Los Angeles Rugby Club celebrated their homecoming Saturday, April 13th, at the home field in Rancho Palos Verdes in front of a large and boisterous crowd, determined to see some entertaining rugby, and wish the Australian contingent best wishes for the last round of the Masters Golf Tourny in Augusta. And entertainment they were feasted to. The Tykes started out in the under 16s by pushing a large and more mature Hawaii Gardens team, before running out of steam with the scores close.

Then it was the game that all the spectators came to see; the Old Boys. Unfortunately the Back Bay team couldn't make it due to lack of support and a big wave running at Newport's Wedge. So the LA boys had a make shift "10 man-a-side" game officiated by Chris Gleiter. It was a dazzling display of champagne rugby and all those in attendance were treated to a spectacle. Matt Ryan coming off of a hundred injuries opened the scoring after club coach Owen Rutledge, found the gap with a feint and a dummy and before falling over his loaned boots. Managed to spill the ball to Ryan who scampered 60 yards to the line. Ryan again was successful when coach Nick Shielly, just back from an ice gathering journey to England, succumbed to some old rugby antics from an old rugby player, and flipped the ball inside to what he thought was his own team mate, calling for the ball. Ryan again raced 50 yards to score as the other players watched from a distance. The game see sawed and ended in a tie, only because Ref Gleiter forgot to keep score. There was some good tackling especially not from the coach, a few good munts, and some deft play. All in all a good outing from the Old Boys and a great job to Bozho for getting us all together.

Bob Everett's Blues team took on the Belmont 3rd team and held out very well against some ex Super League players. Although the Belmont boys won reasonable well, Bob's boys never gave up, tackled hard and ran at the more experienced players. Bob tells me he is having a hard time getting his guys to training, and with a small amount of dedication, these guys could be well respected in their division.

Then it was time for the killer bees. Captain for the day, Lee Hussain the Welshman, coming off a grand slam victory over England at Cardiff Arms Park, was on fire and drove the killer bees to a superb victory. Grand games from scrummy Dilsaver, and co-captain George saw the killers run in numerous tries. New man Luke Tillett was impressive on the wing and playing for the Back Bay team, new L.A rookie in his first game of rugby, Julian, made some good hits on his new team mates, that no doubt cost him a few beers at the Shark tank after the game.

Then it was time for skipper John Yuhas to lead his men to take on the Back Bay first team with the sun sinking below the hills of Palos Verdes (A term I have heard Vin Scully use many times and have waited 23 years to use). After a slow nervous start in which Back Bay scored a penalty, LA got their game face on and ran in several good tries to lead at the half, 17 to 3. Back Bay weren't done and although running non contested scrums managed to put some good plays together before LA took complete control. Lawrence Tuihalamaka ran in 2 powerful tries and Josh Callistro, like the boat used by explorer Jacques Cousteau, sailed through many gaps created for him by Beeeeely Cafe, who himself scored twice and off-loaded to his buddy Isaac in the end zone for his first LARC try. The beast, Ethan Young was rampant and one run reminded me of the great Frenchman, (no not Robin) Sebastian Chabal. All the players had good games including captain Yuhas who was a tyrant. Playing the game like a man possessed by the devil he tackled everything and ran like Nasi Manu. With blood gushing from his head he refused to come off and led his quarry to a great victory, running in 38 points. Next week the 4th place decider takes place in San Diego with Old Aztecs.

Los Angeles just are not doing too well on the road this round, three up and three down. Oh well we have a few weeks off to get back on track and continue the march to playoffs. Next up on April 13 is Back Bay and then the Old Aztecs, the team we will be bracketed with for the 4th spot. Saturday we took a while to get started and then couldn't quite breach the gap. We were missing Chris Beauman and Simi Kuli in the forwards but had good replacements. Belmont leapt to an early try 1 1/2 minutes into the game with a try out wide and continued this way all the first spell, going into the half at 20-0. LA did begin well in the second spell but Belmont wore us down and coupled with a swag of injuries, put up 44 points on to nothing. There were several outstanding contributions of the game, Chris Sweeny's defense was impeccable, and new man, Mike McNeely was all over the field at hooker. The loose forwards tackled hard, but not enough angst, clearing out at the rucks left the backs little room to move and get the ball out.

