Men best New London, Women fall to Worcester
As we hit the halfway mark on the season, the Men treated visitors New London County to a road loss, while the women faced their first loss on the season in Worcester.
Charles River Men [42] – New London County Rugby [10]
Charles River men bearing down on the try line against New London County Rugby
The game started strong with the mighty Mike Mitton catching the ball off the kick-off to make a barnstorming 20 yard run. However, while that run might have been a premonition of what was to come, the next 20 minutes saw both sides competing to establish dominance. By the 209th scrum it became apparent that the team that could actually hold on to the ball in the greasy conditions might have the best chance of winning.
With players like the rats star fetcher, Jake “from state farm” Mehlmann, poaching balls like a dingo stealing babies, an opportunity to score was only an eventuality as Captain Courageous Corey Lang rewarded the hard work at the breakdown with a penalty 3 pointer. Once the flood gates were opened, and ironically the rain stopped, the tries started to pour on in. Boot shooting virgin Patrick Cavallario scored the first five pointer off a lovely flick pass from rising star and man of the match Colman Mulkerrin. The old man, King Ricky Friberg, managed to fall through the defensive line and hobble his way 30 yards to add another 5 point notch to his belt.
The huge physicality displayed from our forward pack continued to create space for the back line, with the likes of players-player John “quick hands” Gill covered in dirt from head to toe and dump tackling anything that moved. With the opposition on the back foot, some well executed passing saw the dangerously quick Devin “baby face” Doherty turning on the after burners to dash down the side line like a rat up a drainpipe for his “first” try. The smiling Irishman, Colman Mulkerrin, continued to amaze with a skillful chip-chase-and-recover only to trip on one of Joe Moakley’s center field mountains 40 yards out from the try line. Thankfully, Mr Dana Etherington, was there to receive a pop ball, hurdle the fallen potato fanatic and finish off the fantastic play.
A strong scrum in the second half ten yards out from the try-line, a culmination of the set piece work and bear crawls done at training, set the platform for “quick hands” Gill to break off the scrum and put Ian “Frodo” Robinson over for his boot shooting first try. By this stage of the game Coach, a strategic master, had started to sub on a fresh plague of rats. The gigantic replacement fly-half Alex “LeBron” Tringale bumped his way out of a ruck to run 20 yards, demolish the opposition fullback and dunk the ball over the white line. The game finished with a great run up the guts of the field by “baby face” Doherty , followed by a 15 yard scramble by Irish debutant Peter Pollock and finished with Axl “skull crusher” Querengasser dragging 5 blokes the remaining 15 yards to score.
All up, the game was a display of growth of the club. The gaggle of regular spectators on the side line all agreed that the rugby being played has been maturing every week and was absolutely spectacular this Saturday. The depth in the club, with all the replacements making immediate impacts when they were injected, is obviously contributing to the acceleration of this growth. The Orange Whips are going to be a force to be reckoned with for the next few weeks as all their players are clearly legitimate contenders for starting spots. It is a great position for Coach as he now has a raft of selection configurations he can experiment with and will make next weeks test against Div II team Providence all the more achievable. For those sideline supporters that won’t be able to make it down to Rhode Island next week, don’t fear, as the Charles River Rats will return to Joe Moakley in two weeks for an Under 30’s vs Over 30’s game which will provide an opportunity for some Old Boys to pass on some rugby experience to some young cocky ribs.
Charles River Women [7] – Worcester Shamrocks [64]
Charles River and Worcester face off in one of many scrums
CRWRFC brought a lot of heart and fight to the pitch, but throughout the game the Worcester side was able to offload well and swing the ball wide to score. The women of Charles River were on the defensive for much of the first half, but were able to contend well in the middle of the field. Hooker Becca Romash brought some solid defense throughout the match, holding post well at the breakdown and stealing some balls in the scrum. The half saw Worcester up by a couple of tries with River yet to get on the board.
With some substitutions for fresh legs and some strong encouragement from captains Alicia and Traut in the huddle, the Lady Rats took the pitch in the second half with renewed vigor. They were able to gain ground after the kick off and push Worcester deep into their own half. Capitalizing on a penalty 5m from the try line, Melissa “Dunn as in finished” Dunn took a quick tap to get the ball within inches and new Rat Julie Richardson used a heads up pick-and-go from the ruck to touch the ball down over the line. With a conversion from Captain Traut, CRWRFC was in the game with 7 points.
The rest of the match was a much more even contest between the 22s and the Rats contested scrums (of which there were MANY throughout the 80 minutes) well. The back line saw some resurgence from great pace and strong running at center by Courtney Allen, returning from an ankle injury. The Shamrocks were able to continue their pressure and swing of the ball to put in a few more tries, but wing Ruthie Lewis made them work for their points putting on a solid defensive stand out wide. It was a strong contest to face, but the Rats held their heads up and had great spirit throughout.
The Lady Rats finished 1-1 on the day, however, winning the Bitch of the Pitch Boat Race at the social!