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Some quick thoughts on the Commonwealth Games Sevens tournament thus far:

 

Kenya 12, Samoa 10 – This is a great upset for the plucky Kenyans, squeaking by the current Sevens World Series champions.  This is what I love about sevens rugby, it’s the old “any given sunday” adage – that while one team looks better on paper, the game is still played on the pitch!  Especially in sevens, where most nations can put together 12 athletes and give them time to practice and really gel together (Pay attention to this USA Rugby, the Olympics are in two years – get these guys together and training NOW) Congratulations to Kenya, you’re moving out of the realm of “rugby minnows” in the world of Sevens!

 

However, the biggest winner of this game might actually be the Australians…

 

England 21, Australia 19 – Instead of facing off with Kenya, expected to have lost to Samoa and come in second in their pool, England find themselves meeting Samoa in the quarterfinals.  And Samoa might have something to say about their upset loss to Kenya.  Australia is still a much, much stronger team than Kenya, expect the Aussies to win big over the Kenyans.

 

New Zealand 46, Scotland 0 – Zero?  Really? Scotland wasn’t able to put any points on the board as they faced the All Blacks?  I expected New Zealand to win, but at least expected more of a show from the Scots.  The Kiwis are a shoe-in for the semis, if not winning the whole enchilada for their fourth Commonwealth Games gold in a row.  This will be a good warm-up for the Sevens World Series.

 

South Africa 21, Wales 5 – Even the Welshmen were able to put a try on the board in their match, although it was against the Springboks, who are still about a half-a-class below the likes of New Zealand in the sevens game.  Look for South Africa to edge past Scotland in tomorrow’s game, while New Zealand-Wales will probably be more like their match with Scotland, probably a 20-point win.

 

And as usual, there were a lot of great and entertaining matches among the rugby minnows, which I’ll touch on later.  Tune in tomorrow for more Commonwealth Games musings and bitching from yours truly!

Earlier today, the selection team for the USA Rugby Men’s team found out that there is still a large gulf separating team USA from the more powerful forces in the Rugby Universe, as the USA Select XV (a team not quite made up of the best U.S. players, but the best players available who still reside in the U.S.) fell to the eighth-ranked Jaguars of Argentina 45-10 in the second round of matches in the Americas Rugby Championship in Cordoba, Argentina.

 

The Select XVs, riding high after beating the Tonga “A” squad (again, made up of up-and-coming players) 20-15, were on the ropes through much of the first half, as the home squad racked up 30 points by halftime.

 

The second half saw a match that was more equal, as the Select XVs held Argentina to 15 points, while U.S. hooker Chris Biller and lock Samu Manoa, both heralding from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Rugby Club, each scored one try for the U.S., and reserve player Nese Malifa made it onto the field, replacing starting fly-half Volney Rouse, and converted Manoa’s try in the final play of the match

 

The Select XVs will spend the rest of the week in Argentina resting up, studying and preparing for their final match of the Americas Rugby Championship, against our neighbor to the north, Canada, on Friday. 

Last month we talked about the potential of New Zealand turning into the NFL’s Buffalo Bills of the ‘90s when it comes to Rugby World Cup championships. Is it possible?  Yeah, and more than likely should the All Blacks fall short of winning the 2011 RWC when they have home nation advantage.

 

Now I’d like to turn my sights to another top team in the Rugby Universe, the South African Springboks.  Having won the RWC twice, including the most recently in 2007, they stride through the Rugby Universe as though they are a heavyweight boxer incapable of being defeated, with some secret knockout punch waiting to be unleashed.

 

But a question remains about the Springboks, especially given their …  aggressive and unorthodox (some would call it cheap shot) style of play.  Does, underneath that exterior swagger, beat the heart that many sports fans are familiar with, a combination of Mike Tyson (in his later, ear biting days) and too many low-swinging boxers to be named right now. 

 

If you were watching the Tri Nations earlier this summer, where Springbok Bakkies Botha essentially mounted the All Blacks’ Jimmy Cowan and head-butted him in game one of the series, earning a 9-week ban, then you might think that it does.

 

I think part of it hearkens back to pre-1995 days, when the Springboks were still banned from international play, due to the international boycott of South Africa due to apartheid. Feeling that they were being unfairly treated by the actions of their government, the Springboks returned to international rugby in 1992 with a chip on their shoulder.  The team, already known for trying to intimidate their opponents physically, appeared to ramp up the voltage a little bit and ever since have tried to aggressively impose their will  on the pitch.  And it’s worked for the most part, the evidence is in the results – ranked third in the most recent world rankings, two World Cup wins, still one of the most dominant teams in the world…

 

So, why bring this up?

