I'm not sure if all these scores are correct, or anything... but I think they are to the best of my knowledge.

Suprisingly, I made it to work this morning after heat exhaustion in the blistering heat in Ft Worth. Personally, still getting multiple dizzy spells...not sure if I am sick or just got that hot out there.

If you were not aware, The men from Bay Area traveled to Ft Worth for the Western Rugby Championships this last weekend. With the temperatures hitting the 90s, and playing on artificial rubber fielding, the heat really got to us. Our first game was played midday at 1:45PM on Saturday against the team from Ft. Leanord Wood, MO. Bay Area came out hard right from the start. With tactical placed kicks and hard running, Bay Area found itself up at halftime with a score of 38-0. The 2nd half slowed down and BARC played controlled offense and defense. When the final whistle blew, the final score read Bay Area 48 and Ft. Leonard Wood 5. The score does not indicate the fitness level from the boys from Ft. Leonard. Even though the game looked out of reach, they continued to play hard and kept a professional attitude throughout the entire game.

Our 2nd game of the day was against the New Mexico Brujos at 6:00PM on Saturday. The pitch had cooled off a little, but it was still extremely hot. The rucks were sufficating from the heat and dehydration was setting in on some of the men from both clubs. Again, Bay Area came out hard and didn't let up from the starting whistle. Even though there were alot of starters out of the lineup to save themselves for the future game, BARC didn't miss a beat. Strong runs and hard trackles helped BARC finish the game with an impressive win 52-10.

So Bay Area found itself 2-0 on the day and a trip into the Western Rugby Championship Finals. On the other side of Pool Play, Northern State won both of their games. Game #1 against Northland 17-15 and their second game beating 2nd place TRU team Denton 48-0. We were a little concerned with the score they put up on Denton and we had played Denton in the Texas Rugby Union finals 2 weeks ago. After talking with them, and hearing horror stories about their team, we knew we were in for a very tough and physical game.

Sunday, April 29th... Bay Area took the field in the heat once again, the game starting at 2:30PM. The Northern State team game out very physical with multiple crushing tackles and very agressive ballplay. The 8 man and scrumhalf were particular standouts taking the ball at full pace and not afraid to take contact. Northern State scored first with a multiple phased ball down the field, finished off by the Scrum Half taking it in from 5 meters out. After another unconverted try from Northern State, the Bay Area men found themselves down at halftime 10-0. The second half started much like the first, but after a converted penalty try from the Bay Area team and a converted penalty kick, the game was tied 10-10 with about 15 minutes left. The next 15 minutes of play is a blur.... the game was very fast and each team was struggling to come away with a win. With 5 minutes left, Bay Area was given a penalty far left hash on the field and given the opportunity to kick for points. Luckily, Bay Area converted and led 13-10. The game finished that way as the Bay Area Rugby Team defeated the Northern State Men 13-10. The Northern State men, defending western champions, was doing anything and everything they could to win. It was a great game to be a part of, but Bay Area pulled it out in the end.

So..... Bay Area now travels to Columbia, South Carolina where it will compete in the Semi-Finals of the USA National Championships on May 12 -13th.

Wish us luck as we continue on with our journey. We've currently won 17 straight games this year. It's very hard on the body and we are working to keep healthly and injury free. Fortunately, we have not sustained an injury yet this year (knocks of wood). We can only hope this continues.

Good afternoon,

Well the boys from Bay Area traveled to Austin, Texas on April 14th - 15th to contend for the Texas Rugby State Championships. It was very windy and very sunny. Saturday we took on the men from Alamo City (San Antonio, Texas). It was a very physical game and very stressful. There were multipe times when it looked as if we probably bit off more than we could chew. Halftime, it was a very close 14-12 game. In the second half, we fired on all cylinders. We were hitting the holes at full speed and ultimately dominating. When the final whistle blew, and we reawoke to reality, the final score read 43-20.

 On Sunday, we played the Finals. Denton, our other undefeated rivals won their game on Saturday, and they wanted a piece of us. This is what the entire league was awaiting. A showdown of 2 undefeated teams. Both confident and experienced, the game opened up very physical and very flawlessly. A hard hitting 10 minutes kept the score down. But, as it seems with all the games we play, we finally kicked it into gear. Ultimately, we dominated the game. The only defensive score we gave up was on a flop and we should have kept them to a goose egg. When the game was over, Bay Area had defeated the men from Denton, Texas 34-7. Even though Denton lost to us, they will also travel with us to Westerns.

 

So congratulations to us as Texas Rugby Union DIII Champions !! !! !! !!

We will now travel convienently to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas where we will be playing the Western Rugby Championships. They will play all games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of this weekend (April 27-29). We will accompany teams from Northern State, North Dakota / Ft. Leanord Wood, Missouri / Denton, Texas / New Mexico Brujos / Northland, Kansas

We will be in Pool play. We will play North Dakota team and then later against the New Mexico team. The winners of each pool will play April 29th. The winne ron April 29th will attend the National Semifinal Tournament held on Columbia, South Carolina.

So wish us luck as we take our game to another level and prove that a bunch of beergut having social rugby players can tear it up every once in a while.