US History really needs to get it right, the oldest collegiate sporting event in American history is the Yale v. Harvard RUGBY game. Sure, football may have evolved from rugby, but people still play rugby and the history books need to get this right.
I refereed the Yale v. Harvard women's rugby game on friday night. The men played at 9 AM on saturday beside the football stadium to prep for "the game."
Unfortunately the Harvard ladies got stuck in traffic out of boston, so the game did not kick off until about 9. This lead us to play on 30 minute halves....and the harvard ladiesa also only had 17 players. The ladies were obviously up for the game, but understood the situation. Yale are d1, Harvard d2. Yale made this clear throughout the entirety of the game. Overall, the ladies played in good sprit and they had a good time out there. I refereed the game rather loosely because that's the way the ladies seemed to want to play and I think they appreciated it.
Following the game I stayed with a local referee and traveled to the NRUs on Randall's island in NYC. I was an AR for two D3 games on saturday - I enjoyed it very much. Both games were action packed...for an AR anyway. I was forced to make number of critical decision to help out the man the charge.
These were also unfortunately my last games with the New England referees. It was good to see many of them again. I will be moving to Houston after christmas...hopefully I can return to New England to work and referee. I was given many great opportunities and really enjoyed the rugby here...could not ask for better.
Thanks for all you have done for me NERFU - hopefully I can repay.
This was the Northeast #1 v. #8. Hamilton College women come from a school of 2000 students and this was their first year in D1. Good on them for making the playoffs (NYS #3) but surely they would be happier in D2 long term...much like Middlebury college.
Army put out many of their B side players....despite that the game still ended up 68-0 to Army. It's not so challenging refereeing these types of game but I used it to practice counting my penalties...of which there were only 11 (including free kicks). Women also seem to tend to be much more receptive to preventative talk...but this might just be because the game is slower such that the referee can be one step ahead of the players to prevent penalties.
FT
Army: 11 Tries, 5 Conversions, 1 Penalty (68)
Hamilton College: 0
Oh, I did a youtube search for Hamilton rugby and this came up. Just humorous....rugby's still a party game.
Middlebury (reigning d2 champs), UVM, UMASS - Amherst, and Boston University all converged in Middlebury (Sat) and Burlington (Sun.) Vermont for the New England Division 2 College Championship. This tournament determined seeding for the Northeast playoffs.
Saturday 10/31 Middlebury v. UVM
A new experience for me, Middlebury always starts their games with a haka. Here is an example I found on youtube:
I should get the video of my game soon.
On saturday I was charged with refereeing what was hotly tipped the northeast conference decider...Middlebury v. Univerity of Vermont. The conditions were very wet with clay mud..making for a very sticky field.
Middlebury picked up their only try in the first few minutes from a quick tap penalty. I had given the mark at the ball, they took it quickly and scored the try. There was some confusion, however, from the UVM because they did not think I had given the mark at hte ball (on the 5). I am still waiting on the video to confirm what happened here.
I also had a referee coach at this game who told me afterwards that I needed to be harder on the players going off their feet. I was playing it (considering the conditions) that if the intent for staying on their feet was there and the ball was produced quickly..play on. The coach wanted to see me not let this go and set the standard high at the start to send the right message....
I should also note problems with lineout numbers. UVM/Middlebury had a habit of walking up to the lineouts, then having players retreat. I had to tell the teams to stop this and only brin ghte players up to the lineout to set it...otherwise...no advantage/free kick and they're liable to penalty for changing it after setting it.
This game also came form an intense week of work training where I was up at 630 every morning and working until 10 PM at night all week...thus...I was very tired friday night and had to get up at 630 on sat morning for hte drive. This left me feeling a little under the weather and I recall the strange sensation of feeling out of breath during scrum cadence. This made my cadence EXTREMELY FAST..something I did not correct until the 2nd half following a note from an AR. I slowed my cadence in the 2nd half, but the referee coach showed me an interesting video of our intended cadences....EXTREMELY SLOW. I tried this on sunday.
As the game wore on UMASS dominated more and more. Winning almost every scrum and breaking tackles left and right - Middlebury could not handle the momentum UMASS built up. Players kept their feet in this game and the slow cadence was effective. I reset a few scrums from the slow cadence and give a few early pushes - but overall it remained effective.
I had a few decisions I was unhappy with. At the goal line I must always remain composed and not blow too quick. UMASS had worked to a "pick and score" range under the posts. When the UMASS player picked up he lost posession forward...but then recovered and got downward pressure on the ball. When I saw him push it forward in the air my immediate reaction was "knock on" and I blew it as such...unfortunately, looking back I should have waited another second to see him recover and score a legitimate try. I corrected this later on - using my team of 3 to give me time to think about questionable groundings.
Speaking of my team of 3...I struggled to communicate with one of my ARs. At the goal line I moved infield to the back of the lineout...instructing my AR to leave his flag up if there is a problem (not 5, pulling down front, etc.). UMASS won the lineout at the front, went to a maul...and a very likely score...but my AR left his flag up (he was giving no other indications to me of an infringement) and I stopped play. Turns out...he was just leaving it up for no reason...I had to reset play giving a scrum to UMASS on the 15 for this error. UMASS did not complain (their scrums were awesome) but it was a bit embarassing.
One more thing, Vermont is beautiful. It's rural everywhere and so clean. Every thing looks historic but is very clean...almost looking new. Thanks to my hosts for the weekend, I had a wonderful time. I hope I can return.
45-50 Degree Weather, Rainy, and very muddy field.
the start of the game: end of game
Within about 10 minutes both teams were wearing a very similar color...mud brown. Scrums were regularly getting repositioned to enable to players to get their safe footing.
Hartford had a distinct advantage at scrum time but struggled to capitalize on that dominance.
Worcester were given a yellow card at the 60 minute mark for repeated zone entry infringements.
The score was 14-14 with about 5 minutes left in the game and Hartford made a critical error ...throwing the ball to a "brown" "teammate"...a Worcester player who strolled in to make the score 19-14.
In the next few minutes Worcester took a shot at a goal to stretch the gap and end the game...but the attempt was wide and Hartford made a nice break up the sideline only to step out around the oppositions 10 meter line (game over).
FT
Worcester: 3 Tries, 2 Conversions (19)
Hartford: 2 Tries, 2 Conversions (14)
A few notes for myself from the game:
Missed a Worcester player reaching through to strip the scrumhalf at a ruck...I was busy getting the backs onside. When I looked back it seemed the Hartford player had knocked on.
The Hartford scrums were bothering me...they were so dominant. I did not pick up on any binding problems on my side...but the Worcester coach pointed out to me after the game that the loosehead was binding on to the arm and pushing down
The Hartford hooker had great timing, consistently getting his foot in front of the Worcester foot...unfortunately he could not get a hook and it kept coming straight bcak out. My only solution was to tell him to be better...his foot was not up early but it was very disruptive to continue resetting the scrum.
This game really tested my fitness. I had already refereed a ladies game earlier in the day...and traveled the hour from their to the West Point facility.
The score was 93-3...and I was running wind sprints. The Army boys were simply more athletic and organized, running excellent lines and breaking tackles all game. Army did test me from get go with scrum feeds and tackle law but I set the line for them.
