2011 College Rugby Championship (NBC/Universal Sports)

Thanks for the update. Looks like you were right about Utah....they just aren't the same team without Palamo! Good luck to him in his football career, but I do hope he comes back to rugby.

Still think this is Cals to lose.

 

What the F*&%! The lack of funds, allowing us time together playing meaningful competiton is really starting to show!

 

I defo agree with saving our best players for a test match. EOS is experimenting with players and giving them a chance etc. However at this late stage in the game we shouldn't be having to do this. We should have a top 22 or 30 selected and using our limited internationals to gel as a team before the RWC. A lot of the problem is that EOS only came in about 18 months ago. If he had been around for 4 years IMHO we would have a solid 22 selected by now. Over the summer Nigel Melville needs to select a coach for the next 4 years so we have some stability and can build a squad by 2015. This is also true for all our age grade teams as well.

Your right it is embarassing to lose by that much to England. I just hope that Universal doesn't decide to pull the plug on the CC. Having said that it is the last year the comp will take place anyway.

The CRC should be the focus this weekend, but until rugby has an integrated global season there is going to be a lot of rugby game/tournaments overlapping.

 

What does the attendance look like?

 

http://www.rugbymag.com/index.php?o...hillys-crc&catid=45:usa-sevens-men&Itemid=202


NBC's Miller Pumped for Philly's CRC

As PPL Park begins to fill with spectators, it's not just the players who are eager to make the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship a success. A few short years ago, Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and VERSUS, had little knowledge of rugby, other than it was popular outside of the USA. Now, in 2011, Miller and the USA Sevens have thrown their full weight behind an event with a well of potential.


Temple fans decked out in team gear (Marvin Dangerfield)

In wasn't until 2008 that Miller's interest for rugby 7s first piqued. While attending an international golf conference in Beijing, Miller learned that rugby 7s was also submitting a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

"I was intrigued and began quietly investigating the sport when I came back to New York," Miller said. "I knew rugby was big internationally but didn't really have a footprint in the USA." Miller familiarized himself with rugby, touching base with USA 7s LLC and learning about its annual event in Las Vegas.

In October 2009, when rugby 7s was accepted into the Olympics, "we went into hyperspeed," Miller said. His team met with USA Rugby, the IRB and USA 7s, and looked for a way to get involved.

"We wanted to develop an event from scratch," Miller said "If we were going to own an event, we wanted to be involved at the foundation stage. We have great promotional platforms and a good track record for creating new events - like hockey's Winter Classic, [extreme sports'] Dew Tour, and various golf tournaments."

Miller initially wanted to host the event in Philadelphia, but PPL Park wasn't ready in time for a June unveiling, so the tournament migrated to Columbus, Ohio.

"It was like trying out a new show out of town, and we worked out the kinks," Miller said. "It was a good event, and there was quality competition, but we needed a market that understood international sports, and that's why we're in Philadelphia this year."

One of the most important lessons that Miller and the USA 7s group learned from the Columbus event was that every aspect of the local community - from the print media, to sports affiliates, to local government and social media platforms - needed to be engaged in order to adequetly promote the event.

"It takes a long time to build these kinds of events, but if you believe in the sport and the entity, you can withstand the tough times," Miller said.

NBC Sports is pulling its weight as well, airing 14 hours of live coverage, which is a record for the sport in the USA. Today, Universal Sports is airing the footage from 12 p.m.-2 p.m., then VERSUS picks up the feed from 2-4, followed by NBC Sports from 4-6 p.m., and then back against to VERSUS at 6 p.m. On Sunday, Universal Sports will air live footage from noon-6 p.m.

And those who travel to PPL Park will be equally treated, having access to an even bigger festival with all kinds of activities on the grounds, international beers and food trucks and music groups (including tonight's performance from the Dropkick Murphys).

"I believe the future hold a continued growth in popularity, and I would like to see Philadelphia become the permanent home of the CRC 7s, like the Indy sports races or Omaha's college world series," Miller said. Down the road, Miller believes this Philadelphia event will be a good bargaining chip should the IRB consider the USA as a Rugby World Cup site.

"I love it," Miller said. "When I watch it on TV, I talk to people when I see them playing. I didn't play rugby as a kid, but I didn't play hockey as a kid, and I know love it."

Miller's hoping that his transformation to rugby fan will be equally felt across the country as the CRC continues to grow and infiltrates more homes on TV.

 

International rugby is different from Club. At test level it takes a good 3 to 4 years to build a squad to be competitve in the RWC. Look at South Africa in the last world cup....it took Jake White a good three years to put that team together before they started producing results.

