Nigel Melville Direct

Tolkin Named USA Eagles Head Coach

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Tolkin Named USA Eagles Head Coach

BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced today that Mike Tolkin will be the next head coach of the Men’s National Team, the Eagles. A New York native, Tolkin has coached in the U.S. at various levels since 1986, and was most recently the defensive coach for the Eagles in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

“I hope to build on our performance from the World Cup, qualify for the next one, and to mix in our new and upcoming players,” Tolkin said, and collaborating with coaches is a focus for the incoming head coach.

Tolkin (left) during a defensive session at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Photo credit: USA Rugby/Dallen Stanford

“I certainly have a good relationship with age-grade and club coaches and look forward to working with them very closely,” said Tolkin, who helped establish the USA Under-19 team in 1992.

Tolkin has an impressive record as a coach at the high school, senior club, and international levels.

He coached Xavier H.S. in New York City to three National Championships, six National Championship games, 17 National Championship Semifinals, and 20 Regional Championships.

In 2000 Tolkin also took the reins of then Division I now Rugby Super League (RSL) team, New York Athletic Club (NYAC). In 12 years, NYAC won three RSL National Championships and made a total of eight post-season appearances, including an appearance in the Division I National Championship game in 2001.

Xavier H.S. alumnus, NYAC starter, and vice-captain of the Eagles, Mike Petri has played for Tolkin for over a decade and is confident that Tolkin is the man for the job.

“I’ve never met anyone who cares about the sport more than [Tolkin] does. He’ll never settle for less than excellence and he brings that to coaching. He has a competitive, winning mentality and guys buy in to that. They want to play for him,” Petri said.

Mike Petri (left) has played for Tolkin (right) for nearly 10 years since he was a freshman at Xavier. Petri started in three games at the 2011 Rugby World Cup with Tolkin as his defensive coach.

Tolkin also has a strong background in talent identification and player development, serving as a talent recognition selector for former USA Head Coach, Tom Billups in 2001.

USA Rugby CEO and President of Rugby Operations, Nigel Melville believes that Tolkin is well equipped to move the USA forward after three years with the Eagles as a defensive coach and noting that the team’s defense in the Rugby World Cup was outstanding.

“I’m delighted for Mike,” said Melville. “He has worked internationally and domestically as a head coach and understands well the challenges American players face. I know Mike is looking forward to continuing the work started by [Eddie O’Sullivan].”

A positive team culture is the “cornerstone of any successful team,” according to Tolkin. “That is what the hallmark of our team is going to be. Respecting everyone in the program and being positive on and off the field. Building confidence in the guys is what I want to instill first and foremost.”

Tolkin’s team will face their first test on June 9 when they face Canada in Kingston, Ontario. The USA will also play two home games against Georgia and Italy on June 16 and 23. Venues for those matches will be announced next week.

Women's Sevens In The Spotlight

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:47:00 +0000

Last night the representatives of the HSBC World Sevens Series hosts rolled into Vegas and met over dinner to set the agenda for today's sevens advisory group meeting. The SAG meet once a year in person and on other occasions via conference call, but today we get chance to spend a whole day looking at the Series with the IRB and charting its future. The first part of the day will be spent discussing the Host Union Agreement, the document that all Unions sign setting out the agreed standards for each event, this includes the player welfare issues, commercial boundaries and broadcast deliverables.
This afternoon, we will move to commercial opportunities and one key agenda item for USA Rugby is the development of the Women's Series that is being developed this year and increasing the number of event sin 2013 and beyond.

I think its crucial that we have a Women's series, currently the Women's Sevens Competition program is ad hoc, attendance varies from competition to competition and all teams need more opportunities to build their teams. Hopefully by the time I arrive at the Women's opening banquet this evening, we will have plans to expand the events and that the USA has the opportunity to host one of these events.

Ahead of the banquet I am calling in to meet the Women's Eagles teams on the eve of their tournament to wish them well and find out how there preparation has been gone.

Good luck also to all the teams competing in the Las Vegas Invitational event, I am looking forward to watching the rugby, not long to go now, the excitement is growing!

Marilyn Slater NcCapes - UC Davis

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:18:00 +0000

Ironic that on a week that all eyes will be on Vegas and the new Olympic sport of Rugby sevens, I hear about the sad passing of Marilyn Slater McCapes, the daughter of one of our 1920 and 1924 Gold Medalists.

According to her husband, Dick, she passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family. Marilyn was more than just a Davis supporter. She was an Aggie from day one.

Her father, Colby E. 'Babe' Slater (UCD 1914-17), was an outstanding athlete at Davis. Colby Slater went on to compete in the Olympics where he won Gold Medals in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games playing for the US Rugby Team. Slater captained the side in the1924 Games.

Marilyn and Dick have been great supporters of the rugby club and the school. This should come as no surprise considering that both graduated from UC Davis (Marilyn '55 & Dick'56, '58).

The McCapes Family is the club's major donor and this past year they created the Cal Aggie Men’s Rugby Fund to help the team compete at the highest level.

They were a fixture at all home rugby games and were the clubs biggest fans. They even attended the end of year banquets.

With rugby rejoining the Olympic Games in 2016, we will hear more about Colby Slater and his contributions to the game of rugby.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Tier 2 Meeting Progress Update..

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:07:00 +0000

A long day meeting with the Tier 2's and hammering out schedules from 2013-2016, not an easy task as we discovered when each nation presented their challenges and needs going forwards. The Southern Hemisphere Regulation 9 window is not identical to the Northern Hemisphere, enforcing Regulation 9 can be difficult, we all wanted more games and more tests against Tier 1 teams etc..and of course we didn't all agree on everything!

