SFGG Win In First Round Of California Cup - 12/3/2016

WELCOME to the first report of the 2016 -17 Rugby Season.
It is the 50th year since a group of young players banded together to form the San Francisco Rugby Club.  We will be celebrating this over the course of  2017.
The THEME for this celebratory year is “ONE CLUB” – a throwback to how we began.  With the expansion of our rugby efforts to provide support for the Youth, High School, Men’s Club, Women’s Club and our Premier team, plus our attendant activities, we became a bit unfocused –
 
ONWARD THROUGH THE FOG into 2017!
 
And it was quite a good start for our top competitive side, as SFGG with a solid win over San Diego’s Old Aztecs, scoring 35 unanswered points in the first half, then finishing with a 42 – 19 win.  VOLNEY ROUSE celebrated his birthday by scoring a try to go with 6 conversions. Winger PILA HUIHUI, selected Man of the Match for his sparkling play, scored two tries, as did fullback JACK HALALILO.  Newcomer flanker MANU LAQAI got a lot of attention with his work effort, ball skills and speed and added another try for the winners.
 
Shortly after the second half got underway, TOM ROOKE was shown a red card for a high tackle, and the home team were down a man for the final 35 minutes, calling on everybody to step up.  Coach FOOTE noted that we lost a little composure under this added pressure – an area that needs some work.
 
Coach NEIL FOOTE noted that the team, including some exciting newcomers to the stalwarts, were well prepared to play the open, fast paced attacking game for the full 80 minutes complement SFGG’s consistently solid defense.  He had further praise for BRENDAN HARDIMAN, who “worked tirelessly throughout game, clearing bodies from rucks and in defense. He epitomizes the attitude we are looking in our players this year.
 
The game opened with a minute of silence in memory of DAN DALY, father of Captain BRENDAN DALY, who passed away last week.
 
The Old Aztecs fielded a solid team with some new players just starting to work into the side.  They came back to score 19 points in the second half, with tries by JOHN PRICKETT (x2) and LUCAS EDWARDS  taking advantage of the red card penalty.
 
NEXT GAME – SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 against O CLUB 1 PM AT SHEERAN FIELD