5/22/2010 Assistant Referee: USA Rugby Western Playoffs

I was pleased to be invited, but the conditions were not conducive to good rugby. I was an AR for six games, a mixture of D1, D2, and D3. Nobody really performed well - it was way too hot humid. Two referees went to the hospital with heart issues from the heat. Not enough ARs to cover the amount of games.

It was good to see the top level of club rugby - and many USA players that I have admired, but the weather was just good for rugby.

5/29/2010 Denton Memorial Sevens Tournament

loooooooooooong hot day.

good practice sevens refereeing.

Did too many games - 8 at final scorecard count. But I think im missing some - each scorecard was doing up to triple and quadruple duty.

Denton v. FW.
First morning game had a few penalties - offsides at penalty, not releasing tackled player, and zone violations.


Next game had scrum issues. One player would not get full binds - but i could not find in the laws where it required him to for sevens. caused instability...though he was a lot stronger than his opposition. stupid me.

Next game was a fun one, back and forth down the field close match between DARC and OU. OU put some distance at the end to win 21-12. Had an interesting law issue in this one - free kick and fifty. Player taps then attempts a "drop-goal." Drop goal went dead. Is it a 22 meter drop or a scrum option? was the "drop-kick" an attempted "drop-goal" or simply a kick going dead?

Quins v OU next. 5-0. Lots of issues with the scrums - Quins testing me in every way. Foot in, driving early, wheeling. Really slowed the game down with my resets and penalties at scrum time.

FW 14 - 5 Woodlands. This was a pool decider. FW pulled away with their stronger running style. Not much sevens on display here.

Quins v. Woodlands. Quins ran them ragged. Quins threw a punch on a scrum hold. I had complaints about this in other matches for the quins.

FW v. Woodlands rematch. FW had more injuries since - Woodlands won this one handily.

Cup Final - Shreveport v. Quins. The most challenging match of the day. Quins went up fast and early. Got a decision wrong on a kickoff. Knocked forward by quins - then knocked back by quins player in front - in sevens...opposition is pretty much always in position to take advantage. Slightly impeded on Shreveport player - but I thought he was clear for the try anyway. I disallowed one conversion kick for hte quins. They score behind one post, then kicked from behind the other - I yelled and yelled to stop him, no matter. Disallowed kick. Unfortunately this proved a deciding factor in a 28-26 decision. Shreveport tackled a quin as he was picking up the ball - quins lost it, Shreveport picked it up to dot down and convert for the lead. They took their time on the last kick - with my permission - with me saying there will be time for a kickoff. On the KO the quins got tackled into touch - game over. Fun one.

Most common penalty of the day was for the ball carrier not moving away from the ball. A couple tackler not releasing, multiple zone violations - but most common was the ball carrier not moving away form the ball - preventing an opposition player from playing the ball legally.

Overall - fun day, long day, but some great sevens reps were fit in.

5/8/2010 Assistant Referee: Denver Highlanders @ HARC

HARC lost this one in a shocker. HARC got too confident and were on the bad end of some decisions. HARC ended their undefeated season with a 1 point defeat to the 4th seeded side out of Eastern Rockies - horrible.

As an AR I had good rapport with the referee, but missed one opportunity to confirm a highlander try by not going to the back of ingoal.

Should have made clearer to the referee some of the issues in the game.

Here is a match report:


http://www.rugbymag.com/news/clubs/mensclubs/harc-highlanders-meet-again.aspx

Here are some highlights from the HARC season - lots of tries from when I refereed the SA game.


HARC Bulls 2010 Highlights from Kyle Wittenbraker on Vimeo.

5/2/2010: Westerns High School Final: St Thomas Aquinas (2) v. Austin Westlake (4)

The western high school championship final - what an honor to referee. St. Thomas Aquinas are the top HS from Heart of America. Austin Westlake came into the tournament as the #2 seed from Texas and played the #1 seed from Texas again on Saturday. In the Texas HS final Westlake lost to Dallas Jesuit 31-8 but miraculously turned it around on them on Saturday in the Western semi to enter the Western Final. The winner of this game would enter the High School National Championship as the #6 seed.

Here are highlights from the texas final:


The western final was fantastic, played at blistering pace. The High School rugby was really the best rugby on display at the westerns..d2 and d3 men was not much to show for. Austin Westlake punished St. Thomas Aquinas for every mistake they made..but did not create many scoring opportunities organically - their most potent threat was the maul on attack, otherwise, it was their merely their counterattack at broken defense. St Thomas Aquinas on the other hand were tactically very good, sending many very well placed kicks to the back three, punching through the middle of the centers, and running some nice loops and switches to break through. Unfortunately for Aquinas they were quite a bit smaller and struggled to manage the Westlake forwards.

For a game recap, see the Austin Westlake website:


http://westlakerugby.com/CV100503.aspx
The game was very challenging to referee because of the pace but I was very happy with my performance - I thought I stepped up well to the pace and controlled everything very well. The end result was a strong performance from the teams - I have never had so many people from the crowds come up to me after the game and throughout the day after-wards to tell me how good a game it was and how they are so happy to see such a professional referee.

There is an eval coming from this game, I will post it when I get it.

Notes:

-two yellow cards for repeated infringements, proud of my execution. Following the cards westlake really cleared up their game. First half was 8 penalties against Westlake, 2 against Aquinas. Westlake really cleaned it up after the half and Aquinas mounted quite a comeback.
-penalized clearing out (blocking) by Westlake at the ruck. sometimes this is subtle and not picked up on.
-repeated and cynical offenses by westlake defending their goal line resulted in two yellow cards against them
-other penalties were primarily unintentional tackle offenses...zone entry...not rolling...not releasing.
-Aquinas #12 was awesome, breaking through the line so well
-I had an almost block for Westlake #5...who was huge...need to check my positioning movement more. I still feel like i sometimes get in the way
-scrums were pretty faultless. Pinged both sides for foot up once.
-lots of kicks ahead. found it hard to pick up blindside winger hidden behind lineout coming up in front of the kicker. too focused on open side.
-played one very long advantage because Westlake defense was broken and Aquinas were so good on attack. 90 seconds.....but evaluator told me I was correct in doing so.
-later I think I called a penalty advantage over very quickly to compensate. this is bad news from me.
-had to call a picky lineout offense near full time. Aquinas clearly changed their #s on attack late into the lineout.
-probably one of the most challenging games I have had to referee. glad I managed to do well.

