Saturday, October 25, 2008

Couch rugger - NAWIRA and Nationals, day 1

It's been a pretty good rugby Saturday even though I haven't played a minute myself - spent the day watching the NAWIRA qualifiers live, which was wonderful even though I could never really figure out who was playing who. It seems that the US women kicked ass, though.

And out in Missouri at Nationals, MARFU women had a pretty good showing - NOVA beat ORSU 15-5 and Furies beat North Shore 37-12, though Philly lost 10-41 to the Minnesota Valkyries. Can't wait to hear how the matches tomorrow go - although I'll have to wait until I get home, as instead of watching the itty bitty feed from the Bahamas and refreshing USA Rugby looking for scores, I'll be spending the day up in Salisbury trying out for the PRU U23 team. Mmmm, rugby weekend.


From USA Rugby:

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The USA Rugby Senior Women’s Club Playoffs kicked off at Sportport sports complex on Saturday, with all but one of the higher seeded teams emerging out front in day one of competition.

The day kicked off with the No. 4 seeded Minnesota Valkyries taking on Philadelphia. In the end it was the Midwest team that prevailed, 41-10 at the final whistle. Minnesota will take on Keystone RFC, who started out its playoff run with a 17-5 victory over the San Diego Surfers in the first match of the day when competition resumes on Sunday.

No. 3 seeded New York pushed past Glendale 43-12 and will now face Northern Virginia (NOVA) in Sunday’s competition. The No. 11 seed NOVA team pulled the day's only upset, muscling past No. 6 Oregon Sports Union (ORSU) in the first round 15-5 to stay in the hunt for the title.

Meanwhile, last year’s Championship runners up from Beantown put up the strongest showing of the day, putting down Seattle 89-12 in their playoffs opener. The Boston team now goes on to face fellow Mid-Atlantic competitors the Washington Furies, who defeated Chicago North Shore 37-12, in tomorrow’s competition.

Rounding out a full day of play, reigning champions the Berkeley All Blues topped the Boston Women 45-10 and will now face the Twin Cities Amazons when the tournament resumes tomorrow. The Minnesota squad shut down the Atlanta Harlequins 45-12 in day one

Competition picks up again bright and early on Sunday morning, lasting from 9:30 a.m. through about 4:30 p.m. Please see below for the complete match schedule. Tickets to the event will be sold at the gate for $5 per day.

As the road to crowning the 2008 Women’s Club champions continues, the top eight finishers will next travel to the Seminole Soccer Complex in Sanford, Fla. for the Championships on November 7-9, 2008.
For more information on the USA Rugby Women’s Club Playoffs or Championships series, please visit www.usarugby.org or contact Director of Competition Dan Payne at dpayne@usarugby.org.

Senior Women’s Club Playoffs
Results – Day 1, October 25
Minnesota Valkyries 41, Philadelphia 10
Keystone 17, San Diego 5
New York 43, Glendale 12
Northern Virginia (NOVA) 15, Oregon Sport Union (ORSU) 5
Beantown 89, Seattle 12
Washington Furies 37, Chicago North Shore 12
Berkeley All Blues 45, Boston 10
Twin Cities Amazons 45, Atlanta Harlequins 12

Day 2 Schedule, October 26
9:30 a.m. Field A – Minnesota Valkyries vs. Keystone
9:30 a.m. Field B – Philadelphia vs. San Diego Surfers
11:15 a.m. Field A – New York vs. NOVA
11:15 a.m. Field B – Glendale vs. ORSU
1 p.m. Field A – Beantown vs. Washington Furies
1 p.m. Field B – Seattle vs. Chicago North Shore
2:45 p.m. Field A – Berkeley vs. Twin Cities
2:45 p.m. Field B – Boston vs. Atlanta Harlequins

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