So we worked our way through our issues, the models outlined earlier today and by the end of the day we found a solution that may not work for everyone, but it provided a way forward and will provide us with a fixture schedule around which we can plan our program.

The IRB now have to take the work back to Dublin, share it with various committees and get final sign off. That shouldn't take too long, we can then release the information.

Tier 2's Meet To Discuss Their Options!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:53:00 +0000

Today's meeting of the Tier 2 Nations in Las Vegas is a long awaited opportunity to create a consistent international fixture list that will increase the number and quality of international fixtures for the Eagles 15's team. There are many barriers to making this happen. For a start their are existing competitions such as the Asian 5 Nations, Pacific Islands Cup and European Nations Cup. We also have the restrictions placed on us by Regulation 9 (International player release), this regulation creates international release windows, further complicated by different windows for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere's. We also want to play games against the Tier 1 Nations between World Cups, but they are reluctant to play Tier 2 teams during release periods because these fixtures are not as commercially strong as Tier 1 v Tier 1 games.

Last night the 'off line ' conversations continued, there is clearly a will to agree something but there appear to be three schools of thought.

1. A standalone Integrated 3-year Test match schedule for all Unions

Create a standalone 3-year international matches and tours schedule which ensures that there is a balanced schedule of fixtures played across all the Regulation 9 windows for the top ranked Tier 2 Unions. This is not much different to the way the current system works, only that we will know well ahead of time who we will play. All Tier 2's want to play the Tier 1's, but the games are not commercially attractive to the Tier 1's who prefer to play each other.

2. Annual 8-Team Tier 2 Championship (league) Creation of an annual 8-team Championship with matches on a home or away basis played over all the Regulation 9 windows in a calendar year. The 8 teams would be Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Japan, USA, Canada, European Nations 1 and European Nations 2. The European Nations teams would be determined based on the ENC tournament rankings from the previous season. The model assumes that Canada, USA and Japan will play fixtures in the Northern Hemisphere window (Feb/March) and the Pacific Islands unions will play in the Southern Hemisphere window (July/Aug). This would see the Eagles playing in the Northern Hemisphere release window, increasing the number of Eagles games each year.

3. Annual Tournament with two pools (conferences) of 4 teams

Eight teams would be divided in to two pools of four teams. Pool matches would be played in the June window in two standalone tournament formats with the winner of each pool playing a final in the November window in Europe. Easier said than done. This is workable format but a logistical nightmare trying to fit in games around existing tournaments, but establishes a global tournament for Tier 2's.

Other options will also be tabled, and at the end of the day we hope to have a framework to move this issue forward. An interesting days work ahead, I will update you when I can.

Not Just PrettyFace!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:11:00 +0000

Here's one for the forwards, World Cup-winning rugby star Sonny Bill Williams is a boxing champion after a first-round knockout over Clarence Tillman.

Williams, who played the final four minutes of New Zealand's victory over France in October, beat veteran Tillman with a second of round one remaining.

The win means Williams has won all five of his paids bouts and also secured the vacant New Zealand heavyweight title.

The 26-year-old gave away 21kg in weight to his American opponent.

There was a time when the forwards were referred to as 'piano movers' whilst the backs were the 'piano players'. Not anymore, the backs in the modern game are bigger, faster and stronger than ever before, and still the best looking players on the field!!

Women's International Sevens Broadcast Details

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:18:00 +0000

The Women's International sevens kicks off on Friday, you can watch the event live via our webcast, click HERE for the link, its going to be a great event. Nice to see a few old faces returning who couldn't make the Dubai trip..Go Eagles, I am looking forward to catching up with you all on Thursday evening ahed of the opening banquet on the eve of the Tournament.

Women's Eagles Squads Named For Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

USA Women’s Eagle Sevens head coach, Ric Suggitt, has confirmed the squad that will compete in the 2012 USA Women’s International Sevens tournament starting Friday (February 10, 2012) in Las Vegas.

All of the players that signed training contracts with USA Rugby will compete in the tournament with either the Eagles or the USA developmental team, the Stars and Stripes.

Deven Owsiany, who recently signed a full-time training contract with USA Rugby, has been named the captain of the side, a vote of confidence for the talented youngster.

Suggitt has made several changes to the USA squad that travelled to Dubai in December 2011. Cup semifinalists in that tournament, the USA are looking to come out strong against pool opponents Japan, France, and Canada’s developmental squad.

C.J. Hildreth and Victoria Folayan join the USA squad and bring considerable physicality and experience into the fray. New York standout Vanesha McGee has also been added to the team. McGee’s combination of power and pace will be a welcome addition to the team.

Lauren Hoeck and Cristina Mastrangelo round out the changes from the Dubai team. Hoeck has been in the national team mix since 2007 and has several National Championships under her belt.

The Stars and Stripes team has some exciting young talent, including UNC- Chapel Hill star Kimber Rozier who will share the captain duties with Navy standout Jane Paar.

USA Women’s Eagle Sevens | USA Women’s International Sevens

Player (Club; Hometown)

Elizabeth Black (NOVA; Warrenton, Va.)

Emilie Bydwell (San Diego Surfers; Montreal, Quebec)

Amy Daniels (Beantown; Gratz, Pa.)

Katie Dowty (USA Rugby; Boston, Mass.)

Victoria Folayan (Berkeley All-Blues; Oakland, Calif.)

Irene Gardner (Berkeley All-Blues; San Francisco, Calif.)

C.J. Hildreth (Sydenham Rugby Club; St. Paul, Minn.)