5/1/2010 Western Playoffs High School Semfinal: St Thomas Aquinas (2) - Kansas City v. Canton High School (3) - Canton, OK

This was an interesting one. The Canton, Oklahoma team has quite the story.

Canton, OK is town with a population of 600, about an hour and a half west of Tulsa. The middle of nowhere, literally. The Canton high school plays 8 man football in the fall. Two years ago the kids were pretty bored in winter time and went to see a rugby film called "Forever Strong." After the film they decided they all wanted to play rugby, and the football coach who was sitting with an 0-8 football team decided....what the hell...lets try it. So, the football coach set on his way coaching rugby, which he had never ever played or seen, to these kids as their spring sport. The team also adopted the "Ka Mate" haka, they performed this before this game and also before all of their football games.




Two years later...and they're in the Western Playoffs! Goes to show how much athetlicism counts. The kids may know little about rugby tactics, but sure were all athletes. Now not only did they get pretty good at rugby quickly with no knowledge, their rugby playing helped their football. The team went from last place in the 8man conference to state finalists!



Now on to the match. St Thomas Aquinas were clearly a class above the boys from Canton - but Canton certainly played with heart. Canton had some some of craziest tactics I had ever seen as well - tactics you could only see coached into a rugby game by a football coach. The way they played basically looked like the video below...just no blocking. Lots of wildly thrown passes, and on penalties they preferred to throw the ball like a football to the other side of the field for a player to run on to it, crazy!



The conditions for the match were 85 degrees, artificial turf. St Thomas Aquinas dominated every part of the game, but were caught off guard by the crazy tactics of Canton. Canton had a nice series of offloads early in the 1st half, but knocked on the final offload to score the try. On full time Aquinas had put in all of their subs and Canton pushed one in off a penalty play near in-goal.

St Thomas Aquinas (36)
Tries: 1:30 (c), 10:08 (c), 23:06 (c), 25:40, 34:00, 40:00

Canton High School (5)
Tries: 70:00

Notes
-I didn't feel to well. I felt I was starting to have too much empathy for the losing side...the same issue that got me in trouble for the STH v. Strake Jesuit game. I managed to keep it out of my head, and maintain my standard for the canton kids. To the Canton kids and the coaches credit...the canton boys did understnad the concept of on-side and rolling away at the tackle. What they didnt understand was the difference between dangerous tackle and safe. This was communicated and prevented.
-had one canton tackler not release the ball carrier. I penalized him and he didnt understand. He said "I dont want to let him get back up." my response...the ball carrier is not allowed.

5/1/2010 Western Playoffs Division 3 Quarterfinal Northern State (1) v. Arkansas Gryphons (8)

 

I arrived in Fort Worth, TX about 6 PM on Friday Night. I first went to dinner with my referee coach and then participated in a short conference with the other referees and assessors on tackle law. The discussion was lively and I could tell this was a good group of referees so tomorrow was going to be interesting.

I was given the first game of the day, the #1 v. #8 Division 3 quarterfinal, Northern State vs. Arkansas Gryphons - 30 minute halves. It was to be played on Field #1, the one full sized and properly lined artificial rugby pitch (pictured above...the one with the posts). The other two fields (soccer) had full size fields of play, but the ingoals were quite small.

Northern State came down all the way from Aberdeen, South Dakota for the game. They were a good mixture of polynesians, college students, and local townspeople. Northern State also...happen to be the reigning Division 3 National Champions - they won the 2009 national championship game 67-22. This might bring one to wonder why they did not move up a division. Then you realize....they're from northeast South Dakota...who the hell are they going to play in a division higher?????? At any rate, here they were again, Western Div 3 playoffs ready to stick it to the lowest seed from Arkansas - the Gryphons.

The Gryphons sneaked into the Western playoffs as the Heart of America #2 seed. They were a great bunch of guys at the start of the game but seemed to have already admitted defeat to the Northern State side - something which turned out to be their undoing.

The game kicked off to Northern State, a few phases occurred, some slow passes...and BAM - a Gryphon center picked up an errant pass to dot down beneath the posts at 2:20. The Gryphons seemed more shocked than Northern State.The game contined to be well contested in every facet..the scrum, lineout, and tackle. Northern began to show their organization as they had two well worked tries at 11:20 and 15:00. The Gryphons worked their way back to dot another down 19:30. NS ended the half with a try at 27:10. It should be noted....the NS kicker nailed every conversion...and a lot of them were from the sidelne (very impressive).

The Gryphons really seemed a little surprised they were in the game. To be honest, had they been more confient and serious about the match - they could have won it!

In the 2nd half NS scored at 41:00, 58:20, and but then Gryphons scored again on full time (60:00). The game was well contested in every facet and I really feel that ive Arkansas had felt more motivated about it they could certainly have won it.

Northern State proceeded to hammer the teams in the Semi and Final - the Gryphons scored more points against NS than any other side.

I also had an assessor watching this match. He was very impressed with my performance and that night I was promoted to L1. I will post his report when I get it. I was very fortunate - the two teams were out to play a good game and not screw around with the referee, the result was really special.

Notes:

-Scrum issues. Some wheeling going on. Only gave one scrum penalty when a NS player got shoved too hard by his flank and lost his binds.
-On a kick the Green (Gryph) 15 was "slightly" impeded. Shirt was grabbed which slowed him down a meter. This is enough to give a penalty - poor call by me.
-Players were extremely receptive to communication
-was out of position for first try...need to go in goal. I moved infield away from ruck near in goal. Never do that...you have to be there for the try. Luckily my AR was there.
-Assessors commented on my "lope." My response - I move around very well - I just look slow because my legs are long
-on first intercept...it was so unanticipated I was drastically out of position. Barely got there in time.

4/24/2010 San Antonio @ Houston Athletic Rugby Club (HARC)

80+ degree conditions, slight wind. Full sized grass field, a few spots of mud/standing water. HARC were 9-0 in Texas Division 1, playing for an undefeated season. San Antonio were 1-8, their last tie with HARC in San Antonio ended 81-5 in HARC's favor.

HARC dominated the game in all facets - moving the ball from #1-#15 spectacularly well while scoring 13 tries.

San Antonio scored a spectacular try themselves towards the end of the first half. Inside the 50 meter line, the SA flyhalf chipped through the HARC defense, the HARC winger mishandled, a chasing SA player kicked forward again, and the SA #9 cleverly running up the inside collected the ball and dotted down beneath the posts. I almost wanted to call the SA #9 offsides, but had no good reason - somehow he put himself in perfect position to collect and score.

