 4th for the women, and 5th for the men. The men beat one team, Japan, and finished 5th. The women beat one team, Tunisia, and finished 4th because they also tied Spain and edged Spain for a spot in the semis.
7s Eagle Hopefuls in CampCHULA VISTA, Calif. – USA Rugby has announced the players to assemble for the second Men's USA 7s team High Performance camp, which icked off Wednesday under the watchful eye of new USA Coach Mike Friday.
Friday and his assistant coach, Chris Brown, were joined by Men's 15s Head Coach Mike Tolkin, Junior All-Americans Head Coach Billy Millard, and Men’s Sevens Director Alex Magleby.
Brown coached nine of the players on the USA Falcons team which won the recent Serevi RugbyTown 7s. Of those, Pat Blair and Aladdin Schirmer are Central Washington University products. Also from that team is Maka Unufe, who was a sensation for the United High School program out of Utah in 2011 and made the USA team that year. He ater took a break, but is back.
Former Bowling Green star Mike Ziegler also played with the Falcons.
Friday and his assistant coach, Chris Brown, were joined by Men's 15s Head Coach Mike Tolkin, Junior All-Americans Head Coach Billy Millard, and Men’s Sevens Director Alex Magleby.
Brown coached nine of the players on the USA Falcons team which won the recent Serevi RugbyTown 7s. Of those, Pat Blair and Aladdin Schirmer are Central Washington University products. Also from that team is Maka Unufe, who was a sensation for the United High School program out of Utah in 2011 and made the USA team that year. He ater took a break, but is back.
Former Bowling Green star Mike Ziegler also played with the Falcons.
4th Place Finish for U.S. Women Jr. Olympians
It wasn't the most sophisticated of matches, and China was noticeably less enthusiastic, but the Youth Olympic Games hosts did just enough to beat the U.S. Women 12-0 for the Bronze medal.
The lasting impression is one of exhaustion. The teams were playing in their seventh match of the tournament, and by game's end, the U.S. lost two more players - Appau Mailau and Danielle Walko-Siua (in addition to Dana Olsen) - to injury. The Chinese were also not as vigorous as they had been in earlier rounds, perhaps still dampened by a semifinal match they could have won. The result was a lot of knock-ons and ballhandling errors. At times, possession changed hands three or four times in rapid succession while the referee contemplated whether advantage had been won, lost or won again.
WJAAs Gel Quickly in Advance of Can-AmsSubmitted by USA Rugby BATAVIA, N.Y. – Danielle Miller has selected the USA Rugby AIG Women’s Junior All-Americans’ roster for the first match of the Under-20 Can-Am Series in Ontario. The WJAAs assembled in Batavia Sunday ahead of Wednesday’s match at London St. George’s Rugby Football Club in London. Despite only having two days to prepare for the first match, Miller is impressed with her team’s work ethic. “It was a long day of practice yesterday with the athletes learning the foundation of how the WJAA team plays,” the head coach said.
U.S. Women Shoot for BronzeThe U.S. Women will play for the Bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games after dropping a 33-0 contest to Australia in the semifinals. Although a significant loss, the Americans did improve since their previous game against the tournament favorites. The difference lied in the Australian's confident attack and clinical execution. The game didn't start well for the U.S., when from the opening kickoff, Dom Tu Toit took a mid-field switch into the try zone. Caitlin Moran added the first of her three conversions, 7-0. But it took the Aussies the rest of the half to score again. In between, the U.S. did well to break into Australia's half, getting good yardage and excellent cover tackles from the speedy Becca Jane Rosko.
U.S. Jr. Olympians Advance to SemisThe U.S. Women have qualified for the Youth Olympic Games semifinals. The junior Olympians had to wait for the outcome of Spain vs. China before knowning their fate, but the Games' host ran out to a 45-0 victory, which propelled the Americans into 4th place on points differential. The final pool game resembled the match against Australia, only this time, the U.S. was benefitting from the infractions. Tunisia relinquished penalty after penalty - from pushing early in the scrums, to not releasing, to a high tackle - and the Americans made good use of the ample possession, overall. It took a little time for the U.S.
Youth Olympic Games - Day 2 Wrap-up
Day two of the Rugby Sevens event at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games bought high-quality action as the race to secure semi-final positions in the men’s and women’s competition climaxed.
