USA

The USA Rugby National Guard College Club Championships concluded today at Stanford University’s Steuber Rugby Stadium, crowing the 2008 Champions in both Division I and II men’s and women’s college club rugby.

The Division I women’s match between Penn State and Stanford University was by far the most thrilling match of the day.  The perennial favorites, PSU and Stanford, battled it out for the fourth year in a row in front of nearly 4,000 screaming fans.

With the home team advantage, Stanford jumped out of the gate early, scoring two tries in the first half and holding Penn State scoreless for a 10-point halftime lead over the Nittany Lions.

PSU was down, but definitely not out, regrouping during the break and coming out to score its first try in the 54th minute to bring it within five.

The two teams battled back and forth for the next 20 minutes, playing a very similar style of rugby and not allowing each other much running room.  Finally in the 74th minute, Penn State was able to push the ball over for its second try and tie the score with only six minutes remaining.

It looked as if the two teams were headed into overtime, but as time wound down, Stanford’s star fullback snuck one in and the whistle blew with the Cardinals ahead 15-10, finding some well-deserved redemption after their 2007 loss in a similar fashion.

“We’ve been training for 365 days for this moment. Everything we did this past year came down to this point and it feels so good to have worked this hard and have it pay off in the end,” Stanford’s senior scrumhalf Jossy Tseng said.

“It was one of the best games I’ve seen played at the collegiate level,” Stanford’s Coach Jonathan Griffin said. “It had everything – great passing, kicking, running, decision making, defense; PSU played great and it brought out the best in us. That is what makes this the sweetest kind of victory.”

In the men’s DI final, the University of California – Berkeley also met a familiar Championship opponent when it took on BYU in the last match of the day. Coming off its closest match of they year yesterday, Cal was not to be outdone by BYU and showed up ready to prove its worth today.

Cal scored 52 unanswered points and seemed as if they were going to shut-out the Cougars until, in the 67th minute, BYU was finally able to push their No. 8 Steve St. Pierre over the try line and mark their first and only try of the match. In the end, Cal won in typical fashion, beating BYU 59-7.

“BYU’s a completely different team from Saint Mary’s,” Cal’s Coach Jack Clark said. “With BYU our game plan was to spread the ball and make them run. They are a big team and we knew we could play our expansive style of rugby against them.”

In the earlier DII championship matches, the Mid-Atlantic teams faired well and kept both games rather one-sided as Shippensburg shutout the University of Mi nnesota – Duluth and Radford held Utah Valley scoreless until the 65th minute.

On the women’s side, Shippensburg clearly dominated possession and territory, scoring 33 points in the first half alone. Although UM-Duluth was able to contain the Pennsylvania team a bit in the second half, Shippensburg easily walked away with the Championship title, winning 47-0 in its first-ever National tournament appearance.

“We heard that Duluth was a forward dominant team so we just came into the match knowing we had to make good tackles and commit to the ruck,” Shippensburg’s coach Scott Stratton said. “Defense is about patience and persistence and we portrayed both of those today. It was probably the best we played all year.”

Radford’s defeat of Utah Valley State didn’t necessarily evoke the same type of praise from their head coach as Mick Turk admitted he wasn’t really happy with the way his team played.

“The game was real sloppy,” Radford’s Turk said. “We did enough to get the job done, but I wouldn’t say I was happy with the game.”

Radford scored 25 unanswered points on Utah Valley, before allowing its opponent to reply with two back-to-back tries in the last 15 minutes. Radford marks this win as their last in DII as it is planning to move up to Division I next year and will be playing in MARFU’s premiership.

“We won in 2003 and thought we’d win again last year, but were plagued with a couple of injuries late in the season, which is why we kind of flew in under the radar in this tournament,” Turk added. “Our guys have practiced really hard this season and we owe a lot of our success to the seniors. In the last three months they have really stepped up the leadership and got everyone on the same page.”

The 2008 USA Rugby National Guard College Championships have officially ended, but anyone who missed a match can view the tournament games online via the USA Rugby Network at http://usarugby1.tampadigital.com/mediamanager/. Also, don’t forget to check out ESPNU's expanded coverage of USA Rugby. A tape delayed telecast of the USA Rugby National Guard Men's and Women's Division I College Championships will be aired on May 21 and 22, at 10 p.m. EST. 

For more information on the USA Rugby National Guard College Club Championships, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/usar_championships.

USA Rugby National Guard College Club Championships
Saturday, May 03, 2008

Division I Men’s Finals
Cal 59, BYU 7

Division I Women’s Finals
Stanford 15, PSU 10

Division II Men’s Finals
Radford 25, Utah Valley State 14

Division II Women’s Finals
Shippensburg 47, Duluth 0