I think Northeastern may have been a little offside during the first half...but the Army scrumhalf's delivery was slow....and even when I gave penalty advantage...Army would break tackles and score.
In sum, some notes for myself:
Fitness is good. Need more COMPETITIVE games at this speed to practice keeping my mental clarity up. My ankle performed extraordinarily well in this game, from the fans I heard there was virtually no limp
Need to be strict on the offsides as teams creep up while the game wears on. This happened earlier with the ladies and the Northeastern guys had the habit...it just did not effect the game much.
Very pleased with the openness and athleticism of the game.
I threatened a card by pulling my ref wallet out during the game. The player thought I had carded him and left the field. Future notes: do not take out the wallet, don't want the player to think he has been carded when he has not.
From my perspective...at half time...I was very happy. At full time...I was not happy with my performance.
The 1st half had less than 5 penalties....despite the close contest the ladies were listening to my preventative instructions and abiding.
I was so happy with their legal play in the 1st that when in the 2nd half they started creeping up at the breakdown and not quite coming straight into the rucks...I was not quick enough to penalize it. As the 2nd half wore on the offsides and zone entry got worse and worse, eventually getting to the point where I was blowing quite a lot of penalties.
My problem with my logic: when the ladies started creeping up I needed to ping them immediately to let them know the standard was still there...I was lenient...almost rewarding both sides for their strong performance in the 1st half. Mental note: don't do this again.
Otherwise the game was quite exciting with one of Dartmouth's tries coming from inside their 22 and passing through probably 10 of their players hands...quite a spectacle, it reminded me of Ngwenyas USA v. South Africa try in the 2007 world cup.
There were a few questionable calls from the game...it was not clear following one scrum who took the ball in goal (need to see the video)....and I was behind a girl as she scored a try (whilst being tackled)....it looked as though she may have knocked on before downward pressure but I had no evidence so I awarded the try. There was also a scrum feed that went straight through to the otherside..I thought it had probably slipped through the props foot but from what I hear..it did not. This lead to the winning try so I need to make sure these errors do not occur.
Great conditions, sunny, ~60 degrees, field slightly muddy. Field lines very faint. A very hard fought match. In the first half the penalties mounted against Yale for offsides infringements allowing Vassar to pick up a try.
Vassar were vastly superior at scrum time, but failed to use that momentum to score tries...Yale were much better in loose play than Vassar. Lots of knocks ons this game too, not too clear why.
Yale scored a try at full time to tie the game at 15-15, missing the conversion.
Great conditions, ~60 degrees, sunny. Field was little muddy, but not enough to inhibit play significantly. Field lines were rather faint.
In the 1st half Yale proved to be the more athletic side with most of their tries coming from breaks in the backline. Cornell scored 3 points following a dangerous tackle in front of the posts at the 22.
HT: Yale 45 - 3 Cornell
In the 2nd half the game was quite a bit closer with Yale picking up only 3 tries. I commend both teams for their great sporting spirit despite the nature of the game.
Sunny, dry, 60 degree conditions on a beautifully maintained and lined field at Amherst College. Aside from West Point, I don't think I have been on a better rugby pitch in the Northeast. Within the first 5 minutes URI ran in a try to the corner (converted), leading me to believe this game may turn out something like the 82-0 AC drubbing of last week...I was wrong.
After the ensuing kickoff AC fought back well, keeping the game inbetween the 10 meter lines. The AC attack and defense was frusturating URI as the boys from RI began giving away needless penalties for not releasing and diving over in the ruck, enabling AC to pick up 6 points. Then, at around the URI 10 meter line the RI boys got sucked into an AC ruck, leaving an overload for AC...AC used the space, beat the fullback, and dotted down in the corner in spectacular fashion (unconverted).
HT: AC 11, URI 7
In the 2nd half URI had more sustained pressure on the AC line and worked hard for a try muscled over by their forwards. AC then fought back and also had some sustained pressure on the URI line only to knock the ball on just before grounding. With about 3 minutes left in the game (score AC 11 - 14 URI), AC were awarded a penalty about 5 meters from the touch line and more than 40 meters from the try line. The referee was surprised when AC indicated they wanted to go for points! While setting up for the kick a strong breeze began blowing, but despite this, the kick sailed beautifully through the posts! a very impressive kick under huge pressure for any level of rugby. This set up the tie at 14-14, but in the ensuing kick off URI won the ball, ran a couple phases, sent it out wide, and scored a converted try in the corner. A heartbreaking finish for the struggling AC and relief for URI as they scraped by with a win.
I think I may have been playing not releasing too tightly. Essentially if the defenders had their hands on the ball when the palyer hit the floor and did not come up with the ball...I penalized. After considering it post game, I think I was being to strict....the player should have the opportunity to play the ball immediately (especially with support arriving) before he gets pinged for not releasing. Subtleties.....
Also, I almost had a major f up. It was quite a windy day. URI went long on a penalty kick for touch. The ball went well over the touch line...I blew my whistle for touch. What I didn't see coming was the strong gust of wind which blew the ball back in field and dead ingoal. I went ahead and offered the scrum back due to there really being no question as to the result....but I must remember to not blow my whistle until it actually lands in touch. I made an error like this back at Rucktoberfest 08, except for the ball blew back in but still bounced to touch.
Army dominated the game in all facets. They took every scrum against the head, stole every lineout, and scored a try on almost all distributions of the ball. The only Army downside was they had a habit of knocking on half of the kick offs. No matter, they took the Providence scrum against the head anyway. The game was mutually agreed to end at halftime (40 minutes). Final Score 74-0. Army: 12 Tries, 7 Conversions (74) Providence College: (0) I commend both sides for their positive attitudes and play despite the nature of the game. For a 2nd game (2nd 40 minutes as normal) Army put their B side out to play the Providence College ladies. This was a much more even match with Providence muscling over a try early in the half. Unfortunately, the Army B side's fresher legs began to show in the last 10 minutes as they ran in 3 tries. Final score of "2nd game" Army 22 - 5 Providence.
This game is typically a close and hotly contested local rivalry game. Unfortunately, AC have fallen up some hard times and are struggling to compete. I will post my coaching report from this game. Final Score UMASS 82 - 0 Amherst College.
