Hawaii Rugby Finals

I am glad I made it down to the park yesterday to watch the Hawaii Rugby Finals. It was a great game. Two semi-finals in the morning, then a Women's match, then the finals. I didn't get to see the semi-final games, but I'm sure they were exciting as well, based on what I saw in the finals.

Oh, before I forget, the finals pitted the Kalihi Raiders against the Tama Laie Lions. Kalihi Raiders won, 22-17. A close, and hard fought game.

The finals were a test of fitness since both teams had little rest after their morning matches. Although fitness has greatly improved over the last two years, it is still one of the things that the Hawaii teams need to work on. The game was delayed numerous times due to injuries, which only increased towards the later stages of the game. Injuries occur at a much higher rate when the players get tired.

I say this from me experience as a player and my own travels down the road to fitness. When I played rugby for the Pygmies in Socorro (New Mexico Tech Rugby Club), only a moderate amount of fitness was required. Since we often only had 15 or 16 players, and frequently less and had to "recruit" spectators, fitness was required to start or play. But then when I moved to Albuquerque and played club-side rugby for the Aardvarks, everything changed. I was competing for my position (blind side flanker) with one of the fittest people I've ever met. So I had to get fit. It took quite a while, but I did it. It also improved my game, because instead of gasping for breath I was able to actually play the game the was it was supposed to be played.

Another point that I think the Hawaii teams need to look at is the kicking. As in far too much of it. Kicking is important - when it's done right. But just kicking because you don't know what else to do, don't want to take the hit, or have no support, is wrong.

I also took lots of pictures. Some of which actually came out pretty well. Check some of them out here, and if I can get around to creating a Facebook page for them, I'll let you know.

Here's the women:





And here's the men:

Tama Laie



Kalihi Raiders



I got a few action shots. Not bad for my little camera.

Lineout


















Tama Laie scoring a try


















Ikuna, Kalihi Raiders captain, kicking for goal

Hawaii Rugby Week 5 Results

WEEK 5 Results 3/20/10

Tama Laie won by default against Rhinos ( didn’t show up )

UH 44 Harlequins 0

Raiders 20 HPU 17

Marist 8 Islanders 5

Hawaii Rugby Week 1 through 4 results

I've been a bit lax posting these updates. Sorry.

WEEK 1 Results 2/6/10
HPU won by default against UH ( playing unregister players )
Tama Laie 34 Harlequins 3
Marist won by default against Rhinos ( didn’t show up )
Islanders 8 Raiders 5
WEEK 2 Results 2/20/10
Both teams disqualified ( Raiders never turn in roster & Tama Laie never showed up )
Islandrs won by default against Rhinos ( didn’t show up )
Harlequins won by default against HPU ( playing unregister players )
Both teams disqualified ( Marist and UH played unregister players )
WEEK 3 Results 3/6/10
Islanders 31 Harlequins 5
Marist 19 Raiders 15
Tama Laie 8 UH 3
HPU won by default against Rhinos ( didn’t show up )
WEEK 4 Results 3/13/10
UH and Rhinos forfeit their game for not showing up on time
Tama Laie 7 Marist 5
Islanders 36 HPU 34
Raiders 37 Harlequins 5

Week 9 Results

Hawaii Rugby Week 9 Results:


Islanders 43 Tries - Marciano, Afa, Tiki, Jake, Tofi, Ray, Toa / Con - 4 Lofi
Harlequins 7 Try - Agamagi / Con - Setu

UH won against Kahuku by Default

Raiders had a bye

As previously mentioned, Tama Sulu Ie hasn't been playing since early in the season (I don't know why). And it seems some of the teams have been having trouble fielding enough players, so the past few weeks there's only been one game played.

But Hawaii Rugby is going strong. The youth and the Hawaii Youth Rugby organization have been going great. And the adult games, and especially the management of the Union, have been great. Looking good.

Week 7 Results

Sorry, I've been lax in reporting the rugby results. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch too much either. But here's the results from Week 7:


UH 29 Tries - 2Mapa, 2Paea, Mone / Con - 1Salesi, 1Niko
Harlequins 14 Tries - Justin, Micheal / Con - 2Setu

Islanders 26 Tries - Vili, Afa, Tofi, Gage / Conv - Lofi, 2Andy
Raiders 5 Tries - Tui



Here's Week 6 and 5 results too:

Week 6

Islanders 12 Tries - Toa, Anthony / Con - Anitelea
Kahuku 5 Try - Taki

Raiders won by default

UH - bye



Week 5

Raiders 34 Tries - Leni, Tulolo, Fehi, Fatu, Ikuna, Pulotu / Con - 1 Selu, 1 Ikuna
Kahuku 29 Tries - 2Paka, Leni, Pati, Mike / Con - 2 Mike

Islanders 22 Tries - Anthony, Lofi, Andy / Con - 1 Andy, 1 Komasi / DG - Andy
UH 5 Try - Vite


You'll notice that Tame Sulu Ie are no longer playing this season. I don't know what happened, but it's a bummer. The game I watched between them and the Islanders earlier in the season was great. Hope to see them back.

