Rugby Here & There: College Rugby

While the warm weather rugby teams have been practicing for weeks, some teams haven’t even started to think about rugby yet. But there is some rugby happening across the nation and it seems to be mostly collegiate teams that are active. Check out the latest in the collegiate rugby life:

• Utah rugby can’t keep up with No. 1 Cal

  In a clash between two titans of collegiate rugby on Saturday, No. 1 ranked California-Berkeley proved to be too much for No. 6 Utah in San Francisco, winning 37-3.

  The short-handed Scrummin‘ Utes managed to hold UC Berkeley to 13 points below their season average, but the Golden Bears, who also played without a dozen of their own, still had plenty of firepower.

  UC Berkeley’s Kyle Balough, Paul Jesseman, Jason Law and Pat King each scored a try to give their club its 14th win of the season. Utah dropped to 5-2.

  Despite being handed their worst loss of the season, head coach Dave Anderson was pleased with his team’s effort, given the absences of key Utes. Utah fell behind 20-0 at halftime, but was able to keep the potent Golden Bear offense in relative check for the second half.

  Utah scored its only three points off of a penalty kick early in the second half.

  The Utes will host Weber State this Saturday for its home-opener at 1 p.m. on Fort Douglas Stillwell Field.

• U. Virginia women aim for Sweet 16 tourney

  Charlottesville, VA (UWIRE) — The women playing rugby games at Mad Bowl Saturdays at the University of Virginia are the athletes of the women’s club rugby team. They play games every Saturday in the fall and spring and are currently gearing up to play a home match against Maryland that will go a long way toward determining whether the team will make it to their league’s Sweet 16 Tournament.

  Senior scrum half Emily Shiflett said the team is confident it will achieve victory against Maryland.

  Virginia is home to one of the best women’s rugby teams in the nation. The team is a part of the Virginia Rugby Union, which is part of the larger Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union that includes 37 men’s and women’s teams. The spring season, according to Virginia coach Nancy Kechner, is the national season. There are seven regions in the entire country, and since MARFU is the most competitive league, it sends four teams to the Sweet 16 competition.

  If Virginia, currently ranked third in the nation, makes it to the Sweet 16 competition this year, it will be the Cavaliers’ ninth appearance. Read the rest of the article here.

• Stanford Rugby, Women’s Team Loses

  The women’s rugby team also played Saturday, as they faced Stanford. The women’s game was much different than the men’s.

  Stanford is a perennial powerhouse in women’s rugby and is consistently ranked in the top five nationally. While Chico State defeated Stanford last year, the Cardinal would not let its rivals enjoy victory again.

  Stanford forced the Wildcats to play from behind. The Cardinal led Chico State 36-7 at halftime.

  “We weren’t playing our game, we made too many mental mistakes,” player Ashley Bocast said.

  After regrouping at halftime, the Wildcats tightened their defense and cleaned their offense. The ‘Cats made the match competitive in the second half and outscored the Cardinal 12-7.

  Jennifer Madison scored off a penalty on Chico State’s opening drive of the second half. The score gave the Wildcats momentum and created a close match.

  Flyhalf Gina Cainiello had an excellent game. Cainiello received the ‘back of the game’ award from coaches Alex and Mary Triantafyllou.

  “Gina played incredible defense, she deserved the award,” Bocast said.

  The loss evens the Wildcats’ league record at 1-1, and they hope to see their biggest rival again in the playoffs.

  “We showed our potential out there definitely,” Bocast said. “We will be looking forward to playing them again.”

• Ready to Rumble: The Women of Oxy Rugby

  The women’s rugby season started on Jan. 27 with a narrow loss against Claremont McKenna. The next match against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Feb. 3 was also lost by a small margin. However, the enthusiasm stemming from the younger, newer players is promising to overcome some of the difficulties the team has suffered with the loss of older players.

  “As of this past week, we have gained some valuable rookies and are slowly, but surely, starting to form a strong team,” player Danielle Siegler (first-year) said. “It is difficult to achieve fluidity between our forward and back line and that is exactly what we did [in our first match against Claremont McKenna].”

  Lisa Mikesell (senior) said that many talented players graduated last spring, which has had a big impact on the team as a whole. “We have a lot of new people who are excited about learning the game and are picking things up pretty well,” Mikesell said. “There’s still a core of really dedicated people, but I feel like the rest of the campus doesn’t know we have a women’s rugby team, has no idea what rugby is, or both. If they came out for a few practices and a game or two, they would see how fun it is. While at first rugby looks like a bunch of people running around and falling into piles, it’s amazing how much skill and technique is involved.” Click here for the re
  st of the article.

• For filmmaker Amanda Micheli, a crown of her own?

  Article excerpt: “I just wanted to tell stories with the camera,” says Micheli, who, oh by the way, was also an All-American women’s rugby player who later joined the U.S. women’s team. She nearly played in the Women’s Rugby World Cup until three ACL tears kept her from competing.

• Brown Women’s Rugby Needs Green to get Gold

  The women’s rugby team qualified for a shot at the national championship for the second straight year – but winning games has been only half the battle. Faced with a tight budget, the club team is struggling to raise money to fund itself for the postseason.

  The team has been trying to find a way to get enough money to attend the rugby Sweet 16 in Albuquerque, N.M., which will take place April 18 to April 20. If the squad advances after that weekend, it will have to find a way to return to the West Coast two weeks later for the sport’s Final Four.

  As a club sport, women’s rugby is organized differently from varsity sports. The team receives a yearly budget of $20,000 from the Department of Athletics, but the athletes are not recruited and the coaches volunteer their time.

  The team has had difficulty obtaining extra money to go to the USA Rugby National Guard Division I Women’s College Playoffs and Championships, said team president Kalie Gold ’08, who plays scrumhalf and wing. Click here for the rest of the article.

• West LAU U-23 Tournament in Kansas City, KS Mar 1-2, 2008

  Saturday March 1st
  9:00am Heart of America vs. Texas Rugby Union
  11:00am Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union vs. Mid West
  1:00pm Heart of America vs. Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union

  Sunday March 2nd
  10:00am Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union vs. Texas Rugby Union
  12:00pm Heart of America vs. Mid West