NEW ENGLAND RUGBY REFEREES SOCIETY Referee Coaching Report Larry Whysall October 3, 2009 UMASS men (82) v. Amherst College men (0) Match Description Halves were 40 minutes. Weather was about 60, threatening but not really raining. Field was full-sized, moderately well-grassed and lined. There were no sideline ropes. As the score would suggest, UMASS were totally dominant in all areas of this game. They were able to recycle the ball virtually without contest at the tackle and ruck. While Amherst were game, they were simply not able to defend against the constant pressure they were put under. We had the opportunity for a full discussion after the game. Overview My focus was on the points which were emphasized by Jeremy Turner in his report from North Conway in May: pace and fitness and anticipatory management of the tackle and ruck. In both of these areas there was very evident improvement from the occasions when I saw Larry in the Spring (April at Amherst Women and the game on which Jeremy reported). While he still looks a bit ungainly because of a lingering (but diminished) limp, Larry was covering the ground well and was almost invariably well-positioned in open play. There were not many long movements, but when there were Larry was keeping up with them well. This was true right to the end, including a 70 m. movement deep in the second half at the end of which Larry was, if not in in-goal, within 2 meters of it. He clearly has worked hard on this aspect. Larry’s approach to the breakdown was good and when play was close enough for me to hear I could hear him using good, concise preventative talk to ensure availability. There were virtually no unplayables. The few infringements were spotted and dealt with. This was perhaps facilitated by the one-sidedness of the breakdowns, and I would like to see how he handles a more competitive contest, but he could only referee the game he had and in this area he did it well. Specific Comments We discussed all of these points immediately after. · Larry allowed several UMASS players to wear full-length underwear in violation of the IRB ruling. · The UMASS loosehead was consistently preventing his opponent from binding over his arm, and sometimes using the advantage to force the tighthead down and in. Larry dealt with this for a while, but it recurred when he was not looking. At some point more forceful action, beginning with a FK, might have helped. · The Amherst #8 was consistently giving up his bind in defense (hands on only). This was not noticed. While it really did not become material, it would have in a more even game and should have been dealt with preventatively. · Larry sometimes shortcuts from the scrum and ruck. Try to avoid this—go with the ball. We talked about anticipating where the ball is going and beginning to move a bit earlier. · When attackers are going for a pushover try and channeling the ball away from the side of the put-in, think about a quick two-step past the #8 to be better positioned to follow the ball into in-goal. Because of the nature of the game and what I was trying to look for, I will not report in detail on other aspects of the game. But I do want to say that Larry had a very good game. Advantage was consistently signaled and well played. Primary signals were given promptly and were followed by clear secondary signals. Larry maintained his focus for 80 minutes of a lopsided contest and had a smile on his face.
Western New England College: 31 Merrimack College: 7 The Sunday rain had cleared up by this 4 PM kickoff. WNEC are a brand new rugby club, but you wouldnt have guessed it per the way they performed. The game was competitive and hard hitting. WNEC won the game at scrum time, consistently causing problems for Merrimack as they were forced to clean up messy ball at the back of the scrum. WNEC scored a few tries from the base of their strong scrum but struggled to finish off back line moves. Merrimack competed well, scoring one try of their own, but struggled to get their moves going because they were going backwards at almost every scrum. It is strange how teams from Springfield, MA always have strong scrums, must be something in their coaching or training, because the Rifles and WNEC are extraordinarily good at scrummaging.
I sometimes like to review other referee's match reports on the New England Rugby Referee's website. I stumbled across this one (also on sunday) and realized the story is almost EXACTLY the same as the game I refereed. So, I took the time to replace the names and publish it as my own...plagiarism at its best (Thank you Peter).
Taken from: http://www.nerugbyrefs.org/schedules/match_report.cfm?match_id=5422 This match was played on an artificial turf field lined for football but with sufficient width (e.g. soccer outline). The goal posts were in the dead ball line. It was mild with light rain. Under the conditions, ball handling was difficult and there were a lot of scrums, in which Nichols had a slight edge. There were bursts of good, linked phase play from both sides, but lack of experience and over-enthusiasm kept these from becoming the pattern. Nichols and Framingham both managed to score one try in the first half. In the second half, with more possession, Nichols was able to keep the pressure mostly in the Framingham and score multiple tries, mostly from a set piece platform. The game was played with pretty good discipline and in good spirit. I was impressed by Nichols coach and captain who prompty substituted out the one real attitude problem on their side (the said problem had stomped and thrown a punch that the referee missed...but the sideline did not).
At the end of the 1st half the score was Hartford 19 - 0 Old Gold. Hartford were using their superior size and pace out wide to burst through the Old Gold defense.
Old Gold, however, did have a competitive amount of possession and were succeeding in attacking the Hartford line - knocking one try on in the process of grounding.
In the 2nd half, Hartford presumably were resting on their 19-0 scoreline as Old Gold began bursting through a tired Hartford defense. Hartford was not tackling as well in the 2nd half as Old Gold were successfully driving forward and off loading in the tackle. In a one of kind feat (for me anyway) Old Gold scored a try while taking out the goal posts in the process. As the Old Gold player drove forward with two tacklers on him they collided with the goal posts which proceeded to split and collapse on the players - certainly not a safe scenario. Nevertheless, Old Gold scored the try on the try line in quite spectacular fashion.
It was remarkably similar to this:
Hartford scored 1 try in the 2nd half, Old Gold scored 4 tries. With 2 minutes to spare Old Gold had taken the score to 29-24, but committed a illegal zone entry penalty a few phases after the kickoff allowing Hartford to boot the ball into touch to end the game. A well played game in great spirits.
I also had a bad mistake early in the first half of this game. Old Gold made a nice break down the field to work within the 5 meter line in the corner. The 5 meter dash lines were drawn quite long and I thought he made it into the try zone, especially considering how he downed the ball. I signalled for a try, only to immediately realize he wasnt in the try zone. I quickly changed to a knock on scrum Hartford.....it raised a few questions from the players and sidelines...but play continued. I could feel the player's confidence in my dropping after this but I told myself to forget my mistake and move on. I am proud to say that I forgot about my mistake and moved on with the game.....refereeing confidently.
In beautiful conditions these two teams played this highly aggressive game.
The game started with Coast Guard working their way down the field and kicking a penalty. Amherst responded by muscling their way over the line after a nice break in loose play.
Amherst then took an interception which was "knocked forward" about 10 meters and recovered under the posts.
Coast Guard then used their fitness and large forwards to create a break and offload out of the tackle to dot down at half time.
HT Amherst 12 - 10 Coast Guard
In the 2nd half Amherst and Coast Guard traded tries again - Coast guard scoring a nice one off a maul formed from a pick and go near the goal line. Amherst also scored a penalty kick.
Late in the second half Amherst scored another try to widen the gap to 27-17, final score.
Through out the first 50 minutes of the game the penalty count increased at a steady rate with the two sides struggling to grasp the concept of zone entry and maintaining their feet. This resulted in a high penalty count and stop start affair. There needed to be a firm explanation...along with a yellow card...much earlier than 50 minutes in the game. A yellow card was given to a Coast Guard player after a firm warning about breakdown infringements at around 50 minutes. Following the yellow the breakdowns cleaned up fairly well.
I also yellow carded a player for dangerous play, he took a player out in the air following a kick off. The coast guard coaches thought this was harsh seeing that this was the first dangerous tackle of the game. What the coaches failed to realize was what I heard the player say on the way to the kick off "If we're going to lose this game I'm at least going hurt somebody." Now, as a referee, I probably should I have said something when I overheard this - I did not - and the player proceeded to commit dangerous play and be sin binned.
I also struggled with the scrums in this game, they were uniquely unstable, wheeling and skewing every time. I tried again and again to correct this, even penalizing some boring - no improvement. After that game I found out one of the Coast Guard props could not hold his weight in the scrum well at all. After reviewing previous Coast Guard match reports I discovered other referees had a problem as well. As it turns out, despite the Coast Guards very athletic looking front row - they could not hold their weight well. As a referee, I need to learn that looks can be deceiving, there are bad fit props, bad props arent all overweight or too skinny for the job.
