Yale Surives Late Try by Cambridge

This week, Yale was able to recruit 30 new players to play rugby. It is a very big mix of athletic talent and size, but as usual, very little experience. The coaching staff is accustom to teaching inexperienced players the game of rugby, just not this many at once. Good organized training sessions this week were so well attended, that we had to bring in a Southern for a controlled scrimmage as an opener to the Cambridge matches.

The coaches believed that we needed to get the new players as much game time as possible leading into the season, which begins in two short weeks. Southern brought down its young, athletic and talented underclassmen to play a mostly freshman developmental team for Yale. A few young, experienced players also played for Yale to give the team a little continuity on the field. The scrimmage was played in 3-30 periods. All restarts and penalties were either lineouts or scrum downs to give the new players some experience in set pieces. Both coaches acted as referees on the field, using game stoppages and penalties as learning tools. After each period, the coaches from both teams took their players aside to discuss the game, give input and make substitutions. The Yale freshman played remarkable well, considering that, for all but a few, this was their first match ever. The set pieces we fairly good (no hard engage on scrums), rucking was solid for the most part and the defensive organization was well structured. A few players played well enough to earn a few A-side minutes versus Cambridge. It was an excellent effort by Yale's future players.

The Cambridge match followed at 1pm. The game was broken into 4- 20 minute periods. Cambridge was able to keep Yale pinned in its own half early on. In the 7th minute, Cambridge was able to turn over Yale ball and take it wide to score in the corner. After the kickoff, Cambridge was able to use an excellent kick down the sideline to get Yale pinned back in its own end once again Yale turned over too much ball, tackled softly and committed too many penalties in the period, but Cambridge was able to only score 3 more points. Yale was able to play a little more physical in the second period. We were also able to steal some lineout ball to relieve the pressure of too many penalties. In this period, game play was up and down the field with no distinct advantage to either side. Cambridge scored one try after some sloppy tackling. Yale flanker Grey Grissom scored a try under the posts at the 35 minute mark to get Yale on the board. Halftime score was Cambridge 13- Yale 7.

In the second half, Yale played a little better, turning over fewer balls and committing fewer penalties. As a consequence, Yale was able to string together some good possession and keep Cambridge bottled up in its own end. Yale's Dan O'Brien scored 3 tries in the half. One after falling on a ball after a kick into the try zone, one off some good possession and ball handling and one after intercepting a pass. (Sorry the details are short, the ref pulled up injured and I had to fill in as ref.) Sam Power was able to convert 2 of the three tries. Cambridge was able to score one converted try in the period. Momentum in the game was starting to swing in Yale's favor. The score after 60 minutes was Yale 26- Cambridge 20. In the final 20 minutes, Yale put 3 freshmen on the field, 2 forwards and 1 back. Yale suffered a major injury, losing scrum half Rob Morse to a severe wrist injury. Sophomore Kevin Daly entered the game and played very well. Once again, Dan O'Brien scored another try, which was converted by Sam Power. Cambridge had one final push to make a comeback, scoring a converted try late in the match. In the end, Yale was able to hold of the surge to win 33-27. Standout players for Yale were Mack Hull, Nick Lombardo, Sam Power and the man of the match, Dan O'Brien.

In the second match, Yale's youth was matched up again the Cambridge B-side for 2- 20minute periods. The Yale side was mix of young experienced players and the freshman who played against Southern in the morning. Even though exhausted, Cambridge took advantage of Yale's inexperience and scored a handful of tries. The overall effort by the Yale side was good and they learned the hard way, that they have a lot to learn about to game.

For Yale, the ultimate goal of the day was not only win the match, but get as many new and young players as many minutes as possible. A special thanks to Southern for coming down on very short notice. Without them we would not have been able to accomplish this goal.