Match Report

October 15, 2013, 4:00 PM

Joe Moakley Park, Boston MA

Match Details: The Charles River Rats returned to their native Joe Moakley Park after a month-long absent as they played host to Burlington RFC. In the last match, the Rats were tied with Burlington at halftime during last spring’s NERFU Cup, the Rats hoped to carry that progress to last Saturday’s match.

 

Match Report

October 15, 2013, 4:00 PM

Joe Moakley Park, Boston MA

Rats Match

 

Position	Rats Starter	Substitute
#1 Prop	Phil Adams
#2 Hooker	Alec “Ox” Tolivaisa
#3 Prop	Mike “Terror” Tura
#4 Lock	Dave “Andre” Bloom
#5 Lock	Dave McVey	“Keyless” Jerry Calixte[1]
#6 Flanker	Mark “The Kid” Cassidy
#7 Flanker	“Swiss Army” Jeff Garner
#8 8-Man	Tommy Conley
#9 Scrum-Half	Zack “For Sale” Cox
#10 Fly-Half	Grant “007” McAuslan
#11 Wing	Charlie “Nice Shoes” Punches
#12 Inside Center	Corey “A or B” Lang
#13 Outside Center	Jerry “Drainpipe” Kenneally ©
#14 Wing	“Wee” Pat Cavallario
#15 Fullback	“President” Mike Fair

 

Match Details: The Charles River Rats returned to their native Joe Moakley Park after a month-long absent as they played host to Burlington RFC. In the last match, the Rats were tied with Burlington at halftime during last spring’s NERFU Cup, the Rats hoped to carry that progress to last Saturday’s match.

Due to injuries from previous games, the Rats were forced to start players out of their normal position, mostly notably Grant McAuslan. The Scottish import has been a regular in the forward pack since he joined the Rats four years ago, against Burlington he was asked to wear the #10 jersey and assume fly-half responsibilities. Normally, such a transition would make the player and/or team nervous; however the Rats knew that McAuslan had the skill set to fully perform all fly-half duties. Throughout the match, McAuslan made every tackle that came to his direction, organized the defense to prevent holes and called precise plays to put the Rats in position to score. After the contest, Inside Center Corey Lang said “it seemed Grant had been playing the position for years. You would never know it was his first time playing fly-half.”

Before the match, the Rats felt they had a legitimate chance to score a major upset. During halftime, the Rats still had an air of optimism as they trailed Burlington, 10-0. The first half was filled with a high number of penalties, a majority of which belonged to Burlington. Thanks to their opponent’s over-aggressiveness, the Rats were in Burlington’s territory for a significant portion of the first half; however the Rats could not score because of the sloppiness of their line-outs and the lack of power provided in their scrums.

For the last year, line-outs were the biggest asset in forward pack’s possession. Against Burlington, line-outs turned into a huge liability as many throws were either skewed or dropped. In scrums, the Rats were outclassed by a superior pack, often losing their put-ins. The dominate Burlington scrum allowed their backs to attempt more risky passes, however the Rats’ backline made their tackles and slowed down the Burlington attack. Strong tackles by Inside Center Corey Lang and Scrum-Half Zack Cox plus a gutsy performance by Wing Pat Cavallario were huge factors in the Rats’ defensive success in the first half. A major ethos of Head Coach Paul Clemens has been forwards reaching their defensive landmarks around breakdowns and maintaining discipline. Against Burlington, Clemens saw glimpses of his defensive vision as the forwards hustled across the pitch secure the breakdown area and stayed at their designated spot, instead of chasing the ball while leaving cut-back lanes for the opposition.

Facing only a ten-point deficit at halftime, the Rats felt there was a legitimate chance to win the game, however they needed to clean up their set plays (scrums and line-outs) and fresh legs in the forward pack. The fresh legs the Rats needed were not in supply, hindering the Rats’ ability to play effective defense in the 2^nd half.

After Burlington extended their lead to 24-0, Outside Center Jerry Kenneally scored an outstanding try off of a busted play. The Rats were on offense inside their own 22-meter line; Lang spotted an open area in the middle of the field that would be perfect landing spot for a kick, he intended to pop the ball over the two Burlington defenders charging at him, instead he booted a line drive right into the chest of a defender. Luckily, the ball ricocheted into the hands of Kenneally who saw the same open space that Lang saw only without defenders in front of him. After dodging three separate defenders, Kenneally put the Rats on the scoreboard.

FINAL SCORE: Rats 7, Burlington 48

 

Men of the Match[2]:

• Backs – Zack Cox: During the entire match, the UNH alum had the Herculean task of passing the ball out of a scrum that was charging towards him. Most players would have panicked, however Cox kept his cool and delivered clean passes to McAuslan. On the defensive side, Cox courageously step-in the “Channel 1” position to stop Burlington’s powerful forwards from marching down the field.   
• Forwards – Tommy Conley: In only two games, the former Wolfhound has already become a huge asset to the Rats, thanks to his high rugby IQ and outstanding ball carrying. Throughout the match Conley communicated to his fellow forwards about the tendencies of their opponents and the opportunities that the Rats had to exploit Burlington’s defense.

Honorable Mentions: Grant McAuslan, Jerry Kenneally

 

Orange Whips Match

 

Match Details: Since the Rats match ended at 6:00pm, both teams decided not to play a B-Side Match. Instead, the B-Side Match was replaced by the 10-person “Boat Race” at The Stadium, which Charles River won.

 

Rats Scoring Table

 

PLAYER	TRIES	PENTALY KICKS	CONVERSIONS	TOTAL POINTS
J. Kenneally	3	2	7	35
M. Fair	1	0	0	5
C. Lang	1	0	0	5
D. Bloom	1	0	0	5
J. Calixte	1	0	0	5
R. Friberg	1	0	0	5

Season Results

 

OPPONENT	W/L	RATS SCORE	OPP SCORE	RECORD
Newport	L	8	22	(0-1)
@Saratoga	L	35	86	(0-2)
@New Haven	L	0	77	(0-3)
@Amoskeag	L	3	67	(0-4)
Portland	L	7	96	(0-5)
Burlington	L	7	48	(0-6)
@Providence
North Shore
@Worcester
Albany