My referee coach was also in attendance to provide me with some last minute pointers before Western Playoffs next weekend.

HARC (84)
Tries: 2:55, 9:00, 17:50 (c), 21:00 (c), 24:00 (c), 29:00 (c), 40:00 (c), 43:00 (c), 46:00, 55:00, 58:10 (c), 68:53 (c), 74:00 (c)
Penalties: 12:20

San Antonio (7)
Tries: 34:00 (c)

Notes:

-girlfriend came to this game. I finally convinced her to have a listen on my headset! she was enlightened by all of my commentary
-shorts were still muddy from last weekend. only had time to wash them once. need to work on my prof appearance
-lots of kickoffs going very close to 10, but not over. sometimes might have waited too long to blow whistle
-turned my back on penalty...some off the ball stuff began to occur. Always backpedal to mark.
-missed some serious knock ons in this game. one because I was facing defense. Flyhalf had a marginal knock and recovered - I missed it.
-bodies in the way made me miss a high ball knock on. the ball was next booted down field and dead, so I brought it back for the scrum anyway.
-it was quite hot and I was quite tired - I think I confused a knock on. White was moving backwards and pushed the ball.....I got turned around, thought they were going the ohter way, gave knock on. There may have been a marginal one before, but no matter. need to maintain my concentration.
-had a number of unplayables as I had sympathy for the larger not so fit SA players falling in tackles...for just being too tired. Could certainly have penalized them - and did on a number of occasions - but I felt a bit of mercy was ok as I did not deem their illegal efforts as intentional.
-got distracted and started talking when HARC took a quick lineout. I need to be aware of when this might happen and prepare myself to respond.
-got a knock on advantage wrong. SA won ball inside their own 22 form a knock, kicked ahead. I immediately called advantage over. Unfortunately it was a pressurized kick and it did not end well for SA. should have waited to see the result of the kick. The scrums, however, were not going well for SA.
-SA got quite rude with me. they did not understand tackle laws about tackler releasing player...and did not want to listen to me.
-some issues with SA on balls out. my conversation with teh forwards/captains before game was not communicated to backs it seems.
-I had a interpretation question. Kick ahead, 22 runs in front of kicker (started only just in front of him). I communicate to him to hold...he slows down, gets behind the kicker/chasing player, then continues forward after being put onside. He then makes a tackle on opposition ball carrier. Penalty? or not?

4/20/2010 St Thomas Freshman @ St Pius JV

70-80 Degree Conditions, somewhat wet and muddy field. 

 

The first half was totally owned by St Thomas who punished St Pius for their hesitant play and missed tackles.

 

The 2nd half, on the contrary, was totally owned by St. Pius. In the first half St. Pius were not focusing on keeping possession - but following a half time by the coaches St. Pius decided to make sure they kept the ball at every tackle and breakdown - placing the ball cleanly and smoothly. This possession and the chance to run at the smaller St. Thomas players was quite fruitful for the St. Pius side as they punched in two unconverted tries. On full time, to attempt to tie the game, St. Pius feltook a scrum against the head and made some great headway down the field to score the try to tie ..unfortunately one of their players got isolated and did not release the ball. STH booted the ball out to claim the win. 

 

St Pius (10) 

St. Thomas (17)

 

Notes:

-ankle was extremely sore. at the start of the match I could barely run. As the game wore on the pain and range of motion improved to get me in good position.

-some strange things happen in these games. one tackle with lots of playres, ball drops to ground knocked by red, is a ruck formed? I let a player pick it right back up and go on running with players attached from original "tackle" or more like "hug."

-concerned about one decision where a black player drove straight through and lost his footing on the other side in front of the scrumhalf. Instinctively I penalized him assuming he entered incorrectly and dove over. In reality, maybe he was ok...all red players had gone to ground.

-I felt my scrummage corrections were quite effective - no collapses all game.

-played game rather tight in first half. teams adjusted and played to set parameters as game wore on, making for something quite entertaining. I was pleased with my "influence" on these young players to be productive.

-as quite a low level game, I found it quite easy to read. I would like to improve my ability to read matches, and get ahead of the players the effectively communicate preventative measures.

4/18/2010 Texas Rugby Union Division 3 Consolation Final. Dallas Athletic Rugby Club (DARC) v. Dallas Reds (D3)

This was the Texas Division 3 Consolation Final. The winner of the game would travel to the Western playoffs in Fort Worth next weekend, the other would go home - their season being over. Both sides had lost very close matches on the Saturday - Texas D3 proves to be a very tightly contested and even competition.

It was 70-80 degrees, the field was wet and sticky from the rain the day prior, but certainly playable - nothing compared to what we dealt with yesterday (see SA v. Dallas Reds D1 match). I was provided with two EXCELLENT assistant referee for this match, totally in tune with what information I needed, and what was un-ncecessary.

Skillwise and athletically the two sides were evenly matched. DARC overall remained more composed and organized to win the game.The two ARs were superb assistants, pointing out a number of important off-the-ball incidents.

DARC (20)
Tries: 15:50, 24:40, 28:10, 69:50

Dallas Reds - D3 (7)
Try: 48:20 (c)

Notes:
-clear and distinct pre game discussion with coaches, teams, and captains. This has become a great ritual - helping me warm up mentally and establish parameters for the teams.
-within the first few minutes a player accidentally knocked out my headset. I played on a minute until the next stoppage before picking it up.
-captains began to complain a bit about foul play off the ball - I informed my ARs to keep an eye out. Sure enough, a stamp while moving away from a tackle was picked up and the perpetrator was yellow carded. Thanks to my #4 referee for managing the YCs and substitutions. It makes my job a whole lot easier without the paperwork. I have a few concerns about the delay in the call, and because of the delay I almost gave a card without giving a penalty!!! luckily I remembered and moved back for the mark and penalty.
-i think there were a few instances where I was slightly in the passing lane. related to mental block of moving around breakdowns
-I had a nice recovery on a spill in the mud. While chasing a red breakaway a player approaching a ruck pushed me forward...I slid into ingoal, checked for grounding of the ball in goal - didnt make it. I got back up to my feet immediately, moved in field, and Dallas dotted over for the score. Oh, my headset was hanging inbetween my legs like a tail (it got knocked out when I slid ingoal).
-DARC had a bad habit of only committing penalties in their red zone. I gave warning for repeated infringements following 2 tackle/ruck penalties. A minute later, in what I might consider a 50-50 call, a prop dove over a ruck in a lineout. He was carded for repeated infringements. I can see this concept really taking strength in my matches.
-I thought my communication was pretty effective to the players. I did mess up my AR names a few times though - feel a bit bad about that.
-DARC maintained their composure and organization throughout the match. Their switch off the ruck phase ball was very effective. They did have a habit of going straight off their feet at rucks.
-looking at some photos, my signals were not crisp
-A prop taught me a great lesson in this match. I called him for foot up. He had not been the type to infringe throughout the match, so I was surprised by him putting his foot up. Turns out, the Scrumhalf had performed a fake put in motion, a FK in itself. Incorrect call by me, and a great lesson learned. Says it so clearly in the lawbook.

