Deep South Rugby 2015-16 Season

By mulletwrapper@gulftel.com on July 3, 2016

August 13-14th NORFC Competes at National Club 7s in Denver

NORFC quaified for the club side championships in Denver by finishing second to Atlanta Old White in the South Tournament.
At the national tournament NORFC lost 54-0 to Seattle Saracens, 21-19 to Austin Huns, and 28-12 to Kansas City Blues in pool play. In the knock-out round NORFC lost 26-7 to Little Rock Stormers and 35-0 to Olympic Club Rugby, and closed out the tournament with a 27-19 victory over Austin Huns.

July 9, 2016, New Orleans Loses 26-28 to Nashville at Tennessee 7s
New Orleans narrowly lost to Nashville, 28-26, at the 40th annual Tennessee 7s in Knoxville on July 9th. Nashville decided not to qualify for the South Championships, so New Orleans received the points to advance.
Six clubs participated: Knoxville, Bowling Green, New Orleans, Nashville, Ticks, and Oklahoma City. New Orleans emerged from pool play undefeated.
New Orleans defeated Knoxville, 40-5, in semi-final and led for most of final before Nashville’s late match comeback. The South 7s Championship begin on July 23rd.

July 9, 2016, Jesuit’s Massey on South U-19 Squad vs Bermuda
Gabriel Massey (Jesuit) was on South U-19 squad vs Bermuda at the Rugby Americas North U-19 Championships in Miramar, Florida.

July, 2016, LSU’s Bower Finalist for Player of the Year

Christian Bower (LSU) was finalist for Goff Rugby Report’s College Player of the Year.

June 7, 2016, LSU Alexandria 7th in NSCRO National 7s

LSU Alexandria defesated North Alabama 17-12 in the regional 7s national qualifier held in Chattanooga to qualify for the Penn Mutual/NSCRO national tournament in Philadelphia. LSU Alexandria went 0-3 in pool play (21-0 to New Mexicao Highlands University, 10-0 to Susquehanna, and 19-12 to Babson College), On Day 2 of national tournament they defeated Ithaca 26-10 to capture 7th place. New Mexico Highlands University captured the national championship with a 31-7 victory over St. Mary’s College.

Lawson of Jackson on USA South Panthers

James Lawson of Jackson RFC made the USA Rugby South Panther squad that played against Bermuda in Atlanta on May 7th.

5/14/16 Ft Walton Beach 7s

Okaloosa Islanders men’s club host the No Shoes Barefoot Beach Sevens Tournament with men’s, women’s, and high school teams. The event is sanctioned by USA Rugby.

5/5/16 Bayou Hurricanes State Champs/Perfect Season

The Bayou Hurricanes went undefeated in capturing the Louisiana/DeepSouth state title 28-12 against Jesuit. The Blue Jays would have had a perfect season, also, except for 3 losses to the Hurricanes.

4/23/16 Tulane Women USA Rugby Div II Champs

The Tulane Women’s rugby team defeated Humboldt State University 39-32 in the spring season championship final. The final was played in Moraga, California. Humboldt State is in northern California.

4/23/16 Tulane Wins Golden Eagles 7s

Tulane Men defeated the hosts, Univ of Southern Mississippi, in the final 40-14 to claim the championship.

4/19/16 Brennan Falcon Starts for the USA u-20 in World Trophy Tournament

In the USA’s opening pool play match in the World U-20 tournament in Zimbabwe, Brennan Falcon (Shaw, LSU) started at #7 for the USA. The Junior All-American squad lost 46 – 44 to Namibia. The new 6 points for a try rule is being trialled by World Rugby at this tournament.

Brennan started at #7 in the USA’s second pool match victory where the u-20 All Americans were victorious over Hong Kong 32-12.

4/16/16 LSU Faces Univ of Arizona in Div 1A Playoff

LSU went undefeated to capture the championship of the Red River Conference. They gained home field advantage for their USA Rugby Div 1A play-off match with University of Arizona. The Tigers lost 30-10. Arizona lost to Utah in the Quarterfinals 36-14th. LSU would end season ranked #14 nationally.

4/10/16 Tulane University Women Make Div II Final Four

Tulane Univeristy Women’s Rugby team, under the direction of Coach Jessica Mallindine and in only their 2nd year back after disbanding over a decade ago following Hurricane Katrina, have become the first Louisiana women’s rugby side to advance to a USA Rugby final four play-off. In the Elite Eight playoff they defeated Eckerd College from Florida 30-10 and University of Arkansas 37-0 to continue their hunt for a national championship in California.

In the semi-final vs Salisbury College on April 23rd in Davis, California, the Tulane Women were victorious 53-38. Humboldt College defeated University of Southern California in other semi 45-10.

