USRFF sets funds Goal for end of 2007(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

The United States Rugby Football Foundation set a campaign goal in November to help young rugby players experience top-level rugby all over the world. The foundation looked to raise $50,000 by the end of the year and is asking all those involved with the youth game to chip in. The director of the USRFF Brian Vizard is heading up the operation and cites his own experiences playing rugby abroad as reason for people to give to the foundation. Donations towards the $50,000 goal will be used is a number of ways that will benefit a range of players and teams. Ball grants will be at the base of the foundation so that children and new players will at least have the most essential piece of equipment to get accustomed to the game. Educational grants and high-school level team equipment packages will comprise another portion of the $50,000 to be spread out to schools with enough interest to start a team. Finally, the money raised will go towards portions of college scholarships, which are rare in the rugby arena, and towards grants allotted by the USRFF. The grants would go to specific qualified players and would allow them to attend elite rugby clinics held in the U.S. and abroad. With the year coming to a close, friends of the USRFF need to keep the gifts coming so that the organization can continue to promote the game amongst the youngest players.

U-20’S bring game to Ireland(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

The United States U-20 men’s rugby team is kicking off the New Year abroad as the squad is in the midst of its Ireland tour. After naming the starting squad on the eve of the beginning of the tour, the U-20’s began their quest by squaring of against the U-20 squad of the storied Munster club, the same team that took on the Men’s Eagles before they shipped out to the 2007 rugby world cup. A hard-fought match against Munster saw the US fall by a narrow 14-7 margin, but in many ways, it was a good start to the trip. Training had been difficult for the US team, as they have had to deal with wet weather and muddy field conditions, but the bad-weather training that the team did get in helped assimilate them with the playing conditions in the Munster game.
After dropping the match to Munster, the U-20’s had the task of taking down Trinity College; the oldest rugby club in the country. Heading into the match, the US had its work cut out as head coach Salty Thompson elected to start an entirely new front row, including six new forwards and four new backs. The change proved to spark the offense against Trinity and the two teams were tied at 22-apiece late in the game. The US managed one more try, but Trinity notched 14 more points and escaped with the 36-27 victory. Next up for the US team is Queens University and the US hopes to put what they have learned in the first two games to use to grab a victory in game three.

Youth Squads progress in Arizona(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

Arizona was the place to be for young rugby players in the US rugby system towards the end of December as both the men’s U-19 and U-18 rugby squads held developmental camps from December 26 through the 31. The U-18 team held its first ever winter training camp and 63 players came out for the event. The U-18 team is in a unique position of being in line for a multitude of upcoming international events, including the U-20 world cup in Wales, and a number of national team events in the coming months and years. The players were primarily high school players although a handful of college freshmen also attended the session.
Alongside the U-18 team, the U-19 squad also held a camp during the same time period and hosted a total of 55 players in the session. The U-19 camp was targeted specifically at developing talent for the Freedom Cup competition where the U.S. will take on Canada in Florida in February. Again featuring a mix of club, college and high school talent, the U-19 coaches are excited to be a part of the age-grade system that allows them to see up-and-coming talent advance through the national team system. With cohesive U-18 and U-19 teams, the U.S. is more confident than ever for the near and distant future for the USA youth programs and eventually the national team itself.

Fullerton set to host International Youth Event(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

What started as a boy’s high school rugby tournament in 2004 has quickly become one of the premier youth rugby events in the United States. The Fullerton rugby club prepares to host its’ fifth annual International Youth Rugby tournament and even though it is scheduled for the end of March, there is a large amount of anticipation and excitement surrounding the event. After the opening year of the tournament, a girls division was put in place in 2005 that expanded the tournament to its current size and prowess. The international event fields teams from a number of locations including various teams from around the U.S. and teams from Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico and other international rugby nations. The age limit for the event is very specific; all players must be enrolled in high school and must be 18 years old or younger as of September 1, 2007. The age guidelines serve to promote some stellar rugby action at the event, especially in the 2007 tournament. In the girls cup final match, the North Shore Highlanders slid by the Surrey Eagles 5-0 to claim the top prize and the team from Back Bay downed the Cougars 7-0 to take the boys championship. With such a wide variety of teams and such a deep talent pool, everyone involved with the 2008 tournament is expecting the competition to equal or surpass that of last year and the Fullerton rugby club is excited to get moving toward the weekend in March.