Lauren Hoeck (NOVA; Cold Spring, Ky.)

Kelly Griffin (USA Rugby; Berkeley, Calif.)

Cristina Mastrangelo (Chicago North Shore; Chicago, Ill.)

Vanesha McGee (USA Rugby; Flemington, N.J.)

*Deven Owsiany (USA Rugby; Royersford, Pa.)

USA Stars and Stripes | USA Women’s International Sevens

Akalaini Baravilala (USA Rugby; Makiki, Hawaii)

Ryan Carlyle (New York Rugby Club; New York, N.Y.)

Katie Lorenz (San Diego Surfers; Asheville, N.C.)

Kaelene Lundstrum (USA Rugby; Bird Island, Minn.)

Tyra McGrady (Glendale; Columbus, Ind.)

Amy Naber (Arizona; Tucson, Ariz.)

**Jane Paar (Navy; Wauwatosa, Wis.)

**Kimber Rozier (USA Rugby; Raleigh, N.C.)

Rebekah Siebach (Cougar Women’s Rugby; El Dorado Hills, Calif.)

Erica Cavanaugh (NOVA)

Jillion Potter (Glendale; Austin, Texas)

Sylvia Braaten (Twin Cities Amazons; Waterford, Wis.)

Positive Coaching Alliance Awards USA Rugby Coaches

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:04:00 +0000

Positive Coaching Alliance has named its list of 50 finalists for the 2012 Double-Goal Coach Awards, including two USA Rugby coaches. Check out the link to see the full list of finalists and visit USARugby.org to find out who the two rugby coaches are!

http://www.positivecoach.org/our-programs/double-goal-coach-awards/2012-double-goal-coach-award-finalists/

Pools Announced For Las Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:38:00 +0000

The pool matches have been set for this weekend’s USA Sevens Rugby Tournament And Festival in Las Vegas and they are sure to entertain. The tournament begins on February 10 and will be played through February 12 when all semifinal and championship rounds will be held. The tournament kicks off with Pool B play at 4:00 PM PDT on February 10 where Fiji will face Argentina and at 4:22 PM PDT the second match will pit the United States Eagles against Canada.

Las Vegas is the fifth stop on the HSBC Sevens World Series and second in the last two weeks for the core teams. Last weekend in Wellington, New Zealand took the title from Fiji in the championship game and effectively put them into first place in the World Series standings.

After being eliminated by Scotland in the Plate semifinals the Eagles finished the two-day tournament at 0-5 and earned 1 Series point. They currently sit in 12^th place in the World Series standings. The USA Sevens Rugby Tournament And Festival will provide a great opportunity for the Eagles to rise in the standings, as they will play Series #11 Canada and #9 Argentina in Pool B.

For full tournament fixtures and results go here.

Pool / (Series Standing)

Pool A

New Zealand (1)

Samoa (6)

Australia (7)

Japan (17)

Pool B

Fiji (2)

Canada (11)

Argentina (9)

United States (12)

Pool C

France (5)

South Africa (4)

Wales (8)
Uruguay (N/A)

Pool D

Kenya (14)

England (3)

Scotland (10)

Brazil (N/A)

HSBC World Sevens Series Arrives In Las Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:36:00 +0000

Today the teams on the HSBC World Sevens Series arrive in Las Vegas after competing in the Wellington Sevens this weekend, its a long flight north, crossing the international dateline on the way, and understandably the teams arrive tired and hungry. The games for this years Las Vegas sevens start on Friday night, making recovery from jet lag a priority for the teams as they prepare for next weekend's event.

Off the field, my week starts with International Rugby Board meetings, the Tier 2 Unions are holding a meeting on Wednesday to discuss, and hopefully agree an international playing schedule for the Tier 2's that helps us to plan our programs for multiple years rather than finding out 6 months ahead of time that we have to play Japan in Tokyo or Russia in Moscow! The Tier 2 meeting is followed by the arrival of delegates for the Sevens Advisory Group Meeting on Thursday. This includes representatives from all 9 HSBC Sevens Series venues plus HSBC, IRB and others involved in delivering the Series.

Teams start arriving for the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament on Wednesday, the Women's International teams are also arriving and play starts towards the end of the week on the fields surrounding the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.

On Friday, just about everyone else arrives, we are running one of the World's largest Rugby Medical Symposiums, a Sevens Coaching Course run by the Sevens Rugby icon Serevi, and plenty of Territorial, Board and Foundation meetings will also be taking place. I also have special guests flying in to spend the weekend with us including our sponsors, IRB and USOC representatives.

The main event kicks off on Friday night, I will spend sometime with both the men's and women's Eagles teams this week and discuss with them their plans for the tournament. I know the men were disappointed with their performance in Wellington, I will certainly be getting feedback on what happened and what's been done to make sure we step up next weekend in front of our own fans.

The Eagles Women were in camp in Tampa during the new year and for the last two weeks in San Diego, I am looking forward to seeing them in action, Ric Suggitt has certainly been working them hard, they also spent time with Dave Ellis (french defense coach) at their extended camp program at the Olympic Training Centre in San Diego - a real step up in intensity for the program, I hope you get chance to get behind them on Friday.

An exciting week ahead for Rugby in North America, the event will once again be broadcast on NBC, a huge thanks to John Miller and his team who are supporting the growth of rugby in the USA, lets make sure everyone gets behind this years event either live in Vegas or on their TV sets across America.

If you want to buy tickets click HERE for the best deals, I am looking forward to seeing you all...

Follow the Eagles with week on the USA Rugby website and you can also follow me live at the event on Twitter @NigelMelville

Go Eagles!!