Post Game

I had a great host in Austin, he took me to an Austin hotspot for a little bit of chicken shit bingo. This was definetly a Texas only experience, and boy am I glad I was there. You bet on a square, if the chicken shits on your square first, you win! It was also accompanied by some great music, Dale McAdams.

ONLY IN TEXAS

4/17/2010 Dallas Reds @ San Antonio

70 Degrees, Rainy. Over a foot of mud and standing water on field, barely playable conditions. Goal posts on top of soccer goals at the back of ingoal. One ingoal was only about 5 meters deep. Dallas Reds are a mid- table Division 1 men's side, San Antonio are at the bottom of the D1 table.

The Dallas side were very frusturated with the field conditions, struggling to focus on the game and making the right decisions. San Antonio capitalized on the Dallas hesitation and scored two opportunistic tries to start off the match...going up 12-0. As the game wore on and Dallas accepted the conditions they began to make it work for them. They showed their athleticism outwide breaking numerous tackles any time the ball moved passed their outside half (which was rare). It was one way traffic for the Dallas Reds in the the rest of the match but San Antonio picked up a consolation try on full time. Players were slipping and sliding in these atrocious conditions. Any player who kicked the ball would have their feet slide out from under them EVERY TIME.

There was, however, a couple of neat tries where the player slid a good distance in the mud/water to score.

Dallas Reds (31)
Tries: 26:00, 41:00, 60:31 (c), 72:00 (c), 77:00 (c)
San Antonio (17)
Tries: 15:10, 19:00 (c), 82:13

 Notes:

-as already stated, bad conditions. I was (along with all the players) carrying around about 10 pounds of mud on both feet.
-didnt improve my ball control, still staying infield, but was feeling limited by conditions. There were a couple of calls I made that required a bit of guessing because I was on the wrong side. The players claiming it popped out the side off a foot, but the ball was looking to me as if it was still in
-Dallas players wanted to ask about every 50-50 call, when theyd ask - SA took advantage. Nice work SA
-I think I may have been too sympathetic with SA - too much empathy for hte players I think lead the teams to question some of my calls
-there was a punch I missed, silly from SA player who weighs well under 150 lbs (scrumhalf, 18). thank god the Dallas player did not retaliate.
-somewhat lenient with breakdowns and players keeping feet for duration of ruck. more unplayables than usual.
-awarded try on 5 meter line (the ingoal was only 5 meters deep) so the 5 meter line looked certain to be the try line. No posts for reference either.
-Dallas player went ingoal and got pushed out without knowing it. I tried to tell the player to put it down to no avail. It's possible he might have been tackled and grounded on the goal line......but there was no line for reference, only mud.
-side entry issues. you must always drive straight, it doesnt matte rif you came in the gate at first, you still must push straight.
-Dallas foot up, blocking the put, didnt always ge tthe communication.
-22 drop out, player punted, total blatant up and over. I wasnt watching, did not call it. If I dont see it, I cant call it. Players played on but made sure I knew it was a punt.

4/10/2010 Austin Blacks @ San Antonio

This was my first weekend out to San Antonio. The weather was perfect for rugby, about 75 degrees and sunny. The pitch however... not so much. It was a mix of hard ground (pavement) and deep mud at Olmos Basin park.

San Antonio have had a tough season in Division 1 with a solitary win over Shreveport. They forfeited the away fixture with Shreveport the weekend prior to this.

As I arrived at the field San Antonio club members were on the phone recruiting players for the game - not a good sign. San Antonio ended up fielding a full 15 but many of the players were 18 years old - quite skillful but woefully undersized for Division 1 rugby. Austin Blacks arrived with a full squad looking certain for the win.

Austin Blacks dominated the flow of the game scoring a resounding 10 tries. The San Antonio and Austin teams were a friendly bunch. I hope the San Antonio club gets back to their old successes. Apparently the San Antonio club is reliant on a number of military based players; thus, they are subject to varying numbers of players.

Austin Blacks (60)
Tries: 5:00 (c), 13:00, 16:00 (c), 20:00, 27:00 (c), 36:00 (c), 51:10, 56:30, 66:00 (c), 73:00
San Antonio (0)

Notes:
-got an intentional knock forward blatantly wrong, it didn't go forward! I felt bad for San Antonio I guess. The pass block was quite negative, but quite legal.
-I screwed up on a wheeled scrum. San Antonio were consistently overpowered and I was encouraging them to get the ball out. The ball went close to ninety to I put the whistle to my mouth in preparation only for San Ant. to pull it out. Unfortunately, the whistle let out a light blast to the attention of hte players. I reset the scrum.
-I got some tackle interpretations dead wrong, not sure why. Maybe Austin were in my head. Players didnt notice, but right after making the call I sure did. Three incidents: Austin prop manhandling tiny SA scrumhalf (penalty for not releasing), austin tackler on wrong side of tackle impeding ball for SA (play on call), and finally a SA "tackler" for zone entry but he did drop to a knee before playing the ball (penalized him for zone entry, incorrectly)
-SA were quite frusturated. They claimed there was significant obstruction, but I disagreed. This seems common among teams getting hammered.
-I did not feel like I improved my ball control in this game. Still positioning almost strictly infield.

The teams thought I did very well, but I know better. I got some calls dead wrong - good thing I'm the only one who noticed. Need to wake up for my next match. I felt strangely tired and unmotivated on my way SA this day. Tried to motivate myself but didn't quite get there. Need to stick to my new strict pregame rituals -  I missed out on my checklist review.

