What the Friendship Cup Told Us
What the Friendship Cup Told Us

So what did we learn at the Friendship Cup?
First, a caveat—we at GRR don't look down on rugby teams just trying to get a team on the field, a team that might be losing a lot of games. We see you, we respect you, we always honor the fact that you wish to take the field. So when we talk about high-level teams, it's not because we don't celebrate all rugby teams, it's just that high-level teams have needs, too. No one wants to lose 110-0, but no one wants to win by that score, either.
With that in mind ...
1. Target great teams and make it possible for great teams to play, and they will come. The fact that there were only seven teams in this event was a good thing (other than seven is a terrible number for a tournament). Keep the tournament tight and ensure the games will be competitive.
2. Everyone was astonished at Cavemen. And, yes, GRR was slow to show them rankings love too. But with the teams involved, the Utah team was a big surprise.
3. These were shortened games, and an opportunity for some teams to put everyone on the field. So while this gives you an idea of which teams are strong, it's not definitive. Take the results with a grain of salt.
4. Speed of play was a big part of success for these teams. This is a function, we think, of teams that have to play on football fields. More and more teams are able to play on turf fields that are lines for multiple sports, and thus are wider than football fields. But there are still too many games that have to be played on narrow fields. When you then play on a fully-wide field, you might realize you rely too much on power (which is important, of course) and not enough on how to exploit space on the edge. This is a long way toward saying the Cardinals, Cavemen, and Tigers have guys who can run and guys who can pass quickly and accurately to get those guys the ball.
5. These standings are somewhat misleading in that The Woodlands is probably stronger than their record shows when fully healthy. They brought a quite young squad to the tournament because they had injuries. But this is the other side of the coin when talking about top teams challenging themselves—be willing to lose. In fact, seek out losses. Yes we at GRR rank according to wins and losses, but not always. Teams that lose close games against tough opponents get plenty of respect in the rankings, and (shout-out to teams that communicate with us) if we know that you're dealing with injuries or testing younger players, when you do start winning games, we can have a reason and not just sit here confused like we usually do.
Witness The Woodlands: “We knew this would be a tough weekend,” Head Coach, Werner Max said. “With so many young guys stepping up and injuries to contend with, we saw what we’re capable of—but also where we need to tighten up.”
(With seven teams in the tournament not everyone got four games. Greer S. Carolina and Charlotte Tigers volunteered to have three and that was nice of them since there was a late pullout. However, that doesn't effect the standings too much)
Friendship Cup | W | L | T | PF | PA | PA |
Cavemen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 104 | 48 | 56 |
Charlotte Cardinals | 3 | 0 | 1 | 93 | 48 | 45 |
Charlotte Tigers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 74 | 56 | 18 |
Raptor Rugby | 2 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 70 | -30 |
Woodlands | 1 | 3 | 0 | 66 | 73 | -7 |
Greer (SCB) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 53 | -18 |
Pendleton | 0 | 4 | 0 | 39 | 62 | -23 |