HS All Americans Named for BC
USA Rugby HS All American Head Coach Salty Thompson has named his HSAA West team to travel to British Columbia to play the BC U19s.
This is a different group from the squad that toured Ontario last week. Thompson drew players from the Western regional all-star tournaments for this trip, and added in Sim Mander, a HSAA veteran who attends school in England.
Joining Thompson on the trip to Canada will be coaches Scott Bracken and JD Stephenson. The HSAA team will play BC on Wednesday, July 13, and Saturday, July 16. BC Rugby Union will stream the first match at 3 pm PT on bcrugby.com/live. (Previous version of this article listed game as 5pm)
Eagle Women Set to Face England
USA WNT 15s Coach Pete Steinberg has named his lineup to face England for the final weekend of the Super Series.
This will quite possibly be a very close game, as England lost big to Canada and edged France, while the USA lost nit quite as big to Canada and lost close to France.
Defensive Coach Peter Baggetta told USARugby.org that England's different playing style might open up some opportunities for the young but athletic USA team.
The game kicks off at 3pm Mountain Time at the Rugby Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah. The game will be broadcast live on The Rugby Channel. http://www.therugbychannel.tv/
A Big Conditioning Focus - Eagles Look to Rio
In just over 30 days the USA Men’s 7s team will take the field in the Olympics for the first time in 92 years, and we still don’t know who will be on the team.
Of course, we’ve all got a good idea, and so does NBC, which has featured captain Madison Hughes during Olympic promos. Hughes, who is hard at work in pre-Olympic training right now, knows full well he isn’t guaranteed a spot on the plane to Rio, but he’s got to do the promos anyway.
“When I was doing those promos, I was trying to talk on behalf of the team and give the team a voice,” said Hughes. “There are a lot of factors to consider and I couldn’t say ‘this is how I feel about it’ because I don’t if I’ll be there. So I said ‘we’re excited as a group.’”
Ruggamatrix America Podcast - The Goal Begins with G
In an intriguing and in-depth interview for RuggaMatrix America, USA Men's 7s Coach Mike Friday lays it all out for us.
Friday discusses what happens when your players don't like the food at a tournament. He talks about preparing for multi-sports events. He talks about the pressure (or not) to pick certain players, and the decisions he has to make.
It's one of a little bit of Alex Goff and a whole lot of Mike Friday just telling you what he things.
Click here to listen, or right-click to download and save for later.
Farmer Powers to US Olympic Dream
The USA women’s 7s team has a chance to sneak up on a few opponents in the Olympics.
And if they do, they may well do it, not sneakily, but with size and power. Jill Potter has epitomized the type of player who can dominate a 7s game as a prop, but the Eagles will need more - players who can win the ball in the air, win the physical battle over the ball, and force more than one tackler to stop her.
Canada Races Past USA in Super Series
Salt Lake City, Utah — Andrea Burk paced Canada with 18 points and helped spark a torrid second half as the Canadian women ran away from the USA 33-5 Tuesday in the Women's Super Series.
The Eagles hung tough with Canada in the first half, and while a line break and nifty two-on-one put Canada up 7-0, Hope Rogers capped off some concerted pressure to make it 7-5 early. But the USA team could not convert on other opportunities, with little mistakes creeping in just as the Eagles were starting to move forward.
Canada, meanwhile, scored two late tries in the first half and then pulled away.
"I'm really pleased with this performance," Burk told RugbyCanada.ca. "We're really coming together, players one through 26, we're coming onto the field to play together. It really showed today."
Steinberg Wants Eagle Women to Finish Off Opponents
It’s reasonable to think that the USA Women’s 15s team had some positives out of their July 1 loss to France.
The French were more seasoned, and had won the Six Nations, and so maybe 19-13 wasn’t so bad after all. Head Coach Pete Steinberg, however, reacted a little differently.
“I was pretty gutted,” said Steinberg. “We can talk about growth and we can talk about that we played our first game for a year and we played the Six Nations Champion close, but we have to get beyond the idea of playing the best teams close. We have to get to - when we have the opportunity to beat the best teams we beat them.”
Steinberg said there were several opportunities to put the dagger in against the French, especially in the first 20-25 minutes, but they didn’t do it.