 

Because the Springboks ARE two-time Rugby World Cup champions, dominant and highly ranked.  They are that Mike Tyson-esque team, the one who you know is good enough to become champions without cheating, but tries to throw a low blow when the ref isn’t looking.  It’s infuriating.  At first I thought “well, they are just playing hard-nosed rugby, giving as good as they received.”  And it’s not as if other nations out there are innocent, but the Springboks take it further than they have to, relishing their desire to take out those pre-1995 boycott days on whoever they play. 

 

It’s also because I wonder if they truly relish being the bullying, swaggering, black-hat wearing team of the Rugby Universe.  And because I know what happens to bullies once people start standing up to them.

Check out this story from CBS news looking at the inner city charter school, Hyde Leadership Charter School in Washington, D.C. and how they became the first all-African-American high school rugby team, and how they helped another school, the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, start their own rugby team.  It’s an incredibly inspirational story, and if you work with kids, it’s a must watch.

– Benson

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ruj1d3PqcEI?fs=1&hl=en_US

An awesome “What is Rugby” video from EA Sports’ Rugby 2005, for my rugby-challenged peeps out there!

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/IEQyCcageGg?fs=1&hl=en_US

Some of my peeps ask me what the biggest difference is between rugby and american football.  It’s not the difference in the players, or the ball, or how many players are on the field, or how many pads the players are wearing.

 

In my mind, it’s about where the ball is on the field instead of who has the ball.

 

It’s that rugby is a game based on territory, while American Football is based around possession of the ball.  Rugby is such a fluid game, not stopping as much as American Football, that the location of the ball is much more important than who has it at the moment.  Whoever has the ball can change at a moment’s notice, and where the ball is becomes much more important. 

 

While American Football is focused more on who has the ball.  Given that American Football is much more structured – with a certain number of downs and distance before either turning the ball over or earning more possession of the ball, and plays developed to maximize possession and minimize risk of gaining territory.   Even when teams throw the ball deep, if the ball is turned over there can be a long time before they get the ball back, again focusing on possession instead of where the ball is.

 

As a result you get a game that requires more tactical movement of the ball, and less of a strategic philosophy than you see with rugby.  In rugby, you can’t plan out each play throughout the game, play-by-play, because the game is too chaotic and dynamic that, more often than not, you have to develop basic plays and apply them on the fly, depending on the situation and the location of the ball.  This is why set piece practice for rugby teams is still important, because at a moment’s notice you can suddenly have possession of the ball right next to the end zone.

 

I’m not here to either bury or praise rugby, or American Football. I love them both for different reasons, they are both exciting once you know the basics.  If you haven’t seen a rugby game yet, you should sit down with a friend, or at the local Celtic pub, and watch a game, asking questions as you go (or, ya know, you can leave comments here to be answered too. 😉 )

 

Many years ago I wrote an online column asking if USA Rugby was trying to destroy what was called “Major League Rugby” at the time.  While my answer hasn’t changed too much in the decade or so since, I’m starting to wonder if high-level rugby in the United States is just doomed. 

What brought this up recently was the announcement from USA’s Rugby Super League that OMBAC, one of the most storied clubs in America and one of the Super League’s founding clubs , was dropping out of the competition next year.  OMBAC (Old Mission Beach Athletic Club, based in Cali.) decided that they needed more matches to stay competition fit for a run at the national title (my guess, I haven’t yet asked Bob Watkins of his opinion), and in order to do that they needed to stick with So Cal Division 1 rugby. 

Since OMBAC can’t compete in both competitions, they need to bail on the Super League this year and hope to return next year.  OMBAC is the third team this off-season to bail on the Rugby Super League, following on the heels of the fellow RSL founding club the Potomac Athletic Club (aka PAC, based in Washington, D.C.) and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds.

So I have to ask, is the Rugby Super League eventually doomed to failure, much as Major League Rugby was at the time many years back?  

I think they are, but for different reasons.

Back in the day, Major League Rugby appeared to have an intriguing idea – bring higher-level rugby to a city-based league.  Major cities would have one team, maybe two, and would compete against other cities instead of other clubs, even those based in the same geographic locations.

Traditionally, rugby teams would move up and down the ladder from lower to higher divisions based on their performance, through promotion and relegation.  While this works in Europe for the most part (in rugby and soccer), American sports programs have always been different. 