Happy Days!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Looking back its amazing how you have such vivid memories of special events in your life as if they were just yesterday. This week brought the memories flooding back when Chris Robshaw was named as the captain of England this week with just one cap to his name.

It was 1984, I was living in a house full of Wasps players including one scrum half (me) and three stand-offs, Huw Davies an England international, Mark Williams who went on the play countless times for the USA Eagles (not many people know Mark and I lived together in London) and Mike Boyd. The house was in Uxbridge town centre providing us with a direct tube line to central London (work) and then to Wembley (Wasps) before returning home after training with Neil Porter a Kiwi loosehead prop in his car!

On that memorable Sunday morning, Derek Morgan the Chairman of the Selectors called me to break the news, I had been selected to play against Australia the following weekend, and then as he was about to put down the phone he said 'oh, before I forget, you will be captaining the side' and he put the phone down.

I was pretty excited as you can imagine, but the response of Huw who was eating toast and reading a paper in the front room was exactly what you would expect from him. He looked up from his newspaper and said, 'oh hard luck old boy', and asked if he was playing, I had no idea!

Anyway, once the news broke, the media loved it, and the circus came to town.

In those days, the team weren't permitted to meet until 48 hours before the game, but we had a training session in Worcester on the Monday night, it rained, everyone was still pretty banged up from the previous weekend's games, and so it was a long drive and a short session. I knew all the players, many of them had come up through the ranks with me playing for England at various levels, so we were all pretty excited.

Saturday arrived, and my only concern really was my first pass of the game, what if I messed it up and had a terrible game? Amazingly, all our Clubs played with the new Mitre Mulitplex balls, a totally different ball to the traditional leather ball provided by Gilbert for international games. The Gilbert ball was lighter, thinner, and would you believe it, smooth leather with laces, and they put dubin on the ball to keep the water out and stop it getting heavy during the game. Not good for a scrum half with a long pass on a windy day, a very small stand off (Stuart Barnes) and extremely long grass....made for big slow ugly back row men....

The first pass came very quickly after kick-off, Stuart Barnes was standing miles a way, the grass appeared to be up to his knees, all I could see was a tiny body, so I threw it hard and it hit the target - huge relief for us both!

Minutes later I was chasing back for a kick from opposing scrum half Nick Farr Jones, as I ran back I heard the whistle blow and crowd went mad. I looked back and Nick was lying on the floor, standing next to him was out loose-head prop Gareth Chilcott looking anything but innocent! The referee called me over, Nick was getting attention and making the most of the opportunity, and Gareth promptly accused Nick of running into him - the referee seemed pretty nervous and maybe a little threatened, so we kept all 15 players on the field.

Did we win, no we lost, to the 1984 Grand Slam Wallabies, 19-9, but it was certainly a memorable day.

The big lesson I learnt that week was a valuable one for years to come. For a team to be successful, everyone has to play their part. The team is a sum of the parts, everyone has a job to do and they should focus on that job. My pass being accurate to Stuart Barnes at Twickenham was far more important than tossing coins, attending press conferences and making after match speeches. On the field, there were calls to be made but it was always important to make sure we were all heading in the same direction - performance focused and motivated to be the best we could be.

When I made my England debut it was the start of a new era. Injury denied me a chance to play in the 1991 Rugby World Cup where the England team reached the final, however, the team building started in 1984. England today turn another page, 2015 is just around the corner, the England fans can be pretty unforgiving, but they must stay with the team as they start this process, and they have the talent to make another World Cup Final.

Six Nations Rugby On BBC America This Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:54:00 +0000

In Wellington the HSBC Sevens has just kicked off the weekend's rugby with the Eagles facing South Africa and England in their opening games! Then the teams head to vegas where I am looking forward to seeing both the Men's and Women's Eagles performa in front of their home fans.

Back in Europe the highlight of the fifteen a side season kicks off, the Six Nations. I am delighted to see that BBC America will once again present live broadcasts of the RBS 6 Nations Championship, one of Europe’s biggest annual sporting events, with England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales vying for the championship over seven weeks. Reigning champs England will kick off BBC America’s coverage of the tournament when they face Scotland on Saturday, February 4, starting at 12 pm ET/PT.

Who will win? Wales seem to be one of the favorites but World Cup Finalists France are strong, Ireland experienced, Scotland improving, a new look England and then there's Italy who seem to be standing still. Personally, the head takes France to win....but I'll shed no tears if they don't!

Here’s BBC America’s 2012 match schedule:

Scotland vs. England
Murrayfield in Edinburgh
Saturday, February 4, 12 pm ET

France vs. Ireland
Stade de France in Paris
Saturday, February 11, 3 pm ET

England vs. Wales
Twickenham in London
Saturday, February 25, 11 am ET

Wales vs. Italy
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
Saturday, March 10, 9:30 am ET

England vs. Ireland
Twickenham in London
Saturday, March 17, 1 pm ET

USA to Host IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

The 2012 USA Rugby Youth Conference was a huge success this weekend in Atlanta, I think it exceeded all expectations in terms of attendance, content and passion. An excellent weekend talking about youth rugby and setting the stage for another exciting year in 2012. The announcement that the USA will host the 2012 Junior World Trophy was greeted with great excitement, we are certainly looking forward to hosting the teams.

Well done to all the delegates, it was a pleasure working with you.

Hosting reflects massive growth in Rugby in USA
Salt Lake City hosts key age grade event
IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy set to leave lasting legacy for Rugby in America

The International Rugby Board has announced that USA Rugby will host the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy (JWRT) 2012 from 18-30 June in Salt Lake City.

