ST. LOUIS, MO. -- Another lovely Fall day to play rugby; sunny and warm, with no wind and a firm field to boot. No lines marked yet, but they would appear shortly after the Wash. U. players did.
The warm up went well, and the boys got ready to play an old rival. From the kick off Principia was on the attack and we settled into their half of the field. No matter who had the ball, we were entrenched in their half and did not budge. Our pressure caused two penalties to be called on Wash. U.; and the second gave us a wonderful opportunity for a quick strike.
Jake Milner tapped and ran with the ball, drawing defenders and then he passed off the ball to
Trevor Marunde who was able to cut through the last men to score our first try. He converted the kick giving us a 7 – 0 lead after eight minutes.
They kicked off to us, and we ran it right back into their half, and set up camp again. We pounded away but could not break their defenses. Possession changed hands and we had to keep coming back to attack their goal line. Around the twelve-minute point we had a series of phases getting us closer and closer to the line. We were so close that
Jake Milner was able to scoop the ball up from the back of the ruck and lunge over the line to score our second try. (Great use of a skill he learned recently in practice.) 12 – 0.
Apparently the Thunder Chickens were not quite satisfied yet, and they went right back to work. Their efforts to keep Wash U. under pressure was clear to all on the field and watching because the game was still played for the vast majority in the opponent's half. Offensive and defensive intensity remained high, and we recycled the ball well. In one series we kept the ball coming back and back four times until
Trevor Marunde was open in the corner with enough space to claim our third score in the first twenty minutes. 17 – 0
Wash U. was not willing to bow down yet, and made the next twenty minutes much tougher. The ball went up and down the field willy-nilly and with all the passion both teams could muster. There were some close calls on both sides, including
Tim Drysdale getting to the goal line before the ball slipped from his fingertips. Determined tackling and rucking prevented either team from gaining any points until the half time whistle blew.
After a short chat, some water and raisins the lads were ready to start the second half. They went right back to work and were determined to keep the ball in the Wash. U. half. This caused some stress on our opponents who gave up a penalty kick after only five minutes. We started the play with more confusion than was needed, but we cleaned up the mess with a couple of quick and clean rucks, and a nice pass to
Ben Schaberg who sprinted the last twenty meters to score. Trevor made the kick. 24 – 0.
At this stage we let off the pressure a bit, and Wash. U. showed their determination by playing hard and crashing the ball through the channel effectively. After a series of rucks they chipped the ball over our back line and followed it up with fast runners. We responded too lazily to be effective, and they were able to play through the tackle by our full back and score their first try. 24 – 7.
Realizing that the Wash. U. lads were not going to surrender, the Thunder Chickens girded themselves and went back to work. From rucks, kicks and great ball running we stayed close to their goal line. Just one example of the effort we were putting out was shown by
Dalton Cole, our reserve hooker, who made a great tackle, created a turn over and secured clean possession, as well as, executing a perfect “rhino” play. From this last play, we were able to put a couple of crashing runs together and gained quick ball from the rucks resulting in
Naveed Hosseinmardi being able to follow Jake's example of scooping the ball up and diving over the line to score. 29 – 7 by the end of the 'third quarter' mark.
The scrums, line outs and loose play were all still working well as the men kept working hard to ensure that they stayed on top of their game. A few minutes later we won a scrum and executed a basic run and pass sequence. Jake passed to Trevor who made one of his fancy stepping, fake runs, and then passed to
Marshall McCurties who was free to run the last twenty meters for another try. Trevor made this kick too. 36 - 7
The last ten minutes were played with just as much intensity as the other seventy, because Wash. U. was resolved to honor their program by playing with courage and fortitude. Over thirty years of rivalry provides a lot of incentive to play hard.
This game was the best showing we have had in demonstrating our skills of the General Movement offensive system, as well as, the swarm defense we started using this year. Wonderful effort and team work done by all.