First, we are both on the same side and want to see American rugby grow and become the best in the world. I see your pov and I agree with most things you say. College Rugby is the best thing we have at the moment and we should invest more time and money in it. I know that people are pissed because some of there CIPP is going to the Eagles and not back into College Rugby. However, the RWC is one of the biggest events in the world and the US does need a national team in both 15s and 7s playing on a regular basis, they just need to pay their own way instead of using CIPP dues.

I never much cared for the CC. We need a proper tournament or series with a country that we can be competitve with and have something to play for. Like a series with Canada for the North American Cup etc.

 

Darmouth is a great program with a lot of history. Will Cal ever get the elusive Double? Only time will tell.


Do you see this developing into a national college 7s series or just an annual invitational in June?

 

http://www.rugbyamerica.org/2011/06/06/crc-7s-the-proof-is-in-the-pudding/


CRC 7′s: The Proof Is In The Pudding

June 6, 2011

by Ted Hardy

Normally, the inter-web would be ablaze regarding the drubbing that the USA Eagles got this weekend from the England Saxons. However, with the 2011 Collegiate Rugby Championship going off this past weekend, most didn’t give the result more than passing interest.

I’ve said it many times before, aside from a small number of American rugby fans… not many else care about international results. What they care about it right here… right now… and in this case it was the CRC held in Philadelphia at PPL Park.

In that regard we are very, very different from the majority of rugby playing nations which is to the chagrin of some and a relief to many others. To many (such as someone in England), the idea would be preposterous that a collegiate 7′s tournament receives first billing on national television while our National side, the Eagles, garnered no more than a streaming web broadcast.

Once you get to know our setup, you’ll realize why the promotion of youth, high school, and collegiate rugby is what is best for American rugby. Only through those avenues will our representative teams ever amount to anything.

I’m getting off-topic though… I could go on and on about the issues that plague our national teams, but this is about the CRC.

PPL Park wasn’t packed, but it was a heck of alot better than the 2000 fans that showed up to Columbus last year. From the look of the crowd on Saturday, it was probably in the area of 10,000. As expected, Sunday’s numbers fell off to probably 5000 (or less). So, a total of 15,000 over the course of the weekend isn’t not bad at all for a second year tournament. Not bad at all. Remember just a couple years ago the USA 7′s tournament in San Diego was lucky to crack 15,000 for a weekend.

On the field, I was continually impressed with how far the level of play has come. The difference between this season and last season is night and day. It is evident that 7′s has transitioned from a summertime fun game to a serious pursuit at the collegiate level. The patterns that teams were using and how well they held structure showed how hard they had worked to prepare for the tournament.

Kudos to all of the teams involved.

It is only going to get better too. If this is how far teams have come in just one year, just imagine what will happen when there is a structured collegiate 7′s competition in place to go along with tournaments such as the CRC.

How about the tournament too? No offense to Cal, but how refreshing is it to see a championship played without them? That is the power of 7′s at work. In the 15′s world it is literally bordering on impossible for Cal or BYU not to play for the collegiate title. Their depth and strength makes them too strong over the course of an 80 minute game. Sevens is the great equalizer and it legitimately gives most teams a fighting chance regardless of the odds.

Reason #742 why I love sevens.

Not only was Cal not in the final, they weren’t even in the semifinals and last year’s champ, Utah, was also absent from the finals. Tournaments are so much more fun to follow when you don’t know the outcome ahead of time. I think the CRC was a perfect example of that. Teams all across American have no chance of matching the likes of Cal or Utah in 15′s, but in 7′s they have a shot if they work hard, get crazy fit, and have a good game plan.

The important thing is that it is achievable. This will be even more evident in coming years as lesser-known rugby teams shift more focus to recruiting and training specifically for 7′s and upend some of the big names. Competitive balance is what will drive 7′s to the forefront.

Saturday’s steamroller, Arizona, also fell in the quarterfinals much to the surprise of everyone following the tournament.

The teams in the tournament also came prepared. Despite naysayers taking shots at some of the selections, many of those same teams performed quite well. Texas reached the quarterfinals, LSU won the Challenger division, and North Carolina also showed pretty well. Of all of the teams in the tournament, only Boston College seemedcompletely over matched. Even with that, they played to a pattern, but just lacked the team speed to really challenge.

