Eagle Scrum in Action

This short video clip is a look at the varsity team's scrum in action - notice the quickness to the engagement and the power.

Back on Track

The STH Eagles traveled to Stony Point for a key early season match on Saturday and won by the narrowest of margins -29-26. St. Thomas was trying to recover from last week's 23-8 loss to Austin Westlake and needed a win to regain momentum. The Tigers proved to be physically tough and skilled opponents and gave the Eagles everything they could handle.

The Eagles dominated the Tigers the last two seasons, winning 65-0, and 57-0, but the Tigers were much improved and under the guidance of head coach Jesse Adams were 2-0 going into their rematch with St. Thomas. Despite admonishments not to take Stony Point lightly, the Eagles seemed to play much of the match in a mental haze, believing that this year's game would be an automatic replay of the previous two.

The Eagles started the match in style with Dixon Garnett scoring a try in the first minute and a half of the game. They scored again off a long run by Will Gutkowski (4:33) and appeared to be on their way to another lopsided victory, but the Tigers were not willing to lay down nor give up the fight. They scored two tries of their own and led at halftime 14-12.

Stony Point pushed their lead to 21-12 early in the second half, before Conor O'Brien scored(53:44), bringing the Eagles to within two points -21-19. The Tigers answered with another try three minutes later and St. Thomas appeared to be in real danger with the score 26-19. The last 15 minutes of the game were all Eagles though, as John Boudreaux scored a brilliant try (61:00) when he stole the ball from the opposition scrumhalf near the goaline - diving over for the score. The conversion kick was critical and Sebastian Gracia hit a difficult 25 meter kick from the sideline to even the score at 26-26.

The Eagles pushed into Tiger territory with three minutes remaining. After as series of line-breaks, Stony Point was penalized for diving over the top. Gracia calmly slotted the penalty kick (67:32) giving the Eagles a 29-26 lead. They then played stifling defense for the last minute and a half to secure the comeback win.

This was a critical win for the Eagles, who did not seem fully recovered from the loss to Westlake. It was also an indication of the how tough the road to the state championship will be for St. Thomas. The competitive level of the league has risen dramatically and there are no easy wins for any team. St. Thomas travels to Dallas Jesuit next weekend to defend its Bishop Cup title against the Rangers. The season is off to an interesting and exciting start!

Eagles Rugby Video Channel

Rugby Fans,
Check out the Eagles Rugby Channel and get the latest highlights, interviews, and news from the world of Eagles Varsity XV Rugby.

http://www.youtube.com/sthseaglesrugby

Eagles Hit Hurdle

The Eagles Varsity XV fell to a powerful Austin Westlake side 23-8, on Friday night. This was the first regular season loss for STH in over two years. The Eagles beat Westlake in two hard-fought wins last season on their way to a second state title, but the Chaparrals were not to be denied this time. Westlake has a veteran team which returned all but two starters from last season's semi-final squad and going into the season had to be considered favorites for post-season honors.

St. Thomas led at halftime 8-6 on the back of a Sebastian Gracia penalty kick and a Logan Stryk try, but were unable to mount any offense in the second half. Westlake managed two tries and another penalty in the second stanza.

The game was an extremely physical affair with both sides going toe to toe at the breakdowns and in the tackle zone. Westlake played very well, but the Eagles took themselves out of the game with numerous penalties throughout the second half. St. Thomas had a difficult time mounting any offense as the backs played flat and did not get any momentum when the hit the tackle zone. The aggressive Chaparral backs took full advantage of these factors and delivered some punishing blows which brought the Eagle offense to a standstill.

