Brown Men Almost Tames the Beast
Brown in its fourth match over two days, was unable to offset the power of Northeastern University in the final of the Collegiate Men’s First Division final of the 27th annual Beast of the East Rugby Tournament. Brown took second place in what is regarded as one of the premier collegiate spring rugby tournaments along the East Coast.
Portsmouth, Rhode Island A largely underclass Brown squad was not prepared for a venue with over 1,500 players on 78 men’s and women’s teams vying for trophies in several divisions, but quickly rose to the occasion and played some wonderful rugby. Brown must have been motivated by the atmosphere for the squad played its most creative and entertaining offensive rugby of the year while shutting out its first three opponents, the University of Connecticut 15-0, the State University of New York, Albany 22-0 and Bentley College 10-0.
First up was UConn and the Bears struck quickly in the first minute which is always an asset when playing tournament matches of short duration, and in this case 20 minute halves. Brown drove a lineout from five meters out and number 8, Greg Karwaski’11 scored. Another lineout drive put flanker Zach Long’13 over the line and Brown had a 10-0 halftime lead. Halfway through the second half flanker Ryan Drebin’12 scored from a ruck to put the game away at 15-0. Brown maintained good field position throughout as fly half Zahid Jethani’13 provided tactical kicking and directed a backline that made long gains frequently during the match. The second Saturday match was played against a big and motivated SUNY Albany team. However, Brown duplicated its UConn start with fly half Jethani taking a quick penalty in the first minute of play and hitting wing Dow Travers’12 in full stride for a try. Midway through the first half, Brown was knocking at the SUNY goal line with several offensive rucks when Jethani broke wide and fed inside to number eight Karwaski who ran untouched for Brown’s second score and a 10-0 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, another series of Brown rucks from 15 meters out sent Karwaski for eight meters, prop Bob Forrester’10 for 5 meters, allowing center Taylor Peak’12 to secure the score, putting Brown up 15-0. With the match all but over hooker Dan Levine-Spound’12 broke from a Brown lineout and turned the ball over to Karwaski for the final Brown try. Jethani made the conversion and the final stood 22-0. Brown’s third match was the Division I semi-finals on Sunday morning against a solid Bentley College team that Brown had defeated handily earlier this spring. No quick score in this match as Brown was unable to put the ball over the line in spite of terrific field position during the entire first half. Bentley defended fiercely but midway through the first half attempted a clearing kick which was retrieved by left wing Ian Clancy’12 who attacked wide and passed to center James McGinn’12 for a 20 yard run for the match’s first try. This score stood up for the half and a Brown 5-0 advantage. In spite of continued possession and good field position in the second half, Brown could still not find the goal line until the end when Bentley again attempted to clear a kick from its goal line. The ball went directly to center Peak who made a shortstop like catch of the ball at knee height and scored at full time for the 10-0 finish.
The Championship match kicked off at 4 P.M. and was fast paced with the action moving back and forth as first Brown and then Northeastern would take a territorial advantage and then a poached ruck ball or turnover or referees whistle would nullify one team’s advantage. However with but two minutes left in the first half, Northeastern, which had cruised through its first three matches and was beginning to show its frustration with the much smaller but skillful Brown squad, broke the ice and scored a forward try for a 5-0 lead. Brown had come to the Tournament with only 22 players and the fatigue of the Tournament began to show as the second half wore on. Midway through the period, Brown had a scrum on its goal line and won the hook but the ball squirted out of the scrum and in goal where the alert Northeastern scrum half touched it down for a second score and a 10-0 lead. With but three minutes left in the match, Northeastern put an unnecessary final score over the line, which was converted to put the match away at 17-0. Brown rose up for the final three minutes and was attacking in the opponents end as the match ended.
Brown took second place in Division I and distinguished themselves, in this writer’s opinion, beyond a doubt, as the second best men’s team in the entire tournament. Brown’s lineouts and scrums produced clean ball, the backs ran their offense with confidence, variety and continuity and the entire team defended well. And in terms of looking ahead, only 5 seniors and 3 juniors participated in the tournament.
The coaches and trainers did a fine job this spring and I want to thank head coach Dave Laflamme for his leadership and the work of his assistants Rich Ashfield, Matt Medina and Danny Saccoccio. Also thanks to our two trainers Amanda Moran and Kelly Texeira. Our co-captains, Andrew Alavarez’11 and Sam Rabb’10 were present throughout the Tournament even though both are recovering from injuries, providing the leadership that is expected from Brown Rugby captains. The work of everyone bodes well for our 50th Anniversary Fall League Season. In tournaments, not all players get much playing time, but having the players there is extremely important. This was a supportive group and each one is acknowledged below.
Tournament Squad 1. Bob Forrester’10 ( played in four matches) 2. Dan Levine-Spound’12 (played in four matches) 3. John Hermansen’10 (played in four matches) 4. Ian Field”13 (played in three matches. Rall Walsh’10 (played in one match) 5. Mike Wharton’12 (played in four matches). Mike Donnell (played in one match) 6. Ryan Drebin’12 (played in four matches) 7. Zach Long’13 (played in four matches). Dan Rabb’10 (played in one match) 8. Greg Karwaski’11 (played in four matches). 9. Dave Riley’10 (played in four matches) 10. Zahid Jethani’13 (played in four matches) 11. Ian Clancy’12 (played in four matches). John Oberbeck’12 (played in one match) 12. John Goddard’13 (played in one match). Taylor Peak’12 (played in three matches) 13. James McGinn’13 (played in four matches) 14. Dow Travers’12 (played in four matches). Blair Cameron’13 (played in one match). 15. Rob Powell’11 (played in four matches 16. Corey Freeland’13 (reserve-did not play) The spring 2010 fifteens season is now over.
Brown travels to Dartmouth on the first weekend in May to play in the Ivy League inaugural Spring Sevens Tournament. This should be an entertaining event and information will be forthcoming.
Contact: Jay Fluck, Director of Rugby, Brown University
Email: Jay [dot] Fluck
cbre-ne [dot] com