So was the case with the killer bees. Up 10 to 7 at the half, the team looked very well and it seemed as LA would get a good victory. But Belmont came out strong with a slight wind advantage in the second half and ended winning comfortably by 55 to 10. The loose forwards, Kuisak, Gorrell and Ozawara at lock all played well, along with Andy Dilsaver at 9, and all the team for that matter, but injuries again plagued us and the more seasoned Belmont boys were to hard to keep in tow. we have a week of fun planned so keep glued to the e-mails for a venue this week. We will not be at Westchester and all those with niggling injuries, please get treatment . We need all fit and well for the remaining 3 games. San Francisco here we come. I have already booked my spot. Owen R

Los Angeles cruised the 405 north to meet up with old arch rivals Santa Monica. It was a big day of rugby with old boys teams, woman's teams, and even youth rugby all providing entertainment to the large crowd. The killer bees started the ball rolling in their 1:45 game and scored early after some shattering runs from the forwards. It was a very well represented team with most of the players having played first side at some stage. Ozzie recruit Evan Renfrow controlled the game from the 10 spot well and kept the ball in front of his forwards. Tony Letona was very aggressive and made multiple yards carrying the ball up and Kevin "Koos" Kusiak was relentless in defense. Mikey McNeely was all over the field tackling like a demon as LA continued to pour on the pressure. A niggling injury to George concerned the LA side, but he continued to drive his men forward ably supported by Andy Dilsaver at scrum half, who was showing off in front of his lovely wife Rachel and her father. Slowly the Santa Monica team gained some footing and ran in a few tries, but as per usual, LA stuck to their guns and kept coming at them. Karl had lost half his ear and was nursing a new injury (fracture) to his hand (thanks to Sweeny’s face) but he stayed on and pulled off an amazing tackle from behind on the opposing winger, throwing him into touch much to the delight of the line judge, who had previously had words with him. Chris Sweeny, eager to get his first team colors back was strong at the back, and Zach Morgan continues to improve with every outing. Santa Monica ran out winners by 5 tries to 2

At 3:45 the main game began in front of a strong LA contingent including Tim Hock and Larry Docimo previous Loyola coaches, and old boys of the club, Kevin Corcoran, Noel Rodgers, Mike Hammer, and Tom Hendricks, to name a few. Santa Monica came out strong and scored in the first 2 minutes, 5-0. But LA after the long drive settled down quickly and put pressure on throughout the entire first half. Playing with a slight head wind, they kept the ball in the Santa Monica half of the field and narrowly missed some scoring opportunities. L.A's Ozzie/French, flyhalf, Beeely Cafe was carving up the field like OJ Simpson and creating holes where there weren't any. It reminded me of my youth. I was getting amorous with an older, married lady one night, when we heard a door slam. "Quick," she said," it's me husband, ya better fuck off."

"Where's ya back door," I asked.

"We don't have one," she replied.

"Where do you want one," I said.

The half came with Santa Monica still at 5-0. In the second half Santa Monica again scored early, but LA came right back and R.J. Smith crossed over under the bar. Chris Judd true to recent form, chipped this one over from 15 yards. Then LA went on the rampage with Simi Kuli steamrolling the opposition, forwards ably backed by Ethan Young and Evan Cox. Cafe ran through a gap and fed outside, running three wide with 20 yards to run was the big red from Queensland in the black and gold, Brodie Duncan who got tapped from behind. Then LA spun it left and Ashly Judd scored only to be denied when the ref failed to spot him putting it down. From the 5 yard scrum, LA put on the pressure, honed from scrumming against 300 year old trees at training, and new man from Steamboat, Nick dotted it down. Juddy failed to hold par when his chip from a short dog leg rimmed the upright. 12 -12. Santa Monica had a nervous meeting under the posts, and kicked short. After a minor mix up, they were rewarded a dubious scrum. Their NZ import, Hobbs drew the defense with a well timed pass and the fullback dotted it down to be converted. LA were not done and kept the pressure on but Santa Monica had a few too many late guns and ran in a few more tries to win 40 to 12.