Baggetta gets the nod for defensive specialist(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

Among the many moves being made by USA Rugby regarding the national team and the development of its players, Peter Baggetta was name the official defensive specialist coach for the US national team. Baggetta will be responsible for instituting a new defensive scheme not only at the highest level of US rugby, but a model that can be emulated through the ranks down to the youth development teams. In this way, Baggetta will be working directly with the coaches in the new age-grade system to increase the level of defense being played throughout the organization. The newly named defense expert has plenty of coaching experience and is currently the head of the Potomac Athletic Club in the US rugby Super League. He has also assisted with the Mid-Atlantic Men’s All-Star team and played an important role in the recent USA Coach Development program as the leader of a number of courses. Though Baggetta will continue to coach the Potomac squad through the 2008 Super League season, his duties were laid out for him at the U-17 national team camp in Florida just a few days ago and he is looking forward to collaborating with coaches at all levels to up the standard for defense. USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville will also work closely with his new hire to ensure that Baggetta’s defensive leadership is being promoted at all levels and is effective against the world’s best.

Warsaw helping growth in Indiana(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

Even though the Warsaw rugby boys and girls teams are done playing for the season, the teams continue to build a community with the sport they love to play as the common bond. Warsaw is one of 27 boys and 17 girls high school rugby teams in the state of Indiana. The club welcomes all comers that are willing to commit to the club-level sport and competes in a number of state tournaments, continually feeding the growing number of men’s and women’s collegiate teams in the area. This off-season, the Warsaw group participated in the toys for tot’s delivery, giving back to the community as a team even though they are in between seasons. The team unity in the off-season speaks volumes to the teams’ success during play as both the boys and girls have experienced recent success. The men are 2-1 in three games with their big season coming in the spring and the women finished the fall 2007 season with a daunting 11-1 record including seven shutouts. The women also scored 532 points over their 12 games and allowed only 53 points in that span. In a state like Indiana where starting rugby clubs is an uphill battle to say the least, the Warsaw gang is doing its part to connect with the community and show what an asset the group can be. And with the boy’s season around the corner, the community support for Warsaw looks to only increase through this spring and beyond.

ARU considers Pumas for Tri-Nations (Taken From rugbydirt.com)

If Australian Rugby Union deputy chief executive Matt Carroll is to be believed, Argentina may be the right ingredient to “freshen up” the Tri-Nations and Super 14.

If Australian Rugby Union deputy chief executive Matt Carroll is to be believed, Argentina may be the right ingredient to “freshen up” the Tri-Nations and Super 14.

Carroll doesn’t expect the ARY to afford an additional extra Super 14 side just yet, but suggested Melbourne could host an expansion team consisting of Australians, Argentinians and Pacific Islanders. This came after Carroll met with Argentinean officials.

"Their Argentina's] initial solution was to play in Europe but they've been rebuffed," he told press agency AAP. "Does the Tri Nations need freshening up? Yes it does. Could Argentina provide that freshness? Quite possibly yes. What have we got to do? Make sure that the Argentineans have their best players so we've got to find a solution for that.

"You want Argentina to come into the Tri-Nations, you've got to get Argentinean players [into the Super 14] somehow... and additional teams could be the key. Then they're playing at the same time as us and their players can be released to play for Argentina when we're playing the Tri Nations.

"I don't think Australian rugby at the moment could tolerate an extra team out of our resources. Four teams seem to be where we're at at the moment. But that doesn't mean we can't have other teams come into the competition."

The mass exodus of players to Europe, with bigger clubs and fatter paychecks, is an issue Australia and New Zealand have struggled with for some time now. According to Carroll, one solution was rebuffing the structure of the Tri-Nations and Super 14.

"Unless we have strong competitions in the southern hemisphere, both in terms of quality rugby and strong financially, then we won't be able to retain our players," he said. "It is making sure Super 14 is powering along, making it an attractive competition. [If it] keeps the players, generates money, you can pay the players their salaries."

The ARU has a rule against foreigners playing in Australian sides, but Carroll said that could change in lieu of the Pumas’ possible inclusion. It is foreseeable then, that Australian players sign with South African or New Zealand sides without risking selection to the Wallabies.

"Australians could be marquee players in other Super 14 teams. You start to look at it competition-wise as distinct from narrowly in your own back yard," said Carroll. "That [would] allow for [Australian] players to be picked in Test teams within the SANZAR [the event's governing body] year because they would all be playing in the one competition."

The matter will be discussed in the ARU's three-month review.