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.