Eagle Rugby Blog

Boulder, Colo.  (October 31, 2007) – USA Rugby and the Army National Guard announced today that they have signed an agreement that will make the Army National Guard an Official Sponsor of USA Rugby.  This deal includes title sponsorship of USA rugby’s College and High School Championships as well as select National Team.

This strategic partnership will enhance the support provided to the nations’ top performing rugby athletes in premier matches throughout the United States.  The National Guard’s sponsorship of USA Rugby will include events such as the U.S. National College Playoffs and Championships, the Boys and Girls High School Championships, the National Guard Military Challenge and select Men’s and Women’s Championship events.

“The National Guard is looking forward to partnering with USA Rugby,” said Col. Mike Jones, chief of the Army National Guard’s Strength Maintenance Division. “This initiative will reach communities across the nation, increasing awareness of the Army National Guard.  USA Rugby’s beliefs of lifelong camaraderie beyond the game and the greatest asset being the players are beliefs the Army National Guard shares.  These shared values are a big part of the reason I think both organizations will benefit from our partnership.”

In addition to title sponsorships, another added benefit of this new partnership is that in conjunction with official USA Rugby licensees, USA Rugby and the National Guard will also launch a comprehensive college kit campaign that will provide apparel and equipment to 300 college teams across the U.S.  All colleges in good standing with USA Rugby will be eligible to apply for the free college kit.

This partnership between USA Rugby and the National Guard also includes an array of highly visible sponsorship programs that will be announced throughout the ’07-’08 rugby season.

“This is great news for the sport of rugby in the U.S.,” Vice President of Business Development David Voth said.  “USA Rugby is always looking for the right kind of partner.  USA Rugby and the National Guard share several admirable traits among members, including character, strength, vision and intelligence.  A partnership with the National Guard will ensure positive exposure for both organizations at the highest level of play.”

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In a release sent out this week, USA Rugby has announced that they will change the structure of boys high school national championship as part of a long term transition to reshape the high school rugby game in America.

The changes for 2008 include the creation of an eight team competition Boys High School Championship for single high school teams (e.g. St. Edward, Gonzaga, Xavier, etc.), and a separate eight team competition championship for Boys’ U19 club teams (e.g. Westerville, Penn, Highland, etc.).

According to USA Rugby, the goal of the reorganization is to support the development of rugby as a mainstream high school sport, conceivably to allow rugby enter the various high school organizations, such as the OHSAA.

“The strategic goal for USA Rugby is to have rugby formally recognized and supported by High Schools,” said Peter Steinberg, Age-Grade Manager for USA Rugby.  “The new championship structure will support this goal by encouraging the formation of single high school teams, while allowing multi-school club teams to continue to compete.  The end of the transition will include separate tracks for high school and club teams so the game can be as inclusive as possible.”

Along with the format change and an addition of a girls U-19 national championship, the dates of the 2008 High School Championships has been changed from May 24-26th, 2008 to June 6 - 8, 2008 at Founders’ Field in suburban Pittsburgh.   The date was changed so teams could prevent traveling on Memorial Day at a premium cost.

You can view a run down of the changes at the Gainline blog.

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USA Eagles wing Takudzwa Ngwenya (Dallas, Texas) credits his ability to deal with the pressure of the IRB Rugby World Cup to his tough upbringing.

Ngwenya has earned four international caps – all of which were at the 2007 RWC - but his performances, which saw him score two key tries for the U.S., have already caught the eye of several European clubs, who have contacted him to express an interest.

The speedy wing, whose tongue-tying name is shortened to ‘Z’ or ‘Taku’ by his teammates, said his previous life in Zimbabwe was always in the forefront of his mind when he stepped on to the big stage.

“Before every kick-off the first thing I tell myself is that I grew up in a hard life and this is the same thing,” said the 22-year-old, who emigrated to the United States with his family four years ago.

“Back home (in Zimbabwe) you have to work hard to get any success. This is just same. In rugby I just have to work hard at it.”

He says his story is not uncommon among the USA backs.

(more after the jump)

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Here is the video of the spear tackle on Olly Barkley by USA Eagle center Paul Emerick from the Sept. 9 match against England.

The event took place well into injury time and Emerick was handed a five-week ban, effectively ending his World Cup and putting him on the shelf for his Welsh professional side the Newport Gwent Dragons.

USA Rugby appealed to no avail.

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VIDEO UPDATED!

Based on his performance at the Rugby World Cup, USA Rugby winger Takudzwa Ngwenya may be on his way to Europe to play the game professionally.

Ngwenya’s try against South Africa (video above) is being universally praised as the best try of the World Cup. During his run, Ngwenya outclassed and outran South African legend Bryan Habana.

According to the London Times, the Zimbabwe-native has already been contacted by two Guinness Premier League (England) clubs, as well as garnered some interest from French squads.

