Gainline.us

Welcome eRugbyNews.com

Many American aficionados know Alex Goff, of GoffonRugby fame, and still more know Ed Hagerty, of Rugby Magazine. But of course: Whatever else can be said of the tabloid and its driving force, they have been on scene for more than 30 years.

Back in 1990, one of Ed’s staff was in Santa Barbara to cover the USA-Argentina World Cup qualifier, and drafted me into filing a short recap of the invitational tournament. Happily the final made for good copy – Mike Saunder’s OMBAC overcame a big deficit to topple archrival Belmont Shore – and a few days later Ed called out of the blue to ask if I would head to Pebble Beach for the collegiate finals as well as the last edition of the West coast classic.

Not a few others have found themselves pitching in, Johnny-on-the-spot, as Ed pursued his monthly quest to “get the rag out.”

These days, GoffonRugby’s brand of digital journalism, as well as the country’s growing and more accessible rugby community, carry several advantages over a print monthly. Meanwhile, Ed recently re-sold Rugby Mag to Jon Prusmack, his longtime partner and the owner of the USA 7s. And so it is that the two are now joined in American International Media.

Tomorrow, they launch a new venture, eRugbyNews.com, and I am looking forward to it. Congratulations fellas.

Separately, 2006 national runnerup Brigham Young has been told it is not under suspension, though All-American coach David Smyth has been sanctioned and will not be on the sidelines this weekend, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of Utah president Mark Ormsby’s email pronouncements apparently anticipated events, including a disciplinary hearing now scheduled for as late as next week. Mr. Ormsby declined comment.

2006 collegiate runnerup BYU hit with suspension

Brigham Young, the 2006 national finalist, has been suspended from competition in Utah following last Saturday’s match against Air Force.

The disciplinary move stems from alleged misconduct by Cougar head coach David Smyth, according to people familiar with the matter. Also on Saturday, a BYU player was dismissed soon after a jarring tackle.

Team suspensions are rare. The sanction would be unusual in the case of a team with no disciplinary record, according to people familiar with disciplinary proceedings, who added it is very difficult to assess the matter without reviewing match reports.

In addition to steering BYU to last year’s collegiate championship game, Mr. Smyth led the 2006 Collegiate All-American team to Canada. Several of the team’s players earned All-American, representative, and international honors.

The sanction was announced in an email by Utah president Mark Ormsby, a former head coach at BYU and an employee of the Provo school. Mr. Ormsby has subsequently directed sharp public comments toward Mr. Smyth.

Neither Mr. Ormsby nor Mr. Smyth returned inquiries. A BYU representative declined comment prior to a hearing scheduled for Tuesday night.

BYU’s non-league match against Utah Valley State College this weekend has been postponed.

NYAC upends Old Blue in pre-season tournament

The New York Athletic Club downed cross-town rival Old Blue 23-3 in a preseason matchup between two Super League playoff contenders.

NYAC won the Fort Lauderdale Ruggerfest final three tries-to-one victory, according to a NYAC representative. Flanker Richard White, a national Under-19 player in 2001-02, claimed the MVP honors.

Old Blue narrowly downed Boston Irish Wolfhounds in the semifinals, in another RSL matchup. The Super League season opens on March 17.

Elsewhere, Australian international Glen Ella has joined Canada as backline coach.

On CIPP and insurance

reporter's notebook Kristin Richeimer, who runs USA Rugby’s dues program, sent a lengthy reply to last week’s post on the union’s effectiveness in policing itself.

Her primary point has to do with insurance:

…There are several USA Rugby insurance policies, coverages from which extend to Board, Congress, Staff and all National Team players and staff when operating on behalf of USA Rugby, whether they appear on the public-facing membership roster or not. However, each individual Staff, Congress, Board member or National Team member is required to be registered appropriately before playing or participating on behalf of his/her home club and/or Union.

Regardless of whether one is persuaded that the union holds itself to the same standards as everyone else, there seems to be historical irony.

Some 15 years ago, Randy Stainer quarterbacked the dues program to controversial passages with the explicit promise that monies would never be spent on the Eagles. Afterward, Stainer said that were he to do it over again, he would have insisted on bundling health insurance.

The anti-Eagle provision was repealed in the fall 2005 budget crisis, and now it appears test players are insured though they may not be registered.