Once again, the Chinese crowd got behind all the teams with athletes dropping by the Youth Olympics Sports Park to experience the newest Olympic sport on its Youth Olympic debut.
China join Australia and Canada in women’s semi-finals
Australia, China and Canada guaranteed their place in the women’s Youth Olympic Games Rugby Sevens semi-finals with one session of pool play to spare.
The semi-final rankings will be determined on the final session, when the fourth semi-finalist will also be confirmed.
With competition intense, all three of the remaining teams - Spain, USA and Tunisia - have a mathematical chance of securing the coveted place.
Physical China Beats U.S. Women
Despite the early lead, the U.S. Women dropped its third match of the Youth Olympic Games, bowing 29-7 to host China (3-1).
The Americans had the first say, as Becca Jane Rosko scored the team's only try, which Richelle Stephens converted for the 7-0 lead.
The hosts recovered quickly. The Chinese were incredibly ruthless at the tackle contest, and the U.S. took time to adjust. For a good portion of the first half, when the ball went to ground, China ended up with possession - regardless of who took the ball into contact. And much like the Australian game, the Chinese were very clinical and well skilled, deftly moving the ball around the field.
Australia Shuts Out U.S. Women
The third round of the Youth Olympic Games was a tough one for the U.S. Women, who fell 38-0 to tournament favorites Australia. The Americans are now 0-2-1 and will need two gutsy performances against China and Tunisia if there's any hope for a semifinal berth.
The Australians were better skilled and worked as a unit. The players did well to disrupt the tackle area, and most importantly, took advantage of the U.S.'s missteps. The Aussies punished nearly every bobbled pass, stagger in the defensive line, and slow support with a try. They attacked quickly and precisely, and the U.S. just couldn't string the phases together. The U.S. was really hampered by passing skills.
USA Men Start 0-2 in Nanjing
The USA Men’s rugby 7s team at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China has started 0-2, but they are not out of it yet.
The USA team looked solid against Kenya, leading 12-10 at halftime thanks to tries from Jojo Tikoisuva and Hanco Germishuys, but the Kenyans took control in the second half, scoring twice to win 22-12.
That was a tough one, but not wholly unexpected. Next up was Fiji, and it was no surprise that the players from the great 7s country won, beating the USA 29-10.
Tyler Sousley and Junior Helu scored for the USA.
So the Americans are in 5th after two games, but can move into the top four (and thus the medal round) if they beat 0-2 Japan and 1-1 France. France, however, have beaten Kenya.
Fiji 2-0
Argentina 2-0
Kenya 1-1
France 1-1
USA 0-2
Japan 0-2
Youth Olympics Latest - Women Day One
The USA women’s team at the Youth Olympics started the Rugby 7s event at the games 0-1-1 on the first day.
In their first game, the Americans tied Spain in a game where the teams were deadlocked at half-time (7-7) and at full time (12-12). Richelle Stephens scored a try and converted one try and Michel Navarro also scored for the USA.Read more from game one.
Nanjing Test Approaches
Rugby 7s gets its next step in Olympics exposure with the Youth Olympics.
August 16 in the USA August 17 in China, both the USA Men's and Women's youth teams will suit up in six-team tournaments in Nanjing.
The athletes will not only participate, but will follow the rules of the Youth Olympics, which are that all athletes must stay for the entire length of the multi-sport event. Once the four-day tournament is done, the rugby payers will get to be spectators and wide-eyed tourists.
"Yes it's a bunch of teenage boys we have to keep track of," laughed Men's team Head Coach Ben Gollings, "and that will be a challenge. But we'll be alright."
Japan, France, Argentina, Kenya, Fiji and USA comprise the men’s competition, with Canada, China, Spain, Australia, Tunisia and USA competing for honours in the women’s event.
USA Thrills With Comeback WinThe game didn't start in the USA's favor. Two minutes into the Women's Rugby World Cup 5th place semifinal, Australia captain Shannon Parry dotted down a try that Ashleigh Hewson converted. But the Americans were resolute and used every remaining second to claw their way back on top, and the go-ahead points happened in the 79th minute. The USA defeated Australia 23-20 and will play for 5th place on Sunday against New Zealand. It took the USA another eight minutes to light up its half of the scoreboard, as wing Sadie Anderson hit a penalty (7-3).