Eagle WNT Picked to Face Canada
USA WNT 15s Head Coach Pete Steinberg has made seven changes to the team that lost to France July 1 in the Super Series opener.
Catherine Benson (Penn State, Life West) comes in at prop, while Molly Kinsella (Stanford, Richmond RFC UK) comes in at prop. Penn State's Bitsy Kairns, and Life's Nicole Strasko join BYU's Jordan Gray in the back row - all three were Sorensen Award nominees this year.
Jennifer Lui replaces another Penn State alum, Deven Owsiany, at scrumhalf, while there's a new center pairing in Jenn Sever (Cal, Life West), and another Sorensen nominee, Nate Serevi at outside center.
Steinberg told USARugby.org that his team has to execute on the basics, especially against a Canadian team that put up 52 on England.
HSAA Sweep Based on Trust, Unity
Getting a disparate group of rugby players on the same page in a couple of days and playing a group that’s been training together for a little bit longer is always tough - but the High School All Americans certainly succeeded.
HSAA Team Completes Ontario Sweep
The Boys High School All Americans put the Ontario Blues U19 provincial select side to the sword Saturday with a convincing 38-5 result at Appleby College in Oakville, Ont.
The HSAA team followed on from a 27-14 win on Thursday. Despite having only one day to recover and come back, and despite Ontario being in camp and having more fresh players on which to call, it was the touring Americans who came out the stronger on Saturday. Friday was a busy day for the HSAA team, as they got up early, working through film sessions well into the afternoon, and ran an on-field session before dinner.
France Downs USA WNT
France defeated the USA 19-13 in a contentious game on the opening day of the Super Series in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Eagles did well in the game, especially in the opening 20 minutes when they dominated the French in most areas, especially territory and possession. But little miscues here and there undercut some prime scoring opportunities, and the Eagles went into halftime leading 8-0. That lone try came from a nice weakside move off the scrum, with No. 8 Jordan Gray linking with scrumhalf Deven Owsiany to get something started. Prop Hope Rogers took it up closer to the line, and then flyhalf Kimber Rozier ghosted nicely through a gap for the try.
Eagle WNT Named to Face France
USA 15s WNT Coach Pete Steinberg has named his starting lineup to face France on Friday in Salt Lake City.
The lineup includes 2015-16 MA Sorensen Award-Winner Hope Rogers at tighthead prop. The recent Penn State grad will have a crucial role setting the tone in the front row. A Sorensen Award finalists, Saskia Morgan of Brown, makes her USA debut on the wing.
Swiryn's Rehab Fueled by Teammates, Atavus, and Olympic Dream
Kevin Swiryn’s comeback story was inspirational, and then tragic, and maybe could be inspirational once more.
Intense Start to HSAA Ontario Tour
Game day looms for the USA High School All American team as they prepare for tomorrow's clash with the Ontario Junior Blues u19 team.
The HSAA players met up on Monday morning in Buffalo and took a team bus to Appleby College in Oakville, Ont. that day. Some players had traveled ahead and met the team there. The team stretched their legs with their first on-field training session late Monday afternoon, and then met for some meetings and team-building. There's not much time to get everyone on the same page, especially as Ontario has been together for somewhat longer. So there's a lot squeezed into every session. Tuesday featured two intense sessions on the field, working on individual position responsibilities and folding those into the team plan. More meetings in the evening, and then today has been more of the same. Those will be the two most intense days of the assembly.
Eagle Women to Power Up in Super Series
Friday the USA Women’s National 15s Team jumps back in the fray with the Super Series kicking off in Salt Lake City.
The Series actually starts with Canada facing off against England at 3pm at the Regional Athletic Complex. Then at 5pm the Eagles take on France. The round-robin series continues July 5 and July 9.
For Head Coach Pete Steinberg, this is a crucial next step in the molding of a team into what he wants to see. Everyone talks about the Eagles not quite being at the elite level expected of them, Steinberg told Goff Rugby Report. But, he added, last year he ran out 13 new caps and that team beat Canada.
Some of those players haven’t returned - including some who performed well. But others are back and, said Steinberg, “all of our players from last year are better this year. So that means we have better depth.”
