Ten days off from blogging and the rugby world in Texas seems to turn upside down. So let's recap some items of interest:
RugbyTexas
St Thomas was defeated, finally and narrowly, by Westlake (47-38) AND Lake Travis (19-14). It's heart-warming to know that the quality of HS rugby in Texas is on the rise. We want to see some more of these competitive matches at the HS level next year. Kudos to Westlake and Lake Travis for playing with such heart and skill!
Congratulations to St Thomas flyhalf Keegan Mills on accepting an invitation to play rugby on partial scholarship at Lindenwood University. Good luck, sir!
Southwest Women's Collegiate Rugby Conference (SWWC)
Texas A&M defeated Cal 39-37 in the USA Rugby Division 1 Women's Collegiate Regional Round of 16. This match saw nine lead changes. Coach Nick James ('11) beamed with pride at a huge team effort. Kudos to Aggie outside center, Bonnie Richardson, for crossing the whitewash six times in this match.
Stanford coach Matt Sherman knew that Richardson had to be stopped the next day when the Cardinal faced the Aggies in the quarterfinal match. The Stanford defense starved Richardson of the ball and held her to a hat-trick. But that wasn't enough. Stanford won 60-22. Kudos to the all the Aggies in this game for living up to the mantra that Aggies everywhere are known for: "I've seen 'em win, I've seen 'em lose, but I've never seen 'em quit!"
Sherman was quoted later about Richardson: "She’s a tremendous player – I have to imagine the best player in collegiate rugby. I guess that’s not fair since I haven’t seen everyone, but she’s electric, a complete player in all aspects."
Three Aggie women have been invited to All American Camp: Richardson, prop Marki Hoyne, and #8 Chelsea Mo Blakely. Hoyne is an absolute beast in the scrum and at the breakdowns, which is what one would expect of a prop that attended a U20s camp. But she loves running with ball in hand and trucking the defenders like she's Jamie Burke! Blakely is not yet your typical #8 as she's more comfortable on defense and hammering the breakdowns than she is carrying the ball.
Finally, the Lone Star State has new women's collegiate rugby teams for the 2013-2014 season. Rice is back! UT-Dallas, UT-San Antonio, and Lamar University all have women's team forming up and recruiting new members!
Texas Collegiate Rugby
Texas A&M wins the ARC in a decisive fashion. Yes, Texas gave the Aggies hell in a championship first half that ended 10-5. Yes, Texas had six starters benched due to injury or otherwise. But the 'Horns played a development squad in the SWC and should have had the depth to deal with this. They did not and the 'Horns could not apply the brakes to an Aggie train that converted five unanswered tries in the second half. A&M won the Inaugural ARC Championship to the tune of 45-5.
Texas A&M declines the opportunity to play a challenge match versus Life U. (MidSouth #2) in Marietta, GA. It costs a lot of money to make playoff matches. A team in an Athletic Dept can budget for these things ahead of time and not have much trouble. Club Sports do not always have this luxury.
Texas drops out of the ARC. There are a lot of different reasons that this occurred, but they all add up to Texas not feeling like they were a good fit in the ARC. The 'Horns still have one-year left on their three-year commitment to the SWC. A few days later, UT dropped announced some other BIG news...
Texas accepts an invitation to join the Varsity Cup's expansion plans in 2014. Apparently several clubs inquired about the open spot when Utah had to withdraw from the Varsity Cup. Central Washington got the immediate nod due to readiness and locale. However, the Varsity Cup always possessed plans to expand and the Longhorns are the first expansion team.
Rice accepts an At Large Invitation to play in the USAR Men's Collegiate D1-AA Playoffs. It was not a sure thing to begin with due to USAR's problems organizing this competition. And their venue was moved from the planned Austin, TX (which got moved to Tuscon, AZ due to logistical concerns) to Madison, WI. However, Rice played a great season and deserve to be there. Good luck against Bowling Green!
Finally, TCU has announced a new head coach, TeShay Flowers. This season's coach Ben Cole becomes TCU's Director of Rugby.
