Author Archive
Pigs AGM unifies Men’s and Women’s Teams!
This past Sunday the Portland Men’s Rugby and Women’s Rugby teams voted unanimously to unify under the umbrella of the Portland Rugby Club. This is very exciting for the future of rugby in Portland, and marks a big step forward for both squads.
We will update shortly with the new officers elected and the new structure for the Club.
Match Report double feature, Tsunami AND ORSU
Match Report – Pigs @ Tsunami, 10/22/11
First off, please let your humble narrator pass along his sincerest of sincere apologies for the dearth of match reports since our Snake River (!!) win allllll the way back on September 24th. Our next match was a shellacking of a young Chuckanut squad that didn’t really require a report, other than to say that all of a sudden all of our backs and forwards seemed really incredible at passing after the tackle, and that both Ben Ream (winger) and Travis Dunn (flanker) got called up from D3 and managed to score excellent tries.
Then we had two weeks off, and then the Tsunami match plopped right into an incredibly busy time for your humble narrator, and here we are.
But what about that Tsunami match? It certainly showcased some of the best play from our local Piggies all season, it’s just that that play started at about the 65th minute and lasted till a game-sealing try at the 82nd minute. The first 65 minutes were hard-fought, but your boys in red and black did not charge across the defensive line like they needed to when playing a team as big and strong as the Tsunami. Time after time Tsunami pick-and-goes and crash balls rocked the Pigs back on their heels for three to five meters a pop, and besides a very, very close miss at the end of the first half by speedy winger Ream, the only positive offense came from the boot of fly half Steve Bernson, who notched three penalties for nine points before the half. The Tsunami, on the other hand, were able to charge in for three tries in the first sixty minutes, converting one and adding a penalty to get relentlessly to 20 points.
At sixty minutes the Pigs were able to call on a deeper (read: older) bench than their counterparts, however, with a grizzled Patrick Donaldson relieving Steve Boger who limped off with a high ankle sprain, and grizzlier Dan Bush coming on for prop Ross Goffard. I’m sure there were other subs as well, but they don’t fit into my narrative arc. The Pigs turned up the effort to the max, led proficiently by new scrum half Miles Gardiner, and soon they’d crossed the strip with a beautifully designed forward move, Tim Garcia faking a crash and then popping back to a bursting Cory Wiltshire, who ran through the middle of the Tsunami defense for a 60-meter score under the posts. Bernson converted, and with 14 minutes left the comeback was on.
Down by 20-16, the Pigs had to score and had to do it soon, but nonetheless the possession seesawed back and forth frustratingly. Finally the Pigs were able to get a lineout deep in Tsunami territory, took it cleanly, and began a lighting round of crashes, pick and goes and back balls. The Pigs frantically rucked, the Tsunami doggedly defended, the Pigs lost a scrum on the 5 meter line but then Donaldson ripped the ball from his counterpart during open play and the phases continued. Time expired, but the Pigs kept pushing, with replacement flanker Seth Terrall making multiple crafty runs that nearly reached the try line. Finally Seth was in space again, but was tackled just as he was to get to the line – and he dropped the ball, but it fell straight downwards and then slightly backwards into the hands of Pigs winger Tony “Barry” Eckles, who launched himself into the whitewash for the game-winning try.
Bernson’s conversion was off, but the Pigs took the 21-20 victory in extra time vs the tough Tsunami happily, shaking their heads at their luck.
Match Report – Pigs @ ORSU, 10/29/11
Sadly, such luck was not to stay with the Portland Pigs all the way through the end of the Fall season. Before the match with ORSU, the Pigs learned that they would be without starting strongside flanker Steve Boger (high ankle sprain) as well as physical 8-man Seanny Boy Williams. A bit weakened in the forward pack but vowing to make up the difference with guile and effort from replacements Patrick Donaldson and Seth Terrall, the pack took another huge blow in the first 15 minutes of the match when starting lock Taylor Sorem and blindside flanker Tysen Gray both had to be helped from the field after sustaining blows to the head while tackling the gigantic ORSU packies.
Despite the injuries, the first twenty minutes seemed to be clicking for the Pigs, who stole the opening kickoff and had early success around the set-pieces. Within ORSU territory (just before the first concussion), the Pigs strung a particularly good backline play together, with quick phases and great forward support, to put a looping center Tim Garcia in at the corner posts for the first 5 points of the match.