The only play-in squad, Central Washington, also did themselves proud by reaching the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Dartmouth. I will be surprised if there isn’t two qualifying tournaments next year. Ideally, I’d like to see four qualifier tournaments each yielding one team and then twelve invitational teams.

Let’s not forget about the women’s bracket either. A field of eight women’s teams also competed at the CRC with Army taking home the title. The women’s component is an absolute necessity for rugby to continue to grow and I am very happy that the CRC added them. Rugby is really the only sport where men and women can play on the same type of field and using the same set of laws. This is an avenue to use to our advantage and I hope the women’s tournament gets more coverage in the future.

This is also a hint to the multitude of conference 7′s tournaments that are organizing… get the women involved.

Broadcast wise, I was really happy to see Brian Hightower come on for color commentary. We desperately needed a voice such as his… he’s young (for a broadcaster) and has the on the field experience and knowledge to share with fans. It was nice to hear legitimate insight as opposed to the constant comparisons to football.

We’re still a long way from filling up stadiums, but the CRC is certainly on the right track. The tournament has already been renewed for 2012 at PPL Park, so that is a big step towards building for the future. The 2011 Collegiate Rugby Championship delivered in many ways this past weekend and has set the bar very high for rugby in America.

A bar that I suspect will be raised again next season.

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5 Responses to "CRC 7′s: The Proof Is In The Pudding"

Reply College coach June 6, 2011 08:49 am
Ted
From someone who is English (and an American citizen) you have it spot on. College rugby in England is for the students and cannot be compared to the college game here. I live a mile away from a college football stadium that has the same capacity as Twickenham – enough said?

Excellent article

Reply benito June 6, 2011 09:51 am
I was at PPL Park on Saturday and watched about 6 matches in the afternoon. Great venue! and Philly really is a good location. Not too far from DC/NJ/NYC and able to draw fans from all over. It will be improved also when the finish the new exit ramp/on ramp that directly connects the stadium to the highway.

That venue should only get better, too. The MLS team is apparently doing well. But one thing is for sure, USA Rugby and USA Rugby Sevens need to work out a deal to try to get this and the National Championships on different weekends. I think they only hurt each other. USA Rugby probably needs to swallow it’s pride and work around the CRC. Again it may seem backwards, but this event is more important. It’s on NBC and it gets coverage which will help grow the sport.

Great event!

Reply benito June 6, 2011 10:00 am
Oh and 87-8 is so bad that I just don’t even want to talk about it… Ouch. I mean it’s a score like that that makes me wonder how we even qualified for the RWC.

Reply College coach June 6, 2011 11:57 am
Benito
You are so right – its embarrassing…

On the England Rugby FB page, some of the comments are damning. England fans referring to the US team as a ‘pub side’…

Reply No Thanks June 6, 2011 13:03 pm
The women’s college game needs to progress a long way both on and off the field before these other tournaments should consider watering down their product by including them. Not a popular opinion with those who support women’s rugby, but the fact is that even the female fans at the CRC this weekend had little interest in watching the women’s games. In fact, the ones I was with took out books to read while the women were playing.
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http://www.rugbymag.com/index.php?o...tournament-&catid=96:goff-on-rugby&Itemid=292


There was a College 7s Tournament ...



A few thoughts on the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championships.

Chester, Pa. isn’t exactly the Riviera, but the town did the job. PPL Park is a wonderful facility and a beautiful stadium, with comfortable seats and a nice roof for the fans so they don’t bake or soak. The stadium is right on the Delaware River under the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge, which provides a lovely setting.

The City of Philadelphia and the local media welcomed the tournament with open arms. The hotel staff were nice, there was a banner welcoming players, the event had billboards around the city, and the local TV stations and newspapers previewed the tournament repeatedly, and reported on it after the fact.

As I checked in to my hotel the lady at the desk said that all the rugby players were “nice boys, very well behaved.” This is a contrast to, say San Diego when they hosted the USA 7s, when every person checking in was handed a sternly-worded note warning guests (specifically, rugby guests) not to trash the rooms.

Ben Gollings, England 7s star, was there and could be found in the fan festival working with kids and helping them play some skills games.

Dropkick Murphys not only provided a high-energy concert that the fans loved, but they started dead on time.

10,000 fans on Saturday and 7,500 on Sunday flocked to the stadium to watch college 7s. It was an enormous hit, especially compared with the attendance in 2010, which was much lower. Not since the days when some colleges played rugby instead of football in the early part of the 20th Century, has a non-international match on US soil drawn so many people. And this year, it happened twice, with the Cal v. BYU College Premier Final and the June 4 crowd at the CRC both just getting over 10,000.