The score was by no means an indication of the run of play. The next day we became aware that our hooker, Chris Bowman was leaving for Australia. Bo really was a great asset to the club, and we are going to miss him a lot. From all of us here at the LARC we wish you all the best buddy.

The boys at LARC took a bus ride to comptete with old rivals OMBAC in San Diego on Saturday. Around 40 eager souls set out quietly from Sharkeez in Manhattan Beach and we returned some 11 hours later, not so quietly and a tad dejected, but a close knit and happy ball club. Along the way we suffered two defeats, but got entertained immensely, well fed, and acquired an Uncle Sam, two Davey Crocket's and a Judge. Also we emptied the Albertsons in Del Mar of most of their liquor supplies.

The "A" side began at 1:00pm into a stiff breeze at the field known as little "Q". OMBAC immediately put some points on the board after LA had dealt a warning in the scrums and rucks with some solid munting. A few handling errors gave the boys in blue from the south a break and they ran up 21 points before LA settled into their rythym. Then they took charge. Brodie Duncan got fed a wide ball from his mate, Billy Coffee. He raced wide in that loping seemingly slow pace, out ran the wing and fended off the fullback. Josh Callistro who had studied all the trip, quickly put his laptop away and darted infield. Brodie beautifully sold a dummy drawing in the defender, a move learned from the coach. Then he offloaded to the flying Calistro, who raced away from another defender grasping at his jumper to score close in. Juddy slotted the extra 2 , 7 to 21. From the kickoff, LA again went on the burst with Chris Beauman, steaming up the field. From the ensuing ruck, Juddy fed Simi who barrelled over two guys and sent LA in for try number 2, converted by Juddy. 14 to 21. Unfortunately for LA, when Simi barrelled over the two guys , he also barrelled over on his ankle. He came off for some quick attention when the ref determined he did not have any blood, after searching for 10 minutes through his hair. "No blood, no substitute," cried the ref after OMBAC had seen the damage Simi will do and wanted him off the field as long as possible. The OMBAC medic said he would re-tape Simi asap, and and the ref allowed us to contnue with 14 men. After 10 minutes the medic was still putting his rubber gloves on to perform the re-taping. When asking how long it will take, he replied "preparation was the most important thing here" however this mainly applies to painting houses. Soon after LA had to concede that Simi would have to be replaced after Dr Swinging Dick finally got the old tape off and Simi's ankle was now the size of a basketball.

OMBAC got lucky with a quick break down the side, drew in the wing and put their guy in by the sticks. 14 to 28. Chris Judd's boots were on fire and he placed a neat penalty near the half to go for a break at 17 to 28, with the wind now blowing hard from the west, LA looked to have a good crack at this one. LA came out firing after a stirring chat from the coach. Most words cannot be printed in this family article, so lets just leave it as stirring. Beauman charged in for a try from the halfway line after he had copped a blow to the nose, which actually straightened it. He didn't know, but he had broken it previously in a bar brawl in Steamboat Springs when he was 8. Again Judd added the 2 points. OMBAC traded tries. Billy Coffee aka "Uncle Sam, " was racing into gaps that weren't there and created a champagne try for Brodie. Juddy again was successful and Los Angles were within 9 points. OMBAC then slotted three easy penalties to finish the game 48 to 36 winners. A great game of rugby that narrowly slipped through the LA fingers, but a significant march forward.

The killer bees who beat OMBAC in their first encounter were a little unsuccessful this time and playing against a polished team were beaten by a few points also. LA did finish on top with a try to rookie, Karl, who then demanded to shoot the boot. Many of the killer bees performed well and will be knocking on the door of first team. We were entertained by the "Circe d' Idaho"at the after match gathering when he performed 30 revolutions on a swing by the bar. Flashlights were lighting up the sky. Then he did his back flip followed closely by chugging a beer. Karl raced the first team MVP, Billy Coffee in a "beer chug-a- lug", while the bus sat in Del Mar. Karl was concerned about the condition of the beer, and demanded it be strained, so Nick Mattos' rugby sock was used as a syphon, and then Captain Yuhas's boot substituted for a cup. Karl destroyed the Ozzy, and raced another for good measure. Rapper Yuhas entertained us and George took over as DJ, as we sailed into Sharkeez. A great team day and a huge thanks from all to John Yuhas for organizing it.