This game was a real pleasure to referee with the ladies being very receptive to my instructions, helping to keep the game's penalty count very low and give a good flow to the game.
The scoreline indicates UMASS were dominant, but Dartmouth did compete well - they just could not finish their drives.
I had problems in this women's game with positioning and running lines as I normally do for women's matches. This is something to continue to work on. I got in the way of a defender once, and slightly impeded a pass from a line out. In the lineout I had expected the Scrumhalf to throw the ball before I got by her, unfortunately I had moved so early that I slightly impeded the UMASS scrumhalf's view.
This was the Williams RFC first game setting of the fall, the University only began having classes this week.
As a result, many of the Williams B side were playing their first game of rugby ever. Prior to the game everyone participated in a short training session to get everyone on the same page. This enabled the referee to explain the laws at the breakdown and practice skills which are so often lost to new players (illegal zone entry, staying on your feet, hands in, scrum safety, lineout safety).
This short training session prior to the game made for a very well played affair - considering the skill levels of those new players involved. After 20 minutes the score was only 3-0 to Williams A. Williams were knocking on the try line's door for quite awhile but the touch line proved a strong defender as two corner tries were called back for a foot stepping out.
After 20 minutes there was a break to go over some aspects of the game for the new players. We continued play for aonther 20 minutes, "half time," then played a final 40 minute period.
As the game wore on Williams managed to string together some consistent pick and go phases to grind down the field. Williams picked up 4 tries with this tactic of offloading and quick pickups to make a final score of 27-0.
Following the game I went to the social with the teams. They held a fantastic kangaroo court and song session. I was even able to teach this college kids a little bit about rugby songs, teaching them Yogi Bear and some new lyrics to a personal favorite of mine: I used to work in chicago. It was a lot of fun to feel like I was playing rugby in college again, being idiotic and singing rude songs.
Traveled out to Ithaca, NY for an awesome day of rugby. Beautiful weather, great setting, and two teams ready to run hard. Overall, I thought the game went well but I question a few of the calls I made.
Accidental Obstruction v. Full Penalty Obstruction
A stupid LATERAL kick, almost offside. Followed up with a kick downfield I thought it went out much sooner than the touch judge and overruled him. Looking back, he did have the better view, I should have let him go....but I think I may have been concerned by the kick offsides I wasn't in the position to be sure of.
Yellow card for repeated infringements - illegal zone entry. I had told the Colgate side again and again, captain understood the infringement, but struggled to explain it to his teammates. I had 3 illegal zone entries early in the game, warned the captain, and it went away. Midway through the second half they began happening again (defending on 22). Again, 2 penalties then told the captain. Another illegal zone entry followed. In hindsight, maybe it was marginal, but the players number was 19, and he was the most perpendicular to the sideline entering the ruck...to the bin he went. Cornell had already came back into the game befor ehte yellow card, and did not score again until after the player returned to the game, so it had no effect.
I also carded a cornell player for diving straight down ont he player...dangerous foul play...last minute of the game. Needed to do so? maybe he learned.
I also did not feel very fit for the game. Most Crossfit workouts are 20-30 minutes. At the 20-30 minute mark today, I felt my fitness catching up to me. Maybe some modifications need to be made to my training.
I was very very lucky to be invited to referee this event – it was a great pleasure and an event I will remember refereeing for a very long time.
Here was the tournament format and schedule:
FDNY v. Fort Bragg NYPD v. Camp Lejuene FDNY v. Camp Lejuene NYPD v. Fort Bragg Camp Lejuene v. Fort Bragg
I was appointed the head referee for this event. I had one Canadian referee, one military referee, and one Met NY referee at my disposal. I assigned myself the FDNY v. Fort Bragg and NYPD v. Fort Bragg games. Every game had a team of 3 working it.
To start off, I want to describe the trip to the field…Randall’s island…overlooking the Hudson river and Manhattan.
One other referee, Fort Bragg, and myself stayed at the Hotel Edison one block from Times Square. We met outside the hotel to wait for the Fort Bragg van to pick us up and take us out to Randall’s island. It eventually arrived and we all crowded into the 15 passenger van only to realize we had about 1/8th a tank of gas and didn’t really know how to get there! At this stage one of the tourney organizers got on the phone with our NYPD rugby brethren…..and the NYPD said they would come help us out. Little did we know what kind of help that was on our way….
A few minutes later an unmarked cop car arrived, the cop stuck his head out the window and said “follow me!” He proceeded to flick on his siren and take us blearing through the streets of manhattan! Traffic and red lights were no match for us and the NYPD! Cars moved out of our way like Moses and the red sea! I now think I am of the privileged few to have experienced this…it was like a scene straight out of a movie.
We arrived at the field around 1130. DRASH had tents set up for every team and Matt Godek had kit specially made for every team! Including the referee team! Before the first game I ran over to see the referees for the NASC sevens. This included the national panel of 7s referees as well as a number of Met NY referees serving as assistant referees and in-goal judges.
I had my pregame / equipment chat with the teams. Because of the level of these teams (D4-D3 men) I decided to make clear recent clarifications of law laid down by the IRB:
Maul obstruction Productive hands / diving over No collapsing mauls Matching numbers in lineouts
We moved onto the captain chat and went for kick off. It was a close game with it coming to a draw around 10 minutes into the 2nd half…but following that Bragg put in a few extra tries to widen the gap and win handily.
Now I have a few notes from the game:
A couple Met NY referees whom I met at Saranac Lake watched the game and had some great observations for me. They said that when I would blow for a penalty…after my whistle had gone a few things would generally keep going on that I missed….because when I made my mark for the penalty I had this habit of looking down at my foot at the mark…instead of surveying the field. The mark’s not going to move…I don’t even need to look down at my foot once.
Also, he observed that I was maybe getting a little bit too close to the breakdowns to allow myself to have consistent full field vision. This is a habit that I have been trying to eliminate so it is good to know I had somewhat gone back to old bad habits.
Also, I think I need to make myself a mental pregame checklist. When I referee from week to week I typically clearly remember what to work on and watch for, but when I have weekend breaks between games I sometimes forget and in my pregame warmups I forget what I really want to watch for and improve in my game. Recommendations?
Game 2: NYPD vs. Fort Bragg
By this time of the day (4 PM) the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. I tried applying some of the tips from earlier in the day and recall it making me feel more comfortable…it even made me catch a couple sly punches. I was very proud of the way I handled this punch up as I had struggled managing them earlier this spring (see old reports). As soon as I saw the prop tussle begin I blew a very loud long whistle, called the two players over and sent them both off to cool off for 5 minutes for “police brutality.” Both teams replaced their front rowers and sent off different players from the pitch to maintain contested scrums.
I should also comment that the scrums were quite…marginal…this game. The Bragg boys were murdering the police scrum even to the extent that I told the Bragg boys to back off in the scrum so we could get some flow to the game. At the start of the game I had a hard time believing how much the NYPD scrum was buckling even to the extent of penalizing and free kicking Bragg for foot up and boring. They may have indeed been doing this, but the problem only went away when I finally took the captain aside and told them to back off.
