In Saturday’s first match of the season, the Hillsdale Rugby team suffered a 33-10 defeat to a mens’ club from Findlay, Ohio known as the Black Swamp Mercenaries.
“It was a lot of fun. Besides not winning, a lot of good things happened. New guys got playing time and tried different positions. We know what to focus on going forward,” said junior Jacob Barrett, president of the club.
With most of the front seven being new to rugby, scrums seemed to give the Chargers some trouble throughout the match.
“We had opportunities to score—we need to be more aware. Our scrums were disappointing. They are the most technical part of rugby and hard to simulate in practice. We’re going to get creative this week though,” Barret said.
Both teams came to a pre-game consensus allowing for looser substitution rules than normally allowed in a rugby match.
“The subs agreement worked out really well for a first game. It allowed for new players on both sides to get some playing time in and try different positions,” said senior back Josh McGehee.
“Rugby involves a lot of endurance and there’s not a lot of guys that can play for a full 80 minutes.”
Loose substitution rules and clear skies paved the way for an exciting afternoon.
Hillsdale’s rucking made a big difference in their ability to control the ball in the opponents’ end. After a grueling beginning, the Chargers methodically worked their way down the field late in the first half.
A couple meters out from the goal, Andrew Baker, a freshman backline player, scooped the ball off a ruck. Baker ran through five opponents to drive it in, scoring his first try at Hillsdale. The Chargers went into halftime trailing the Black Swamp Mercenaries 21-5.
“Trailing at halftime was expected. More than 50% of the field is new players, so there’s a lot to work on,” said McGehee. “With the young guys, there is a clear disadvantage, but they are learning together. And because they’re all new and excited, their learning curve and energy level is so high.”
The rookies made a respectable showing, however. In the second half, Barrett broke in and dumped the ball off to Daniel Bellet, freshman backline player. Bellet ran through 15 meters of enemy territory to score the first try of his rugby career.
“I couldn’t have asked for more from the freshmen. The fact that we played good defense and scored twice off of our offensive plays (instead of their mistakes) is big. There’s only about six starters who have played before. I fully expect us to be a good team by next semester,” said senior inside-center and fly half Josiah Young.
Hillsdale picked their front row players—two props and one hooker— to be the three collective Men of the Match: Mitchell Mowe, Henry Hoffman, and Daniel Thompson. The veteran athletes endured the entire 80-minute match without substitution.
Hillsdale is scheduled at home against Calvin at 1:00 pm on Saturday, Sept. 22.
