Stanford 10's

The Stanford 10's tournament was yesterday and I'm really proud of what we did. I was on the Cal Blue team. We went 3-2 in pool play and then were eliminated by SF Fog in the first game of the playoffs. The Cal Gold team made it all the way to the final but lost to SF Fog. While winning again would have been great, taking second place to a good women's club team is great considering we're at the very beginning of our season. We played some good rugby. Our rookies really stepped up and there are some who are going to be phenomenal. A couple of our forwards also had some amazing runs that resulted in tries, which I think happens more in 10's than 15's. I also have to hand it to the vets who played game after game in the heat, some of them playing out of position, and who really gave it everything they had. Of course, the tournament exposed the things that we have to work on but there was nothing that cannot be fixed. We need to work on spreading out of defense and coming up flat. Also, we need to have one person to a tackle and better communication. However, given that in many of the games the lineup was majority rookies I would say that we did quite well.

The tournament showed me just how much I personally have yet to learn. I played three different positions: inside center, flyhalf, and then outside center. I wouldn't say I was horrible at any of them but I definately am not comfortable as a back yet. Plus, I really need to work on my speed and for some reason my dropkick deserted me for the game I played flyhalf. That was a bit embarrassing. I gave it everything I could though and I have the bruises to prove it, including a right knee that is gigantic and swollen.

On a different note, while I was sitting on the sidelines yesterday I noticed the different styles of the various coaches that were there. There were two teams who had rather loud coaches. The kind that go hopping down the touchline yelling stuff at their players, the other team and the ref. It made me grateful that I don't have a coach like that. I find it rude and I have difficulty respecting such a person. Calm leadership and disappointment work a lot better with me than shouting and anger.

Lastly, congrats to the All Blues for winning yesterday and good luck today!