The Oldest Club in the Country, the New York Rugby Club, is excited to announce the appointment of two head coaches for both their men's and women's fifteens programs.
The New York women, USA Rugby's Premier League 2010 Champions, welcome back Ryan Dunnett, the New Zealand level III coach who took an underdog team to a national title last fall season. Needless to say, they are thrilled to have him back. He will team up again with former standout player Heidi Rubenstein.
In their Women's Rugby debut, the Philippines National Women's 7s team won the Bowl Championship at the IRB Asian Championships in China. Jackie Finlan and Rosie Rough, both of the Village Lions, were integral members of this inaugural team, being named captains of the squad and scoring multiple tries in the country's success. Rough both scored the first ever try for the Philippines National Women's Team, but was named MVP of the tournament.
The team dropped their first two games to top-ranked China and Hong Kong before winning 4 in a row defeating India (17-0), Korea (33-0), Laos (40-0) and Malaysia (20-0).
*Finlan standing 5th from R behind flag, Rough bottom L kneeling.
On Saturday July 24, 2010, Morris Rugby will attempt to break the world record for the largest ever youth flag rugby festival. The Daily Record reported in detail on their plan to take the world record. Here's a link to the article.
The event takes places on no less than 23 different fields at the Black River Fields in Chester, NJ. Good luck to Morris Rugby, the organizers and all the kids playing.
On Saturday June 19, England Saxons beat Canada to reclaim the Churchill Cup before a large crowd at REd Bull Arena, just across the Hudson River from New York City. Television cameras broadcast all three finals matches via Universal Sports nationally and Sky TV in dozens of countries. In the 3/4th place match, France beat the USA, and in the 5/6th place match, Russia beat Uruguay.
Xavier High School also received the trophy for their recent National High School Championships. The rugby community turned out in unprecedented numbers, making the largest crowd for any rugby event in the New York area and probably the Northeast, let alone a paying ticketed audience. The afterparty, sponsored by Papillon Bistro, East 54th Street and Madison Ave, capped a phenomenal week for rugby in New York.
Here's a link to the Flickr event group, post your photos of this amazing day.
Here's a link to the Wall Street Journal article about USA Rugby scrumhalf Mike Petri -
Here's our Facebook page, please post your reactions, comments and suggestions.
Thanks for everything the clubs, referees and supporters have done to make this event amazing. It was an transformative day for rugby in our area. Please join us on Randall's Island on Aug 28-29 for USA Rugby's National Al l Star 7's Tournament.
RUGBY IMPORTS & RUGBY MANUFACTURER GILBERT HELP KRISSA
June 11th, 2010 Vassar sophomore, Krissa-Marie Wiechmann, was injured playing for the Northeast Rugby Union Women's Under 23 Select side. At a scrum on the engagement she was struck on the neck and immediately was incapacitated. Her C6-C7 vertebrae were severly damaged and pressure was on her spinal cord due to the displacement. After surgery, Krissa spent the 2 days in intensive care and she is now battling to regain feeling, movement, and strength in her extremities.
July 13, 2010, RutlandVT – The Metropolitan New York Rugby Union Girls Under 19 team just returned from a successful competition in Vermont.
After two tryouts and a scrimmage covering two states and the far reaches of the union, a roster of 20 was selected to represent the METNY at the NRU Cup from a 42 deep player pool.
NYAC for winning the Super League Championships over San Francisco 28-25
Xavier High School for winning the High School National Championship
NYRC, Bayonne, and North Jersey for sweeping the Men's Regionals competitions
The Women's NRU select side for winning the NASCs today, defeating Pac Coast 34-14 in the final that was held in Blaine, MN. The Union was represented by both NYRC and the Village Lions
Apparently for the first time ever, a New York rugby event is being advertised on TV. Custom-produced 30 second ads now run on various Comcast channels thoughout New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, and should appear on SNY, Fox Sports, Fox Soccer, Fox World and other channels. The ad couldn't yet capture the thrill of rugby in the new state of the art Red Bull Arena, as it only just opened and this will be the first rugby event there, but here it is: http://www.youtube.com/v/T_i5Xvida7A&hl=en_US&fs=1&
