James River Christmas 7s

Tomorrow the University of Richmond Rugby Football Club will be traveling to Hanover to compete in the Christmas 7s tournament hosted by James River Rugby Club.

This tournament, according to Coach Sam Hall, has a reputation for bitter cold conditions and the possibility of snow each year. The first match will begin at 9:20 against rival William and Mary, with a game time temperature slated to be around 35 degrees.

The club is guaranteed three matches with a maximum of four if they carry the bracket.

For those interested, directions from campus can be found here.

Chance of snow around 5PM.

Match Report: Washington & Lee 10/30

Under the lights is traditionally when UR rugby comes out to play. Friday night October 30, 2010 was no exception. From the first whistle, UR pack took the game to W&L & threatened to finish the game in the third minute when 8-man Ricky Lottenbach crashed over for the first try of his well-deserved hatrick.
Starter fly-half, Josh (Ned) Flanders had to pull out in the warm-up with a strained quad, so senior Chad Crigger took he starting place with aplomb & started tearing the W&L backline apart with deft passing & an intelligent kicking game. W&L replied with a well worked try in the 8th minute but then the UR pack took hold. A push-over try scored by scrum-half John Ramirez saw the half-time score as 14 to 7.
The second half started with 2 injury-induced changes in the pack meaning that freshman Conner Boillat & Senior Damian Gibbs took the field. Straight away W&L had trouble dealing with the fresh legs. Further scores from Lottenbach (2), Sam Perkins, Rory Quinlan & Crigger who used his well-paid for bulk to force himself over the line, meant that UR were never really threatened. Although sterling defensive work from the back 3 of Pete Saulitis, Andy Krause & Jerone Schillings made sure the very talented W&L backline never got a sniff of the tryline. The score at no-side was 36-7.

So, onto the state championship next weekend. UR go into the play as the umber 2 seed. We shall see.

Matt Willson

Match Report: Hampden Sydney 10/24

A game completely dominated by a referee determined to stop everyone playing rugby UR ran out deserved winners 36-24 over Hampton Sydney at the IM fields on Sunday 10/24. The end score, however, does not tell the story of the game. The UR backline dominated their opponents as did the forwards in the lineout. Scrums were a problem area with the ref not picking up the deliberate wheel HS employed, but good quick ball from set play meant John Ramirez & Josh Flanders had free-rein to let the powerful UR backline run. Trys were scored by Flanders, Ricky Lottenbach, Jeroen Schillings, & a hat trick by Andy Krause that high-lighted the player’s speed, power & intelligent support-play. With the game won at 36-10 UR let up their defenses late on & let in two late trys to make the score look respectable.

The ever-improving scorpions had a winning return with a debut score from Ben Ginger & fine performances from J-Rod, Charlie Boles & new-comers Andrew Gilmartin, Tom Robinson & Brennon Lincoln….. although Gilmartin will have to work on his fitness in the coming weeks.

UR have now confirmed their place in the State championships on Nov 6 & 7 but will cement a 2nd seed if they beat Washington & Lee on Friday night, again on the IM fields, kick-off 8pm. See you all there.

Matt Willson

Match Report: Roanoke 10/2

A scrappy game that UR ended up winning 29-0. Two tries from Rick Lottenbach & one each from Blodgett, Dutch & Andy Krause who keeps up his record of scoring in every game of the season…something that’s never been done before.
A week off this week to heal some bruises & then Longwood on the 16th.

Matt Willson

Match Report: William & Mary 9/25

So, kicked off campus in case the precious football supporters wanted to park on our field, we hi-tailed it out to 7 pines to find it hadn’t seen a drop of water in 3 months so the surface was like a car park in the middle of the desert.  Still, senior prop & most handsome man on the team Matt Briand crashed over for the opening try on 5 minutes. From there, a defensive battle commenced until Peter Saulitis wove his magic & beat almost the entire team to score in the corner. W&M fought back & took the lead after some nice back play & going into the last-minute UR were down 3 points. Saulitis again broke the line & seeing Andy Krause free launched an overhead pass so that Krause could out-pace the covering defence to score under the posts. Final score UR 19 – W&M 15.
Roanoke Collage next week away.  We’re baaaaaack!

Matt Willson

Match Report: Mary Washington 9/11

15-15 draw against a “supprisingly strong” Mary Washington C XV.  Dominated in the tight & should havbe been 15 – 0 up after 15 minutes.  Trys from Alex Vas, Andy Krause on debut & John Ramerez.  The team looked good & we have more freshmen to come in this season. A strong debut from Andy Krause & Conor Boillat bodes well for the future, but if that was their C team I’ve got a bridge I want to sell you.  Hopefully we ‘ll get another crack at them at the State Championships. The only sour note was a shoulder ingury to second row Rudy Pett who had a great run to set up Krause’s try in the first half.

Matt Willson

Practice 11/1

Full team practice on the IM Fields at 5 p.m.

Match vs. Hampden Sydney College 10/24

This coming Sunday, October 24, the University of Richmond Rugby Football Club will host HSC at 1 p.m. on the Intramural Fields. All are welcome to come out and enjoy the festivities.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166200123406434

Practice, Thursday 10/14

IM Fields at 5 p.m.  Rain or shine.  Bring both cleats and running shoes.

“This looks a good team on paper, let’s see how it looks on grass.”
– Nigel Mellville

Practice, Wednesday 10/13

Everyone should report to Practice today Wednesday, October 13 at 5 p.m.