International Rugby Coming to the South!

USA v Canada in Charleston SC, August 17th! This is a World Cup qualifier!  Get excited!

Press Release!

Owen Farrell

Everyone needs to watch Owen Farrell as he takes a kick at goal...

The Hardcore Two!

Makaio and Donovan came out to the Play Day and showed the Atlanta kids how to play rugby.  They really helped make the day a success.  Thanks guys!

Play Day

Saturday, from 1pm to 4pm, I am going to be at Bessie Branham park, spreading the rugby gospel.  There are a bunch of other things going on too; soccer, ultimate, basketball, even bike polo.  The rugby sessions will start at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.  Stop on by and satisfy that rugby craving and help spread the word!

Info here:  http://playday.atlcp.org/
More info at their Fax Machine Era Web Page
And a Map

Wales v England

This Saturday the Six Nations Champion will be decided when Wales plays England. If Wales wins by 8, they win the tournament.  If Wales wins by seven, England and Wales tie the tournament.  If Wales wins by 6 or less or England wins, England wins the tournament.  It's going to be good!

BBC America.  1pm.

Twitter

Well, maybe we should get a Twitter account.  I asked AYR fan Jamie Allen to tweet our Harlem Shake video, and we have been getting some responses!  Check them out!

First Todd Clever responded!  Pretty good, right?

And then USA Rugby responds!

And then the Potomac Rugby Union Youth League invites us up for a tournament!

What do you say!?  I say we get our act together and head up there!

...oh.  and we should get a Twitter account.

Atlanta Youth Rugby vs USA Rugby - Harlem Shake

Hey, Todd Clever!

Winter Session is Complete!

Justice, Karl and Joseph stay late on our last day

Well. Winter session is over. Today is daylight savings time. I guess we timed that pretty well! 

 Drew
Luca
Gavin
Caden
Max
Gus
Vince
Colin
Joseph
Donovan
Howie
Truman
Makaio
Gabriel
Liam
Justice
Jackson
Karl
Jack P
Jack "Mista" Labadia
Joseph
Cameron
Brian

Good job boys!

Our field served us well.  Thanks field!

Stats!

I don't now what Howie eats for breakfast, but he needs to start selling it!

Below is a chart of the tries scored in the two games we played against Phoenix.  This only shows tries, it does not show flag grabs, fumble recoveries, assists, passing or general awesomeness and all that stuff is important.  Still, it's pretty fun.

Flag Rugby Tries.  2013

Player	Game 1	Game 2	Total
Colin		1	1
Gavin			Next Match!
Makaio	1	dnp	1
Justice		2	2
Karl		2	2
Vince	2	1	3
Howie	2	7	9
Donovan	2		2
Max		1	1
Jackson	2	4	6
Gabriel		dnp	Next Match!

Phoenix Rugby Visits Inman Park

Yup.  It was cold!

To follow up after last weekend's exciting day of Rookie Rugby, Phoenix Rugby came down played us on our practice field.  I tallied up the tries and the final score was 1,205 to 1,215!  There were ALOT of tries.

Phoenix is capable of playing a much faster game than us and they really showed that today.  Their passing was really great.  They are able to support their the person with the ball much better than us.  I told some of the boys to take notes.   Although our game seemed slower than theirs, we did a good job with ball handling and worked the ball down the field for our tries.  ...or we just ran back and forth until a hole opened up.

So, who won?  I have no idea.  It sure was fun thought.  Thanks to Phoenix for coming down!  And Coach Darden, thanks for stepping up and handling ref duties again!

Video!

Coach / Parent / Cameraman Mike Mikula got this video of our first match against Phoenix.  Check it.  Pretty sweet.

A Mother's Perspective on Rugby

From the Canadian blog "The Province"

“Rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen”. It’s been said so many times that it’s almost a cliché. But no-one really knows from where, or whom, this phrase originated, although some credit Sir Winston Churchill; others Oscar Wilde. The fact is, despite much research, some of it my own, it seems the quote cannot be correctly attributed to anyone. My son did shout it out in the middle of a game once (with an added expletive), after witnessing an unprovoked attack on his team-mate, but I don’t think he can claim the words as being his own.

Mothers watching their sons and daughters take to the field, unprotected, to face an oncoming full-on running tackle from an opposing player, will take little comfort from the fact that rugby is “played by gentlemen”. But as one of those mothers, after watching countless games over the past 20 years – including many professional games in England and Scotland – I have never witnessed an injury in rugby as bad as some I have seen in other sports.

Read the whole article here:  http://blogs.theprovince.com/2013/02/26/diary-of-an-immigrant-4/