4/3/2010 Richmond @ Raleigh

I went back to North Carolina for the Easter weekend and offered my services for the Raleigh v. Richmond game. Friday night I had a barbecue with the family and and Saturday rode over to Raleigh's awesome facilities, Poole Road. Raleigh are a MARFU D1 side, Richmond a top D2 side. It was about 80 degrees and very humid - both teams agreed to 1 minute water breaks during both halves. This was also a very special occasion for me - my brother and dad volunteered to be the Assistant Referees for the game. I brought the headsets with me and miked my family up for the match (see pic above).

Raleigh dominated the contact area and scrums. Raleigh managed to get good ball out to the backs and spread the Richmond defense thin - scoring tries from all over the field. Richmond managed to pick up an intercept try and penalty.

Raleigh (55)
Tries: 1:00 (c), 16:30, 25:05 (c), 39:05, 45:18 (c), 50:20, 67:50, 71:40 (c), 35:30 (c)
Richmond (10)
Tries: 53:05 (c)
Penalties: 58:20

Notes:

-A kick at the start of the game went straight out. Made my Dad immediately wake up as he wasnt sure if it had bounced or not. A nice wake up call for him - refereeing is serious business.
-It was good Dad was woken up because I needed him for an ingoal call. It took him a while to re-envision what had happened, but he eventually got it right. Knock on, scrum defenders.
-Dangerous tackle back inside raleigh 22 but ball was offloaded and spread well. Played advantage for dangerous tackle (communicating it very clearly). In a few phases, Raleigh scored a try. Please with myself.
-Gave a YC to Black (raleigh) 13 for repeat infringements. The penalty counts did not warrant a YC, it was #13s third tackle zone penalty. 1 penalty: shame on you,  2nd penalty shame on me, 3rd penalty: take a seat.
-Goal line penalty to Raleigh when richmond went on the wrong side. Penalty advantage given and Raleigh took to the boots (penalty reversed)
-still having general issues with offside, not pushing players back effectively
-gave penalty to richmond right in front of posts for marginal offsides. my mistake.
-Brother kept wanting to comment on immateriality. Rightfully so, but when a penalty is liable to have effect it should be confirmed (if im not sure). The incident in question was a kick and chase close offside
-Raleigh could not handle kick off receptions - they knocked on almost all of them!
-Richmond seemed a little scared to discuss game issues
-final penalty count: 18. I thought my communication was very effective on this day.


This game was a real honor to referee with my bro and dad.

3/27/10 HARC @ Austin Huns

This report is easy for me to post - an evaluator did it for me!

To sum it up though, I was very impressed with the Huns as a rugby club. Despite losing the game, they competed very well at the set piece - turning over quite a bit of HARC ball! They also put on a great post game social at their rugby dedicated bar - Nasty's - Rugby songs and all. They played the game at "Burr" field which belongs to their rivals, the Austin Blacks. The Huns are constructing their own rugby ground a few miles away to rival Burr. An interesting fact I recently learned - "Burr" field is not named after Aaron Burr or anybody else for that matter - the fields used to be covered with F'in burrs. Players would be pulling them out for days in the old times.

While looking for game footage I found this Boat race between Harc and Huns. There was a rematch on this day - but im not sure who won that. There was lot of shooting the boot though.



Also, here is some footage from the game before mine. A pretty nice try scored by the huns. This should give you a good idea of the conditions.



now, the coaching report (eval):

Description of the game:

The Austin Huns (Blue) (currently #3 in the Texas 1^st Division) hosted Houston Athletic (White) (currently 1^st in Texas) at the Austin R.F.C facility whilst their own new facility is in the course of development. Austin R.F.C. main pitch is full size, grassy and well prepared, but on this hot Texas afternoon (approx 80º F) was hard underfoot.

From a too short White kick off, Blue seized the initiative, quickly showing they were exceptionally well drilled and skillful. They were particularly effective when carrying the ball into contact with the ball carrier protecting the ball sufficiently to allow supporting players to commit just enough bodies to ensure quick recycling. Blue initially held their own at re-starts particularly line-outs and were rewarded by an early penalty goal.

White played to an intelligent game plan tailored to the hot and humid conditions. They soaked up Blue’s early pressure and then began to apply ever increasing pressure of their own. Rather than risk turnovers, they sought to drive the ball up field employing the power of their back row and the skill and speed of their fly half and inside center. Had the former been able to tackle he would have been outstanding. Nevertheless, heat and dehydration coupled with a disproportionate amount of defending wore Blue down. White were able to take advantage of defensive mistakes to keep the score board ticking over in their favor and snuff out Blue’s counter attacks.

Score: HUNS 3 – HARC 29

Overall Score:  93

Comments:

Larry has had a little less than three month’s individual coaching which so far has been confined to the basic technical building blocks of refereeing; law knowledge and application; anticipation, running lines and positioning; decision making and communication; pre-match preparation both physical and mental including stressing the benefits of being organized; the use of mental check lists and a clear and instinctive knowledge of a referee’s tackle priorities.

The purpose of this report differs somewhat from a regular assessment in that it goes beyond a performance audit and validation of progress to begin the process of indentifying issues referee and coach may agree should be the focus for the next phase of coaching.

From the evidence of this match, Larry was hardly challenged by an appointment above his current grade nor yet by a couple of hundred vocal and partisans Blue supporters. It is clear he has responded well to individual coaching. He is fit, fast and committed.

