James River Rugby in Richmond, Virginia


Richmond, Virginia USA

Home > Contacts > Schedule > Training > Directions > History > Fund Raising > Sevens > New Players > Fitness > Coaches > Links >	James River Rugby Club in Richmond, Virginia is the top ranked club in the Richmond area. Founded in 1969, James River is a club with a strong history, and a stronger future. We field both Men's and Women's sides, and are involved in youth rugby through Hanover Park and Recreation. The club has a history of Virginia Rugby Union championships having won eight Division III, and three of the last six. In memory of Mary Wren Leach who lost her battle with cancer. Please keep Jonathan and the rest of her family in your thoughts and prayers.	This is it, Carty Cup Saturday at Roanoke, See you all at practice!!!

	Coming off an awful showing in VA Beach at the TIT, River traveled to Fredericksburg to take on Rappahannock RFC. Last time we met the match ended in an 8-8 draw in the midst of a monsoon. Depth and numbers was again thin this weekend, but thanks to a few VCU lads (Horri, Holt, and Jeff) that traveled we were able to place a solid team on the pitch and one that would hold ground when needed. Early in the first, River was presented with a penalty inside Rappahannock ’s 22M and points would be slotted by Matt Balazik giving River the early 0-3 lead. The tide would quickly turn in Rappahannock ’s favor as they would take two tries in with no conversions for a 10-3 lead within the first ten minutes. Can’t exactly remember how this happened, but it did. Fearing this was going to be the makings of a long day River decided to push on. Scores would soon come from 30 plus metres by Matt Balazik, Patrick Benner, Matt Balazik (again) and Bob Sottile (3/4 conversions by Balazik) thanks to great support play with Rappahannock only answering once to give River a halftime lead of 15-29. The second half would start much like the first as River would allow Rappahannock to crawl back into the match and bring the contest close at 27-29 following two tries and one conversion in the first 10 minutes of the half. River would soon wake up and great support and controlled rucking would set up another score for Matt Balazik (conversion-Balazik) and one more out wide for Zulu Warrior Andy “ New York ” Lapetina to extend River’s lead by two scores to 27-41. Rappahannock would put one more try away to narrow the gap to 32-41 in the final 10 minutes, but River would take one last penalty opportunity for points on the foot of Matt Balazik to close the match with a 32-44 victory. This week we travel to Roanoke RFC for the Carty Cup. It is important that we practice well this week and travel even better!!! VA Beach Recap VA Beach traveled to James River following an incredible start to the spring season at 4-1 and putting as much as 90 points on the board against their competition. River knew they needed to perform and make up for last week’s disappointing loss. Slim in numbers and using creativity to account for injuries and holes in key positions, River put together a formidable side on Saturday that proved to be a victorious at match end. River set pace early as they did last week, but was sidelined with a sudden injury to Jason “Flake” Smith that has filled the centre for the entirety of the season. Subbing early and reshuffling our line-up and attack would not create weaknesses in out defense as River would continue on the strong attack thanks to great perimeter play and drives in the forwards. Power play in tight and relentless pressure on Beach’s tight play would soon lead to a try by William “Crazy Billy” Wallace on a quick pick and go, conversion by Matt Balazik. It would not take long for Beach to respond and bring the match square at 7-7. Still in the first River would have one more opportunity following a penalty attack inside Beach’s 22M line. Quick distribution following the initial surge lead to an overload on the wing leading Matt Balazik to a walk-in try to take the lead 12-7, conversion failed. The second half would prove to be very tight and long. Twenty plus minutes into the second Beach would break the 9-10 gap and break the try line for their second try with conversion to take the lead 12-14. Opportunities for breaks would arise for River plenty inside Beach’s 22M, but knock-ons would prevent River from a continued attack. With less than 10 minutes remaining in half River was awarded a penalty just inside Beach’s 10M line…captains would elect for points and Matt Balazik would slot the penalty with certainty giving River a 15-14 lead. The next few minutes would be intense with pressure and attacks from both sides, but River would secure victory as time would expire. Next week, River travels down to Beach for the TIT (Tidewater Invitational Tournament) – numbers and depth is important!!! See you all Tuesday and Thursday!!! *************************************** Under the lights last Friday James River took on host and cross town rival the Richmond Lions. Year in and year out this is a match that is marked on the calendar by many young and old. This year, the game lived up to all it’s hype and preparation just as in year’s past. However, it would not be River that