This game had similar score lines and events to the first (FDNY, Bragg) with the NYPD coming within 3 points of Bragg in the 2nd half only for Bragg to run away late in the show.
During this game I had a first, my Adidas boots of about two years finally gave out. I recall my feet landing feeling particularly soft and slippery for a reason I could not figure out during the game…only did I realize afterwards that my entire left foot was basically sliding out on the turf!
For the last game of the day Bragg played Lejeune, Lejeune came out the winners and therefore Liberty Cup 2009 champions. They had really taken it to all the opposition on the day and were clearly the fittest and most well rounded side. Bragg may have had a few more skillful players, but Lejuene certainly won with the fitness and organization game.
From here I was invited to the NY All Star sevens referee dinner at Connoly’s pub in manhattan. It was great to meet, eat, and drink with our country’s top sevens referees and assessors.
Since my boots had split in such spectacular fashion the day before I made no attempt to AR on Sunday despite being asked – instead going for a delightful English breakfast in Greenwich village From there I hopped on the subway and went across the footbridge to Randall’s island to watch the rest of the sevens rugby. West won the Men and Northeast won the women’s division with some very entertaining games. Following the tournament I had the opportunity to meet and drink with a number of USA rugby celebrities including Dan Payne and Al Caravelli on our way to BBR…the tournament bar. I stayed for one drink, bullshitted a little, and caught the train to grand central and back up the Hudson river home. What a great weekend.
I traveled down to Hartford, CT for a hot hot day of 10s rugby. My GF was up for a visit, anxious to see me refereeing again for some reason….my #1 fan.
We had 4 referees, 10 teams and……3 fields???? 3 fields??? Not only did they for some reason insist on using 3 fields, two of the 3 fields had aobut 36# inch grass on it two days before! And it hadn’t been cleared! At any rate, it made for very soft ground on those two fields, but soft ground does not make for fast running…which 10s is supposed to promote.
At any rate, I did enjoy the rugby I refereed on this day. My first game was UCONN B vs. New Haven. I found myself calling a number of penalties against UCONN for not releasing. I also pinged them for not being back 10 on a lineout…after I yelled get back about 5 times with no response. On a side note, I thought I was very strict with my “not releasing” calls for the entire day….but 10s seems conducive to the penalty. There’s a lot more one on one contact in this than sevens/fifteens with support significantly slower to arrive. In the end, New Haven blanked the UCONN killer bs.
My second game was Western Conn (D3/D4) vs. Dartmouth (top D1 college). Now I was not prepared for the indiscipline of Western Conn, they would just flagrantly be offside and have their hands in ruck with no abandon despite my communication. I was simply appalled by this lack of respect for the laws….It seems I have not dealt with a team at this level in some while. At any rate, their flagrant illegality did not produce any stolen ball for them or really slow up Dartmouth…nevertheless….Dartmouth could not stop whining about it…and it really annoyed me. I certainly tightened up on Western Conn after I realized they were not going to listen to my communication, but even after Western Conn cut out their illegalities, Dartmouth continued to whine about some very silly things…especially considering the score…some teams just whine I guess.
My 3rd game…..I skipped. The long grass had wreaked havoc on my ankle to cause pain I’d never felt before. I retired to ice and stretching to prepare for the late afternoon final.
The final was UCONN Alumni vs. White Plains…both of whom were undefeated throughout the tournament. White Plains were the hotly tipped winners, but one if their key players went off injured in the first few minutes of the game, making for a very tight affair. The game went to a draw..10-10…I really wasn’t happy when white plains missed their easy conversion to win. We went into sudden death overtime...thank god it wasn’t penalty kicks again. UCONN made a great break out wide only to be tackled near in goal. Ruck Formed, defensive line formed, I’m in my normal position….and the phase runner decides to run straight into my back. Now, I don’t think he needed to do that…I think it’s really possible he just wanted the scrum for touching the referee with the ball.
Take a look at this video where this player used that law to his advantage:
One other key point I want to make about the final is a call I made on the UCONN Alumni Try line. White plains produced a strong attack but UCONN made a strong tackle and stripped the ball…only to then be collapsed down and driven further towards their goal line. I went for a penalty to UCONN for collapsing the ruck (considering they had seemed to win the ball fair and square) but looking back on it…I think this is another situation where I would have preferred going to a scrum – in this case to White Plains. I don’t think the UCONN player was really intentinonally collapsed, I think he was knocked in the ruck, resulting in a eventual buried ball with Plains driving forward à Plains scrum. Oh well, going forward, need to make sure I give this more thought and not just go straight for a gut penalty.
One more thing…..at our summer society meeting the weekend following this game somebody referred to White Plains as “White Complains.” I found this quite humorous because I do recall a number of totally nonsensical “offside” comments from their side. I mean, situations where there seriously could have never been offside…..they really do just like to complain about nothing. An apt name.
Overall it was a good tournament, I was happy to get more practice with my team of 3 in the final (thanks boys) and get to see fellow refs again.
This was a fantastic tournament to be involved with. Over 100 teams, daily 75 degree weather, beautiful Adirondack surroundings, and a small mountain resort town totally taken over by rugby for the weekend...I couldn't ask for better.
I drove up Friday evening straight from work only to be welcomed by a hotel on the lake with a parking lot of full of rugby referees and beer. After all, the Old Boys pool play (over 35s, 45s, and 50s divisions) was that day, all of the referees for that part of the tournament needed to recover somehow.
It was great to meet up with many referees I had met before at previous events: Texas referees from Rucktoberfest (Boone, NC), MARFU referees from the Pittsburgh U19, and of course, plenty of NY State and New England Referees. From their we made the responsible decision to go to the "watering hole," for what turned out to be the bar for the weekend. Ended up turning in around 11-12 on friday night with some late night italian food. For referees, Saranac Lake tournament organizers do it right, they provide an AWESOME breakfast....I even managed to eat paleo both mornings. Delicious eggs, bacon, sausage, and plenty of fruit. Now for the catch, you HAVE to go to breakfast, before 630, to even be assigned your games. On saturday morning (following the watering hole) one referee did not make it and had all of his games surrendered.
My schedule for the day was as follows:
8 AM Lake Placid - Women - Doylestown 22 v. 7 Hudson Valley
My guess is I was assigned this because I'm a first year saranac referee.....I got an 8 am game about 30 minutes away in Lake Placid...meaning I was very lucky to have packed my kit before breakfast so I could get there in time.
At any rate, I arrived, warmed up, almost forgot my watches, then made my way to the field. I did my chats with the teams and got ready for kick off only for "SIR! Where's the ball?".......We as referees were provided a ball for each field...I conveniently forgot mine at the ref's tent. So....I pointed to the first reasonable ball I saw on the sideline...good thing too, I definetely wouldve gone to court for that (another referee in placid did. He stupidly went back to the tent for the ball! silly scottish boy.... all the other refs turned him in). Now for my performance.... I was not happy. It was 8 am and I was probably a bit rusty/tired, but I could tell the ladies/coaches were not too...impressed. At any rate, I took my typical approach to this game, trying to manage the penalties out of the game and doing the best job I could. Apparently the ladies thought I was a tad inconsistent and did not give clear signals... I just thought I was managing the game and infringements the best I could - maybe they wanted me to blow my whistle a lot more...maybe they were a bit hungover, who knows. Anyway, the game was clearly won by Doylestown and I do recall one error I'm unhappy with. I played a penalty advantage to Doylestown....they proceeded to get go forward ball and "not release" I immediately awarded the "no advantage" to Doylestown only for Hudson to be convinced it was their penalty and argue.....Doyles quicktapped and ran in a score. So, maybe I shoudl have been clearer, maybe the opposition was just stupid, I just wish they would have been back to have a fair shot at defending.
