Borrowed Boots

Played my first rugby match today, against Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. A wicked long drive for a short game, but it was great trip and worth the drive. Got to know some of my teammates better, and didn't embaress myself, so a victory all around.

Dartmouth disrespected us by double booking, then denying the full games A & B that they had promised us. Our A-Side had to play half a match against the Mystic River Mens Rugby Club (B-Side), and then the other half against a mixed A & B crew from Dartmouth. We won both halves (this is after Mystic's A's beat Dartmouth's A's).

Then Northeastern's B-Side came on to play another mixed crew of Dartmouth B's and C's. We came out flat, lost ground and fell behind pretty badly. Dartmouth wanted to call it a day, but we weren't gonna let them pull that on us after making the drive to western New Hampshire, so we made them finish the game. And then we finished them.

The four B-Side subs (yours truly included) came in to open the second half, and we controlled the ball for about 25 of the next 30 minutes. We pounded the ball in on forward carries, and we were so dominant in scrums (where Dartmouth was just falling apart) that the Dartmouth coach/referee had to institute unopposed scrums so people wouldn't get crushed by our 1-ton pack (they added us up!). After pounding the ball into their side of the field for a good 10 minutes, we scored. We repeated those tactics, winning most rucks and advancing with lot of forward carries, and denying them more than a few yards on the few occasions that they were able to steal the ball. With just a few minutes left to play, somebody yelled out that we'd pulled to within three points (a "try" is similar to a touchdown in football and is worth 5 points). We made one more drive, pushing the ball into their try zone with some fast rucking and hard hitting. The game ended a minute or two later, and it was very rewarding to run through the tunnel without hanging my head after my first game.

I'm sure I'll embaress myself later, against a team that can actually play, but for now it's time to sit back and enjoy the weather.