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)