We like our “professional” teams to be city-based, with a consistency of who will be competing in the league from year to year.  Fans wouldn’t want the Buffalo Bills, for example, to be relegated to minor league football while some UFL team like Las Vegas was promoted to replace them.

(Although to be fair, of all of the teams in the NFL who have earned relegation back to the minors, the Bills are at the head of the class and this should be seriously considered)

And Americans have a strong devotion to college athletics, as witnessed by the massive amounts of energy and money spent on these activities every year.  Even top flight college teams like Cal have a strong enough financial base that they are considered to be a revenue source for the university. 

These are a few ideas for Rugby Super League to consider when they start revamping the RSL later this year.  If you have teams based by location, and not just by what teams are the hot teams this year, and if you allow those teams to have a recruiting base that makes sense from a regional standpoint, you might see more success from the Rugby Super League, even if this stands counter to how rugby is played “across the pond.”  

The International Rugby Board announced the Fall 2010 schedule, for the Tier 2 (or “Whipping Post” teams) earlier today.  Of course the U.S. is on this schedule, as is co-World Cup entrants Tonga, Canada, Georgia, and the like. 

Also on this schedule is a doubleheader between Romania and Uruguay, to determine who will land the final Rugby World Cup 2011 slot and earn a quick trip to New Zealand (I say quick because these guys will be ejected quickly, with possibly zero wins to their credit).

The U.S. Men’s national team has an interesting tour ahead of it in the month of November.  Starting off in Lisbon on Nov. 13 to face #22 Portugal, before jetting off to the Galashiels in the Scottish Borders to play against the Scotland “A” team (their second string team). Near the end of the month, on Nov. 27, the U.S. will finish their tour in Tbilisi, Georgia against the #17 ranked team.  

Meanwhile, our Canadian neighbors will be in Europe at nearly the same time, starting off with #26 Belgium on Nov. 6, then playing Spain, ranked #23, a week later.  This should be a fairly easy start for Canuckistan, ranked once slot above the United States at #14.  They wrap up the Maple Leaf tour on Nov. 20 in Tbilisi, Georgia and Nov. 27 on Lisbon, Portugal.

The complete schedule can be found here.

According to the International Rugby Board, the reigning Sevens Champions Samoa will be without Sevens’ most capped (made the most appearances) player, Uale Mai. Mai, an important component of Samoa’s Sevens Championship run last year, has been offered a contract with Spain’s El Salvador club team.

“It’s a big loss. We are going to miss Uale’s experience, but we cannot hold on to him,” admitted Samoa head coach Stephen Betham.

Betham has replaced the superstar with Alatasi Tupou.

Kiwi’s Face Injuries Before Commonwealth Games

The New Zealand All Blacks Sevens team coaching staff are facing questions about injuries to many of the team’s star players that were selected

Otago’s Adam Thomson injured his MCL (media collateral ligament) in Dunedin’s recent 13-8 win over Otago, New Zealand Sevens captain D.J. Forbes has been recovering from a groin injury for the last two months, and Tomasi Cama injured his cheekbone last month.

On a more positive note, playmaker Hosea Gear decided that he has healed enough from a hamstring injury to play in the Sevens tournament during the upcoming Commonwealth Games in a couple of weeks. Time will tell if Gear has recovered enough to make an impact during the tournament.

Fiji Out Of Commonwealth Games

Despite still a part of the U.K. Commonwealth (although they are currently suspended from the Commonwealth), Fiji has been banned from the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the Rugby Sevens component of the games, in India as a result of the 2006 Fijian coup.  This is a damn shame because Fiji has always been one of the most exciting sevens teams in the world, and is considered a crowd favorite at the Commonwealth Games.

While I understand the need of the “Commonwealth” to suspend Fiji for the actions taken in the coup, I do hope that the Fijians are able to work their way back into the next Commonwealth Games – Sevens rugby is much more exciting when Fiji is taking part.

Is the financial crisis in higher education threatening to shift the balance of power in the collegiate rugby ranks? The powers that be at the University of California Athletic Department are looking at how to balance the department’s budget, which is running in the to the tune of $10 million per year and rising.  Among the options they are looking at include ending some of the sports programs, including rugby.  Is that going to balance out the college rugby universe over a few years time?  Feel free to let it all hang out here!

Benson

 

http://player.vimeo.com/video/15182340

Rugby SuperShow – v. 0.1 a test run and College Rugby in America from Benson on Vimeo.