would come out victorious when the final whistle blew. This match was truly a tale of two halves. River came out strong and didn’t miss a beat, ruck, tackle, pass, line-out, or scrum down in the first forty. The first half was ours and ended with a 18-0 lead. Amazing pressure on defense left the Lions guessing and second guessing. Pressure in the line outs and scrums showed our pack prowess throughout the match. Backline coverage and crashes put the Lions on their heels and constantly back pedaling in the first half. Scores from Bob Sottile and Jonathan Leach followed amazing phase play. Two penalties and one conversion by Matt Balazik added to River’s lead at half, but these would be last impact River would make on the score card. The second half started strong and continuous in great play from that of the first. However, the Lions would soon find an opportunity in River’s defense for their first score of the match ten minutes into the second. With twenty minutes remaining, River would give up a lot of ground in penalties to the Lions leading to another score bringing the match to 18-12. River would have two more opportunities as they would penetrate deep in Lion territory, but could never put a closer away. Still fighting off petty penalties in our own half we found ourselves backing up in our 22M leading to another penalty and a Lions victory with one last try before the final whistle losing 18-19. This was a well fought match and one that River truly showed to be the dominant club. Although the score of the match speaks volumes in a bar – those that know and saw clearly saw River let one get away from them and one that was not a victory by the Lions. ************************************* Quantico Recap James River took on the visiting Quantico RFC on Saturday following Collegiate MARFU play-off matches. Quantico came ready to play and with a very structured attack and defense as was to be expected. Immediately, River showed their dominance in the forward in the scrums and line-outs. This dominance would persist through out the game and lead to many opportunities due do turn over ball. The first half was one without triumph for River, but one that showed strength. Despite control of possession and field, River would not break the try line and would fail on penalty attempts to post a score. Due to missed tackles and a break in cross coverage, Quantico would score the only try of the half and convert to take a 0-7 halftime lead. The second half River would storm on the attack again, only to beaten again due to communication breakdown leading to another Quantico try opening their lead 0-12. River, knowing they were in control and showing their control, would soon begin to roll. Attacking again in Quantico ’s 22M, Benner would take a quick tap at the 5M in for River’s first try, conversion Balazik. Shortly following, William Wallace would also go in for a score to bring the match tied 12-12. However, Quantico would quickly respond on another defense breakdown to retake the lead 12-17. Knowing full well that Quantico would not give in River began to turn the screws. With roughly 20 minutes remaining River would continue to dominate line-outs and scrums to lead to several attacks in Quantico territory leading to try’s by Ted Dinch (conversion Balazik) and a second by William Wallace thanks to great support play and continues ruck and runs. Now with the lead (24-17), River knew they needed one more for security after a subsequent try was revoked due to a penalty infraction. Great backline defense pressure by Matt Balazik lead to a picked off pass and 60 meter try from Matt to be converted by himself to close out the match with a 31-17 final. Hats off to Quantico for a great match. River played well and stayed together due to great support play and outstanding pressure in the forwards. ************************************* Could have, should have, would have… Knowing we were up against a strong competitor, River needed to be ready after coming off two friendly wins in previous weeks. On Saturday a wounded and sick side of 15 traveled to West Potomac to take on the 2007 PRU Division III Champions and first seed for the MARFU. With 14 players 20 minutes short of kick-off the line-up was going to be stretched, but a 15th member (Frank Esteve) crawled out of his death bed and played through what was far from his finest condition. From the start, River would set the tone and tempo of the match through consistent play and great tackling and support. Poaching would prove to be Rivers defense and lead to lots of turn over ball and opportunities for attack. Despite setting the early pressure, West Potomac would strike first off an error from River to award them with a 0-5 lead in the first 10 minutes of the match. River would respond quickly and pick and drive inside West Potomac ’s 22M line to lead to a try under the posts by Jason “Flake” Smith, conversion Matt Balazik. Now with the lead, River would keep on the pressure and take penalty opportunities to slot points from near midfield twice off the boot of Matt Balazik to take the halftime lead of 13-8. The second half would start like the first and a mindless error would give West Potomac another try to bring