While the loss was a bitter pill for the Eagles and their fans to swallow, solace was taken in the fact that they had a number of opportunities to gain a victory. The final scoreline flattered the Chaparrals as they put the last score on the board with less than 2 minutes remaining in the match. Part of the growth process for the young and relatively inexperienced Eagle squad will be finding the ability to recovery quickly from mistakes and minimize the penalty count. While the loss was painful it is clear that the Eagles will grow from the lessons learned from their encounter with a tough and skilled Westlake side. The Eagles face the Stony Point Tigers this Saturday in an intriguing matchup. Stony Point is currently 2-0 and looks to give the Eagles another physical contest.

Eagles Rugby Victorious Against Jesuit

The St. Thomas Eagles Varsity XV opened up their 2010 season with a 33-12 victory over New Orleans Jesuit on Saturday afternoon (01-30-10). The Eagles were coming off a 17-2 season in which they placed 7th at the National Championships. While they had eight returning starters, many of those were in new positions to start the new campaign.

Will Gutkowski earned the starting role at flyhalf, replacing the Eagles all-time leading scorer and All-American Conor Mills, and demonstrated his skills on Saturday. Will did an excellent job of running the offensive and made a number of spectacular runs through the defense which set-up tries. Joining Gutkowski in the havoc caused by the back division was the dangerous Josh Ibarra. Ibarra's blazing speed and quick feet allowed him to repeatedly penetrate the Blue Jay's defense. Ibarra scored a fantastic try through the heart of New Orlean's defense and his defensive play was hard and aggressive throughout the game.

The forwards, led by Captain Ryan Sullivan, did a magnificent job of winning the loose-play throughout the match. Their ability to get to the breakdown and secure or poach ball was instrumental in the Eagles' victory. Logan Stryk, playing in his first rugby match, looked like a veteran and played with a controlled aggressiveness that put the Blue Jay backs on their heels throughout the match.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the play of junior wing Rob Mabry. Mabry making his first start and appearance with the Varsity XV, had a brilliant game. He scored two tries and his second was a highlight reel affair. After intercepting a Blue Jay pass, Mabry ran the 45 meters and slipped a tackle, spinning off a defender to score under the posts. A fantastic effort and one of the most exciting tries one can hope to see! Rob is a great example of hard-work and determination in play.

All of the Eagles played well and this was a classic team-effort on the part of the First XV. There was a great crowd for the match and a wonderful post-match affair put on by the parent volunteers, led by the Price family. Saturday's affair was a great way to start out the season and although there is much the team needs to work on, we hope a harbinger for another great season!

Passion

I just watched Julie and Julia and I loved it! How is that for keeping it real? Not something you would expect to hear on a rugby and football blog. Now for an explanation -I really admire people who have passion and loyalty is one of the character traits which I cherish the most. This movie has plenty of both. I find in a female cook- the delightful Julia Child and her husband Paul, role-models for life and coaching.

For those of you who have not seen the movie it is a light-hearted duel biopic covering the career of Julia Child, interspersed with the attempt by author Julie Powell to cook all of Child's recipes in a year. While it is a fun movie to watch with a date, I thought it provided a lot of lessons as well. I do not know if this was the director's intent, but it really struck a chord with me and how much it relates to my love of rugby.

Throughout the movie Child demonstrated an amazing amount of perserverence as she trained to be a chef in the male dominated world of Parsian cooking. She met every set-back with a smile and the determination to overcome her obstacles. Although she was extremely competitive, she treated everyone with dignity and warmth. Her devoted husband Paul, provided her with a foundation of support and love that allowed her to become a national treasure. She was able to to succeed because she had character that is rare in people and a consuming passion to be a master chef and share her joy of great food with the world.

Passion is a rare thing. The world is full of people who get paid to do whatever it is they do. However, you can measure those who have true passion for their particular line of work in a thimble. Watching Meryl Streep portray Julia Child was fascinating because she excuded passion. Her thrill of cooking was so intense to be almost spirtual. The joy of being in the same room (even if it is actor in a movie) with someone who has real passion is invigorating. I relate because I have a passion for coaching rugby.