USA women's 7s coach Ric Suggitt said the CRC was more impressive in size and facilities than the tournament he played in during the early years of the IRB World Series.

The play was better. The quality of 7s play compared with the 2010 tournament was much improved. Most of the teams were better, and almost everyone was playing 7s. Once again, the team that won, and the team that won the Challenger Bracket, was the team that most embraced playing 7s.

Arizona played 56 minutes of rugby and gave up exactly one try. Yet, because they were shut out in that one game, in the quarterfinals, their weekend ended early.

Central Washington finished 4th, and ended with a 3-3 record. But it’s worth noting that the Wildcats only lost to the three teams that finished ahead of them: Dartmouth, Army and Utah. Two of those losses were by two points.

USA National Panel ref Gareth Morgan was wrong to end the Army v. Utah semifinal when he did. Oddly, it was if this writer was set up to see the error. On Saturday morning USA Rugby 7s ref head Pat McNally presented us with a copy of the new USA Rugby 7s refereeing guidelines. On Sunday morning, we had a brief and very pleasant chat with Morgan about refereeing (and avoiding mistakes). Morgan ended up handling the most controversial end to a match, and the guidelines were helpful to us in figuring it all out.

In the match, Army scored with just under a minute left to lead 12-7. As Dave Geib retrieved the ball for the conversion, there appeared to be over 50 seconds left in the game. As Geib took his time, Utah captain Blake Miller went up to Morgan to confirm there would be a kickoff. Morgan appeared to say there wouldn’t be, Miller argued, the hooter went, and Geib’s kick sailed wide.

This is expressly addressed in the guidelines, saying that if more than 40 seconds remain on the clock when a try is scored, the restart should be taken. It’s worth remembering that the USA has been hurt by this same type of ruling in 7s. It seems clear in a logical, fair-play kind of way : if a try is scored with time left on the clock, the game should restart. We’re not saying Utah would have scored on Army (in 14 minutes they had only done so once) but they deserved the chance. Army performed excellently this weekend, but the ruling at the end of that game was wrong.

Was everyone good? No, not everyone. I thought LSU played some really attractive 7s. I thought Dartmouth’s performance in the final was the best collegiate 7s I have ever seen. I thought Utah’s dismantling of Cal was one of the best examples of a marriage between individual brilliance and team dedication. (Worth noting, by the way, that Cal was only two weeks removed from the CPD final, and had to be tired; also worth noting, Dartmouth players were in the middle of finals, and most of the athletes spent their non-rugby time studying).

Temple and Ohio State relied too much on one or two players. North Carolina looked unstoppable in their first game, but couldn’t quite recapture the magic. Notre Dame did OK but played too much 15s style (and weren’t big enough to get away with it). Boston College just struggled.

But Temple had the best fans, as they put in time and effort and noise to cheer for their teams. For that alone they should be asked back. (Who else should be invited? That's another column.)

Teams … right, the women. Army was brilliant and athletic. Penn State was teamwork but not the pace. Temple put in possibly the try of the tournament when two players ran the length of the field. When one was caught, the other was right there to pick up and score.

The women didn’t get on NBC; that was a shame. The play was good, and will be even better next year.

There will be a next year, at PPL Park and on NBC. That’s a great thing. This event has revolutionized college rugby, and also opened up the door to college rugby players to also become college rugby fans.

 

http://www.rugbymag.com/index.php?o...nt-team-&catid=73:collegiate-sevens&Itemid=91


RUGBYMag CRC MVP and All-Tournament Team



All-tournament player Don Pati. Marvin Dangerfield photo



Nate Ebner's Ohio State struggled, but he is still an outstanding talent. Marvin Dangerfield photo



Chris and Nick. It seems there is no one without the other. The twins who helped engineer Dartmouth’s run to a CRC title are, of course, alike in many ways (but not completely). They are, however, sufficiently indistinguishable as to make it impossible for us to say one is better.

Actually we asked them which one is the better play … they just laughed. So to our CRC co-MVPs, Chris and Nick Downer, congratulations, and also to our All-CRC team.

“We’ve played every sport together for so long that we know each other’s tendencies,” explained Chris. “Obviously I can’t read what he’s thinking on the field but I know generally what he’s going to do and where he’s going to go, and he sets me up for a lot of my tries.”

“With only seven players on the field, it makes it a lot easier when you have a twin brother on the field wi9th you,” added Nick. “I know where he’s going to be in support and stuff, so it’s a pleasure playing with him and I think we make each other better on the field.”