The announcement, which was made at the 2012 USA Rugby Youth Development Conference in Atlanta on Saturday, reflects the ongoing commitment of both the IRB and USA Rugby to grow the Game within one of the world's major markets.

The announcement that USA Rugby will host the 2012 JWRT was made at the 2012 Youth Development Conference in Atlanta, Ga. Eagle standouts and former All-Americans Paul Emerick and Mike Petri were on hand to launch the announcement. From left to right: Paul Emerick, Morgan Buckley, Nigel Melville, and Mike Petri. Photo credit: Edward Zeltser/USA Rugby

Rugby is taking off in the States with participation rates making the sport one of the fastest growing team sports in the country. Olympic re-inclusion has further boosted interest and growth and the hosts will be looking to build on the hugely successful HSBC Sevens World Series event in Las Vegas and growing support for the national team as demonstrated at Rugby World Cup 2011.

Hosts USA join Canada, Chile, Georgia, Japan, Russia, Tonga and Zimbabwe as they attempt to emulate 2011 champions Samoa by winning the title and with it promotion to the IRB Junior World Championship 2013 in France.

The eight participating teams will be split into two pools of four, with double headers played across four match days.

The tournament will aim to exceed the record-breaking event in Georgia, and provide compelling and entertaining Rugby whilst leaving a lasting legacy for the Game in the host nation.

“The IRB is committed to the development of the Game around the world and the USA is a very important and exciting market for Rugby. We now have a 10 year tours and test schedule that will see major international teams touring north America starting this year, while Sevens is really taking off. Schools are increasingly looking to Rugby as a force for social and sporting integration and USA Rugby is reaching out to more men, women and children than ever before," said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

"The IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy has consistently proven that it is a major tournament on the global Rugby calendar. It's blend of entertaining, high-quality matches always captures the imagination and I am sure that USA 2012 will be no different. The legacy for Rugby in the Host Union and participating teams is proven and long lasting.

“As well as providing teams with a platform to test themselves on the international stage at this key age grade level, the tournament also provides an opportunity to take Rugby to new and expanding territories, and enables Unions to adopt best-practice techniques across areas as diverse as High Performance strategies, event hosting and Referee development.”

“I would like to thank USA Rugby for their commitment, enthusiasm and passion in the delivery of what, I am sure, will be a world-class event and for using the opportunity to continue their great work in growing the Game.”

USA Rugby will seek to build on the outstanding tournament hosted in Tbilisi last year, which saw record fans and increased broadcast coverage coupled with some of the world’s best young players.

Russia’s Denis Simplikevich became one of the latest of the 82 JWRT graduates to grace the world stage when he made his Test debut at Rugby World Cup 2011.

Tai Enosa, Scott LaValla, and Shawn Pittman who now play regularly for the Eagles at fifteens also cut their teeth on the world stage at IRB age grade tournaments.

“We are very proud to be hosting the JWRT,” said USA Rugby CEO and President of Rugby Operations, Nigel Melville. “I know the American rugby community will embrace this great tournament and I’m confident that we at USA Rugby will deliver an impressive event.”

Melville added, “Hosting a JWRT is the first step to positioning the USA to host larger tournaments with the end goal of one day hosting a Rugby World Cup.”

Speaking in Atlanta, IRB Development Manager Morgan Buckley reiterated the success USA Rugby has enjoyed in the promotion of its development initiatives, particularly the record-breaking Rookie Rugby program which introduces boys and girls to the sport.

“I am delighted to present USA Rugby with their IRB Development Award 2011 on home soil for their hugely successful Rookie Rugby programme which has seen more than two million children take up the sport,” said Buckley.

“Together with their existing High Performance programs and commitment to both Sevens and Women’s Rugby, the Game is in great shape here as the Union continues to build for the future. These are very exciting times for Rugby here in USA.”

Eagles Fly To Wellington

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:10:00 +0000

I am looking forward to watching the Eagles Sevens team in action next week in Wellington as they commence their 2012 program. During the last 3 weeks the team have commenced their residency program and this last week had the fortune to work with an old friend of mine, Dave Ellis.

Dave worked with me at Gloucester for three years and has been the French defense coach for more than 10 years. One of the first areas we seek to improve is defense. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next 2 weeks in Wellington and Vegas.

USA Men’s Eagles Head Coach, Al Caravelli, announced today the 12-player squad selected to travel to the New Zealand and USA legs of the 2011-2012 HSBC Sevens World Series.

Only three changes have been made to the team that travelled to Australia, Dubai, and South Africa in late 2011 for the first three stops of the Series, providing a core group of experienced and capable players.

Maka Unufe, a highly recruited former wide receiver from Provo, Utah, joins the squad after missing out on the first three legs. Unufe played in three USA Rugby National Championships in 2011 at the Under-19, Men’s Club, and All-Star levels and his performance earned him a spot on the 2011 Pan American Games squad. He helped the USA win a Bronze in the Games.

Roland Suniula returns to the squad after recovering from an injury in the Pan Ams. Suniula was the first-choice flyhalf for the Eagles in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, showing his versatility at the fifteen and seven-a-side versions of the game.

The third addition to the squad is Andrew Durutalo. Durutalo got his first taste of international sevens last December after joining the squad in South Africa to provide cover for the team that played three tournaments in as many weekends. Durutalo fit right in on the sevens field and scored his first international try against Canada.

The young up-and-coming players Miles Craigwell and Andrew Durutalo join veteran forwards Mark Bokhoven, Mike Palefau, and Matt Hawkins.

The backs are packed with pace and experience and led by captain Shalom Suniula. Peter Tiberio, Maka Unufe, and Folau Niua represent the new blood in the backline.