I’m all for special benefits which help compensate internationals for their opportunity costs, but don’t see why normal rules should be overlooked.

Here are some other gleanings. The full text is in comments (with Kristin’s valid email, of course):

Processing focuses on in-season clubs, and to date has registered some 28,000 players and 950 teams. It is the busiest time of the year. [Note: In an unusual move, the union opened 2007 registration in December 2006; The union opened 2007 registration in December 2006; in an unusual move, earlier the Board of Directors had minuted that the Arnot shortfalls meant the union would have to “bring forward” some of 2007’s revenues to 2006, as it did the previous year.]

The staff [comprising perhaps 30 individuals] are second priority. The by-laws don’t say they have to register but they do anyway.

The “majority” of the Board were registered in December and January.

The union often [unspecified] grants grace periods to touring clubs.

The union hasn’t yet hired the women’s national team administrator. [Note: Lazy wording was my error; fixed.]

National players and personnel found dues scofflaws

Most of the Eagle squad that traveled to the New Zealand 7s earlier this month had not paid USA Rugby dues, which normally precludes teams and players from leaving the country.

Additionally, 15s coach Peter Thorburn, women’s coach Kathy Flores, and most of the Board to include chair Kevin Roberts were among dozens of national-level personnel who had not registered by the start of February, according to a review of the union’s online database. The findings were sent by a Division 3 1 coach to Gainline.us, which confirmed their accuracy.

“As you may know, this is our absolute busiest time of the year.  However, because we feel it is important to set a good example, we are making sure that we all appear on the public-facing roster as soon as possible,” a USA Rugby representative said earlier this week.

The CIPP (Club and Individual Participation Program) discovery is embarrassing because it suggests there are two standards, one for everyday players who make up the union’s primary source of revenues, and another for “high performance” elites.

Deficient self-policing could also rekindle the firestorm that ensued after last fall’s announcement that USA Rugby would penalize territories which failed to ensure the eligibility of national playoff competitors. Many local officials strongly asserted that the growing Boulder, Colorado, office was newly offloading administrative chores, without providing any help to volunteers in the field.

The revised guidelines, which call for sanctions including “fines, suspension, forfeiture of matches and/or loss of seeds for future competitions,” were issued under the direction of interim chief executive Steve Griffiths, and have not yet been tested.

Earlier in 2006, USA Rugby trumpeted the hiring of a staffer, John Broker, who is dedicated to managing the union’s national teams. The Boulder office subsequently added said it would add a specialist for women’s teams.

Of the eight head coaches at the Under-17, Under-19, All-American, Under-23, and Eagle levels, only U19 mentors “Salty” Thompson and Bryn Chivers had registered.

Just 1 of 22 Boulder staffers, physiotherapist David Williams, had signed up. It is not clear whether national-office employees are considered to be subject to CIPP.

San Diego: private enterprise to the rescue

reporter's notebook Meanwhile, as word of San Diego’s successes reverberates, it’s worth revisiting the idea that moving the USA 7s southward was somehow “political.”

The decision to relaunch the tournament in a new city looks to have been made by a management team with a clear-eyed vision for bringing international rugby to America, and an equally clear plan for swinging the event to profitability.

To review, USA Rugby began examining an international 7s tournament in the late 1990s, initially modeling Las Vegas as an affordable venue. The Neal Brendel-led board of directors later accepted chief executive Doug Arnot’s view of better returns from Carson, California’s higher-priced Home Depot – while simultaneously counting on Arnot to replace several major sponsorship deals.

Arnot delivered no deals and made such losses that in fall 2005 the union was forced to sell the hard-won 7s tournament, raise dues, and ask the IRB for early release of new grant monies.

The 7s’ new owner, American International Media, determined in less than six months that Home Depot was a dead end. The lease was a clunker and metro LA’s isolating car culture paid the event no mind, while San Diego offered a burgeoning downtown setting and active municipal support, to say nothing of OMBAC’s estimable organization.

Long story short, Petco Park drew nearly 30,000, exceeding the Arnot years’ high watermark by some 10,000.

San Diego still hasn’t solved the twin problems of tepid support from the American rugby community and high ticket prices. Organizers acknowledge that plans to discount admission for teams entering the new invitational tournament “fell through,” but are planning to try again in 2008 while expanding the midweek event.