“Hopefully, we will see how it goes,” said Ngwenya. “That’s a killer question, England or France? It depends which team I’ll be going to. It’s hard to say now because I am not sure. But in England, so far I have got two [offers]. It depends.”

With only two USA Rugby players playing professionally, Eagles’ head coach Peter Thorburn believes more American players are ready to leave amateur rugby for the professional ranks.

“A lot of my players are excellent, they just need good exposure. There are some pretty good players out there. Only two backs play professionally. So it’s a pretty good effort from a bunch of amateurs.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t some drawbacks.

“The more players that go away to play, that fact they are in Europe means they are away for ten months of the year. That makes them unavailable for the American-based competitions, like the Churchill Cup.”

Ngwenya, however, isn’t worried about which path he’ll take.

“I just want to play better rugby.”

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MONTPELLIER, France – Despite some good rugby by the U.S. Men’s National Team, South Africa was able to run in nine tries to post a 64-15 score against the Eagles in their final Pool A match at Stade de la Mosson.

“We didn’t seem to get the rub of the green on a lot of decisions,” Head Coach Peter Thorburn said. “But all that aside I’m just absolutely proud of them. “They fought for every bit of ground and they fought it out to the end. We think even though we haven’t had a win, we have.”

The Springboks took an early lead in the first half as Schalk Burger marked his return by scooping up a Butch James pass to crash over on the right, before Percy Montgomery reclaimed his place at the top of the scorers’ chart by converting the kick.

With the score at 10-3, some desperate USA defence saw them go down to 14 men as flanker Todd Clever saw yellow. Francois Steyn capitalised with a try on 28 minutes, before Bryan Habana extended the lead and Montgomery converted his fourth kick of the night.

On half time Habana could do nothing as USA wing Takudzwa Ngwenya hared down the right to cap a length-of-the-field move, with Mike Hercus converting to add to his earlier penalty and make it 24-10.

“I guess the rugby world considers Bryan the fastest guy around. Well Takudzwa put his hand up today,” Mike Hercus commented after the match. “I just want to get him the ball. We see what he can do at training and we all know that he’s fast, but it’s about getting him the ball with space. He was born to do that and I was just happy I could get it to him.”

“I’m not sure I out-paced him, I just made him stop,” Ngwenya said in regards to his try against Habana. “I would never have run on the outside of anybody so these games must be giving me confidence.

“The Springboks were my favorite team when I was growing up in Zimbabwe,” Ngwenya added. “So it’s a good feeling to score a try against them. We tried to get some points on the board and to challenge ourselves and that’s what we’ve done.”

The improved scoreline survived for just over a minute of the second half. South Africa spread the ball to Habana, who had an easy task to slide home in the corner, before Montgomery missed his first kick of the night. Then substitute prop CJ van der Linde shrugged off three challenges to cross the whitewash, with Montgomery getting back on track with the kick.

Full back Chris Wyles shocked the Pool A winners again soon afterwards, going over for a try despite the attention of a clutch of Springbok backs. But the South Africa riposte wasn’t long in coming, Fourie du Preez feinting a pass before running through to touch down, and Montgomery converting to make it 43-15. Then, on 60 minutes, an irresistable Springboks move was finished off by Jaque Fourie on the right and Montgomery did the business with the boot.

With 10 minutes to go, USA did everything except score. However, Fourie rubbed in the salt with his second try, with James converting the kick, before Juan Smith went over to cap a good night for the Springboks.

The Eagles board a train at 4 a.m. in the morning and most of the team will fly back to the U.S. on Monday after being in France for nearly a month. The Springboks get a few days rest before taking on Fiji in the quarterfinals on October 7 in Marseille.

South Africa 64, USA 15 (halftime 24 - 10)

USA
Tries: Ngwenya, Wyles

Conversions: Hercus
Penalties: Hercus

1. Mike MacDonald (Mate Moeakiola in at 49); 2. Owen Lentz (Blake Burdette in at 75); 3. Chris Osentowski; 4. Alec Parker; 5. Mike Mangan; 6. Louis Stanfill (Henry Bloomfield in at 75); 7. Todd Clever; 8. Dan Payne (Mark Aylor in at 75); 9. Chad Erskine (Mike Petri in at 75); 10. Mike Hercus (C); 11. Salesi Sika (Thretton Palamo in at 75); 12. Vaha Esikia; 13. Philip Eloff; 14. Taku Ngwenya; 15. Chris Wyles (Nese Malifa in at 75).