Utility players Zack Test (vice-captain) and Colin Hawley are handy all over the field and are among the most consistent performers at the international level.

USA Rugby announced in November 2011 that 15 full-time training contracts would be offered to sevens athletes, lending momentum to the USA Rugby sevens program. Of the 12 traveling players, seven are full-time residents. The remaining five players are from the taxi squad.

In Wellington, the Eagles will face Pool B opponents South Africa, England, and the Cook Islands, a firm challenge but a great test for the squad.

USA Men’s Eagle Sevens |2012 New Zealand and USA SevensMark Bokhoven (Denver Barbarians; Ames, Iowa)
Mike Palefau (Utah Warriors; Salt Lake City, Utah)
Miles Craigwell (Old Puget Sound Beach; Boston, Mass.)
*Shalom Suniula (USA Rugby; San Diego, Calif.)
**Zack Test (USA Rugby; Palo Alto, Calif.)
Matt Hawkins (Belmont Shore; San Diego, Calif.)
Maka Unufe (USA Rugby; Provo, Utah)
Andrew Durutalo (Old Puget Sound Beach; Seattle, Wa.)
Folau Niua (USA Rugby; East Palo Alto, Calif.)
Peter Tiberio (USA Rugby; Naperville, Ill.)
Colin Hawley (USA Rugby; Trowbridge, Calif.)
Roland Suniula (USA Rugby; Boston, Mass.)

* Captain

** Vice-captain

Women's National Teams Gather for Elite Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:24:00 +0000

Over 100 of the nation's top women's rugby athletes will convene this week in Lakeland, Fla. for a High Performance Camp at Tiger Town, the Detroit Tigers' spring training facility. The camp will serve as a selection vehicle for national teams and an opportunity for coaches to collaborate and identify talent for the upcoming international season. The camp will start on Wednesday January 11 and conclude on January 15.

USA Women's Eagles Head Coach, Pete Steinberg; USA Women's Eagle Sevens Head Coach, Ric Suggitt; and USA Women's Collegiate All-Americans Head Coach, Martha Daines will all be in attendance as well as their respective staffs.

On the player's side, various standout performers from the fall club season including Lynelle Kugler of the Twin Cities Amazons and Phoebe Boone of the Berkeley All Blues will attend the camp along with many other athletes from the Women's Premier League and Division I and II clubs. There are also a handful of collegiate athletes hoping to earn All-American and international honors.

Suggitt has brought some fresh faces into the sevens fold and has an expanded player pool from his pre-Dubai camp in November 2011. With an eye on the emerging IRB Women's Challenge Cup series, Suggitt will look to add depth to the pool of sevens athletes that already consists of stars like Nathalie Marchino, Kelly Griffin, Deven Owsiany, Pam Kosanke, and Irene Gardner.

Joining the two senior level National Teams in camp this week will be the Women's Collegiate All-Americans (WCAAs). In an excitng effort to give the WCAAs experience in high performance rugby, Daines has named a roster full of talent and youth. The invitees, including top players from college programs like Penn State, Stanford, Army, and Norwich University are looking forward to training in the High Performance environment along side current Eagles and National Team Coaches.

Eight current or former Eagles will be developing their skills at the camp, but not only their playing skills. Farrah Douglas and Tina Nesberg will be shadowing the WNT coaching staffs throughout the camp while Jillion Potter, Jamie Burke, Kittery Wagner, Sharon Blaney, Kate Daley, and Melanie Denham will go through course leader training from the USA Rugby Coach Development Department so they will be equipped to run their own clinics and coach trainings.

Junior All Americans (U20's) Camp In San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:43:00 +0000

During the past two weekends, Scott Lawrence, Head Coach of the Junior All American's held camps in Atlanta and San Francisco to assess talent ahead of a busy year for the team. I had the pleasure of catching up with them at the San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club and took the opportunity to assess the scrum halves on show. It was good to see a number of former Eagles in attendance helping the players with their development and sharing their experiences with our younger players.

This was a strong group of players, and great to see these young men working so hard on their skills.

Scrum Half assessment begins

Former Eagles Chris Osentowski and Luke Gross work on the scrum

Sevens Residency Program Update

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:04:00 +0000

I received a comment this morning that players were arriving at the Olympic Training Centre to commence the residency program. The comment demanded names of those on the program, and more information - when we have all contracts signed we will announce the first wave of players participating in the program. The Men will start arriving this week to prepare for Wellington and Las Vegas, this will be both the players participating in the residency program and the 'taxi' squad players. The women will be assembling around the 22nd January, before then they will be attending the Women's National Camp at Tigertown, Tampa, next week.

We will be making a full announcement when everything is set and ready to go..hope that helps!

2012 Youth Development Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Every year the USA Rugby Youth Conference grows, not just in numbers, but in the quality of the presentations and the take-away information. Its great to see such a cross section of the community puling together to support the growth of the Youth game. National coaches from both men's and women's fifteens and sevens, International players, specialist coaches, age-grade coaches, medical services, youth and high school development, referees, coaches and of course representatives from USA Rugby's Youth and High School game.

This year we will also be joined by Morgan Buckley, Head of Rugby Development for the International Rugby Board.

This will be another excellent weekend and I am looking forward to catching up with the usual old faces, and excited about meeting the growing number of new recruits. The Youth Conference is always a high energy fun event, the 2012 agenda looks fantastic...see you there..

