Blaine Scully

Blaine Scully
Date of birth (1988-02-29) February 29, 1988
Place of birth Sacramento, California, U.S.
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg)
University University of California, Berkeley
Rugby union career
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013–2015
2015–present 		Leicester Tigers
Cardiff Blues 		35
31		 (30)
(35)
Correct as of 4 March 2017
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011–present United States 34 (40)
Correct as of 5 February 2017
National team(s)
Years Team Comps
2011–2013 United States

Blaine Scully (born February 29, 1988) is an American rugby union footballer who plays for the U.S. national team as a fullback or wing. Scully is Co-Captain of the U.S. national team alongside long serving USA Eagle, Todd Clever. Professionally, Scully plays in Wales for Cardiff Blues and formerly for the Leicester Tigers.

Early life

Scully was born in Sacramento, California. He attended Jesuit High School in Sacramento, where he lettered in basketball, swimming, and water polo, and earned All-American honors in water polo and swimming.[1]

Scully took up rugby in college, where he played for UCLA for two years, before transferring to play rugby with University of California, Berkeley (Cal) for the following three years. Scully was a standout player in college, his accolades include: four time All-American, captain of the 2011 USA Rugby Collegiate All-Americans Touring Squad, and two national titles with Cal.[2]

Scully also played for the Cal rugby sevens team at the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC). Scully led Cal to a second-place finish at the 2010 CRC tournament. Scully captained Cal at the 2011 CRC, earning a place on the All-Tournament team.

Scully graduated from Cal in 2011 with a degree in history.

Club career

Leicester Tigers

In summer 2013, Scully joined the Leicester team that played in the 2013 JP Morgan 7s, and was praised highly by many observers for his hard work and defense. Due to his strong play, in the autumn of 2013 Scully received a four-month contract with the Leicester Tigers through the end of 2013.[3][4] Scully received his work visa in September 2013,[5] and a few days later, on September 21, 2013, Scully made his debut for Leicester, where he started and played all 80 minutes at fullback, scoring a try in the process.[6] Scully made his debut in the Heineken Cup on October 18, 2013, starting on the wing against Benetton Treviso, and scoring a try.[7] On January 4, 2014, Scully signed a new deal with Leicester Tigers until the end of the season.[8] Due to his tireless work rate Scully quickly became a fan favourite and won the Leicester Tigers Player of the Month award for February 2014.[9] In April 2014 Scully signed an extension to remain with Leicester for the 2014–15 season.[10]

Cardiff Blues

On March 24, 2015, it was announced Scully had signed for the Cardiff Blues on a long-term deal after the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[11] Scully made his debut in a 15-26 loss to Zebre in a Pro12 match in November 2015.[12] Scully scored his first try in his second appearance for Cardiff during their European Challenge Cup win over Calvisano.[13]

International career

Scully debuted for the United States national rugby union team in June 2011, and scored his first try for the US national team in August 2011 against Canada. Scully was part of the United States squad at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.[14] Scully played in all four pool games for the United States, including two starts at fullback. On June 14, 2014 Scully recorded his first hat trick for his country in a 29-37 loss in the Pacific Nations Cup to Japan. He followed that performance up with a brace of tries the next week in a winning effort against Canada.[15]

Scully served as Vice-Captain during the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. He also captained the United States in the inaugural game of the Americas Rugby Championship against Argentina.[16][17]

Scully also plays for the United States national rugby sevens team. He has appeared for the national sevens team several times since 2009. Scully also represented the US playing rugby sevens at the 2011 Pan American Games, helping the team earn a bronze medal.

Scully and Todd Clever serve as Co-Captains for the USA National Team.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Blaine Scully: The Ethos of Constant Performance". AthletesLiveHere.com. December 29, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Blaine Scully bio". Universal Sports.
  3. ↑ "Scully Gets Extension at Leicester". Rugby Mag. August 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Tigers sign Eagles international on short-term deal". ESPNscrum.com. August 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Eagles Abroad: Weekend Review". ThisIsAmericanRugby.com. September 23, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Tigers hit top spot with big win". ESPNscrum.com. September 21, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Leicester Tigers cruise past Italians". ESPNscrum.com. October 18, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Blaine Scully new deal with Leicester Tigers". Leicester Mercury. January 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Scully Humbled by Goldsmiths Player of the Month Award". Leicester Tigers. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Scully Extends At Leicester, Ryan Moves To Munster". ThisIsAmericanRugby.com. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Blaine Scully: Cardiff Blues sign USA back from Leicester". BBC Sport. March 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Eagles Abroad: Weekend Review". TIAR. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Gloucester get off to a winning start in Challenge Cup". independent.ie. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Profile". 2011 Rugby World Cup Official Site. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Eagles fight back to edge Canada.". PlanetRugby.com. June 22, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Chris Wyles to captain US Eagles' World Cup squad". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  17. ↑ Sport, Aly Vance BBC Wales. "Super Bowls: Scully captains USA as wife watches Super Bowl". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
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