After a strong preseason and encouraging opening win over Chico State, the team traveled down to San Diego from January 1st through 4th for a training camp to prepare for the rigors of competing in the most competitive league in American collegiate rugby. Here is what happened:
January 1st
Well this isn't going to be easy! After arriving in San Diego and getting settled, the majority of the squad traveled to Steele Canyon High School for a quick session just to get the travel out of our legs. The touch rugby that we played showed all the players and Griff that we had a lot of things to work on, not least our defensive scheme and communication, as well as highlighting that our overall fitness would have to be worked on.
This evening we headed out to the local Hometown Buffet for a team meal, which, although not gourmet dining, certainly served our needs with multiple helpings being devoured by all. Afterward, we headed back to the hotel for a quick meeting and some well earned rest. The meeting served two main purposes, outlining the aims for the camp and fining those who had done wrong. It became painfully obvious to almost everyone that any kind of misdemeanor was going to be fined harshly. On the end of the first set of fines was Stephen Brown, whose torn hamstring resulted in him having to wear a "Nacho Libre" style mask at all points.
January 2nd
The first day of training started with the welcome sight of Chris Riklin, our hooker, coming down to breakfast dressed in a ludicrous poncho as the last person to arrive the day before. Both Chris and Steve got some odd looks on the way to training for their attire, but soon these costumes were put aside for the more serious matter of training. As we had noted that defense was something that we wanted to work on, the first session was all about our defensive scheme and more importantly communicating with the people around us. The session was pretty contact heavy and woke us all up ahead of the unit work. I can't speak for the backs, but the work in the forwards was good, and it really felt like we were able to nail down line-outs, something that has been a major focus for the pack all year.
For lunch we headed to the local Mall for a couple of hours to rest get some food and relax. Most people seemed to take the opportunity to buy socks, something that, as an avid flip-flop wearer, I did not partake in, and others, notably Tommy Kramer, used the time to play computer games in Target.
In the afternoon we went back to the field and ran our patterns for an hour or so, before heading to a nearby hill for 40 minutes of punishing hill running. This evening we went to a fine establishment called BJ's for dinner. Ultimately, it was a tough but highly enjoyable day, and the whole team thought that we had stepped it up considerably from yesterday.
January 3rd
After yesterday's tough day, we had a quick pool session to get some of the stiffness out of the limbs. Despite Clarky turning on his not-inconsiderable charm, we weren't able to get into the pool before 9am, which left us a little pushed for time. After another hearty breakfast and the now delayed pool session we again made the trek over to Steele Canyon. The morning session was again pretty contact heavy with us working hard on our clear outs and especially supporting the ball carriers. The unit session for the forwards was focused on the scrummaging, something that although not a weakness per se, was of particular importance for us this year as our small stature means we cannot rely upon sheer size to dominate in the forwards. For the backs, decision making was a key focus.
Again lunch was taken at the local mall, and this decision to return was greeted with some serious elation on the part of Riklin and Jason P. who seemed to have decided that Submarina was far superior to any other sandwich establishment, something which others (read many) disagreed with, but nonetheless, the restaurant became the focus for much of the team as they buckled down to studying playbooks ahead of the team run in the afternoon. The team's focus was notably greater today than it was yesterday and this was reflected in the training in the afternoon. Despite a sluggish start, the first team managed to put together some fantastic flowing rugby, something that surely bodes well for the upcoming season. After a short fitness session to finish the day, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our final team dinner. We piled into a variety of cars and went into downtown San Diego, for a dinner at Buca di Beppo. The atmosphere was exceptionally relaxed, perhaps a testament to how well training had gone. The rookies, tasked as representatives of the club, were encouraged to go and wish a Happy Birthday to a young lady on a nearby table, with Huskey being a particular hit with the Birthday Girl and her friends. Overall, it was a highly enjoyable end to a successful day.
January 4th
The final day, and a chance to see how far we'd come. Most of the day was devoted to consolidation of the work we had done in the preceding days. For the forwards, that including more work on line-outs, whilst the backs worked more on decision making and running lines. We were exceptionally fortunate to be visited by Matt Sherman, who helped coach us in the first session, helping particularly with the offload work and imparting some of his wisdom to us on how to beat the man, and what to do if we can’t. The afternoon, as with all the days before was a team run. Despite a sluggish start, we picked it up a lot as the session progressed, and we felt like we put in a solid final practice.
Tonight we are going to Nick Mendoza's house for a presumably quiet gathering before flying back tomorrow morning.
Overall the camp has been an immensely enjoyable experience, and we hope to carry on the good work we have put in down here into training before the huge league game against Reno, and the friendly against BYU on the 17th of January.
A huge thanks to Griff and the Foundation for organizing and helping fund the camp, and we look forward to seeing you all in the coming weeks as we try and put what we have learned into practice.
-Camp Coverage Provided by Ben Allanson
