Rocky Mountain Regional Rugby Report

1.23.14

In this Issue:

IRB 7s - Las Vegas Style

Adios, Elite Cup, hola the P-R-P!

EuroComps: Richard and Trotski

o Heineken Cupsters to playoffs… and the price of stamps

o French Top XIV resumes sans Trialists

Southern Hemisphere (SoHemi) upcomes:

o Super 15 Rugby

hR’s Back Page:

o wages of Vegas

o Rugby Quiptocryp

U S A

Viva Vegas 7s

There are two, seven -a-side competitions ongoing this week at Las Vegas, Nevada in smooth

concert:

the IRB – USA International 7s , featuring the f inest national teams from around the

globe, and

the Las Vegas International 7s , an amateur competition in varying ag e/grade/gender

categories: 10 men’s, 6 women’s and 9 youth divisions ranging from the elite

developmental academy sides such as ODA (Northeast, US) and Tiger Rugby out of

Ohio, and national 7s teams from Belgium, Mexico and Peru, to open divisions,

colleges and even a touch bracketing (both men’s and women’s) - a lso an array of

men’s and women’s 15s competit ions ongoing

USA compete at IRB-USA International 7s on the f irst t ier in a competition pool with

Argentina, France and Spain, a group with decidedly Medi terranean roots and a group

which our guys can win, but it ’s got to be game -on, whistle-to-whist le each and every.

There will be 12 nations competing at Rio for Olympic, 7 -a-side rugby gold in 2 ye ars-and-a-

bit. We’d l ike to show well on our home turf and this just may be the swimming hole in

which to do it.

Nowhere in the rugby world is an upset more l ikely to occur than in a game of 7 -a-side. And

it ’s not that the unexpected happens frequently, but definit ely moreso than in 15s code. 7s

is rugby where, on often occasion, accuracy and precision along with quick acceleration and

really f ine motor skil ls aid in the capital ization of an opponent’s error as often as planned

strategies manifest. There’s plenty go ing on in one’s immediate area or across the stadium,

but if one takes one’s eye off the pitch momentarily, one risks missing signif icant

circumstance in the f lashy, erratic f low that comprises 7-minute-per-half matches (10 for

f inals). But as is often the case at al l levels and versions of rugby, the player who responds

f irst and best to unexpected circumstance, in concert with teammates, will victorious be.

The basic play in Vegas is:

Thursday, Las Vegas International 7s, an amateur competition on f ields close to Sam Boyd Stadium

Friday, LVI 7s early outside and then IRB 7s Rounds 1&2 in stadium at 4pm, men’s and women’s

Saturday same dri l l as Friday, but stadium starts at noon

Sunday Finals

Ka-ching!!!

7 7 7

Sayonara Elitists, Pacific Rugby Premiership – new and better Frigate on the Main

If one looks off to the far horizon, one might just catch the last vestige of the great ship

Super League ’s topgallants as it sails off into the historical record, its voyage sunk and

sundered on the same treacherous shoal that’s been the bane of rugby clubs worldwide

since WW El l is f irst looked off the pitch and wondered, “what if we went to…” - and that is

travel and the cost of it . Hard on the hind of the SL, the El ite Cup is now but a memory.

Promised funding for travel did not materialize in sufficient t ime to ensure that cr it ical

element’s funct ion, and scheduling issues put the remnant of that premier competition on

the rocks: Boston, Life, NYAC, Old Blue and OPS B will compete for the men’s D -1 crown,

which the Running Eagles of Life defend.

With Pacif ic Rugby Premiership fronting an ambitious, top -fl ight schedule this spring for a

magnificent seven of men’s clubs west of the Mississippi, one may wonder what’s hap pened

to the remaining 2013 Elite Cup clubs. Well, promised funds to cover travels costs for

f ixtures of those formidable f ive rugby organizations: Boston, Life, NYAC, Old Blue and

OPSB – that’s an expansive geography – did not materialize in a manner time ly enough to

ensure and enable their spring f ixture schedules. Let’s be clear about that as it bears re -

iteration ‘cause that type action puts the capital “L” in Lousy and Lurch, as in Left - in the.

Someone should pay dearly for that remission and we’re not talking about airfares and

accommodations here.

The former Elite Cup clubs have scrambled, sorted their own fixtures, and find t heir 15s

focus on the USA Rugby Division-1 clubside competition; however, there’s no real t ime for

whingeing regret in any event as the quick-stepping, fast-f lowing Summer Sevens season

burns brightly May-through-August, carrying on after Best Four men’s clubsides (divis ions

1-3, which takes place the weekend of 5.31 & 6.1 – location and venue(s) yet TBD ).

