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The Shasta Highlanders Rugby Club from Redding hosted the 2012 Dunsmuir 7s Rugby Tournament at Dunsmuir City Park on Saturday, July 14.

In addition to the Highlanders, teams included the State of Jefferson Elite, Medford Barbarians, Mendocino Steam Donkeys, and the Highwaymen. (more…)

The Shasta Highlanders Rugby Club from Redding will be hosting a 7s tournament at the Dunsmuir City Park this Saturday. The first collision is scheduled for about 1:00 pm, with the smash-mouth action continuing all afternoon and into the early evening. There will also be an “Old Boys” 15s match at the end of the day.

Among the teams competing will be Siskiyou County’s State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club. The Elite will be looking to build on its strong performance a few week’s ago, when they hosted the Gregg Smith Memorial Tournament in Yreka. In that tourney, the  Elite went 3-1, the team’s best showing so far. The Elite have been in existence for just over a year, and have shown continuous improvement.

“Most of the guys have been playing together for a full year, and that’s made all the difference. I can’t think of another sport where teamwork is so essential, and the dedication of our guys has really paid off,” said grizzled veteran Elite player Judd Hanna. “On top of that, we have some new players who have picked up the game quickly and add strength and speed to an already tough team.”

Another veteran player, Logan Neely, sees a couple of things as being key to the team’s future success. (more…)

Click here for video highlights.

Mens rugby teams from Northern California and Southern Oregon converged at Lower Greenhorn Park on Saturday for an afternoon of gladiatorial bliss in the 1st annual Greg Smith Memorial 7-man rugby tournament.

At the end of the day, it was the Medford Barbarians that had run the table to win the tourney, going 4-0. The host State of Jefferson Elite Ruby Club went 3-1. It was the year-old Elite’s best showing so far in tournament play.

The Elite’s Happy Hooker Judd Hanna was asked to give an assessment of the Elite’s performance.

“I’d say that the Elite were impressive. For us to win three of four really showed how far we’ve come together as a team. I was proud of the guys. The veterans worked especially well together, and I was impressed with the new guys too,” said Hanna. “We had fun, played well, and put on a first class tournament for our fans, the teams that showed up, and most importantly for Greg’s family.” (more…)

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Article by Judd Hanna; photo by Regina Hanna

Click here for slide show posted earlier.

The State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club’s fans enjoyed perfect weather and impressive rugby on Saturday as they watched their hometown men battle against the Humboldt Hogs. Scoring from both sides came early and often as each team put up six tries in the match.

The lowly conversion kicker, no one pays him any attention until he misses one, or, in the case of the Elite, five. The Humboldt men notched three conversion, while the Elite made one. The Elite tried a rotating cast of conversion kickers, but no one was successful until Dan Fisher kicked one through after he scored his second try in the final seconds of the match to put the score at 36-32.

Elite’s Man of the Match, big Glen Krawczyk, had several punishing runs. The most spectacular was in the waning seconds of the match when the Hogs committed a penalty around mid-field. Krawczyk took the ball and stiff-armed and plowed through Humboldt’s defense. When he was finally slowed, Krawczyk pitched the ball to Fisher, who sped in for the score. Unfortunately, as impressive as the play was, the final whistle blew and the Elite still came up short.

Brad Smith, a hard hitting runner and defender in the Elite backfield, said, “Every game we play together we become more of a team. It showed against Humboldt. We are a team now.” (more…)

Photos by Regina Hanna

The State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club nearly cut down the Humboldt Old Growth on Saturday afternoon at Greenhorn Park, bull fell short 36-32. Both teams notched six tries, but Humboldt was able to make good on three of their conversions, to the Elite’s one, giving the Old Growth the win. (more…)

Article by Judd Hanna; photo by Regina Hanna

Last Saturday, the State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club played the Mendocino Steam Donkeys in a game that, on paper, looked like a good match-up…stupid paper. The Donk’s rolled out their big men, while the Elite were short-handed in the giant department. Thirty-seconds into the match, one of the Elite’s starting forwards was concussed (hey, not me this time!), and the hits just kept on coming. Both sides tried to out-smash each other, but with at least four really big guys in their pack, the Mendo men used their weight advantage to run over the Elite. When the Elite finally slowed the Donk’s big forwards, Mendo had plenty of speed on the outside to move the ball.

A bright moment for the Elite came late in the 1st half. After a Mendo penalty, the Elite kicked for touch (out of bounds) and found themselves within five meters of the try-line. A tricky line-out toss by the happy hooker put the ball even closer and another penalty had the Elite 2 meters from scoring. Eight-man Griff did a tap and go, and ran full steam into 500 pounds of props, while the Elite pack pushed him forward. Player-Coach Trevor Bishop wound up with the ball in the try zone, but was held up and unable to touch it down for points (FYI: that’s where the American football term “touchdown” originated). (more…)

By Judd Hanna

The State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club met the Reno Zephyrs at Lower Greenhorn Park last Saturday, February 18. Snow flurries and freezing weather didn’t slow down the two sides from heavy-hitting, power rugby. The Zephyrs, a perpetual force in the league, were introduced to Siskiyou County-style rugby on the opening kick.

“We made a statement early,” said flanker Justin Griffith. “They received our opening kickoff and we immediately knocked them back and stole the ball.”

The local ruggers had some early drives close to their try-line, but couldn’t convert for points. Reno pounced on a couple of misfires from the Elite’s defense and put the local men down two scores.

It didn’t take long for the Jefferson men to get their mojo back as their big forwards pounded the ball down the gut of Reno’s pack. When the Zephyrs figured out the Elite’s game-plan, the ball was pitched to the fast backs, where it finally landed in the hands of speedster Skyler Schneider, who juked and sprinted into the try zone for a score. (more…)

Submitted article; photo by Regina Hanna

The State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club will be hosting the Reno Zephyrs this Saturday at Lower Greenhorn Park, in Yreka. The match starts at 1:00 pm, with the first big hit 5-10 seconds later.

The Elite hosted the Colusa County Rugby Club in their first-ever league match earlier this month. Colusa’s momentum didn’t slow down from last season, in which they were undefeated in league play. Both sides came out with some big hits and extremely physical play, but Colusa had the edge in experience and jumped out to an early lead. And when the home team lost four of their big forwards to injury in the first half, Coach Trevor Bishop scrambled to fill those key spots with substitutes.

The Elite came out of the halftime break still fired up and ready to play, and pushed the ball close to their try-line, but a stout Colusa defense kept the Elite from touching the ball down for points.

Despite the loss, coach Trevor Bishop was impressed with the play of his young side, “What impressed me was even though we were down, bloody and beaten, the team still played all 80 minutes to win,” he stated. Bishop also commented on the strong play by Brad Smith and Logan Neely, two new players. Man-of-the-Match was awarded to Skyler Schneider for his outstanding play in the backfield. (more…)

Want to play some Rugby? Keep reading. (more…)

So, I have to say this is the first time I’ve watched live Rugby. I’ve seen it on TV before and liked it, but live is awesome. Tons of action and lots of hitting.

The tournament, hosted by the Shasta Highlanders team, was held in Dunsmuir. The local squad, the State of Jefferson Elite Rugby Club, fared pretty well considering only about four players have played the game before. They even won a couple of matches. (more…)