What: 2012 Youth Development Conference
Where: Atlanta, Georgia
When: January 27th - 29th
Attendees: Coaches, referees, and administrators from all over the country to participate in professional development opportunities focused on growing youth and high school rugby.
Venue: Georgia World Congress Center, 285 International Blvd NW, Atlanta, Georgia - Ranks among the top five largest convention destinations in the country as well as one of the best sports and entertainment campuses in the world.

Hotel Information: The Westin Hotel, 210 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA - $99/night conference rate including hot breakfast and wireless internet. This 73-story tower, topped by the revolving Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View, graces the heart of Atlanta. Connected to AmericasMart, The Westin Peachtree Plaza, is steps from CNN, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia World Congress Center and the Georgia Dome.

Sponsors and Exhibitors: Various sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities for businesses and organizations to showcase their product or service to more than 200 rugby coaches, administrators, and referees.

Also available are opportunities for College Exhibitors: Chance to showcase your collegiate program in the exhibitor hall.

Registration Fees – Registration fee includes conference programming, welcome reception, Saturday lunch and dinner, conference materials, and more!
·         Early Bird (Now until January 11th): $100

·         Georgia Resident: $75 (Code Required)

·         General (January 11th - 26th): $125

·         Walk In (January 27th): $175

Welcome Reception
Date: Friday, January 27th
Time: 7:00pm-10:00pm
Venue: Meehan’s Public House, 200 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA (Connected to Westin hotel)

Agenda: This is the most exciting part!!! Some highlights:
·         Three Tracks: Coaching, Specialty, and Administrative

·         Focus on youth and high school coaching, refereeing, girls-specific, and administrative

Highlighted Presenters:

·         Morgan Buckley – Development Director for IRB

·         Mike Petri - USA Men’s National Team Stars

·         Paul Emerick – USA Men’s National Team Stars

·         Pete Steinberg and Ric Suggitt – USA Women’s National Team 15s and 7s coaches

·         Luke Gross – USA National Team Skills Coach

·         USA High School All American Staff – Salty Thompson, Michael Engelbrecht, and Eric Taber

·         Mike Keating – USA Rugby Medical Director

·         Alex Magleby – USA Collegiate All-American Sevens Coach

·         Nigel Melville – USA Rugby CEO

For more information on the event visit http://www.usarugbyyouthconference.wildapricot.org or contact Erin Kennedy at ekennedy@usarugby.org or at 303-539-0300 x 104.

http://www.usarugbyyouthconference.wildapricot.org

Closing the 'Gap'

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:48:00 +0000

As you know from an earlier blog today, I have been at the High School All American Camp in Phoenix this week, I thought I would share with you some interesting statistics I collected from the players.

There were 73 players in camp with an average age of 17 years.

14 players (19%) started playing rugby overseas (UK/New Zealand/South Africa) at an average age of 8 years and have now been playing rugby for about 9 years

Compare this with 59 players (81%) who started their playing careers in the USA at an average age 13.5 years and have been playing for around 3.5 years.

A smaller number of players, 17 (29%), have only been playing for 2 years!!

Our challenge is simple, to create winning age grade teams we have to fast track the basics through quality coaching for our High School and College players who are at a competitive disadvantage to their peers in the mature rugby nations.

If we want to catch up with the top rugby nations we have to provide top class core skill coaching to the new generation of Rookie Rugby players aged 10 - 12 years.

The good news - the process has already started!

Which takes me back to my blog from yesterday about our Coach Development process - in its existing format do you think it delivers what our coaches and their players need?

Let me know?

All American High Schools Kick-off their 2012 Program

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Nice to see some sun! Salty Thompson, Robin Reid and myself(ACS) in Phoenix yesterday

With just days to go to the start of the New Year, over 70 USA Rugby All American High Schools hopefuls gathered in Phoenix for their winter camp ahead of a very busy season of 15's and 7's competitions. Under the experienced eye of Head Coach Salty Thompson, all players were fitness tested ahead of daily skills sessions and scrimmages. Addressing the players earlier today I stressed the importance of players taking responsibility for their development, the importance of taking this opportunity to challenge their coaches and to become students of the game that they love.

These young players were obviously passionate about the game and making great progress as players, but one thing that our young players don't always recognize is how close they actually could be to becoming full international players!

Many years ago, when I was selected for my first full England training session at 18, having just left high school, a debate raged about whether I was too young to be considered for international rugby. On one side of the argument was the 'if he's good enough, he's old enough' camp and at the other end of the continuum was the 'he must earn his place' traditionalists!

Either way, within the next 4 years, many of these young men will be being considered for internationals election as 7's or 15's players, there are some fantastic opportunities ahead of them, and we will do everythign that we can to move them forward.

Former Eagles wing, David Fee has joined the All American Coaching Team

In 2012 we will have the opportunity to expand the All American program further with the support of Aircraft Contract Solutions based in Washington. In 2011 ACS sponsored the High School All Americans tour to South Africa, the Las Vegas Sevens and British Columbia Sevens. In 2012 the High School All Americans will face tough international competition in the UK, experience the famous Rosslyn Park Sevens in London and tour again this summer.

What do you think?

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Here's a request for feedback from anyone that has attended a USA Rugby Coach Certification Course, Introducing Rugby or Developing Rugby Skills.

My personal coaching pathway included, Start Rugby Course, Preliminary, Intermediate, Full Coaching Award and Elite Coach Development program, all run by the Rugby Football Union in England. Looking forward to 2012, I have been discussing our current offerings with our Coach Development Course Leaders regarding the future direction of courses. One common comment appeared to be that if I ask 10 people for their thoughts, I would get 10 totally different answers, so lets put that to the test!

We want to support the development of our coaches and make sure we direct resources where they will have most impact. It would therefore be very helpful to hear what you think of the courses and how we could improve them.