Match grade:  N/A

	Unit Score	Weight	Weighted Score
TACKLE You complied with all the key elements of your grade throughout the match (not very daunting) and much more. A purist might have argued a couple of tackler versus  ball carrier decisions, but generally you were on the spot and right! The next step is to understand the dynamics of an irretrievably turned ball carrier and how that might change responsibilities. We should also talk about better secondary positioning which might help you better monitor non participants and allow yourself to be used by joining players  as a ‘channel marker’ for the gate. Good for you that both  teams were well drilled, positive and focused.	5	x 4	20
ADVANTAGE Good distinction between scrum and penalty advantage. You have a good sense of when both territorial and tactical advantage is gained. Do not play on from a ‘forced up’ or collapsed scrum (deduction). (Note the words for advantage gained is “advantage over,” see COMMS).	4	x 2	8
RUCK & MAUL No issues with current grade elements (hardly a challenge!). Now let’s move on: your mental block (yes, you were easily quick enough) to come to the touch line side of rucks meant you could not find the ball and that you had your back turned to non-participants and much worse you had to guess who to award scrums. You guessed right, so as much as I’d like to smack you around, I’ve not sufficient excuse. There were also a number of unobserved non-participant offsides (C1), although most were not material as both back rows had a habit of breaking to the blind side. Anyway, a field session or two should solve this.	5	x 3	15
RESTART KICKS/OPEN PLAY Kicks well managed indeed. Great pace around the field despite crook ankle. Nice radar for open play off-side although there were few kicks ahead as White opted to retain ball in hand. One possible forward pass missed owing to blocked running lane. Got a deliberate K.O. wrong (C1 element).	5	x 1	5
SCRUM Hard work in first half was rewarded. However, a less than brilliant White replacement prop tempted Blue to push the envelope. Engagement procedure was safe and consistent. You worked on ‘offset lined up’ props at the engagement. They all do it until you say “enough already.” Did allow Blue to lift twice. Hence deduction. Managed #9s, back rows and non participants well.	4	x 3	12
LINEOUT Well managed indeed- a couple of early creeps which did not become material. Consistent with gaps and with what was straight. You managed silly ‘numbers’ ploys like a vet.	5	x 2	10
CONTROL Managed all elements at your current grade (and the next ) without difficulties. Let’s feed ‘repeated infringements’ into our next round of discussions and find a method of remembering the who’s and the ‘whats.’	5	x 3	15
COMMUNICATION Generally good, however whistle tone & sequence went a little pear-shaped a couple of times as dehydration induced loss of concentration set in (deduction). (Note correct words ‘advantage over’ to signify advantage has been gained.	4	x 2	8

3/26/10 Strake Jesuit @ St. Thomas

This game was quite an honor to be selected to referee - too bad I didn't do a better job with it. There was a sizable crowd (500-1000) out for a big charity (Pink Ribbons - Breast Cancer) match with both teams wearing some pink and some ribbons. I had a team of 5 referees for this game (but no TMO unfortunately) - a first for me. Two on the touchlines, two managing substitutes, and myself in the middle. It was a Friday 730 KO at about 60 degrees with a decent breeze. Played on a football field, so field was narrow and posts were at the back of the ingoal.

St. Thomas and Strake Jesuit are the two catholic school rivals in Houston - and Strake Jesuit typically hammer St. Thomas in every sport ......but rugby. St Thomas were clearly the better rugby team and I knew this going into the match having refereed Strake and STH multiple times this season.

I'll now start my chronology for this game:

6:00 AM

Arrive at work, brought my refereeing kit with me. Busy day at work, preparing because I was traveling all of the next week for a training program. I had a lot of work and decisions to make for the next weeks priorities in my absence. Left work at 430 PM .

6 PM (yes, 1.5 hour commute, should only be about 20 minutes. houston traffic is ridiculous)

Arrived at the field and entered the coaches/referees locker room. The STH coaches were there and my ARs began to filter in. Chatter continues.

7 PM

Informed to go out to field. Strake and STH are beginning warmups. Check boots and have chats with teams. Then there is confusion about how everyone will walk out onto field and where. This was getting sorted out and eventually we stroll out for the anthems. Turned out very formal and very well done.

7:25 PM

Captains chat, time to go. What was missing? My warmups. I never made time for myself to mentally prepare for the game.

7:30 PM KO

Game kicks off, STH immediately dominates. STH are going forward and getting easy ball off every phase. STrake jesuit are immediately offside for not getting back far enough. This continues - Strake and trying their darndest to compete but just dont know how. The only way they can compete is illegally with some seriously flagrant hands in the rucks, offside, etc. etc. etc. I was rightly penalizing them but was getting very frusturated with their nonresponse to my management and the seriousness with which STH was tossing them around.

I lost my touch with the game for too much sympathy - i tried to let some of Strake's illegal dealings go and STH didnt appreciate it, starting taking care of it themselves....as any good rugby team should. My attempts to regain that control from STH from then on simply just caused nightmares for both sides (maybe not strake) and myself.

Now for the notes and the things that happened:

-Bad infringing from Strake as they were getting beat so badly. should have been punishing them more to get control, instead - too much sympathy
-Strake players kept on ending up in the air. Not clear if this was because of their jumping or STH tackle technique. Yellow given the second time a Strake player ended up flipped over (the first he was let down carefully)
-Then I had brain fart as I was getting more and more frusturated. A STH player got very angry, got quite malicious and used some very strong words while taking out a retiring Strake player off the ball. I sent the STH player off (red card). This was quite embarassing for the club and myself really - total loss of control. Now this is not apparent to spectators of coaches - but I could certainly feeling it wasnt going right, and I could feel it right from the kickoff.

So, an unfortunate end to what could have been a great event. Put it behind me, slapped myself around a little bit, and mentally prepared for my Division 1 Men's Evaluation the next day: HARC @ HUNS.

3/13/2010 Kingwood @ Tomball HS

70-80 degree conditions, a decent wind that could impact some play. The pitch was grass, narrow, and the posts were at the back of try zones. Tomball are a new rugby team this season and this was their first home game, ever. Both schools were on spring break - so the numbers and players were pretty slim picking. Tomball's 15th player showed up about 20 minutes into the game, and Kingwood played a mixed side of freshman, JV, and Varsity. The narrow field did not help either side as the first half almost finished scoreless - but Kingwood put one in right on half time for a score of 5-0. In the 2nd half Tomball's superior size (lots of seniors on the side) began to really help them out. Tomball had been good all game turning over scrums, rucks, and tackles. Unfortunatley, they had not been able to string together phases to threaten the try line - this started to happen in the 2nd half as the Kingwood defense tired. Tomball stood players up in the tackle well and used the rolling maul to great effect. The Tomball star prop (#3) scored the side's two tries, one after muscling out of a maul and another pushover try. It was great to be there for Tomball's first game and first win. I hope the club continues to grow. Credit to Kingwood for playing a much smaller and younger team and being excellent sports. Notes: lots of stood up tackles and mauls. I actually would touch the players in addition to verbal communication to indicate they had entered the maul from the side. Foot up on the scrums - both sides coming up early. ankle was sore (shin splints) but I noticed it felt a lot better after a quality warm up. Used hte headsets today - gave units to the coaches so they understood what I was saying to the players. Both coaches thought it was an excellent tool for coaching.

3/11/10 Woodlands Freshman @ STHS Freshman

Nice warm conditions, played on a thursday evening. My first freshman game of the year - a unique challenge. The players had all played only a few games of rugby, so communication was quite difficult. It was hard to predict what actions many of the players are likely to take.

At one occasion I told a player he was offside, his response - "What does that mean, where should I be?" - "Behind the last foot of your teammate 2"

It was fun, sometime it's nice to help coach this new players into rugby - turns out to be quite rewarding.

