Charles River Men vs Portland RFC
Match Report
September 28th, 2013, 10am
GEAA Field, Lynn, MA
Match Details: The Charles River Rats had an early rugby day as their kickoff against Portland RFC was scheduled for 10am. The weather was, as Captain Ricky Friberg described, “sneaky hot” as many Rats were sweating during warm-ups. The field was, in the words of the referee, “if people complain about Moakley [field], they should play here; they’ll like Moakley a lot more[3].” To the Rats and Portland all those conditions ultimately did not matter, as they took the pitch to play some hard, clean rugby.
Match Report
September 28th, 2013, 10am
GEAA Field, Lynn, MA
Match Details: The Charles River Rats had an early rugby day as their kickoff against Portland RFC was scheduled for 10am. The weather was, as Captain Ricky Friberg described, “sneaky hot” as many Rats were sweating during warm-ups. The field was, in the words of the referee, “if people complain about Moakley [field], they should play here; they’ll like Moakley a lot more[3].” To the Rats and Portland all those conditions ultimately did not matter, as they took the pitch to play some hard, clean rugby.
It was obvious from the start of the game that ruggers from Maine were the superior team scoring early and often. It was noted by Friberg that “[Portland] did all the [offensive] things that we have been trying to do all season long….” Those things were effective pack/support running, dominant scrumming, multiple off-load passes between the forwards and running through holes that were created by quick recycling.
The final score was a poor reflection of the improved defensive effort by the Rats, as the forwards hustled more to arrive at their defensive landmarks and there was a reduction in the number of broken tackles. The main reason Portland lit up the scoreboard was the misdirection they used with their forward pack, which opened up gaps near breakdowns. Too many Rats wanted to make a big play on defense to ignite a Rats offensive surge; however Portland’s shifty scrum-half and fly-half took advantage of the Rats’ eagerness. Another contributor to Portland’s outstanding offensive output was their sure hands, there were few knock-ons committed by Portland, allowing them to keep their offense in motion.
The Rats did their best to stop Portland’s attack, evident by the number of tackles that Inside Center Corey Lang, Hooker Alec Tolivaisa and Flanker Grant McAuslan, however the Rats never seemed to get a nice five-minute segment of offense. Locks Dave Bloom and Karim El-Sayed, and 8-man Tom Conley had some good powerful runs when the Rats did have possession.
The highlight of the game for the Rats was a gritty five-meter run by Friberg for a try. The Rats worked the ball down the field thanks to scrum-half Zack Cox, Lang and Outside Center Jerry Kenneally with less than ten minutes left in the first half. Bloom took a forward crash and the forwards set a nice platform for Cox to feed a crash pass to Friberg, with another good platform Cox popped the ball to Lang, who powered his way to the five-meter line. When Lang was finally tackled, the ruck formed by the Rats became mangled and the ball somehow bounced to Friberg right as he regained his footing from the previous tackle. As the Rats’ captain gained possession he side-stepped a blitzing Portland defender, he dodged another defender immediately, then he found a little gap between two Portland players and managed to blast his way between them to score the Rats’ only try. Kenneally nailed the conversion kick, as the Rats were a little happy that they were not going to leave the pitch with a goose-egg on the scoreboard.
After the match, Portland complimented the Rats for playing “the full 80” and a clean game, however Charles River would have loved to score the upset, but it was not their destiny for the match as Portland had a superior talent advantage.
FINAL SCORE: Rats 7, Portland 96
Position | Rats Starter | Substitute |
#1 Prop | Phil Adams | |
#2 Hooker | Alec “Ox” Tolivaisa | |
#3 Prop | Dave McVey | |
#4 Lock | Karim El-Sayed | “Coach” Paul Clemens[1] |
#5 Lock | Dave “Andre” Bloom | |
#6 Flanker | Mark “The Kid” Cassidy | |
#7 Flanker | Grant “007” McAuslan | |
#8 8-Man | Tom Conley (Debut) | |
#9 Scrum-Half | Zack “For Sale” Cox | |
#10 Fly-Half | Ricky Friberg © | Andrew “J-Hole” Jackson |
#11 Wing | “Keyless” Jerry Calixte | |
#12 Inside Center | Corey “A or B” Lang | |
#13 Outside Center | Jerry “Drainpipe” Kenneally | Bruce “Frenchie” French[2] |
#14 Wing | “Wee” Pat Cavallario | Charlie “KO” Punches |
#15 Fullback | “President” Mike Fair |
Men of the Match
- Corey Lang[4]: Before nearly every B-game, as multiple players are dreading the thought of another game, Lang tells his teammates “hey, players play.” Well, Lang definitely led by example against Portland as he made every tackle that came his way with a low center of gravity and a display of strength that impressed the ruggers from Maine. Lang also had plenty powerful runs where he would bulldoze a kamikaze defender and make another tackle grab air instead of him. So far, Lang has been the most consistent player for the Rats.
- Tom Conley[5]: The St. Bonaventure alum had an impressive debut for the Rats as he displayed strong running, smart decision making and sure tackling. Conley’s father was a Charles River Rat and his son is looking to re-build the Green and Orange to their previous levels of prestige.
Honorable Mentions[6]: Zack Cox, Ricky Friberg, Dave Bloom
Rats Scoring Table
PLAYER |
TRIES |
PENTALY KICKS |
CONVERSIONS |
TOTAL POINTS |
J. Kenneally |
2 |
2 |
6 |
28 |
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 | ||||
@Providence | ||||
North Shore | ||||
@Worcester | ||||
Albany |
Next Week
After six long weeks, the Rats return to their regular home field, Moakley Park as they face off against Burlington RFC. At this year’s NERFU Cup, the Rats were tied with the 2012 NERFU regular season champions at halftime. Hopefully, the Rats repeat that performance this coming Saturday. Kickoff time is still being determined.
[1] Clemens entered the game as a prop, while McVey moved to Lock
[2] French entered the game as a wing, while Punches moved to wing.
[3] To North Shore’s credit, the field was lined perfectly and they had regulation sized posts.
[4] Selected by Portland’s captain
[5] The Orange Whips did not have a game since the North Shore women’s side had a scheduled match immediately after the match between the Rats and Portland. In light of this, both teams agreed to name their own Man of the Match.
[6] Selected by Coach Clemens