I also did not mention the field marking...there was a yellow line and then about 2 meters further was a white line (lacrosse). A girl almost ran out the back because the lining issues (she got it down just in time). It caused confusions for teams all day (defensively) and may have helped and hindered teams.
Next game:
11 AM Lake Placid - Social - Blackhorse Alumni 27 - 15 Akron
After the 8 am game frusturations I decided no more gray area in my refereeing...I'm going to be a hard ass. I went into this game with the mindset...I'm going to manage..but I'm not going to let anything fly and I am giong to set a very strict standard in the first phases of the game. And so I did....in one of the first few breakdowns a Blackhorse player went straight into the ruck off his feet, sealing off...I pinged him, and Akron kicked the penalty straight in front of the posts. From then on, I probably gave 3-4 penalties for the same offense. I also awarded quite a few other penalties, there was definetly a high count for this game. I didnt like it...I was blowing my whislte more than normal..but the players did not seem to complain...I would like to think they just tried to clean up their act. In sum, the game was close, 20-15 at the end with Akron on a strong attack to score....only to have their last past intercepted and ran in 70 meters to score (making it 27-15).
I was also happy with my scrum management with this game, I really was able to pick out teh good binds and problem areas. When Akron tried to whip wheel (pull), I picked up on it immediately, knew exactly what had happened, and penalized the offender...no question.
Also, this game had one of the funniest rugby moments I have ever experienced. White was being jersey tackled and was trying to wrestle his way out of it....the jersey ended up pulled over his and only around his arms....he was still going forward with the ball and tackled. Akron went to try and strip the ball from him...the player had released the ball, but his shirt had not! the ball was totally enveloped in the shirt. After a couple tugs Akron (Blue) pulled the jersey (filled with the ball) from the player. He then proceeded to take it forwarded and get tackled...Ruck formed...ball at the back of the ruck (still in the jersey). The halfback then takes the ball (jersey and all) and passes to the flyhalf to play! By this point the whole sideline is clapping at the hilarity of the situation. The flyhalf looks at me with a deer in the headlights look...what do I do??? At that stage, I blew my whistle and awarded a blue scrum. I do wish teh flyhalf took it and kept playing though...would have been pretty funny especially had he kicked it.
Here is a similar situation, mine went a phase further:
3 PM Saranac Lake - Social - Lockport v. Hudson Valley
This game was a close one, Bright Green vs. Bright Green, but I had a very good time refereeing it. I had the same attitude for this game as the last but the penalty count for this was significantly lower...I think my management became more effective.
I did have a strange issue in this game, both teams were anticipating my engage and leaning in. That took some management and made me remember a previous coaching point..my cadence tends to be crouch, touch, pausengage. It's more like 3 steps, my pauseengage transition is very quick. I changed it during the game, I warned the players to wait until my ENGAGE, and then was forced to use my whistle.
Now, I recall a few other memorable moments:
A 50 plus guy, playing hooker this game, made a crossfield kick under pressure....to his son on the wing. I unfortunately could tell that his son was offside, but man I should have really rewarded the effort since the kick actually landed in the kids arms, an amazing feat for a 50 plus hooker, lol.
There was also a charged clearance kick that tipped up into the air in goal, three players jumped in the air for it, 1 Hudson (defending) and 2 Lockport (attacking), none of them gained possession and it came down into a pile beneath them all. I was right on top the situation and saw lockport hands on the ball as it went to ground....but a hudson back/side was also on it. My decision, given clearly and quickly, was a try for Lockport. A very close call to make, was it right? I can't be sure, but it's what I thought in that moment.
Overall a bottom bracket fun social game, now on to the post game.
Saturday Evening
The New England Referee Society put on a spectacular dinner (paleo qualified). Lots of steak, chicken, salad, and beer. We drank plenty of a new favorite beer of mine, Lake Placid Brewing Company's Ubu Ale. At any rate, we got on with a highly entertaining pirate themed kangaroo court. It was kept to a very reasonable length, only 4 cases, we funneled some beverages, and made our way back to the watering hole. Plenty of shenanigans went down, but I shall not reveal......here's a pic. We returned around 130-2 that night. Sunday Morning
Again, up for the 630 AM breakfast. I took a supply of B vitamins and emergenC the night before to fight my hangover...with some degree of success I think. Unfortunately, I found out that when I turned my ankle at the bar last night it did actually get hurt. I was limping all morning, but visited the physio at the fields, got my ankle wrapped up, used my usual braces, and got to it.
9 AM - Saranac Lake - Akron 20 v. Old Gold 7
It started raining right as the game started, but not too badly. Akron totally murdered the Old Gold scrum in this game, managing to drive back and steal many of them.
I was very fortunate in this game to have two assistant referees, especially considering my mobility because of my hurt ankle. I have had assitants before, but I never really felt I used them. In this game, however, I really noticed myself referring and glancing at my assistants for their opinion's on knocks/forwards and lineout infringements. Maybe they were faster and closer to play than other assistants I have had, but I felt very comfortable referring and working with my assistants on this game. Overall, I thought the game went very smoothly, but I disagree with one of my calls. Akron carried the ball forward, was tackled, and made a poor ball placement. Akron and Old Gold came in and formed the ruck, but the ball was in the middle where the half back could not reach. Old Gold drove hard and was turned in the ruck when driving over and kiled the ball. I penalized Old Gold for illegal zone entry / in the side but the right call there was a stuck ball...scrum to Gold as they were actually driving forward.
I also had a referee coach watching this game and he pointed out that within 5 minutes Gold committed 4 red zone penalties (red zone being inside their 22). This warranted a talking to and formal admonishment, but I failed to have this chat.
This brought to an end my Saranac Refereeing for 2009. From here I retired to a shower and headed to the premier field. The rest of the day proved eventful, including a nasty downpour during the over 35s final....Schenectady lost 0-3...a dour affair. The weather improved after the over 35s final for the rest of the day, providing for some good rugby.
Overall, this was a great event, I met many referees, met some old playing friends, and made many more.
This is an annual 7s tournament hosted by the Raleigh Vipers benefit charity in Raleigh, NC. The tournament also coincided with my 23rd birthday this year.....so I decided to go home, visit my girlfriend, my parents, and all my old rugby friends.
Many old teammates from the Vipers were there, as were teammates from my university club, NC State. It was a well staffed event, each referee only having to officiate 4 games.
Some interesting moments:
I was knocked over in one game....I think it was UNC v. Sir Walter Raleigh. I got straight back to my feet but I'm glad I didn't turn out like this ref:
I also had a QF end in a tie...thankfully we went straight to sudden death overtime...I didn't want to have to host ANOTHER penalty kick shootout!