Fly-half Steve Bernson missed the conversion, and sadly the Pigs would not be able to get on the scoreboard again. ORSU picked up their work rate immensely, the Pigs had a good bit of steam lost with the injuries and ORSU put up quick points in the form of a penalty and a converted try under the posts. The Pigs turned to winger Ryan Boltman to attempt a long penalty kick, but it was short and ORSU pushed it back into Pigs territory efficiently.
Despite the best efforts of replacements like Travis Dunn, Robert Ling and others, the Pigs were hard pressed to slow down the powerful pick-and-goes and crashes of the ORSU pack as the day went on. Lineouts were a weak spot as well, with many balls for both ORSU and Portland both going over the entire line and bouncing frustratingly in midfield.
Coach Andrew Edmundson exhorted his team mightily at the half, and looked to his deep bench of Dan Bush as well as veteran flankers Andrew Garrett and (new guy!) Bailey, but the answer wasn’t to be found. ORSU continued to dominate in and around the ruck, and were not to be slowed down even throughout the backline, and pushed over back-breaking try after back-breaking try.
When the mud finally settled, ORSU walked off the pitch of The Farm as clear winners, 26-5. This leads to a three way tie in the southern PNRFU books over the winter break, with ORSU, Portland and Boise all having one loss. It certainly leaves a lingering bad taste in the mouths of your Pigs, who can be counted on to push hard throughout the snowy months to come back this Spring ready to even the score with ORSU and push hard for a Northwest championship once more.
Regretfully transcribed,
Alex Johnson
Secretary, Portland Rugby Club
Match Report: Snake River @ Pigs, 9/24/11
Match Report – Snake River @ Pigs, 9/24/11
It was sunny and 75°F on Saturday when Snake River rolled into town, or what we call in Portland, “uncomfortably warm.” As per their usual, the Snake River Snakes brought out a tough, organized starting 15 that looked poised to push the Pigs hard.
Continuing a recent trend, the Pigs kicked off to start the match and recovered the ball immediately from the kick, using speedy forwards Sean Williams and Steven Boger to wreak havoc on the receiving player. The Pigs played a couple good phases but then were penalized around the ruck, in a portent of troubles that would stick around the entire game. Snake put together some good runs and kicks as the ball moved around the field energetically for some time, but the Pigs’ first break came when inside centre Tim Garcia picked a Snake offload out of the air and bursted 50 meters for a try, running so fast that many onlookers expected his quads to explode. The intercept for a try was Garcia’s second in two games, a magnificent rate that he will be hard pressed to keep up this season.
Scrummy Ryan Boltman missed the penalty, putting the Pigs at 5-0. Play resumed hard and fast, with the Snakes abandoning the kick somewhat, in favor of their patented and relentless pick-and-goes. The Portland forward pack, expecting this, time and again stuffed the Snakes for little or no gain – with Williams, Taylor Sorem and others setting a smashmouth tone early on.
While their intensity was good, the Pigs were penalized often for rucking penalties as well as for not wrapping in the tackle. The Snake kicker attempted three penalty kicks from these penalties through the game, and while he had been nailing them in warm-ups he missed all three, to Portland’s benefit. With the score stuck at 5-0, the Pigs pushed back into Snake territory, and swarthy yet diminutive flanker Tysen Gray picked an excellent time to insert into the Pigs backline. Crafty Canadian Cory Wiltshire, playing levelheadedly at outside centre, took the ball into contact and spit a nifty pop from contact to Gray, who pounded through the grass towards the try line. Gray dodged multiple would-be tacklers and then bullrushed the last, pushing the defender backwards the last 5 meters to cross into the whitewash and touch it down for a powerful try.
He was then picked up by prop Tim Boyd and kicked his legs in the air excitedly like an Umpa-Loompa.
Boltman then nailed the conversion to bring the score to 12-0. With the restart the Pigs were back at it, repeatedly making tough gains and stuffing Snake when necessary. Jumper Taylor Sorem and later Robert Ling made lineouts damn-near impossible for Snake, stealing or disrupting many and putting the Pigs lineouts well out of reach, helped by impeccable throw-ins by hooker Joe Boyd.
Halftime brought calls for more of the same for the Piggies, who found some shade to escape from the unbearable heat. Back on the pitch, Portland called on multiple veteran reserves, including aging stars such as Seth Terrall and Philipe Kelsven who again proved that they had plenty of gas in the tank. Portland continued to stymie Snakes forward-dominated attack, and continued to play smart rugby, with fullback Justin Burgin clearing the ball out of danger effectively. On one such clear, the Snake fullback received the kick but was quickly boxed in by hungry Pig defenders. Passing out of trouble only bought him more trouble, however, as Steve Boger burst through to collect the intercept, and sped down the sideline showcasing the speed that got him to the junior Olympics, and lots of slaps in the face from pretty ladies.