I won't share with you my personal thoughts at this stage, I wouldn't want to sway the debate in anyway, so its over to you. Send me your feedback on your experiences, if you provide glowing support or totally trash the current courses, you must balance your comments with solutions/recommendations, otherwise it will be a bit of a waste of everyone's time!

I am gathering views from a wide variety of sources, the feedback is very useful and will help us shape the future of our courses.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Exciting Times Ahead In 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:58:00 +0000

I hope you have had chance to spend time with your family, I certainly enjoyed having all the family in Boulder for the Holidays, it always helps put life in perspective!
Thanks to all who read my blog throughout the year, 2011 was a busy year, and taking a few days off over the holiday period has not exactly been a time for reflection, more a time to make sure we keep the momentum going in 2012. Even the blog will be changing in 2012 - someone bought me a camera for Christmas (will post pics when I work out how!)

As the kids head off to all points of the compass, I leave tomorrow for Phoenix to catch up with Salty Thompson, his coaches and the USA Rugby All American High School Camp. This years camp has over 75 players in attendance from across the USA, we have some very exciting players coming through and a challenging 2012 program that I will share with you later this week.

On my return from Phoenix, 2012 kicks off with a busy January that includes:

Eagles Men's Coach final interviews and appointment
Men's U20 Camp East (Atlanta)
Women's National Team Camp (Florida)
Men's U20 Camp West (San Francisco)
Men's and Women's Residency begins at the Olympic Training Center (San Diego)
Congress Strategy Meeting (New Orleans)
Youth Conference (Atlanta)
Men's Sevens leave for Wellington

During this period we are also finalizing events at the USA Sevens in Las Vegas including an important International Board Meeting with the Tier 2 Nations to plan our fixtures for the next 4 years, the HSBC Sevens Series Advisory Group will also be gathering to discuss the HSBC Series, the USA Rugby Board have their first meeting of the year and USA Rugby will be running our annual Medical Symposium and a special sevens coaching course.

In 2012, I hope that the Las Vegas Sevens will continue to grow, its a fun event and I would strongly advise those that haven't been before to certainly give it consideration this year, click HERE to look at the ticket prices, schedules and information about the event.

So, just a few days to the a New Year, I hope you are looking forward to the year as much as we are at USA Rugby, and we hope that 2012 brings for you everything that you wish for you and your family....

Diversity Audit Will Help Us Grow

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:13:00 +0000

The recent announcement that USA Rugby have been awarded support for our athletes via an off site residency program at the Olympic Training Centre in San Diego by the USOC, was in my opinion, a reason to celebrate, but instead sparked a row about gender equity. The fact that 15 men and 8 women would be placed into the residency program made the headlines, and viewed seen by some as unfair, however, the men have a 10 tournament season, the women have just 5 in 2012. The women will also receive additional funding to enable them to pay for their flights and accommodation at an increasing number of events. The men's flights and accommodation are subsidized by their hosts. The men and the women will share facilities, share high performance staff and support services, all players are offered the same USOC support, this is a massive step forward for both programs and I know the players, the coaches and staff are very excited about this development.

Of course, the gender equity argument is nothing new in sport, I understand the importance of providing programs for both men and women, however, I am also passionate about diversity, 'Rugby For All, and I believe that rugby should be at the forefront of providing opportunities for everyone. I have also spoken to former England international Ben Cohen who's 'Stand Up' campaign has had some wonderful results combatting school bullying.

Diversity is also an area of concern for the USOC who have recently carried out a diversity study of their own. Denise Parker, CEO of USA Archery Chaired the group, she is a colleague of mine on the Olympic Sport Leadership Course this last year, and has done a fantastic job. The report has yet to be made public but discussions with Denise have certainly helped me frame a study we are currently working on at USA Rugby.

Earlier in the year we created a Diversity Group that included a cross section of the rugby community including representatives from the men and women's game, the Wheelchair Rugby Association and the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. Together we created the 'Spirit of the Game' document and our own 'Diversity Statement'. We acknowledged at the time that although these were just words, the statement moved us forward and the key next step was be to survey the organization and see what areas we could address going forward.

The diversity study continues and I look forward to sharing with you the headline facts in the new year and what we will be doing to make sure that we are focussed on 'Rugby For All' in 2012 and beyond.

USA Rugby College National Sevens Championships The Right Way To Go..

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel Melville) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:35:00 +0000

This weekend was my first trip to College Station, the home of Texas A&M and not much else..it's an amazing place, incredible facilities and an excellent venue for our first College National Sevens Championships for men and women. Last night we crowned two Champions, Life University (Men) and Norwich (Women), not names you would immediately associate with national Collegiate Titles, but on the day they over came some of the more familiar College brands such as CU, Arkansas State, Cal, Central Washington and others. Both finals were outstanding games, Boston College (Women) and Central Washington (men) made sure that trophies were not taken home without a severe test of their opponents credentials. In the men's final, Central Washington had done everything they needed to do to win, then in the final moments let in a try and we ran into sudden death overtime, Life taking their chances and winning the trophy.

Overall a great first event and something to build on in 2012, it would be nice to see an expansion of the Divisions and put the finals into the soccer stadium at the College, all things we can work on going forward. Texas A&M, Craig Coates and his team of 'worker bees' did an awesome job. Kevin Battle and his committee overcame a number of challenges to get this event off the ground, and the USA Rugby staff provided the teams with an event to remember.

Well done to everyone, it was a great event, the sevens rugby improved over the weekend and our Olympic dream has indeed begun...Happy Holidays...