Wednesday evening in Connecticut State Rugby league action
saw the 1-1 Darien Blue Wave take on the 0-1 Ridgefield Tigers in what turned
out to be a thrilling matchup. While the Wave is in the midst of its second
official varsity season, the Tigers are just getting started in their first,
having previously been a part of the Aspetuck Valley Rugby Club.
Prior to the start of the game, it was announced that Darien
would be without one of their key players, junior Jack Griffiths, as the result
of an after-school Calculus test that he was forced to make up. Sophomore
Spencer Stovall was chosen to fill the very large shoes of Griffiths, also
known as “The Human Wrecking Ball”, at tighthead prop alongside fellow
front-rowers Alex Gunn and Bill Petti. To start, the absence of Griffiths
turned out not to make much of a difference, as the Wave dominated the rucks,
scrums, and lineouts early on. Though Ridgefield struck first with a
three-point penalty kick, Darien came right back with a try from senior center
Zach Basu. From then on, the game was a battle, with senior Andrew Morgan
scoring on a penalty kick and Ridgefield scoring two more tries to put them up
by seven.
With ten minutes and Ridgefield ready to pull off the upset,
senior flanker Tyler Hill was finally able to break the gridlock and score,
with Andrew Morgan converting the extra points to tie up the game. A few
minutes later, Morgan came up clutch on another penalty kick, which put the
Wave up 20-17 and sealed the victory.
Of the win, senior Zach Basu said, “The forwards played very
well, with veterans like James Foster and Alex Gunn, as well as newcomers
Spencer Stovall and James Fox, coming up huge in the rucks. We owe this victory
over a pretty tenacious Ridgefield team to them.”
Come support Blue Wave Rugby in their next home game against
Greenwich High School on Thursday May 8 at Royle School.
 |
|
Sophomore Austen Appleby is one of the newcomers who’s made a big
impact. (Darien AF)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment