ATAVUS Outlines All-Star Plans
SEATTLE (ATAVUS Release) – ATAVUS (atavus.com) today announced the creation of the ATAVUS All-Stars, select teams of aspiring men and women brought together from across ATAVUS programming to provide competitive opportunities in rugby athlete development. Comprised of men’s and women’s teams in both 15s and 7s, the All-Stars will be selected by ATAVUS coaches who identify players with high performance abilities and potential at the ATAVUS Academy, the USA Rugby Academy, and on “Powered By ATAVUS” teams and clubs across the nation.
“The ATAVUS All-Stars are a true aspirational pathway for the players in our programs,” said Emilie Bydwell, Head of Rugby Programming at ATAVUS. “Through these teams we’ll provide unmatched competitive opportunities for athletes to play together and learn what it takes to perform under pressure.”
800 Athletes at Encinitas Youth 7sThis Saturday sees over 800 young rugby players participate in the 5th Annual Encinitas Summer 7s.
Played on five fields at the new Encinitas Community Park, the tournament features teams in U10, U12, U14, U15, U16, and U18 brackets.
Every player receives a free tournament T-shirt, as well as a meal, and fans get to sample some traditional rugby food such as meat pies and bill tong.
The list of teams is below. The tournament will be scored in real-time using ScoreStream, a sports scoring app whose company CEO, Derrick Oien, is a boardmember of the Coastal Dragons.
To stay current on scores, use this link: http://cdrugby.com/Page.asp?n=99880&org=cdrugby.com
Played on five fields at the new Encinitas Community Park, the tournament features teams in U10, U12, U14, U15, U16, and U18 brackets.
Every player receives a free tournament T-shirt, as well as a meal, and fans get to sample some traditional rugby food such as meat pies and bill tong.
The list of teams is below. The tournament will be scored in real-time using ScoreStream, a sports scoring app whose company CEO, Derrick Oien, is a boardmember of the Coastal Dragons.
To stay current on scores, use this link: http://cdrugby.com/Page.asp?n=99880&org=cdrugby.com
England Names Side vs. USA
(original post on EnglandRugby.com) England Women’s Head Coach Simon Middleton has announced his starting line-up for Saturday’s Rugby Super Series opener against the USA at Calgary Rugby Park.
Lichfield back-rower Sarah Hunter will captain a young England side that includes two potential debutants in Lark Davies and Rachael Lund, who could make their maiden international appearances debuts if called off the bench.
Amy Cockayne, Abbie Scott and Bianca Blackburn will also get the chance to get more caps under their belts after making their first Test starts in this season’s Six Nations.
Senior Club 7s Nationals to Iowa
BOULDER, Colo.(USA Rugby) – James W. Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines, Iowa, will host the 2015 USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club 7s National Championships Aug. 8-9.
The domestic championship event for the Olympic version of Rugby Sevens has previously been held at Founder’s Field in Pittsburgh and, most recently, Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. The natural grass fields at James W. Cownie Soccer Complex will be turned into a rugby haven for 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams seeking hardware.
With the backing of Des Moines Area Sports Commission and the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Des Moines Rugby Foundation’s thorough bid to host Club 7s was superior to that of other bids submitted to USA Rugby.
NACRA 7s Complete Coverage - Koka Field, Day 2
Footage from the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association 7s Championships, both men and women.
This tournament was held in Cary, NC and was the qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games.
NACRA 7s Complete Coverage - Main Field, Day 2
Footage from the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association 7s Championships, both men and women.
This tournament was held in Cary, NC and was the qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games.
:
NACRA 7s Complete Coverage - Koka Field, Day 1
Footage from the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association 7s Championships, both men and women.
This tournament was held in Cary, NC and was the qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games.
NACRA 7s Complete Coverage - Main Field, Day 1
Footage from the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association 7s Championships, both men and women.
This tournament was held in Cary, NC and was the qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games.
:
Overseas - The Movers
It's the off-season in pro rugby in Europe, and so it's time for player movement.
Here's a quick rundown of where players are, or where they're moving to.
Cameron Dolan and Blaine Scully have signed with Cardiff in the Guinness Pro 12. Both are well-regarded players at Northampton and Leicester, respectively, but were struggling to get game time. Former USA MNT assistant coach Billy Millard is at Cardiff, and he knows those two players.
Samu Manoa signed some time ago with Toulon in France, and will suit up for them at the end of the Rugby World Cup.
Thretton Palamo has signed with London Welsh after helping the Saracens A team to an A-league championship. Welsh finished last in the Aviva Premiership and have been relegated back to The Rugby Premiership. Saracens released Palamo to London Welsh to help the center get more playing time.
Video - NACRA 7s Day 2 in the Stadium
Action from Day 2 of the 2015 NACRA 7s.
Here is the schedule of games. If you want to know the results, click here.
Please note that there are significant gaps in the action - the breaks are videotaped so you may have to skip ahead. We have tried to give you a video time-stamp of each game start.
9:00am USA v Jamaica MEN Pool A - Starts 1:25
9:22am Canada v Cayman Islands MEN Pool B - Starts 22:55
9:44am USA v Bahamas WOMEN QF - Starts 45:00
10:06am Cayman Islands v Trinidad & Tobago WOMEN QF - Starts 1:07:10
11:45am USA v Cayman Islands MEN SF - Starts 2:46:27
Relief, Opportunity with Olympic Rings
What qualification to the 2016 Olympics means American rugby is hard to overstate - it means, well not everything, but close.
First of all, all of USA Rugby’s plans for the two 7s teams were all through 6:20pm ET on June 14. They had no plans after that, because everything, funding most of all, hinged on the Eagles booking a spot in Rio.
This was less of a worry for the women’s team, of course, as with Canada already qualified the Eagles had a fairly comfortable run through - they went 6-0 with an average score of 61.5 to 0.8. But it was certainly a concern for the men’s team, as they had to battle through Canada to win the NACRA Championship.
USA, Mexico Favorites for NACRA Final
That berth to the 2016 Olympic Games is still a hope for all eight women’s teams competing at the NACRA 7s qualifier, but the USA and Mexico have emerged as the favorites for the final. Tomorrow begins the Cup quarterfinals, with the championship contested at 5:04 p.m. ET.
The USA was the class of the tournament, going 3-0 through pool play and outscoring opponents 169-0. Scrumhalf Alex Kelter led all point scorers with 31 (1 try, 13 conversions), while three teammates – Lauren Doyle, Kelly Griffin, Kristen Thomas – ended the day with five tries apiece. All told, 10 Americans scored on the day, including newcomers Carmen Farmer and Richelle Stephens, who bookend the Eagles’ age spectrum.
NACRA 7s Men's Bracket Latest
So here’s the latest from the NACRA 7s Men’s competition.
With a State Department technical “glitch” making it impossible for the St. Vincent & the Grenadines team to get visas, that team had to bow out at the last minute. The result of this was that Pool A only has four teams. Since the tournament won’t have any playoffs - the top teams from each pool face off for the final, with 2nds playing each other for third, and so on - this won’t affect seeding.
But what it did affect was the number of games played by the teams in Pool A. The USA men’s team hasn’t started yet, as the Eagles only have two games to play on Saturday after their opener, against SV&G, is now a bye.
So on to the actual games.
Govt. Tech Trouble Affects NACRA 7s
What is being described as a technology "glitch" but could possibly be another in a series of hacking incidents affecting the United States Government has had an effect on this weekend's NACRA 7s.
The team from St. Vincent & the Grenadines was denied entry into the USA because the technical glitch at the US State Department left the government without the ability to issue entry visas. From what we at GRR have been able to gather, the St. Vincent & the Grenadines team had done all that they were supposed to do in order to be able to get to Cary, NC for the NACRA 7s. But they were sent home because of the worldwide visa shutdown.
A Good Spring for Youth Rugby
This spring has seen some important steps forward in the general acceptance of rugby, especially at the youth level.
There are little insidious things, such as the Mitsubishi commercial with the rowdy kids playing a rugby game (and one kid having his mom remind him about his mouthguard). Those tiny pop-culture references can have long-lasting effects.