Hawaii Rugby Results

I've been quite lax posting the weekly results. Here's last week's (just before tomorrow's games):


Kahuku 7 Try - Keni / Con - Keni
UH 0

Harleguins 14 Tries - Mike, Steve / Con - 2Setu
Islanders 51 Tries - 3Moli,Toa,Ray,Neti,Vaa,Anothony / Con - 4Andy / Pen - Andy

Raiders won against Tama Sulu Ie by forfeiting

This week's schedule

This week's rugby schedule (all games at Kapiolani Park):

1:00 Kahuku vs Hawaii Harlequins

2:35 Kalihi Raiders vs UH

4:00 Islanders vs Tame Sulu Ie


It's another week of great matchups. Hope to see you there.

Week 1 Results

Results from Week 1 of the Hawaii State Rugby Union Season:

UH 15 - Hawaii Harlequins 5

Tama Sulu Ie 21 - Kahuku 13

Islanders 15 - Kalihi Raiders 5


See you next week...

Hawaii Rugby Season Starts

The Hawaii State Rugby Union season starts this Saturday (Jan. 24th). Here's the schedule for week one:

1:00 pm UH vs. Hawaii Harlequins
2:35 pm Kuhuku vs. Tama Sulu Ie
4:10 pm Kalihi Raiders vs. Islanders

But wait, there's more...

Don't miss the women's game kicking things off at 12:30 pm. Women's games will be played every other Saturday throughout the season. This week it's Windward Tehine vs. Laie

All games are played at Kapiolani Park.

Keep watching the Union's website for updates and for a calendar for the season.

Good luck to everyone, and here's to a great season of rugby.



The Rugby Union has been keeping busy, but I've missed it all. They held a couple of Union meetings, and I believe some of the minutes can be found on their website. They held a referee clinic a couple of weeks ago, and they generally seem to be really on the ball and building rugby here in Hawaii. Hats off to everyone involved, and keep up the good work.

Hawaii Rugby News

Been busy and out of touch recently, but here's some Hawaii rugby news:

Fundraiser

A fundraiser for the upcoming Hawaii State Rugby Union Select Side tour to Utah in July.

Donation: $10
What you get: Pupu & Beer (Pupu, for you non-Hawaii people, means appetizers)
When: Friday, May 30th (today, so hurry and read this), 6:00 pm - midnight
Where: Puerto Rican Hall, 1249 N. School St., in Kalihi (below the Mexican restaurant)


Hawaii Harlequins Rugby Tournament

October 23 - 25, 2008
Kapiolani Park, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

This used to be one of the premier rugby tournaments in the country, with a diverse and international group of teams. When I first moved to Hawaii I showed up at the park with my cleats and picked up several games. I believe I played for one team from Australia and a team from Japan (but I could be mistaken, as that was many beers/years ago). I'll post more info as I find out. Definitely put this on your colander, though.


Hawaii State Rugby Union Meeting

November 15, 2008
Let's kick off the new season with even bigger and better things than we accomplished this year!



Kalihi Raiders Rugby Tournament

December 5 - 6, 2008
Kapiolani Park
This was a great little local tournament this past year, so expect the same or better this year. Definitely worth watching, and a great place to meet many of the local rugby crowd. It helped get me turned back on to rugby last year.


Hawaii State Rugby Union - Season Begins

January 24, 2009
Kapiolani Park

What a great season this year turned out to be. Thanks to Ma'afu (David Wendt), Union President, for all his hard work, and for all the hard work and dedication from all the teams, players, coaches, officials, fans, and supporters. Let's build on this year and make next year even better. Woo Hoo!!


Hawaii State Rugby Union


And remember, proceeds from sales of Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger merchandise will be donated to USA Rugby to help the cause of rugby in the U.S.

Hawaii State Rugby Union Championship

I ran into fellow ref Shelly at Starbucks this afternoon and found out the results from the Union Championship game on Saturday (I was in Chicago on Saturday). It sounds like it was a good game. Tied 9-9 at the end of regulation time, the game went through two overtime periods with no score. The game was then decided by kicking.

The Islanders Rugby Club defeated UH for the Hawaii State Rugby Union Championship.

Congratulations to the Islanders! And congratulations to Union President Ma'afu and everyone who was involved in this wonderful and successful season. We've got a great foundation for bigger and better things next year.

Next week will be the Select Side Trials. I don't have the details yet, but will post them when I get them. I'm assuming they'll be held at the regular field at Kapiolani Park, but I can't say with certainty. Hopefully we'll get a good squad of players that can train together for some games on the road. Fitness will have to be emphasized, along with a firm grasp of basic skills. Learning to play with new people is always good, and the increased competition of being among other select side players will be a plus. Good luck to everyone trying out.