21 June 2008: Mixed 7s Side Faces Tough Opposition
A side of Blacksburg players combined with Virginia Tech players and alumni met tough competitions at the NOVA Battlefield Sevens in Manassas, VA. The mixed side was unable to bring back any silverware, but managed to win a match in their knockout bracket. A separate Virginia Tech side also traveled to the tournament.

After weeks of touch rugby and training in the warm weather, Blacksburg enjoyed the chance to get some fun sevens play in at a great tournament. Blacksburg next plans to travel to the Cape Fear Sevens in Wilmington, NC, 5-6 July, again as part of a mixed side.

16 June 2008: Blacksburg, VT Will Travel to Manassas 7s
Players from Blacksburg will join with Virginia Tech players and alumni for a trip to the NOVA Battlefield Sevens in Manassas, VA, this Saturday. The trip will be the first seven-a side play of the year for both local sides. Depending on interest, two sides may be entered in the tournament.

Interested players should plan to attend training this week (Tuesday and Thursday, 6:00 p.m.) at Blacksburg's home oval on (Country Club Drive SW near South Main Street in Blacksburg, behind the South Main Kroger supermarket and adjacent construction). Players not planning to attend the tournament are also welcome to attend to play touch rugby and participate in seven-a-side training.

1 May 2008: New Laws to Take Effect 1 August
Along with the rest of the rugby union world, Blacksburg Rugby is bracing itself for the most substantial changes in rugby union laws in years, set to occur beginning 1 August. According to an announcement by the International Rugby Board, a series of experimental law variations (ELVs) will be given a global probationary trial for a one-year period. Various combinations of ELVs have been explored in a number of competitions over the past few years, most notably in the 2008 Super 14 competition, but this is the first time that any of the ELVS will be put into action in Blacksburg, or at any domestic competition level in the United States for that matter.

Blacksburg players and supporters are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the ELVs to be used in the coming season. Briefly, they are:

• The backline defense in a scrum must stay 5 meters from the back foot of the scrum until it ends (except for the defending halfback if staying near the scrum).
• The corner flags/posts are no longer in touch, except when a ball is grounded against them.
• A team that passes the football back inside of their own 22-meter area and kicks out on the full will no longer gain ground.
• A quick throw at a lineout can be straight or at an angle toward the thrower's own try line.
• Any number of players from either side may participate in the lineout (2 minimum).
• The receiver in a lineout must stand 2 meters from the lineout.
• The player opposing the lineout thrower may stand in the area between the touch line and 5-meter line, but must stand 2 meters from the lineout.
• Pre-gripping and lifting in lineouts is permitted.
• Players can pull a maul to the ground, and law wording pertaining to mauling players' heads and shoulders needing to be above their hips is removed.
• Touch judges are renamed assistant referees and have an expanded role in refereeing (when appointed by a match organizer--may not be relevant to volunter touch judges provided by competing sides for fixtures).

It should be noted that a number of the ELVs that have been used in other competitions will NOT be employed in the global trial, including several ELVs changing a number of penalty sanctions to free kicks, changing the sanction for a number of lineout and kickoff offenses to free kicks, changing how and when the offside line forms at tackles, and changing the way players are allowed to compete for the football at breakdowns. Some of these ELVs will be further explored in selected competitions, and may be implemented in the future.

Although rugby union's laws and regulations frequently undergo small changes, the pending changes are perhaps the most substantial alterations to the game since the early 1990s, when the value of a try was changed from four points to five (1992), supporting players in lineouts was permitted (1992), lineout throws were given to non-offending teams (1992), tactical substitutions were introduced (1993), and professional play was allowed (1995; this change rendered obsolete the reason for the original schism between rugby union and rugby league regarding player payments).

For more details on the ELVs and their application, see the official guide published by the IRB. As more resources pertaining to the globally implemented ELVs become available, they will be posted to the site. In the meantime, get ready for exciting changes!

12 April 2008: Blacksburg Playoff Run Ends at Jersey Shore
Blacksburg ended their Spring 2007-2008 campaign on the road, falling 22-10 to Jersey Shore in the Men's Division III Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union Quarterfinals. The loss marked Blacksburg's first defeat of the spring and ended a nine-match winning streak extending back to early October of 2007.

Coming off a long trip to the Atlantic City region, Blacksburg was greeted by stormy conditions, but the damp weather failed to slow down the intensity of the match. Both sides made gains in the first half, but a penalty and an unconverted try to Jersey Shore left Blacksburg on the wrong side of an 8-0 scoreline at half. An early second-half penalty goal from fullback Matt Rea brought the score to 8-3, but Blacksburg struggled to get across the whitewash for most of the match. Jersey Shore was content to give away long-arm penalties like handbills throughout the second half, but consistently stiffened at the try line to turn away a determined Blacksburg attack. Jersey Shore picked up two more converted tries to build an insurmountable lead before inside center John Pulli crashed through a crowd of defenders for a well-earned consolation try converted by halfback Kurt Goddard. Full-time came shortly thereafter, leaving Blacksburg's campaign at an end. Player-coach Chuck Rockwell praised his side for their resolve in the losing effort and named Pulli man of the match to reward his particularly brave performance.

Jersey Shore will meet Virginia RFC in the territorial semifinals on 19 April in Harrisburg, PA, with the winner advancing to the territorial grand final the following day at the same venue to play the winner of a Harrisburg v. Old Gaelic semifinal.

Blacksburg thanks its sponsors and supporters for helping to make 2007-08 a great year. Training will resume with touch rugby at Blacksburg's "Rose Garden" oval, and preparations for a summer 7s fixture list are in progress.

Update (18 May 2008): Jersey Shore went on to win the MARFU Territorial Union and make it to the semi-finals of the USA Rugby Men's Division III national knockout rounds, where they won a quarterfinal match before finally losing to Reno in the national DIII semifinals.

22 March 2008: Blacksburg Picks up Experience at Tourney
Thanks to the planning and hospitality of Dan River RFC, Blacksburg enjoyed a beautiful rugby-filled day at Dan River's one-day "RuggerRoast" tournament event. Given that a number of Blacksburg's regular starters from recent matches were not available for the trip, Blacksburg made the trip with a lean side (17 players) but made the most of the opportunity to get all traveling players a lot of match time.

In their first match of the day, BRFC was able to overcome some ordinary handling early on to best the hosts 60-14. Given that there were only four sides at the event, that win put Blacksburg in the tourney's grand final against Roanoke RFC, who won their earlier match against Southern Pines. Although Blacksburg scraped together only a 12-7 lead at the interval, things opened up for the BRFC crew in the second stanza and a strong second half saw them through to a 27-7 win. Fullback Scott Tison and Wing Noah Thrope snatched up man of the match recognition for keen play in attack and defense, including some scintillating open-play tries. Certainly, though, the big triumph of the day was the opportunity for Blacksburg to get every available player at least a full match on the day while also exploring a few positional combinations not previously seen.

Many thanks to Dan River RFC for their great work as hosts, as well as to all of the other tourney participants for a tremendous Saturday.

19 March 2008: Donate to Longwood in Lost Player's Memory
Longwood Rugby and the rugby union community are mourning the loss of Todd Miller, a Longwood player who passed away 9 March after suffering a head wound in a match 1 March.

The Longwood side is raising money to support an enduring scholarship in Miller's memory. Merchandise sales will be conducted via Ebay at a time to be announced in the future. In the meantime, Longwood Rugby welcomes donations, which can be made via the secure online funds transfer service PayPal--send money to the Paypal account rugby1952@gmail.com to donate.