My ankle was also pretty sore - I think im starting to get shin splints on the bad leg, causing more problems. It needs a rest.

STHS Freshman: 2 Tries, 2 Conversions, 1 Penalty (17)
Woodlands Freshman: 2 Tries, 1 Conversion (12)

I was also an AR for the varsity game following this match.

3/6/2010 LSU 2 @ Texas A&M 2

After the friday night Katy v. STHS barnburner, I traveled up with two fellow referees for the LSU v. Texas A&M game to AR - as this is effectively the first d1 champ match. The first game was a frusturating affair with the referee, lots of penalties and only 1 try.

I took the whistle for the 2nd side match. 70-80 degree conditions, light wind - we played 2 30 minute periods.

A&M 2: 4 Tries, 2 Conversions (24)
LSU 2: 4 Tries, 1 Conversion (22)

Notes:

two YC for dangerous play. One high tackle, one for a bit of handbags. A bit of spill over from the first game? perhaps.

played a line out not straight advantage when ball went wayyyyy backwards and the team made an error. The ball then got spread wide and the opposition only gained territory, not possession. I called advantage over...probably the wrong decision.

I was quite sore for this game, after the game the night before.

to end the game we had a period of 3 minutes with no stoppages (kicks back and forth), LSU eventually ending with a try.

tackle law went really well in this match

3/5/2010 Katy Area HS @ St. Thomas HS Varsity

This game was an honor to referee, Katy are a top multiple school HS team in the nation, St. Thomas are a top single school HS team in the nation. This game was also filmed (very well) and I was supplied with a full team of referees (2 ARs, #4) and communication devices. This was my first time in the middle miked up - providing it's own certain challenges.

"Derek: If your touch judge is going to flag obstruction, he might as well flag off-side. And a deliberate knock on. Or maybe ALL knock ons. I mean, why not?

Ed: Because now it's getting too complicated. I dont want all that information, and in any case tough judges are not always best placed to make those decisions. For example, it might look like a knock on to a tough judge fifty yards away, but I can see the ball went through the guy's hands and came off his chest. The referee's got to remain the man who makes the decisions. His touch judges are there to help him out in a few vital areas - not flood him with information he doesn't need and can't absorb"

Final Score:

Katy: 3 Tries, 1 Conversion, 1 Penalty (20)
St. Thomas: 2 Tries, 2 Conversions, 1 Penalty (17)

Game Notes:

Film makes me look slow, I need to move around rucks more, and just run faster. I had a workout the day before this game, so I felt slow.

One of my touch judges was too focused on helping me, offering me too much information on situations I was managing differently. He then proceeded to miss the # of a player with clear punches and a stamp (shown on video) that he was staring at. I told him at halftime to make sure he was supplying information that was important and that I was sure to have missed instead of managed.

Also, first try off a free kick was taken about a foot in front of the 5 meter line. A mistake I made back in new england at Middlebury. I'm worried that I allowed that again. St. Thomas had the same marginal advantage later in the game. I'm not concerned about it having impact on the game, but it could have, and it's a silly thing to let slide.

One breakaway resulted from a bit of fringing/obsruction that I did not pick up on (saw this in video).

headsets and communication was aawesome for handling substitution and getting quick answer from ARs.

I was happy with my signaling, it seemed very clear. Sometimes I repeated the signal a few too many times though.

lots of turnovers at the tackle in this game. resulted from slow arrival of teammates.

2/28/10 Texas Division 2 Collegiate Championship: Baylor @ Texas State

"Ed: Players are good judges. They go onto the field expecting you to do your job. But they wont be impressed by your reputation, and if after five minutes they think, hullo, he's not refereeing that part of the game today, they'll be in like a shot"

This was my first time traveling to the Texas "Hill Country." Not going to rant too much about this, but I'd consider it a bad day at the office. Sometimes you just don't get through the players at the start of the game, and it turns into a mire of inconsistency (thought not technically incorrect). As a referee, any time you give out 4 red cards, you've probably had a bad day. Now the fight didn't turn out like the video above, but I imagine it that way for sure. The 4 red cards came from a scrum I blew up for a penalty. I had been having problems with a Tx St props binds who had just subbed on. He wasnt getting bound right and ended up boring/pulling down every time. I had already penalized him once, this was the 2nd time, right around the 60 minute mark. I went for the penalty, the playres stood up, and it was just a brawl from there. I picked out too clear malicious punches to the face (landed) from a Tx St. and Baylor player. One of my assistants (to ARs were provided to me for this game) picked out two other clear offenders in the melee. So, 4 players through and landed malicous punches with the intent to injure....that means....4 red cards. From there on, the game would be 13 v. 13. Post game I got the story for what actually happened to cause the flash point: Baylor hooker went for the hook in the scrum late (after whistle), nailing the oppo hooker in the face. He wasnt happy, punch one, then the party started and quite a few were thrown. So, 4 red cards, that means all those players arent playing on Sunday (final).

Texas State (12):
Tries: 00:35, 60:00 (converted)

Baylor (20)
Tries: 44:20 (converted), 75:50 (Converted)
Penalties: 5:20, 56:01

Notes:

quick try to start the game, lead me to believe might be a blowout

no wrap tackle by texas state, no dangerous result, no penalty
30 seconds later, no wrap tackle, dangerous result, penalty (against tx st).
1 minute later, Penalty for pulling player down in air (against tx st.)
Then a mire of offsides, side entry, tackler not rolling, and more high tackles. It was turning into a real penalty fest, and I was not happy. The teams were playing aggressive rugby, and unfortunately I didn't seem to stamp my foot down enough to prevent the illegal parts of the aggression. The game turned into moving from penalty to penalty for any variety of reasons, but mostly centered around fringing and breakdown infringements. I needed to card, but I couldn't pick up the key infringers nor catch them at an opportune time to throw a card. I would say I lost the game after about 5 minutes because of some delayed reactions giving penalties.

My diagnosis for my issues and high penalty count this game:

Delayed reaction to dangerous play penalties (players losing confidence)
Delayed decisions in general (not sure why I did that)
The players being really pumped for the semifinal championship, not wanting to hear the warnings from the referee to clean up their game - read: I didn't take enough authority.
My ankle being a little sore from the night before (mental block)
No good mental preparation for me

On Sunday I ran touch for the final which was a bit of a blowout to Texas Tech, clearly the best team out there. A very enjoyable experience.

