The Black and Blue Bulletin

Blacksburg’s first match gets underway Saturday, 20 March (Home v. Roanoke, 1 p.m.), so it’s time to start working out who will be available and who will not. It will certainly be a lot easier for the club to prepare if we have a thorough list of available and unavailable players.

Blacksburg players: To help us know who is available and who is not, please click here and take a few seconds to tell us whether you are available. Thanks for helping the club manage our roster and prepare for the match.

Blacksburg supporters: We hope to see you there too!

Thanks to the efforts of tight forward Cris Mathew and others, a Blacksburg side featuring primarily players from the Edward via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine will be traveling to Philadelphia next month to challenge the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s rugby club in the inaugural “A. T. Still Osteopathic Cup.” Whether or not you are in on the trip, now is your chance to support the club by purchasing a t-shirt from the event. Continue reading ‘Buy a T-Shirt to Support Blacksburg’s VCOM Players’

After Saturday’s training, be sure to take advantage of a rare opportunity to see top-level college rugby on television. Continue reading ‘Watch Live Broadcast of Top College Rugby This Saturday’

After issuing a laws ruling last year regarding how players should enter a ruck, the International Rugby Board released some guidelines clarifying the laws concerning charging at the ruck. Continue reading ‘IRB Reminds Us to Use Arms at the Breakdown’

Are you a Blacksburg player trying to get your significant other to show more of an interest in your pastime? Or are you that significant other, slowly losing patience with all the Saturdays at the rugby ground? Watch this clip from last week’s USA Sevens in Las Vegas and you may be convinced that rugby union can offer a bit more romance than you think:

Highlights from the tournament air today on ABC at 5 p.m. Eastern, and you can watch it at your convenience on ESPN 360 online where available.

While we wait for the weather to let us begin training outdoors, you can still get some rugby union on your sofa this weekend if you have access to BBC America on television. Continue reading ‘Don’t Miss 6N on Television this Weekend’

Whether or not you are familiar with last year’s version of USA Rugby’s Game Management guidelines (which were posted on this site in August), you’ll want to brush up on the latest edition before you get out on the park this year. Continue reading ‘Play Smart by Reviewing the 2010 Game Management Guidelines’

The indoor offseason sessions at the Blacksburg Community Center are off to a great start, and we look forward to the next session this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Although the sessions are optional and we know that the time and location don’t work for everyone, we’re glad for the opportunity to keep at our fitness and skills during the winter. Continue reading ‘Some Drills We’ll See in the Next Month’

To hear some of the international sporting press tell it, rugby union may be in a crisis. Various press items have noted that recent law reworkings, including this year’s new interpretation allowing defenders more access to the ball at rucks, have discouraged creative play, increased uninspired kicking as a tactic, and (perhaps most notably) cut down on the number of tries scored. Continue reading ‘What is the State of Rugby Union (for Them and for Us)?’

Unfortunately, it looks like Blacksburg has again been passed over in the short list for the International Rugby Board’s Try of the Year Award. However, you can still get involved with the award because voting has been extended to the public online for the first time this year. While most of the IRB’s awards for 2009 have already been named, fans can vote online until 31 December 2009 to determine the try of the year. Continue reading ‘See the Year’s Best Five-Pointers’

While our sevens representatives were slugging it out at the James River Christmas Sevens Tournament today, the USA Eagles side was doing the same in Dubai to launch its 2009-10 campaign. The weekend went less than ideal for the Eagles with a lot of tough injuries and some very close losses, but there were plenty of strong performances from the Americans and others. Continue reading ‘Plenty of Sevens Today’

U-S-A! U-S-A! The USA Eagles qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup today with a second win over Uruguay in as many weeks. Continue reading ‘Watch the USA Eagles Qualify for 2011 RWC’

At our level of competition, it’s perhaps a little bit easier to stretch out one’s playing years in rugby union than it would be at a higher level where it’s a lot tougher to get and stay competitive. However, we all deal with questions of age and experience at every level, and we all juggle the pros and cons of both when playing together. Continue reading ‘Young Man’s Game?’

An interesting article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald reminds rugby union fans that while some “flashier” positions may get all the attention, it’s the front row that often decides a match. Continue reading ‘A Nod to the Men in the Trenches’

As we push through to the end of the autumn matches this month, it is worth taking a moment to think on our goals and on winning. With that in mind, I want to share some brief thoughts on both topics from an expert in the world of sport.

Wayne Bennett, a rugby league coaching legend who has put together a successful career at the club, representative, and international levels with Brisbane, Saint George Illawarra, Queensland, Australia, and New Zealand, has some valuable words on goals and winning in his book Don’t Die with the Music in You. Continue reading ‘Legendary Coach’s Words on Goals and Winning’