The tournament organizer, knowing how far I traveled and my level of refereeing, made the decision to award me the tournament final....ECU v. Sir Walter Raleigh (a raleigh team).
It was a close game, but Raleigh's experience proved too much for ECU's pace. The strangest refereeing moment I recall in the game was when a ball flew vertically (about 30-40 feet) from a player's grasp. The ball was punched from a raleigh player's grasp....something I had never really seen before. I deemed it a knock on by Raleigh and told the ECU player to tackle not punch the ball....is this the right decision? It just seemed like such a strange action to me.
A lot of the same as Springfield, a good social tournament.
I remember my first game of the day was a ladies motley green (springfield) v. motley green (middlesex)! fun stuff! I recall calling a knock on only for it to have actually been a girl on the other team...dont know if I should have done this....but I hadnt signalled for the knock yet so I upgraded it to a penalty when I realized she was offside!
I also had my first experience with Boston Irish Wolfhounds, playing against Newport Riptide. I recall trying to get the #5 to roll away, clearly communicating it and awarding penalty advantage. Unfortunately, he got up, rolling away, but then elected to pick the ball up from the wrong side of the ruck! I was amazed! a flagrant professional foul I thought and deserved of a card. I'm not sure what the right decision was, but I ended up not carding the player and just gave him a stern talking to. My problem with what is a normal penalty in this case was that it was obviously intentional, there was absolutely no grey area or possiblity to misunderstand, it was flagrant. At any rate, BIW totally outclassed the other side anyway to win.
Another interesting moment of the day was the tournament final, where the referee with about 2-3 minutes to go RED CARDED (SENT OFF) a BIW player for backchat. According to the referee, it was only going to be a yellow for a consistent "your useless ref!" but when the referee requested the BIW player talk to him, the BIW told the referee "NO! your a bloody plonker!" at which point, the yellow was upgraded to red. Following this, Mystic River came out winners of what turned out to be a very entertaining final.
Also, kudos to the tournament organizer. He did an excellent job. The fields though...they were short and narrow with misaligned posts...nevertheless, it was a social tournament and a good time.
This was a very fun day of 7s. I always enjoy 7s tournaments because it's a great opportunity to see many of your fellow referees, see the referee team picture above!
I don't have lot of notes from the games but I do recall that at this tournament, all three fields shared in-goal areas with each other. Well, the middle field shared both ingoal areas, the other two just shared the middle. Amazing.
As far as I know, no problems were had with this, but I was still surprised to see SHARED ingoal areas.
I recall that my first game had no penalties, something I was pretty happy about.
I had the opportunity to referee the Open final at this tournament, South Shore v. Boston 2. It was a repeat of the final from Worcester 7s, with the same winner, South Shorre.
This tournament was a tough decision for me, and will add to this post as time goes on.
At the last minute I decided to take a day of vacation from work and make the 8 hour drive to Pittsburgh for the East Coast u19 Challenge...all star teams from all the local area unions up the east coast.
I had never been yelled at more before in my whole career refereeing. It was absolutely appalling to me, but when you referee higher levels you are expected to be perfect.
I could write and write about errors I made, especially I have videos of two of my games thanks to bill burch http://www.lineoutvideo.com/.
I had tried to apply many of the NERFU tourney evaluator's tips, but my only resolution to that is I was not ready to. I was stressed out about missing work and attending this tournament at such short notice, It all affected me and I just dont feel like I refereed well....as I already said...especially after seeing the video.
Looking back on the games I had some just plain wrong calls. I never had a win/loss effect on a game, but I really question some of my 50/50 gray area calls. If there's anything to take away from this tournament I think it is to establish my standard firmly from the start in non-consequential positions (feed, bridging v. collapse, foot up, etc.). It's not a fond memory of the weekend.
Despite my perceived poor performances, the tournament assignors gave me a great game on Sunday, the u-17 final, MetNY v. N Ohio. I had ARs for this game but for w/e reason I defended all of my decisions when they were really giving me good advice from the sidelines...I was just stubborn and insecure of my performances over the weekend.
Enough trashing myself, it was a very valuable experience and a great test. I know where my mistakes were, and know what I want to work on. I met some great referees and made some great new friends, I will see them all at saranac very soon.
After the two CDYR games I traveled down the to the Albany Knicks field to referee to ladies U19 All star games.
The first game was New England vs. Met NY. Met NY lost some girls the night before to prom duties and injury, barely having a full side. New England ran away with this game easily.
The second game of the day was New England v. NYS. This was a very competitive game, I was impressed with many of these girl's athleticism. New England eventually ran out winners, I think the score was 20-10.
I unfortunately started to experience bad overuse pain my right leg. I tried some rehab on saturday without much success, I tried refereeing on sunday, but for the first time ever, forfeited my game about halfway through to another referee.
New England were eventual comprehensive winners of the tournament.
This was the first annual Capital District Youth Rugby Tournament. To sum it up, it has been a great pleasure being involved with the development of this league in its third year. I've been able to help coach on occasion and I feel as though I really helped these boys learn rugby through my refereeing.
This tournament did not determine league champion, this was already won by Albany Bulldogs, but was just a tournament culmination with a tournament champion awarded. The tournament was seeded as follows:
1. Albany Bulldogs v. 4. Kingston Rugby 2. Berkshire v. 3. Southern Tier (Binghamton)
The bottom three sides played a round robin: Schenectady, Saratoga, and Rensselaer
Now to my games:
Schenectady 19 -15 Saratoga
I refereed Schenectady three times in total this season, and this game was by far their best. They finally got their 8 man back...he got injured by GLASS on the field at one of the first practices. Oh boy was this kid a bruising ball carrier....everytime he got his hand on the ball Schenectady got on the front foot. This whole team fed off this go forward ball holding on for the win at the end of the game.
Kingston 20 - 22 Albany
This was the 1 v 4 semifinal. This game came down to the wire with Albany scoring a try and conversion on full time for the win. I'm not going to lie, but during the game, I really enjoyed Kingston's style of game. They had a bit more size than Albany (who had A LOT more pace), and used their size to great effect. Taking advantage of the law changes (no maul collapses) Kingston murdered Albany in the set piece. It seemed every line out would get them great go forward ball as they won clean and got a good mauling drive. It also seemed, despite my best management and communication, that Albany could never find the offside line at the maul...seeing Kingston win a number of penalties...kicks to touch..and lineouts. It was a good Second Rows style of game (me, haha).
At any rate, the Kingston smash mouth kind of game eventually wore them down...their fitness showing. Albany came back at the death to win and enter the final.
Now, this was the first of a few championships this season which came down to PENALTY KICKS. I totally disagree with this tie breaker method, it is not representative of a rugby team..FORWARDS DO NOT TRAIN TO KICK THE BALL. It is not appropriate to determine a game winner, there must be another method. It was heinous that Cardiff Blues lost the heineken cup semi this year on kicks, it's just not fair.
Fortunately, I was not there to watch this sour penalty kick affair, as I was sent to referee the NRU U19 Girls All star championship that afternoon and sunday.
This was my first sevens tournament of 2009, a small (10 teams) get together of high school sides in connecticut and western Massachusetts.