South Africa
Tries:Burger, Steyn, Habana 2, Van Der Linde, Du Preez, Fourie 2, Smith
Conversions: Montgomery 6, James 2
Penalties: Montgomery

1. Os du Randt (Bismarck du Plessis in at 72); 2. John Smit (C); 3. Brendon Botha (CJ van der Linde in at 25); 4. Albert van den Berg (Bakkies Botha in at 56); 5. Victor Matfield; 6. Wickus van Heerden (Bobby Skinstad in at 71); 7. Juan Smith; 8. Schalk Burger; 9. Fourie du Preez; 10. Butch James; 11. Bryan Habana (JP Pietersen in at 53); 12. Francois Steyn (Andre Pretorius in at 67); 13. Jaque Fourie;14. Akona Ndungane; 15. Percy Montgomery (Ruan Pienaar in at 67).

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MONTPELLIER, France — On Saturday evening, the USA Men’s Rugby Team held an emotional Rugby World Cup jersey presentation for the Team set to play against South Africa on Sunday. Not only will this be the last jersey presentation for the U.S during this 2007 Rugby World Cup, but it also marks a few major milestones in Eagles history.

Captain Mike Hercus kicked off the long-standing Eagles tradition with some impressive statistics regarding lock Alec Parker (Aspen, Colo.), who will be starting in his 50th test match tomorrow.

Parker, who made his Eagles debut in 1996 has seen nearly 100 players capped, four head coaches come and go and three Rugby World Cups, where he’s started in 10 of the 11 last matches.

“Alec represents all that is good about American rugby and it is fitting that he recieves his 50th cap at the end of his third World Cup. He has been one of the most consistent and best performers in an Eagles jersey over the 11 years and it’s an incredible accomplishment for any rugby player,” Captain Mike Hercus said. “His contribution to the Eagles goes far beyond what is seen on the field. He is the glue in the squad and anyone who has ever played with him knows just how valuable a teammate he is. It is an honor to play alongside a man who will surely be one of the greatest Eagles ever.”

Hercus presented Parker with an eagle statue and invited Alec to also say a few words about his experience and hand out the jerseys along with veteran No. 8 Fifita “Tasi” Mounga.

Mounga, who, in his second Rugby World Cup with the Eagles, was carried off on a stretcher from Wednesday night’s game against Samoa. Although Mounga was released by the hospital Friday morning and was allowed to rejoin the Team in Montpellier, the San Francisco resident sustained a cervical spine injury that has caused the Golden Gate player to reexamine his immediate playing future.

“I am hanging up my cleats,” Mounga said. “Rugby is the sport that I love and it’s very emotional for me right now, but I am just thankful for everyone’s support, not only the doctors, coaches and players, but also the numerous people that have sent me their well-wishes and prayers. Playing in my second Rugby World Cup was amazing and I’m so glad to have gotten the chance to experience it.”

“It has been an honor to play with these guys,” Parker said after his reflection of the last 11 years. “Tasi and Hercus have made such a difference for the Eagles. I wouldn’t want my 50th cap with any other team. This squad is so close, they have been with me through all sorts of stuff and I too am just really thankful to have gotten this opportunity to represent the U.S. in another Rugby World Cup.”

Release courtesy of USA Rugby

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The Pittsburgh Harlequins will be hosting a USA Rugby Coaching workshop November 10-11, 2007. For those of familiar with the old “levels” style of training, you will be pleased to know that this program is much more focused for your target audience. There is much more hands-on training, and less lecture. I invite all of you to consider taking advantage of this opportunity at the end of your fall seasons. You can sign up for the course through USA Rugby at their website www.usarugby.org.

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USA Rugby head coach Peter Thorburn named his squad for their final game at the Rugby World Cup against South Africa.

The U.S. Team for this match includes: 1. Mike MacDonald; 2. Owen Lentz; 3. Chris Osentowski; 4. Alec Parker; 5. Mike Mangan; 6. Louis Stanfill; 7. Todd Clever; 8. Dan Payne; 9. Chad Erskine; 10. Mike Hercus (C); 11. Salesi Sika; 12. Vaha Esikia; 13. Philip Eloff; 14. Taku Ngwenya; 15. Chris Wyles.

Replacements for the U.S. Team: 16. Blake Burdette; 17. Mate Moeakiola; 18. Mark Aylor; 19. Henry Bloomfield; 20. Mike Petri; 21. Valenese Malifa; 22. Thretton Palamo.

South Africa’s Team is as follows: 1. Os du Randt; 2. John Smit (C); 3. BJ Botha; 4. Albert van den Berg; 5. Victor Matfield; 6. Wickus van Heerden; 7. Juan Smith; 8. Schalk Burger; 9. Fourie du Preez; 10. Butch James; 11. Bryan Habana; 12. Francois Steyn; 13. Jaque Fourie;14. Akona Ndungane; 15. Percy Montgomery.

Replacements: 16. Bismarck du Plessis; 17. CJ van der Linde; 18. Bakkies Botha; 19. Bobby Skinstad; 20. Ruan Pienaar; 21. Andre Pretorius; 22. JP Pietersen; 23. Wynand Olivier.

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