Boger touched the ball down emphatically to score the try, and Boltman kicked through the uprights – actually, he kicked through where the uprights should have been, but as one of the posts was leaning inwards the kick was missed, robbing the Piggies of 2 points.
Score at 17-0, the Pigs settled back into the difficult yet rewarding work of defending an ever-more frantic Snake offense. This task was made more difficult by substitute prop and resident scofflaw Ross Goffard’s dangerous tackle of a Snake player, resulting in the sin bin for Goffard and a harrowing 10 minutes playing a man down. Amazingly, the Pigs were able to move Kelsven into hooker and scrum without an 8-man and STILL push the Snake pack backwards in multiple scrums, a testament to their form and fitness.
With Goffard returning with only 3 minutes to play, the Pigs continued to clamp down but Snake was able to push into Portland territory, and a last-ditch effort sent the Snake inside-center over the try line as time expired to bring the final score to 17-7 after the try was converted.
Certainly a great game by your Pigs, and an impressive improvement over the week before as they work towards midseason form. With D3 beating Kitsap 29-19, the Portland Rugby Football Club now stands at 6-0 throughout divisions for the season, with D2, D3 and Women’s all starting 2-0.
Dan Bush was awarded Muscle Milk Man of the Match for his impressive body of work over the past two weeks as he returns from a 24-year absence from the team.
A great day to be a Pig!
Respectfully submitted,
Alex Johnson
Secretary, PRFC
September 25, 2011
Match Report – Rovers @ Pigs, 9/17/11
Match Report – Rovers @ Pigs, 9/17/11
**I’ve since been corrected, the final score of the Rovers game was apparently Pigs 20, Rovers 10. That invalidates some of the scoring in this match report, but hey — if you want the absolute truth you probably shouldn’t be reading a rugby match report, anyway. –AJ**
The dawn of the 2011-2012 Portland Rugby Club Men’s Division II season saw the Pacific Rovers of Seattle travelling down to Northgate Park in Portland OR. With the field freshly widened to regulation size, the Pigs and Rovers kicked off the inaugural Northgate Park game in the misty drizzle that is known as “late summer” in Portland.
Our porcine heroes started crisply, recovering the opening kickoff on the right sideline and immediately drawing a Rover penalty. South African Scrummy/Winger Ryan Boltman, a new addition to the Pigs side, stepped confidently to the tee and nailed the penalty points from the right sideline. While the Pigs forwards continued to outwork their counterparts following the restart, a mishandled pass by fullback Tristan Dowrie to winger Tony Eckles resulted in a frantic kick-and-chase by a bursting Rovers winger, and the ball was finally kicked out of touch on the Pigs’ 5-meter line. The Rovers took the ensuing lineout and mauled through for the first try of the match, leaving the Pigs shaking their heads at their carelessness. The Rovers did not convert the try, so the game came to 5-3 at 10 minutes of play.
The Pigs were able to pin the Rovers deep on the kickoff, with play bubbling around inside their 22-meter line, with the Pigs winning a penalty and electing to run a play for the try. Big Tim Boyd was uncharacteristically held up, however, and a massive Rovers lock (with help from his friends) pushed Boyd out at the Rovers 5-meter line. The Rovers hooker quickly opted for an extremely long throw-in, aiming for his fly-half, but master tactician Tim Garcia pounced on the throw, intercepting it cleanly and touching it down without being tackled or touched by the opposition. Boltman converted to swing the score back to the Pigs, 10-5.
A physical, forwards-dominated game developed, with the Pigs forwards time and again making darting surges into Rover territory but often time conceding silly penalties, typical of early-season rugby. The Rovers were characteristically prone to run the ball out of their own 22-meter line, but the Pigs played generally stout defense, if slightly too high at times. Ten minutes before half time, the Rovers put together a frenetic, rumbling sequence which started from a Pigs penalty and concluded with their stout fly half powering in under the posts for yet another Rover try. The points were missed yet again, and the score was tied at 10. Play then battled back and forth, but Boltman booted in 3 more penalty points to bring the score to 13-10 at the half.
Captain Alex Johnson entreated his side at the half to play composed, intelligent, hardworking rugby and the game would be theirs. The Pigs came out to the second 40 minutes and did just that – and the Rovers did not score again. Newcomer Miles Gardiner, formerly with Eastern Washington University, stepped in at scrum half which bumped Boltman to wing – and both performed very ably. As the Rovers tried to turn up the intensity and pace, they also started to concede more penalties, and Boltman knocked through 2-of-3 in short succession to get the Pigs out to a more comfortable 19-10 lead.