I just purchased a new car (kia soul) before this tournament, so I was eager to take it on a nice drive, and the drive through the Connecticut countryside to historic Simsbury Connecticut (Just west of Hartford), did the trick. (insert pic of kia soul).
I really enjoyed the tournament despite being staffed by only 3 referees: myself, another young guy, and an older fella. The older fella, whom I will not name, decided Sam and I were young, so after he did one game, he resigned the refereeing duties to sam and I, two on, two off….all day long. “Older Fella” enjoyed his Gatorades and the shade, chatting with the area old boys…but sam and I did not complain, we were having fun out there. In all, Sam and I refereed 8 games or so a piece.
The most interesting point of the day was the final, which I was refereeing. I believe it was between the home town boys (Simsbury High) and Cheshire rams. It was a very tight game but late in the first half an incident from earlier in the day wreaked havoc on the game. One of the players had a concussion earlier in the day, and either did no realize it or did not report it. Of no matter, in forming a line out, the player collapsed and began having a seizure/convulsing on the field. It was a scary site and brought to my mind memories of the Longwood incident in VA, where a player did not report a concussion and collapsed after a game…dying two weeks later.
It took sometime for the ambulance to arrive (EMTs were available immediately), but delayed the game substantially. The executive decision was made by the organizers, after such a scary incident, to end the final early with Simsbury in the lead. I am not sure what the organizers decided, but I don’t think a winner was declared. Beyond the final, this was a great day of rugby, and I hope to find myself there again in the coming seasons.
The NERFU Championship, a nice long weekend up in a Northern New Hampshire small town at the bottom of mount washington, North Conway.
I traveled up with two Albany Knicks players on friday evening....going up through the mountains and vermont and into New Hampshire..a beautiful drive.
I was given a full 80 minute game on saturday, Division 4 Monadnock (NH) v. Mad River (VT). I thought I would have got a better game, oh well. I work with what I get. Both of these teams were up to it and put together a fantastic game of rugby with a score of Monadanock 44 - 35 Mad River...it was certainly not a fantastic defensive display. Nevertheless, it was entertaining. Mad River punched in two tries early in the game with some lucky kick and chases...I almost needed to make some key offside calls but managed to get the players to stop before they were really material.
I unfortunately cannot remember too many key moments of the game, but the evaluator had a number of concepts to explain to me. He had a few key messages and concepts:
Manage the tackle, not the post tackle
He told me to really focus on anticipating play even more. Know how this tackle is going to play out before it happens so you can manage all issues before they even become an issue.
Stand up straight, don't shuffle and bend over
Lets face it, I'm tall and goofy. I need to stand up straight, maintain my posture, and exude confidence....laugh less...I'm not trying to be friends with the players, I am refereeing their game. He said overall it was ok, but to really actively think about my posture and rapport with players.
Fitness
I have a bad ankle, I limp a little, and look slow, but I'm not. In order to get over the ankle, I need to be especially fit so it's not even an issue.
Long Whistles, not beeps, when they dont listen.
Work on 'reflex' advantage. I had 6 advantages in this game, one stuck. Not good.
and more and more and more. The evaluator and I had a long very productive discussion. Hopefully he comes to Saranac and sees improvements.
Here is the evaulator comments, I wont go to his stats. They were a lot worse than what I thought, and what all the players thought, was an excellent game.
In our post match discussion we chose to focus on only the two areas we thought would most improve your refereeing in the near to medium term. These were: your mobility around the field (both perceived and real) and your (as a referee) ability to anticipate and manage events rather than merely react to the outcomes of phases such as tackles, scrum engagements and so on. Because you limp from your injury you are perceived to be slower than you are. My impression is that you run quickly and could do even more so if you were absolutely aerobically fit and anticipated and reacted more swiftly to the flow of play. I’d suggest you set yourself a fitness target of Level 11:8 on the bleep test and work with your Physical Therapist to attain this. You might also work at speeding up your immediate acceleration.
The second objective is for you to learn how you can anticipate events (like the probable outcome of a tackle) in order that you can manage it vocally to try to prevent negative outcomes such as pile ups. I enjoyed our discussion on tackle management but would recommend you stock up with DVDs of good rugby (not Super 14) and watch and learn. Put yourself inside the referee. Watch the match through his eyes. What is he seeing? Is he early enough to the tackle to manage it positively? Is he tolerant or harsh toward players on the ground? Does he appear to have his own game plan designed to make the match open, faster, free flowing or intense? Refereeing may be an art, but it is surely grounded in science.
so, I mentioned the drunk barefoot touch rugby from the albany knicks family day....I didn't realize how sore my groin was until I started running this game on sunday.
Luckily it was a blowout against the dragon ladies...so my lack of ability to move did not matter much.
I should mention that hte Rennselaer boys and girls have acquired themselves a decent field at the VFM post out in Poestenkill. Good going rensselaer.
Beautiful conditions, unfortunately it was a very poorly marked field. Red lines, shared with the white lines of a soccer field. Not only were the red lines barely visible, they were not parallel with the soccer lines or goal lines. This made it very difficult for the referee, assistant referees, and players, to decipher touchlines, try lines, 22s, etc.
Scoreline is not indicative of the game up until 60 minutes. Very competitive game between two evenly matched sides. Both teams demonstrated their ability the pass it out wide use their athleticism in the backline to break and/or pass out of the tackle.
Unfortunately in the 60th minute, with the score at Saranac 19 - 17 Saratoga, one of Saratoga's backline players decided to pick up a gallon of water off the sideline and throw it at a saratoga player. No questions, the player was sent off. The floodgates then opened up, saranac scoring try after try, final score 50-17. A very sad way to decide such a closely fought game, but there is no place in rugby for that kind of behavior.
Following the game, Saratoga hosted a great social in downtown. Food beer, the works. Here I found out the player who through the gallon of water actually had a bit of history for these types of acts....
After sometime with Saratoga I traveled down to the Albany Knicks who were hosting their annual "Family Day." By Family Day they mean, intrasquad scrimmage, beer, pig picking, then drunk touch rugby....with a beer in your hand. It was a very good time.
One other referee, Fort Bragg, and myself stayed at the Hotel Edison one block from Times Square. We met outside the hotel to wait for the Fort Bragg van to pick us up and take us out to Randall’s island. It eventually arrived and we all crowded into the 15 passenger van only to realize we had about 1/8th a tank of gas and didn’t really know how to get there! At this stage one of the tourney organizers got on the phone with our NYPD rugby brethren…..and the NYPD said they would come help us out. Little did we know what kind of help that was on our way….
Before the first game I ran over to see the referees for the NASC sevens. This included the national panel of 7s referees as well as a number of Met NY referees serving as assistant referees and in-goal judges.
From there I hopped on the subway and went across the footbridge to Randall’s island to watch the rest of the sevens rugby. West won the Men and Northeast won the women’s division with some very entertaining games. Following the tournament I had the opportunity to meet and drink with a number of USA rugby celebrities including Dan Payne and Al Caravelli on our way to BBR…the tournament bar. I stayed for one drink, bullshitted a little, and caught the train to grand central and back up the Hudson river home. What a great weekend. 