4/8/16 Brennan Falcon Selected USA Rugby U-20 World Trophy Squad

Brennan Falcon (Shaw, LSU) was selected for the USA Men’s Junior All American squad that will travel to Zimbabwe on April 14th to compete in the World Rugby U-20 World Trophy.

3/30/16 LSU Captain Red River Player of the Month

Christian Brower was named the Red River Conference player of the month for March.

3/29/16 Cameron Falcon Signs Pro Rugby Contract

Cameron Falcon (Shaw ’11, LSU, NORFC) signs to play professional rugby with the Ohio team in the newly formed Pro Rugby league.

3/19/16 Spring Hill 7s

Saint Louis University defeated the University of Florida 19-12 in overtime to win the 2016 Spring Hill 7s.

The University of Alabama fell to Saint Louis in their semi-final 7-0. The Gators slipped by Mississippi State 21-14 in their semi-final.

2/27/16 New Orleans Collegiate Rugby 7s Tournament

The New Orleans Collegiate Rugby 7s Tournament began Saturday, February 27th, at the NORFC’s home field in Gretna. Teams from Mississippi State, Tulane, Loyola, Spring Hill College, Louisiana Tech, Troy University, University of South Alabama, and University of Southern Mississippi participated. The tournament was organized by Matt Austin.

Tulane defeated Mississippi State 17-12 in the final.

Tulane, Mississippi State, Spring Hill, and Loyola met in the second round. Tulane beat Spring Hill and Mississippi State defeated Loyola to set up the final. Spring Hill took 3rd.

2/13/16 Brennan Falcon Starts for USA U20s vs Canada

The USA U-20 side defeated Canada 19-18 in Austin in a match following the USA Eagles 30-22 victory over Canada in inaugural ARC championship. Brennan Falcon (Shaw and LSU) started and played the entire match.

1/29/16 Cameron Falcon on USA Eagle ARC Squad

NORFC hooker, Cameron Falcon, was selected to be one of the 37 athletes on the USA Eagle 37 member squad for the inaugural American Rugby Championship (ARC). The ARC’s initial plan is to involve USA, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil in an annual “6 Nations” type competition. Cameron was selected as reserve for USA’s match vs Brazil on Feb. 27th.

1/23/16 First High School Match in Shreveport

The Shreveport area high school team played their first match ever against the Bayou Hurricanes from Houma. The Gary Kennedy Memorial Rugby Classic held on Saturday, January 23rd, in Shreveport was three matches. LSU played Louisiana Tech and University of Alabama in the first two matches. Shreveport, coached by Sammy Brock, took the pitch in the third match of the day.

Deep South area players in USA Rugby South Panthers 2016 NACRA Championship Campaign

On Dec. 12, 2015, the USA Rugby South Panthers defeated a select side from the largely Virginia based Capital Rugby Union 41-32. This was a warm-up match before the Panthers begin their North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) 2016 championship campaign against the Bahamas in Nassau on January 9th.

The following is a quote from Christ Porter, coach of the Capital Union select side, as reported in Rugby Today:
“They (USARS Panthers) were quick in the backline and they hit things at pace. Their forwards hit the ball at pace and their backline hit all their moves at pace. Jeff Reuther is a great veteran player as he has really developed into a great leader and runs a great backline. Chance Doyle, from fullback, was hitting the ball at pace and their center, Amir Khan, from Detroit, did a great job. He as very difficult to take down, he has some really quick feet and made some good moves to set guys up really well.”

See more at: http://www.rugbytoday.com/clubs/rugby-south-outlasts-capital-union-select-side-match#sthash.VNZtZrYL.dpuf

The following are Deep South region players selected for USARS Panthers vs the Bahamas:
Zach Blalock Birmingham
Chance Doyle New Orleans
Ben Lopata Louisiana Tech
Jeff Reuther New Orleans
Thomas Savoie Louisiana Tech

2015 Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC) All-Conference players from the Deep South area

SCRC Player of the Year – Matt Schick #8 Alabama

1st Team

#8 Matt Schick Alabama

center Ross Depperschmidt Alabama

center Dylan Turner Mississippi

2nd Team

hooker Mathew Lund Alabama

lock Jacob Matrella Auburn

flanker Zach Carmello Alabama

scrumhalf Jordan Speights Mississippi State

center Nick Magnella Auburn

wing Terrance Mathews Mississippi State

fullback Naoki Kawahara Alabama

Nov. 25th Week #11 (Final) Goff Rugby Report Div 1 Fall College Ranking
#16 LSU
#24 Alabama

11/21/15 Olympic Identification Camp in Mobile

Saturday, November 21st, an Olympic identification camp was held in Mobile, Al. Paul Holmes, USA Olympic rugby coach, and Justin Goonan, USA Jr. All American S&C coach, and Spring Hill College assistant coach, Callum Corley, held the camp at Spring Hill College.

