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A ruck occurs when a tackle is made and at least one team member from either side is present and touching over the ball. When explained in this fashion a ruck seems fairly simple but add more bodies, off sides lines and 5 seconds within which to use the ball, it becomes a lot more complicated and is no longer assumed if you go into the ruck with the ball, you will maintain possession.

As coaches, we strive to build not just the skills involved with maintaining or reversing possession but also the decision making around the roles of each individual involved or arriving at the ruck.

Rucking is a collision sport unto itself with not only the offense working to secure their possession, but the defense looking to unsettle the ruck and ultimately win back possession. In the past, the offense committed as many players needed to maintain possession and stability at the ruck. Conversely, the defense has tried to commit as few as possible so as to maintain their defensive line. More recently, we have seen the evolution of counter-rucking where the defense continues to apply pressure at the ruck in terms of one or two defensive players driving into the ruck with the hopes of driving off the offensive supporters and winning back the ball.

As it has always been important for support players to be following closely to their ball carrier, counter rucking and poaching (a defensive player reaching over a tackled ball carrier and retrieving the ball) have made it that much more imperative for support to be immediate and for the ball carrier to “keep their feet”. The required use of available ball within the 5 second window now speeds up the game by encouraging recycling of the ball quickly.

Day 2 brought four more victories for the Fog, leaving the men a combined 8-0 record so far!

Fog B men advanced to the semifinals in the Alice Hoagland Cup division where they will face a rematch with a strong Melbourne side and the Fog A men advanced to the semifinals of the Bingham Cup division where they will meet the Gotham Knights.

Photo: President Daniel Crowley completes a try for Fog A against Manchester on Saturday, June 2nd.

Fog B Semi-final Match vs Melbourne Chargers @ 2:40 am PST
Fog A Semi-final Match vs Gotham Knights A @ 3:30 am PST

If the B-side advances..
Hoagland Cup final will be at 6:00 am PST
If the A-side advances..
Bingham Cup final will be at 6:50 am PST

Fog A played two solid defensive games, shutting out both Sydney B 10-0 and Manchester A 27-0. Fog A has yet to concede a single point this tournament! Establishing a commitment to each other was the theme of the day and was carried throughout both games.

Fog B kept up their solid work, defeating a hard charging Madison Minotour team 13-5. Unfortunately, that game also saw the first major injury to a Fog player, with Bill Hewitt suffering a fractured collar bone. On the bright side, after a healthy dosage of nitrous oxide, everything seemed okay… Many thanks to Mickey for making sure he got off to the hospital alright. Fog B followed up that game with a crushging defeat of Manchester B, at least 27-0, possibly more. Inspired back play and a will to make big plays was evident throughout. The major highlight ended up being after the game. With Taylor scoring his first try, his zulu following the game ventured right past the Manchester sideline where he received a large round of applause!

Fog Rugby’s own Mariela Cedeño was photographed and interviewed during a women’s team practice earlier this month for an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Mariela spoke eloquently about her love of rugby and the rugby community, saying one would be “hard-pressed to find a more graceful, socially conscious, kinder group of athletes.”

Read more: ‘Beautiful chaos’ of San Francisco fog rugby

Check out some past Chronicle articles about Fog Rugby:

• Rugby, with a twist
• Gay rugby tournament to honor Mark Bingham

For the first time in Fog Rugby history, the team has earned a spot in the Northern California Rugby Football Union (NCRFU) Division III playoffs. After beating Humboldt Old Growth 39-12 in the last match of regular season (Saturday, March 27), the Fog Men finished in fifth place behind Marin, Redwood, Berkeley, and San Bruno.

Playoffs begin on April 10, location TBD.

Adm. Mike Mullen

Testifying before the Senate today, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that ending the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would be “the right thing to do.”

Mullen told the Senate’s Armed Services committee gay people should be allowed to serve openly in the nation’s armed forces.

President Obama repeatedly stated his opposition to the policy during his campaign for the White House, and pledged during the State of the Union address last week to repeal the ban within a year.

Mullen stressed he was “speaking for myself and myself only.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared before the same Senate panel, announcing that he would initiate a year-long review of the policy.

“The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it,” Gates said. “We received our orders from the commander-in-chief and we are moving out accordingly.”

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” was passed by Congress in 1993, and permitted gay men and lesbians to serve as long as they kept their sexual orientation secret. “Homosexual conduct,” however, was sufficient grounds for discharge from the military.

Since then, nearly 11,000 troops have been dismissed under the policy.

Former international rugby star Gareth Thomas became the first openly gay top-level rugby player after coming out in an interview with British newspaper The Daily Mail.

The 35-year-old Thomas, Wales’ most-capped player after appearing in 100 tests*, retired from internationals after the 2007 World Cup, but still plays for Welsh provincial side Cardiff Blues.

Read more about Gareth Thomas coming out in CNN and WalesOnline.

* Translation: Thomas was a member of the Welsh national team on 100 occasions against other teams in international competition.

Relatives of the victims of United Airlines flight 93 gathered at the plane’s crash site in western Pennsylvania today, taking part with in a groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial to honor the passengers who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. They were joined by Ken Salazar, US Secretary of the Interior.

Mark Bingham, an early member of the San Francisco Fog, was one of the 38 passengers on that flight. He was 31 years old at the time of the crash.

President Obama today signed the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The law is named after Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student tortured and killed because he was gay, and James Byrd, a black man lynched by white supremacists.

The Matthew Shepard-James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence, where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

The San Francisco Fog R.F.C. stands united in working towards a future in which such acts never occur.

In the first video below, Matthew Shepard’s mother, Judy Shepard, speaks about her son’s life. The second video recounts James Byrd’s murder and its aftermath.

After securing a solid victory in Tempe, Arizona, this past weekend, the Fog Women finished fifth overall in West Coast Division I. The Fog beat Tempe 35-24 to edge out the same team in the final rankings, only narrowly missing the D1 playoffs. The club at large is proud of such a strong showing for the women in only their fourth season as a team.

The Fog Women will continue to play on into the post-season with tournaments and scrimmages.