Brown Bears Defeat Univ of Albany

Brown played a match scrimmage with the University of Albany to jump start the fall 2012 season. The referee was Miles Mcivor who filed the following match report with the New England Referees Society which I found well written and worth passing on to our Brown supporters.

Providence turned on a hot and sunny day for this pre-season clash between Brown University and University of Albany. The playing surface at Brown was impeccable as usual with clearly (and correctly) marked lines and full size goal posts.

I was impressed at the skill level and cohesion of both teams considering how early it was in the season, both sides executed set plays with relative ease and handling errors were low. Brown clearly dominated the first half scoring three trys to Albany’s one. Brown were able to get the hard yards done through the middle, and then were able to spin it wide to score.

HALFTIME: BROWN-15 ALBANY-5

The second half was a much closer affair, with both sides scoring two trys a piece. Unfortunately, a couple of silly errors in the Albany red zone (offside at ruck and flagrant side entry to a ruck) allowed Brown to covert these into points. It seemed that late in the second half that the excellent discipline I had witnessed throughout the game was slipping, with both teams attempting to slow the ball more and more at the ruck. I think this was due to early season fitness and the beating sun! Overall, a VERY enjoyable game to referee and quite a spectacle of excellent Rugby for the fans. Both teams were extremely polite/respectful and are obviously well coached. I look forward to refereeing these teams again in the future and see both teams doing very well this year in their respective competitions.

Referee: Miles Mcivor

Brown travels to Northfield, Vermont on Saturday, September 8 for a match against Norwich University. The First XV match kicks off at 2 P.M. with a Second XV match immediately following. Come out and cheer on the Bears.