2/27/2010 Westside Varsity @ Strake Jesuit

"Derek: If there's on law of the game that most players don't understand - in fact many have never heard of it - it's repeated infringement."

Ed: And it's part fo the Foul Play law, so the consequences could be serious. Mind you, I dont' suppose I knew anything about it when I was playingi.

Derek: What the law actually says is that a player who repeatedly infringes any law - not just the heavy stuff - must be cautioned and sin binned. Whether or not he meant to infringe is beside the point. He kept doing it, so he's got to go."

I received a call at 7:05 PM on on the night of this game "Larry, the ref for westside varsity v. strake jesuit didn't show up...can you get over their quickly? please??" I agreed, but I wouldn't be able to get there until about 7:40, giving me time to get my kit on and drive around the Houston 610 loop down to Strake Jesuit. I got on my way...

I arrive around 7:40, it was about 50 degrees, slight wind, and played on grass. The posts, as is typical for HS rugby, were at the back of the in goal area. A Strake Jesuit coach had refereed the first half of the game to a score of Westside 12 - 10 Strake Jesuit. Final Score, Westside 12 - 10 Strake Jesuit - I refereed a 0-0 2nd half, lets see what happened.

Notes:

yellow card given for repeated infringments to Strake # 6, breakdown. He, as any good flanker should, was making a real nuisance of himself, slowing the ball down. I had warned him to clean it up, less than a minute later, he found himself on the wrong side of the tackle and turned the ball over to his side - YC.

2nd yellow card given to Strake #12 for goal line infringement. Lied on ground, sat, stared at the ball for about 3 seconds, then decided to reach out and grab for it, prevented successive phase for Westside which could have let to try.

I found communication a little challenging at the start of the 2nd half, but the players soon realized a real referee was out there, and communication became a lot better. Unfortunately, still no tries scored. The two sides were very evenly matched as the game worked up and down the field well - just no finishing ability for either side.

Westside Varsity: 2 Tries, 1 Conversion (12)
Strake Jesuit: 2 Tries (10)

2/20/2010 University of Houston @ McAllen Knights

Full size field, softened from rain the previous days. Quite hot, 75-80 degrees and humid. I commend both teams for playing a good honest game and helping to keep the penalty count very low. McAllen were larger than the underpowered UH (missing players due to travel distance) and used their size advantage to great effect. UH got easily frusturated with their mistakes only to cause more problems for themselves- enabling McAllen to score some quite easy tries. The heat definetly played a part in this game - McAllen score 5 tries in the 1st half, but only 1 in 2nd half. The heat slowed the players down greatly as the game wore on.

McAllen:
4:06
16:00
25:00 (con)
28:30
38:00 (con)
65:00 (con)
Final Score: 36
University of Houston:
Final Score: 0

Notes:

near radius event
zone inconsistency

improved ruck straight down management

scrum management good - early drives and improper binding stopped before starting

contentious try was scored. I was not 100% sure of score, but quite confident. It was a muscle over try...need to be better prepared for positioning.
lots of offside at kicks

prevented UH quick taps on a number of occasions. Need to endeavor to allow this when they seem to want to go quick.

low penalty count - 14I must say that McAllen were excellent hosts. I was pleasantly surprised by the environment on the border. I flew down to McAllen on Saturday morning - I was picked up by a team member and taken out for a bit of lunch in preparation of a 2 PM kickoff. McAllen have got a nice full size pitch and had beer and food for both teams following the game. Further than that - one of the team members owns a hooters.....so we spent much of the evening at the hooters drinking free beer and eating free wings! Following that, we had a good time in the wild McAllen mexico border bar scene. McAllen has created a nice strip in their downtown for a great nightlife atmosphere. The McAllen guys - like all rugby players - know how to have a good time. I hope I get sent to the border to referee again - it was a surprisingly nice area. Oh, and the Mexican food was delicious. I flew back to Houston sunday morning....with very little "sleep."

2/18/2010 Kingwood @ St Pius Varsity

The game was played in 50 degree conditions on a thursday evening. The field was grass and lined for rugby in a nice stadium with some nice attendance. Unfortunately the field was lined slightly to wide for safety - on one side the touch lines were too close to a fence, making for a dangerous scenario. As such, the 5 meter line was treated as the touch line on the side of the field. It's great that St. Pius can fit a full size rugby pitch in their stadium - unfortunately, they need to do something about the lights and fence (line the field a few meters less wide). The St Pius back three struggled to organize themselves. Kingwood's flyhalf was quite a good kicker and quickly figured out how to punish the St. Pius unorganization...scoring many tries off a kick and chase tactic. Kingwood also stole many Pius lineouts. Other facets of the game were rather even - Pius managed to take a few scrums against the head.

St Pius: 2 Tries, 1 Conversion (12)
Kingwood: 4 Tries, 1 Conversion, 1 Penalty (25)

Notes:

hard to predict st. pius / kingwood direction of play. found myself out of position.

pile ups were numerous, managed

too easy with penalties - assuming player innocence. Should have been harder to teach more. Game still went well - but the ball was slowed a little bit too much.

2/16/2010 Sam Houston State @ Texas A&M

This was a Tuesday night game, it also made the rugby news.

http://www.americanrugbynews.com/artman/publish/college/College_Make-up_Games.shtml

Chilly (40 degree) conditions - played at 8 PM on Tuesday evening in College Station. Field was marked with blue lines - but there were white lines close to the blue. This caused confusion for players trying to stay infield. Game was close for the first 10-20 minutes, but A&M dominated possession and the gaps began to open up for them in the SH defense. The game was played in good spirit, but at the 60 minute mark SH really started to tire and began to get sloppy in their breakdown play - committing several penalties resulting in a YC. On full time SH managed to score their first try, punching over a try after numerous penalties committed by A&M goal line defenders - a habit that A&M had no opportunity to show earlier in the game. Overall, A&M dominated most aspects of the game (possession, set piece), coming away clear winners.

Texas A&M: 10 Tries, 6 Conversions (62)
Sam Houston State: 1 Try, 1 Conversion (7)

Notes:

"white" request from A&M captain before game. I was not aware of "Maroon" importance.

two charge down offsides against A&M

offside lines on far side of ruck crept up - should have penalized earlier to manage better.

white 6 kept breaking his bind on scrum. Not very material - but should have managed the incident to stop him.

need to think about A&M ruck management - became more and more straight down as the game wore on. Need to manage better.

felt very good about my scrum management - I thought I was accurate and prevented problems before they occurred.