In all, version 2.0 has a new lease on life. So with the turnaround in private hands, where’s the politics?

San Diego camp recalls past Eagle assemblies

Next week’s Eagle training camp, almost certainly the most elaborate in the union’s history, faces a tall order if it is to live up to outsized national team assemblies gone by.

The February 18-24 camp includes 33 internationals, including 16 of 39 forwards and 17 of 26 backs. Recalled are 1999 World Cup veterans Luke Gross and Tasi Mo’unga, while youthful flanker Danny LaPrevotte is among the fresher faces.

In addition to 65 or so players, the event incorporates nearly an equal number of unnamed, elite coaches, plus a trio of New Zealand staff coaches brought in from the Shaky Isles.

Past musters in Riverside, California, and Las Vegas were watershed events, launching the careers of such front-liners as George Sucher, Dave Hodges, Richard Tardits, Rob Lumkong, Mark Scharrenberg, Alatini Saulala, Brian Hightower, and Kurt Shuman as well as the recalled Vaea Anitoni – all future World Cup players.

Something of a luxury for USA Rugby, 2007’s outpouring of Eagle spending is effectively underwritten by a “high performance” grant from the International Rugby Board, which distributes monies to so-called Tier 2 countries such as America as well as to “cross border” tournaments like the North American 4. In recent years, during the tenure of chief executive Doug Arnot, such a representative program was unthinkable.

Riverside and Las Vegas were both funded by the national team, the former at a time when USA Rugby’s explicitly prohibited union monies from being spent on the Eagles. Unsurprisingly, both were staged in rather Spartan conditions.

Led by Eagle coach Peter Thorburn, San Diego seems likely to produce many if not most of the NA4 players. Earlier this week Thorburn tapped Marty Wiggins (Chicago Lions) and Adam Friend (Pearl City, Iowa) to coach the Falcons and Hawks, respectively. The IRB intends the NA4 as the proving ground for most of America’s internationals.

USA Training Squad, February 2007
Forwards: Jarvis Albury (OMBAC), Mark Aylor (Denver Barbarians), Inaki Bausari (Massy Essonne), Patrick Bell (Life University), Aaron Beuhring (PAC), Will Brazier (Old Blue), Blake Burdette (NYAC), Adam Casias (Sacramento Lions), Todd Clever (OMBAC), Mark Crick (PAC), Michael French (OMBAC), Luke Gross (Doncaster), Jason Guerts (Fresno), Danny LaProvette (Golden Gate), MC Laubscher (Chicago Lions), Brian Lemay (Boston Irish Wolfhounds), Michael MacDonald (Leeds), Michael Mangan (Denver Barbarians), Moeakiola Matekitonga (Park City Haggis), Travis Meidinger (Heidelburg), Hayden Mexted (St. Louis Bombers), Kevin Mongold (Scioto Valley), Christopher Moreno (Denver Barbarians), Tasi Mounga (Golden Gate), Christopher Osentowski (Belmont Shore), Alec Parker (Gentlemen of Aspen), Dan Payne (OMBAC), Rikus Pretorius (Univ. of California), Latu Puloka (OMBAC), Patrick Quinn (Denver Barbarians), Nathan Rogers (Life University), Ron Rosser (Belmont Shore), Andrew Ryland (Belmont Shore), Jake Stanfill (OMBAC), Louis Stanfill (Univ. of California), John Tarpoff (not available), John Vander Geissen (Grunion), John Vitale (Chicago Lions), Ben Weidmer (Belmont Shore)

Backs: Brian Barnard (Belmont Shore OMBAC), Philip Eloff (Chicago Lions), Paul Emerick (Newport-Gwent Dragons), Chad Erskine (Waterloo), Vahafolau Esikia (San Mateo), James Gillenwater (Maryland Exiles), Riaan Hamilton (OMBAC), Mike Hercus (Newport-Gwent Dragons), Elwood Hullinger (OMBAC), Scott Jones (Chicago Lions), Jason Kelly (Denver Barbarians), Kimball Kjar (Park City Haggis), Jason Lett (Worcester), Dominic Mara (NYAC), Tyson Meek (Nottingham), Andrew Locke (US Military Academy), Jone Naqica (Denver Barbarians), Takudzwa Ngwenya (Fort Worth), Andrew Osborne (Washington), Michael Palefau (Narbonne), Douglas Rowe (Old Blue), Alipate Tuilevuka (Park City Haggis), Albert Tuipolotu (San Mateo), Francois Viljoen (Belmont Shore), David Williams (Denver Barbarians), Chris Wyles (Northhampton)

Related story:
Recalled Mo'unga among 50 invited to Eagle training camp
Eagle camp to incorporate secretive coaching confab       

Friend, Wiggins to lead NA4 sides

The Chicago Lions’ Marty Wiggins and Pearl City, Iowa’s Adam Friend will lead the North America 4 teams, with Kevin Battle the sole coach to return from 2006.