The Downers connected on a crucial first-half score that, in retrospect, put the game away. Nick make the first surge and drawing the defenders before passing to Chris for the coup de grace. They finish each other’s breaks … and sentences.

“It was unbelievable,” said Nick. “To get a chance to be on this stage, on NBC, and in this lovely stadium –“

“And to beat Army for the first time in ten years or so, means a lot to all of us –“

“And for a national championship too, it’s icing on the cake.”

For our All-CRC team, we picked players who made an impact, but also players who track to have an impact at a higher level. Some good teams had few representatives, not because their players were bad, but because they just put together a good team game and used their resources wisely.

Some teams with poor records have representatives, also. Those players simply demonstrated great ability, and, we expect, will be even better on a stronger outfit.

Here, then, is our RUGBYMag.com All-CRC Men’s Team:
(*=player can play either forward or back)

CO-MVPs: Chris Downer, Nick Downer (both backs)

Other Backs:
Will Holder Army
Dave Geib Army
Don Pati Utah *
Ben Leatigaga Army *
Tim Stanfill*
Peter Tiberio
Tonata Lauti

Forwards
Nate Ebner*
Nate Brakeley
Tanner Scott*
Blaine Scully*
Seamus Siefring


Comments on the picks:
Nick Downer. Classic playmaker. Very unselfish. Knows what he’s going to do, including when tackled (which is a rarity).

Chris Downer. Shifty runner with pace … and a finisher.

Will Holder. Long legged, smooth-striding back with all kinds of skills. Good passer.

Dave Geib. The unsung hero of the Army effort. Played outstanding defense and was excellent in support.

Don Pati. Can create space on his own, and has the acceleration and confidence to exploit it. Not tall, but enormously powerful. Could be a hooker in 7s.

Ben Leatigaga. Improved his 7s play immensely and does a good job of taking gaps when they are there, and making the ball available when they are not.

Tim Stanfill. Speedy and daring player – a trait not unuseful in this game.

Peter Tiberio. Saturday was brilliant. Blink and he’s somewhere else.

Tonata Lauti. Wild, sidestepping running style that can make defenses look bad. A little more time and discipline, and a few more sandwiches, and he will be that much better.

Nate Ebner. Powerful athlete with good passing skills and vision. Took too much on his shoulders for Ohio State, but with his ability it’s hard to blame him.

Nate Brakeley. Very big, rangy forward who covers ground and packs a punch (not literally) when he hits. Was penalized for not wrapping one time when really he had powered into his foe so aggressively the guy just bounced out of his grasp.

Tanner Scott. Not as tall or big as Brakeley, he being speed and a huge upside.

Blaine Scully. Excellent in almost all aspects. Has the speed to play in the backs, of course, and the power to be a forward.

Seamus Siefring. Completely uncompromising player who cleared out and played defense with utter unselfishness.

 

Sorry I can't agree. We don't have the player pool that Ireland has. Most of our guys have never really played professionally let along on the international stage.

Losing by 79 points was disgusting, but if we want to compete with the other top tier 2 nations like Samoa, Fiji, Japan and even Canada and not lose to the Saxon by 79 points we need to give a top coach 4 years to build a player pool with international experience. A group of 30 to 40 players playing international/test match year in and year out.

I agree losing to the Saxons by 79 points was not a good way to get sponsors. The situation with the Eagles is very difficult, but none the less we need a national team playing a regular basis.

I hope this is the start of something on an annual basis. Glendale has a great stadium but the crowds are terrible, as you already mentioned. Why does USA Rugby keep forgetting the Bay Area?

There is already talk of the IRB funding a replacment for the CC. Lets just hope that it is not an A side tournament and one with all Tier 2 countries that can be properly marketed through Universal Sports etc.

 

We may have to agree to disagree on this issue. The Eagles played really bad. They made tons of school boy errors, their lineout was shit and they were flat footed on defense. I agree this is the coaches job to make sure this doesn't happen. However on a national team they should know better. Is it a national team coach's responsibilty to coach basic skills and fundamentals? If it is then they need more time together. Even Clever looked very rusty.

What I am getting from you is EOS should get the boot?

True, with the way we are playing we won't be in the top 20 by the end of the summer.

You are right the IRB should get a clue and invest in the CPD and not some crap A side tournament. I do think we need an international season each year for the Eagles against comparable sides. THE RWC is a huge event that is going to help grow the game in this country. Especially once it gets some air time on NBC Universal. We can only be a part of that if we compete.