LSU’s Falcon & Troxler USA U-20 Invite

Brennan Falcon and Cameron Troxler with LSU were invited to tryout for the USA U-20 All-American team. The camp will be held December 19 – December 22, 2015 in Casa Grande, Arizona.

USA Rugby South Panthers NACRA Side

The USA Rugby South Panthers Select Side squad selected to compete for the NACRA title.

Squad: Tyler Bishop (Tallahassee), Zach Blalock (Birmingham), Irving Carcamo (Charlotte), Waymon Cassel (Nashville), Casey Davidson (University of Georgia), Nathan Driggers (University of Georgia), Ty Elkins (Charlotte), Daniel Falkner (Appalachian St.), Jarrett Gartin (North Atlanta), Amro Gouda (Charlotte), Jesse Hackworth (Middle Tenn St U), Matt Hughston (Charlotte), Corey Jones (Little Rock), Amir Khan (Detroit Tradesmen), Ben Lopata (Louisiana Tech), Zach Miller (North Atlanta), Ron Omondi (Atlanta Old White), Alejandro Ospina (Charlotte), Jeff Reuther (New Orleans), Nathan Ring (Nashville), Thomas Savoie (Louisiana Tech), Todd Sherer (Columbia), Doug Stillwell (East Carolina), Calvin Storey (Raleigh), Kermit Tyler (Atlanta Renegades), David Winiarczyk (Atlanta Old White)

10/24/15 Louisian Youth/Rookie Rugby Fall Tournament

Louisiana Youth/Rookie Rugby holds end of fall seaon tournament, Saturday, October 24th, at Gretna Park (860 Gretna Blvd) and then watched the New Orleans Loup Garoux team play the Houma Hurricanes at 3 p.m. Louisiana Youth Rugby is for children between the ages of 7-12 that may be interested in joining us for our spring season.

10/9/15 LA Tech’s Crawford Player of Week

Oct. 9th Louisiana Tech University #8 Will Crawford was chosen as Gift-Time Rugby Network Spotlight Player of the Week.

10/3/15 NORFC Garreth Stubbs Passed Away

Oct. 3rd Garreth Stubbs passed away of an apparent heart attack. Garreth was a true Welshman, born to rugby,
and he made a significant contribution to the New Orleans club both
on and off the pitch during the early 1990s until he was diagnosed
with diabetes, forcing him to retire from the game he loved.

9/18/15 Louisiana Represented in Aspen

A few Old Boys and a bunch of Young Boys just went to Aspen the weekend of Sept. 18th. Young players from around the New Orleans and Louisiana area were invited to come along. Recruiting, reloading, and reshuffling the deck was the primary mission. The tour group came away with 2 wins against Glendale and the Denver Barbarians. Two matches were lost, one against Aspen and one against The Misfits. All in all, it was a successful weekend of rugby.

9/5/15 Lake Area High School Team Disbanded

Sept. 5th What follows is an email from Matt Austin about seeking to include the Lake Area’s players in a multi- school club as Lake Area administration goes to main stream sports:

” I met with Lake Area’s AD yesterday and they will not be fielding a single school team. They will still help the boys as they can, but there won’t be financial or organizational assistance from them as they are focusing on LHSAA sports as they now have a full sports compliment, which they didn’t when they started rugby. I think that by support that they mean they will let them use lockers and train with the football team.

I am going to make the effort to organize a city club team to involve
players from Lake Area, Warren Easton, Holy Cross (1 player so far), and anyone else interested in playing who doesn’t have a school team. I want to ensure that those players don’t stop playing rugby for lack of a team.

Anyone interested in helping to make the club team happen, please contact me and we can set up a meeting of interested parties. I know many guys want to help but are busy. But even if anyone can help coach a day a week even that would be a big help. I’m at Jesuit teaching now and would like to be there coaching, but if no one steps up as a head coach for that city club, I will. For now I’m going to commit to at least organizing the structure and setting the team up. Send the word out, especially to those who would like to help, but may be short on time or experience.

I’m working on a few division possibilities. I’ll work a few scenarios and have those prepared soon. Matt”
Fri, Sep 4th It is reported that the youth Shreveport team is 100 % sure. A second Shreveport High School asked to be included for the 2016-17 school year. A coach was in place and would train under the 1st Shreveport team for this year.

8/7/15 NO Royales Win Shreveport 7s

Aug. 7th New Orleans Royale wins Shreveport Horseshoe Casino and Hotel Bossier City Louisiana 7s.