After a bit of movement, the Pigs retained commanding possession of the ball and fly half “Samurai” Steve Bernson called for quick ball from the ruck, seeing plenty of open pitch in front of him. He kicked deep towards the Rovers try zone, and winger Boltman raced his opposing number for the ball. The Rovers winger bodily shoved Boltman before kicking the ball from the endzone, and the Sir ran under the posts to give a penalty try to the Pigs. Anger boiled over for the Rovers winger, who shouted his thoughts about the call and was subsequently red-carded. Boltman calmly converted the try to bring the score to 26-10.
The last 20 minutes of the game was a messy, scrum-heavy affair, with the only things of note being some shifty plays by new winger Ryan Huserik and one last penalty converted by Boltman. The game finished out at the score of 29-10… well, the Sir said it was 28-10 but your humble narrator can’t figure out how that score could have happened. So I just changed it in the narrative. Deal with it.
Ah – I forgot one point of note! Dan Bush, who last was a Pig TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO, finally returned after decades of non-rugby life and played a full 80 minutes at prop. He played hard and well, and his contribution was tremendous. Especially for a really old guy.
A great day for the Pigs, as the DIII and Lady Pigs side also rolled up dominating wins over Coos Bay and Snake River, respectively. Plenty of work to be done, but a three win Saturday is a great way to start a season!
Respectfully submitted,
Alex Johnson
Secretary, PRFC
September 18, 2011
New Schedule Posted
Our Fall 2011 schedule has been posted for Men’s DII, Men’s DIII and the Lady Pigs. Please follow this link to see it in full!
New To Rugby? Answers Here.
Interested in trying rugby for the first time? Have some questions?
“It’s the best sport in the world – the most amazing combination of speed, strength, endurance, and teamwork. All kinds of athletes are welcome, from the big and strong to the small and quick – as long as you’re willing to hit. If you’ve played football, soccer, lacrosse, or wrestled before, you’ll love rugby. But even if you’ve never played a sport before but want to take on a new physical challenge, rugby welcomes you. We get new players joining us every week, and our coaches and experienced players are happy to welcome you to the family. The rules are simple enough that you can be playing the game within a week or two of your first practice, but the game will also continue to challenge your skills for as many years as you give it. All you need to bring to your first practice is a mouthguard, shorts and a t-shirt you don’t mind getting dirty or ripped, and cleats. Ultimately you’ll want to invest in proper rugby boots, shorts, and a jersey, but that will come with time. Just be prepared to run until you puke, hit until you can’t stand, and dig deeper than you knew possible.”
-Mark Adams, Treasurer for Life, PRFC, 2011
Useful Links:
How to Play Rugby by Rugby Sidestep Central
Rugby Positions at ESPNscrum.com
Rugby 101 on Youtube
We hope to see you out at one of our practices or games. Don’t be bashful — come introduce yourself! (Almost) all of us started in our late teens, early twenties or even thirties and we’re all excited and happy to answer questions for new players.
50th Anniversary a Huge Success!
Field Change for 50th!
The Old Boy PRFC 50th Anniversary Rugby Festival has changed fields! Still same time, same date (July 16th), but now at Northgate Park in North Portland. Don’t be the only one wandering around Westmoreland on Saturday! Pass the word along to friends!
Thanks.
Pigs Sevens Beat ORSU to Take 3rd Place in Roy Lucas
The Pigs’ Summer Sevens A-side team won 3 of their 4 matches at the Roy Lucas Sevens tourney this past weekend, including a tense runner-up game victory over ORSU, to come in third in the tourney behind stout OPSB and Tsunami sides. The B-side didn’t fare as well, only winning 1 of 4, but showed dramatic improvement throughout the day.
Full score reports are here at RugbyMag.
Cheers boys! Next up is Can Ams on July 7th.
Muscle Milk MVPs for 2011
Jon Norman — Best DIII Forward
JC Guadiz — Best DIII Back
Paul Gardner — Most Improved DIII
Charles Izquierdo — DIII MVP
Tim Boyd — Best DII Forward
Zeke Camusio — Best DII Back
Tristan Dowrie — Most Improved DII
Zeke Camusio — DII MVP
Tysen Gray and Tristan Dowrie — TIED for Rookie of the Year
Steve Bernson — Club Man of the Year
As voted on by their peers. Congrats to all for a great season!