Wiggins will take charge of the Falcons while Friend guides the Hawks, USA Rugby said in a press release. The duo replace Pete Steinberg and Jim Love from the year-ago season.

The appointments may be seen as a preview of Eagle coach Peter Thorburn’s plans for rounding out his staff, in that USA Rugby has previously suggested the NA4 leaders ought to be Eagle assistants. But Thorburn also has been speaking with past Eagle assistant Brett Taylor, according to people familiar with the matter.

Battle, of UC-Santa Barbara and the Grunion, will assist Wiggins while Penn State head man and All-American assistant Don Ferrall will join Friend.

Steinberg, who is a USA Rugby employee, is newly responsible for youth and high school rugby. Love is based in New Zealand.

The NA4 kicks off on April 7 in San Diego, with the next leg set for Seattle in May.

"P.J." Komongnan: Watch this space 2

P.J. Komongnan was dropped from the national team and Hyde Alumni surrendered a 19-point lead in dropping the San Diego 7s final.

“We didn’t get the storybook ending we were hoping for,” Hyde coach Tal Bayer said of his team’s visit to the USA 7s.

Some have begun to wonder if the African-American team and its most famous player are too much storybook. Fair enough, if that were as far as things went. But one must now address the fact that a scratch side of recent graduates should have bested the University of Utah, the 2006 collegiate semifinalist.

MSM (mainstream media) runs with the “diversity” angle any chance it gets, but the American rugby community ought not consider itself above fixation. The winning cultures our best teams have endeavored to create for themselves are frequently seen as the cause, rather than the effect, of their labors.

Bayer recognizes that different and special players like Komongnan will attract unusual attention to his program. “I get emails from all over the world asking ‘What’s P.J. doing’,” he says.

But Bayer, who is the school’s athletic director, pointedly measures success by a different yardstick: graduation. Never mind race. For all in straightened economic circumstances, finishing school is substantive, and many of Hyde’s practical steps toward that goal would be meaningful for any scholastic team.

As for Komongnan, the 21-year-old has taken off from Delaware State this semester, to pursue his hopes of becoming an Eagle regular. By fall, he expects to have transferred to a better rugby school.

Related: "P.J." Komongnan: Watch this space

USA 7s: Eagles claim 2d Shield title

(San Diego) First-half tries from prop Todd Clever and wing Takudzwa Ngwenya paced the Eagles to a 26-5 win over Portugal and the USA 7s Shield championship.

The four-tries-to-one victory capped a 3-3 weekend. Australia (29-14), England (26-10), and Canada (14-7) bested the hosts, while the Riaan Hamilton-led side topped Kenya (33-5) and West Indies (17-0) in addition to the Portuguese.

After a poor opener and an improved – but not especially close – loss to England, the Eagles lifted themselves in fits and starts over the two-day tournament. The match against the Maple Leafs might have gone the other way. Speedy outside backs, including Jason Pye and Andrew “Tui” Osborne, were particularly evident in the team’s better moments.

The outcome vindicates coach Al Caravelli’s approach, the second-year coach who has stuck to his guns on selections and strategy. Out-of-favor players are likely to have re-entered the 15s mix.

The Shield title is America’s second in the four-year-old competition, newly relocated to San Diego. The first came at Carson’s Home Deport Center in 2004. Jone Naqica is the only player to have been on both squads.

Set in the downtown Gas Lamp district, the Petco Park venue was acclaimed a major success for its accessibility and atmosphere. Despite Sunday morning drizzle, the tournament was likely to have set an attendance record – but just as likely to have made a loss for its owners, American International Media.

Fiji captured the championship with a win over Samoa, becoming the fourth team in as many years to claim the US leg on the (renamed) IRB Sevens World Series.