the match square at 13-13. Walking wounded, sick, and tired River would continue to play hard and have opportunity for attack, but was hit quickly in the opening fifteen minutes of the half with two more scores from West Potomac to extend their lead to 13-23. Fighting to stay alive and in the game River would have two men go down, but fight through the clouds in their head to finish the game. Taking another drive down field William ‘Billy’ Wallace would see a similar opening near posts on a tight pick a drive to bring River back within striking distance and narrow the score to 20-30 in favor of West Potomac. With time and stamina wearing thin River lost sight of West Potomac ’s try line and found ourselves defending our own in the final seconds. Attempting to end the match and place the ball in touch a twice warned player from West Potomac took a cheap shot at a player to cause loose ball in our in-goal leading to another score by West Potomac closing the match 20-35 in favor of West Potomac . This truly was a game of could have, should have, would have…there better not be another one of these and if there is…it will end differently! Thanks again to all that played their hearts (and bodies) out on Saturday. Players: 1. Greg Wood; 2. Adam Floyd; 3. Bob Sottile; 4. Frank Esteve; 5. George Durocher; 6. Jay Stanley; 7. Patrick Benner; 8. Paul Pace; 9. William Wallace; 10. Matt Balazik; 11. William Colt; 12. Shade Wilson; 13. Jason Smith; 14. Dustin Longest; 15. Jonathan Leach ************************************* Big game this saturday, we travel to West Potomac, I hope to see everyone at practice ready to work hard. ************************************* Good game this weekend against ODU!! There is a tournament this weekend in Savannah. If you have the time off, come on down, play some rugby and enjoy the St. Patty's day weekend. ************************************ Hey Guys, practice has been cancelled tonight-Tuesday March 4, 2008 due to weather. Be ready to work hard on thursday!! ************************************ If you want to play saturday or this spring you must be CIPPed period. I have included step by step instructions below. The site has been having problems so do not wait till the last minute to register. This registration will be good till 8/31/08 and the pro rated cost is 23.33. If you have any questions call or email me at george.durocher@jmfryinks.com 1. Go to usarugby.org 2. Click on Membership (left hand side) 3. Click on register or login (under membership) 4. Click on Individuals and Clubs, Register Here! 5. Click on Create / Renew Individual Membership 6. Enter your personal Information and select yes or no and continue 7. Click on your name in the list if you are renewing 8. Read and Accept the waiver 9. Fill in your contact information and click continue 10.Select your "role" as player your "level" as senior and then type jam wait for our team name to pop up, click on it then click add 11. Then click check out 12. Enter your payment information and click pay now. 13. Print your receipt and keep it for your records : ) ************************************ Hey guys, thanks for making it out to the banquet last night. It was a really good event to get the men's, women's and old boy's teams together. Congratulations to all the award winners. -Most Valuable Forward(tie)-Adam and Greg -Most Valuable Back-Soccer Matt -BFU-Colt -Rookie of the Year(tie)-New York and Josh -Bubba Floyd Award-George D. Like I said before, congrats to everyone and thank you for coming out and making it a great time. Now its time to get serious, lets get everyone out to practice this week, this is it until our first game. If you know someone who has not been coming to practice, give them a call, bug them, get them out there, we can't play as a team if we don't practice as a team. So enjoy the rest of your weekend and be ready for some hard work Tuesday at 7. *************************************** Practice starts Tuesday Feb. 12. We meet at Pole Green Park at 7pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. Come on out, new or old and lets get ready for a great season!! Also if you are interested we are running some SAQ (speed, agility, quickness) before practice at 6:30 through the rest of February, this is a great way to improve speed and balance as well as getting a good warm up before practice.	James River RFC is always looking for new players to join the club. Whether you are new to rugby, new to the area, or just looking to start playing again, we encourage you to come to a training session to see what we're all about. This is a young team, with much room to grow and develop. The key to our success has been our coaches ability to teach, and our players willingness to learn. Our training sessions are on Tuesday & Thursday evenings at Pole Green Park in Hanover. For directions, click on the Training link on the left. Hanover Youth Rugby!! Practice begins in May, Get more details and register at www.hanoveryouthrugby.org Questions?? E-mail Kevin Kilgore at kmkilgore1@juno.com Coaches who can donate time are needed, no experience needed, call 804-559-1041 for details

James River RFC 11450 Abbots Cross Ln. Glen Allen, VA 23059 USA 804-467-9744