XV

Pool 1 Won Lost Drawn MPts

Leinster 5 1 0 22 Northampton Saints 4 2 0 17 Castres 2 4 0 9 Ospreys 1 5 0 5 Pool 2 Won Lost Drawn MPts Toulon 5 1 0 24 Cardiff Blues 3 3 0 14 Exeter Chiefs 3 3 0 12 Glasgow 2 4 0 11 Pool 3 Won Lost Drawn MPts Toulouse 5 1 0 23 Saracens 4 2 0 20 Connacht 3 3 0 13 Zebre 0 6 0 0 Pool 4 Won Lost Drawn MPts Clermont Auvergne 5 1 0 24 Harlequins 3 3 0 16 Scarlets 2 3 1 11 Racing Metro 1 4 1 7 Pool 5 Won Lost Drawn MPts Ulster 6 0 0 26 Leicester Tigers 4 2 0 21 Montpellier 2 4 0 11 Benetton Treviso 0 6 0 0 Pool 6 Won Lost Drawn MPts Munster 5 1 0 23 Gloucester Rugby 3 3 0 14 Edinburgh 3 3 0 12 Perpignan 1 5 0 7

With pool play done, upcoming playoff frames have been determined: Undefeated and top

points-earner, Ulster, wil l host Saracens on Saturday April 5 t h at Ravenhill ; Toulon and

Leinster get after the pil l at Stade Félix-Mayol that evening

Clermont Auvergne battle Leicester Tigers the following afternoon, Sunday 4.5, at Stade Marcel Michel in ; and Munster take on Toulouse at Thomond Park in a 6pm (local) kick

nutworthy – the rising cost of a stamp – Wales engine, Ian Evans, could miss none, some, or all of the upcoming 6Nats show for an alleged boot -to-cap in a moment of madness on the weekend; whether intentional or no, it could put him in the stands for 6Nats. Ban for the offense runs from 2 -to-52 weeks. TBD anon…

Super 15 Rugby – Can Chiefs make it an unprecedented Super Rugby Championship Tryple?

Gonna find out beginning Saturday, February 15 as 2014 Super 15s Rugby kicks off in South

Africa with Round 1 matches (with clubs’ 2013 finish on their national tables) :

2.15.14:

o Cheetahs (2) v Lions (0) @ Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

o Sharks (4) v Bulls (1) @ Kings Park, Durban;

then Friday/Saturday/Sunday, February 21/22/23, Super 15s gets going around the Southern

Hemisphere with Round 2 f ixtures:

2.21.14:

o Crusaders (1) v Chiefs (2) @ AMI Stadium, Addington, Christchurch

o Cheetahs (2) v Bulls (1) @ Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein;

2.22.14:

o Highlanders (5) v Blues (3) @ Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

o Brumbies (1) v Reds (2) @ Canberra Stadium, Canberra

o Sharks (4) v Hurricanes (4) @ Kings Park, Durban

o Lions (0) v Stormers (3) @ El l is Park, Johannesburg

2-23.14:

o Waratahs (3) v Force (5) @ Al l ianz Stadium, Sidney

noto bene : Melbourne Rebels , 2013’s 4 t h- placed, side in Australia, start their 2014

campaign with a pair of byes – they’l l kick their f irst on the last day in February with host

duty of Cheetahs @ AAMI Park, Melbourne;

The proposed Chiefs match with 2013 Heineken Cup champs, Toulon cancelled due to an

inabil ity to surmount a number of obstacles ranging from prior commitments to geographic

considerations, but kudos for the effort… it’ l l happen, though a Northern Hemisphere v

Southern Hemisphere clubside championship f ixture, in effect a global Super Rugby Bowl , is

yet in the dream-to-plan stage.

Super 15 Rugby

French Top XIV W ith Six Nations kickoffs in a week, all national team players wil l have been released from club duty to attend their countries’ training camps. You may think that will lower the level of competition this weekend, or you could realize that competition will be better as replacement players seek to establish themselves; it ’s a glass half-full thing.

©

Won Lost Drawn MPts

Clermont Auvergne 10 5 1 40

Stade Français 11 5 0 36

Castres 9 6 1 36

Toulouse 9 7 0 36

Toulon 8 7 1 35

Grenoble 9 6 1 34

Montpellier 7 8 1 33

Racing Metro 8 7 1 31

Bordeaux Begles 7 9 0 30

Brive 6 8 2 30

Perpignan 7 9 0 28

Oyonnax 8 8 0 25

Bayonne 6 10 0 25

Biarritz 3 13 0 17

Upcomers

Friday, 1.24: Stade Français v Castres at Stade Jean-Bouin; Racing Metro v Toulouse at Stade de France Saturday, 1.25: Bayonne v Clermont Auvergne at Stade Jean Dauger; Biarritz v Oyonnax at Parc des Sports Aguilera; Grenoble v Perpignan at Stade Lesdiguieres; Montpellier v Bordeaux Begles at Stade Yves-du-Manoir; Brive v Toulon at Stade Andre Moga

XV

Wages of Vegas

hR’s Back Page

retuяned fяom

Vegas… We

won, I lost

Rugby Quiptocryp inaugural correct quip 1st Responder: Palmer College alum, Dr. (Daktari) Sean

Reif of TFC Chiro – that winner earned a lifetime subscription to RMR3 © with the solution: “Inaugural

Pacific Rugby Premiership” - today’s cryp below

“H vr zlahqdwlz wn ohqg v gls HYUE jngwyvjw… shwd

Regowly,” Mvea N’Jngglaa

text is encrypted.

to solve: substitute letters in the pattern above to determine the rugby referenced phrase.

it is a quote

hint, m = p

© h R