St Thomas was defeated, finally and narrowly, by Westlake (47-38) AND Lake Travis (19-14). It's heart-warming to know that the quality of HS rugby in Texas is on the rise. We want to see some more of these competitive matches at the HS level next year. Kudos to Westlake and Lake Travis for playing with such heart and skill!
Congratulations to St Thomas flyhalf Keegan Mills on accepting an invitation to play rugby on partial scholarship at Lindenwood University. Good luck, sir!
Texas A&M defeated Cal 39-37 in the USA Rugby Division 1 Women's Collegiate Regional Round of 16. This match saw nine lead changes. Coach Nick James ('11) beamed with pride at a huge team effort. Kudos to Aggie outside center, Bonnie Richardson, for crossing the whitewash six times in this match.
Stanford coach Matt Sherman knew that Richardson had to be stopped the next day when the Cardinal faced the Aggies in the quarterfinal match. The Stanford defense starved Richardson of the ball and held her to a hat-trick. But that wasn't enough. Stanford won 60-22. Kudos to the all the Aggies in this game for living up to the mantra that Aggies everywhere are known for: "I've seen 'em win, I've seen 'em lose, but I've never seen 'em quit!"
 |
| Aggie Prop Marki Hoyne trucking downfield against Cal. A&M won 39-37. Notice the scoreboard? |
Sherman was quoted later about Richardson: "She’s a tremendous player – I have to imagine the best player in collegiate rugby. I guess that’s not fair since I haven’t seen everyone, but she’s electric, a complete player in all aspects."
 |
| Aggie Outside Center Bonnie Richardson with the AYRU Ball Runners at USAR Women's College Regional Round of 16. |
Three Aggie women have been invited to All American Camp: Richardson, prop Marki Hoyne, and #8 Chelsea Mo Blakely. Hoyne is an absolute beast in the scrum and at the breakdowns, which is what one would expect of a prop that attended a U20s camp. But she loves running with ball in hand and trucking the defenders like she's Jamie Burke! Blakely is not yet your typical #8 as she's more comfortable on defense and hammering the breakdowns than she is carrying the ball.
Finally, the Lone Star State has new women's collegiate rugby teams for the 2013-2014 season. Rice is back! UT-Dallas, UT-San Antonio, and Lamar University all have women's team forming up and recruiting new members!
Texas Collegiate Rugby
Texas A&M wins the ARC in a decisive fashion. Yes, Texas gave the Aggies hell in a championship first half that ended 10-5. Yes, Texas had six starters benched due to injury or otherwise. But the 'Horns played a development squad in the SWC and should have had the depth to deal with this. They did not and the 'Horns could not apply the brakes to an Aggie train that converted five unanswered tries in the second half. A&M won the Inaugural ARC Championship to the tune of 45-5.
Texas A&M declines the opportunity to play a challenge match versus Life U. (MidSouth #2) in Marietta, GA. It costs a lot of money to make playoff matches. A team in an Athletic Dept can budget for these things ahead of time and not have much trouble. Club Sports do not always have this luxury.
Texas drops out of the ARC. There are a lot of different reasons that this occurred, but they all add up to Texas not feeling like they were a good fit in the ARC. The 'Horns still have one-year left on their three-year commitment to the SWC. A few days later, UT dropped announced some other BIG news...
Texas accepts an invitation to join the Varsity Cup's expansion plans in 2014. Apparently several clubs inquired about the open spot when Utah had to withdraw from the Varsity Cup. Central Washington got the immediate nod due to readiness and locale. However, the Varsity Cup always possessed plans to expand and the Longhorns are the first expansion team.
Rice accepts an At Large Invitation to play in the USAR Men's Collegiate D1-AA Playoffs. It was not a sure thing to begin with due to USAR's problems organizing this competition. And their venue was moved from the planned Austin, TX (which got moved to Tuscon, AZ due to logistical concerns) to Madison, WI. However, Rice played a great season and deserve to be there. Good luck against Bowling Green!
Finally, TCU has announced a new head coach, TeShay Flowers. This season's coach Ben Cole becomes TCU's Director of Rugby.