It cannot be explained or quantified, but it is real nontheless. A passion can consume you in your search to master whatever it is that you are passionate about and hope to share with the world. This is what drives me, the desire to share my love of the game with my family, players, and anyone else who is even slightly interested (and many who are not). I am a very lucky man as my vocation, teaching, is the same as my passion, coaching (make no mistake - teaching =coaching), so I have the perfect platform for my quest.

I believe that to be the best a what you do, one must be passionate, but as Julia Child so ably demonstrated, passion of ones' profession, must always take a subordinate position to the passion one has for their faith, spouse, and (in my case) children. These areas of life provide the foundation for the pursuit of your other passions and to be quite honest, make them all the sweeter, especially when shared with the ones you love. So raise your glass to Julia and thank her for reminding us that passion revealed and shared is a powerful thing - Bon Appetite!

Accountable Coaching

I spent this last weekend re-certifying my coaching license with USA Rugby. I will be honest, I was not very excited about retaking a course I had already demonstrated competency in. Whenever you have to give up a weekend (which by the way is all the time if you are a rugby coach, player, or referee), you do a cost-benefit analysis. Was spending my weekend out in the cold and the rain worth it? The cost in this analysis is easy to measure - time away from my family and home (something hugely important to me) is always bad. So what is or are the benefits?

Rugby in the United States has made tremendous strides since I began my involvement in 1984. We have grown from a largely recreational/alcohol past time, to a serious sport that has involvement from youth to national team. While the governing body (United States of America Rugby Football Union) is a source of constant (and often justified) complaints among its constituents, it has done a great deal to improve the game in America. I believe that the coaching certification program is one of those positives.

The coaching certification program has aligned USA rugby with the other members of the IRB (International Rugby Board) and has provided a system of accountability and a benchmark for competency. One of the factors which defines legitimacy for any organization is the process by which it qualifies its members. The new USA coaching certification program clearly provides such legitimacy. Every team in the country must have at least one USA certified coach. This provides for some type of standardization of basic safety and tactical/skill knowledge for all coaches who are working daily with players. Currently there are three levels of certification (Introduction, Developing skills, and Advanced), which build on the processes and methods established in each of the earlier courses.

While it is never convenient to spend a weekend getting a certification, there is a practical and intrinsic value in receiving that certification. Coaches know they have the basic skills required to their job and while education is a continuum, they have a foundation which is similar to their colleagues. The intrinsic comes from the satisfaction that you had to earn your coaching credentials. No other sport (that I am aware of) in Texas, other than soccer, requires you to get a license and demonstrate competency. I coached football for a long time and can assure you that there are no requirements to coach it. The first coach I ever worked for asked me if I had any experience, and when I said no, he replied, "you look like a smart enough guy, you will pick it up..." Apparently I looked a lot smarter then than I do now. I would suggest that this is probably not the best way to get the most competent and capable coaches. Just because a guy played does not make him a coach - and that is true for rugby or any sport. By getting certified you must prove that you are knowledgeable and have demonstrated competency before multiple evaluators.

In the end, the benefits are valuable enough to sacrifice time away from my family. I believe the process and the way it is taught and has value - the most important being it makes coaches become introspective about their knowledge, skills, demeanor, and how they coach. While I find the courses have value, I do have some issues (you knew the other shoe would drop). The first is the recertification process. We are required to take the exact some course as before, it would be far more productive to have different courses which expand on the core competencies. The second issue is the CE (continuing education) credits that coaches can get to extend their three year certification. The staff at USA is not very responsive to requests or inquiries and sometimes do not answer you at all. Finally, the Advanced course is cost prohibitive for most coaches, so even if you want to get the certification, finances make it a non-starter. This is exclusive rather than inclusive and one hopes that will change in the future.

In sum, it is a good process and despite some weaknesses, it provides the American rugby coach with credibility. I applaud USA's efforts to put our coaches on an even keel with the rest of the rugby world. Although I lost time with my family, I will be a better coach for the effort.