Charles River v. Framingham Match Report       

April 6^th, 2013, 12:00pm

 Moakley Park, South Boston, MA

Rats Match

Position	Rats Starter	Substitute[1]
#1 Prop	Phil Adams	Chris Gardner
#2 Hooker	Alec “Ox” Tolivaisa
#3 Prop	Wes Page
#4 Lock	Dave “Andre” Bloom	“White” Dave McVey
#5 Lock	Mark “The Kid” Cassidy
#6 Flanker	“Black” Grant McAuslan
#7 Flanker	Stu Dunster
#8 8-Man	Andrew “J-Hole” Jackson	Jeff Garner
#9 Scrum-Half	Mike “President” Fair
#10 Fly-Half	Ricky Friberg ©	Ray Camahort
#11 Wing	W.E. Dave Halbert
#12 Inside Center	Corey “A or B” Lang
#13 Outside Center	Jerry “Drainpipe” Kennelly (vc)
#14 Wing	Dominic Ferrante
#15 Fullback	“Glass” Josh Berzok

 

Match Details: The Charles River Rats earned their first victory of 2013, as they humbled the Framingham Exiles, 41-12. The Rats controlled the game early thanks to dominate scrumming, crisp passing and aggressive ball carrying.

During the first minute of the game, Corey Lang threw a beautiful pass to Jerry Kennelly, whom popped the ball to Grant McAuslan which led to a breakaway try, giving the Rats a 5-0 lead. Framingham was determined not to get blown out, evident by their excellent counter rucking and mauling. However, they could not capitalize on the Rats’ mistakes because they were constantly dropping the ball and giving up unforced turnovers. The Rats scored another try, thanks to a great pass from Lang to Kennelly, extending the Rats lead, 12-0. However, the try came at a great expense as Captain Ricky Friberg injured his ankle which forced him out of the game. The Exiles proceeded to play their best rugby as a beautiful counter-ruck lead to a try, cutting the Rats’ lead 12-5. The ensuing kickoff resulted in breakaway from the Exiles as they found a hole in the Rats’ pursuit. The Rats did chase down the ball carrier; however the Rats could not stop the Exiles from crossing the try line again, as they tied the score. Instead feeling discouraged, the Rats got angry and used the ball handling skills that have been taught at practice to fluster the Exiles’ defense. After the kickoff, Ray Camahort displayed his trademark power running, drawing multiple tacklers, which opened up a hole for Kennelly to exploit to give the Rats the lead, 19-12. The two squads proceeded to trade field position for the rest of the first half, until Camahort broke a tackle and dashed 80 meters for a try as the half expired, extending the Rats’ lead, 24-12.

During the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Exiles were primed to score as they drove the ball down to the five-meter line, however they could not score any points due to their inability to catch passes and the efficient tackling of the backline. The Rats penetrated the Exiles’ territory and added three points to their lead thanks to a Kennelly penalty kick. Five minutes later, McAuslan stole another line-out from the Exiles, which provided another scoring opportunity to Kennelly, extending the lead further, 34-12. With 8 minutes remaining, the Rats were 12 meters away from scoring another try, when the Exiles were guilty for putting their hands in the ruck. Sensing the Exiles’ confusion, a Rats forward “quick tapped” the ball, then passed it to an on-coming Wes Page, whom got the ball two meters away from scoring. After two more phases, the Exiles were again guilty of hands in the ruck on the try line, which prompted the referee to award a penalty try to the Rats. Page was the last player to touch the ball for the Rats, which gives him credit for the try, the first of his Charles River career.

One of many reasons the Rats prevailed was the significant improvement of the forwards’ pack. After a terrible showing against North Shore, the forwards stepped up (especially locks Dave Bloom and Mark Cassidy) and dominated the Exiles in the scrums as they did not lose any of their scrums. The success stemmed from a few tweaks by Head Coach Paul Clemens and the extra time in practice that the forwards took to clean up their scrumming form.

FINAL SCORE: Rats 41, Framingham 12 

Men of the Match[2] 

Backs: Corey Lang. For 70 minutes, the Rats had to play without their captain and half-fly, Ricky Friberg. Most teams would have gone into an offensive funk without their primary play setter; however, most teams do not have Corey Lang. With his guidance, the backs played spectacular rugby evident by their crisp plays, tough defense and their lack of “knock-ons.” In fact, during the first half, the Rats only had one knock-on. With 12 minutes left, in the game, Lang again had to switch position (to scrum-half) as Mike Fair[3] earned a yellow card. Despite the man advantage, the Exiles still could not break the Rats’ defensive line.

Forwards: Chris Gardner. Despite his rookie experience, Chris Gardner has shown great aggressiveness and tenacity with regards to his rucking and ball handling. Also, Gardner won the Rats’ March Madness pool, despite watching zero college basketball games this year.

 

Honorable Mentions: Grant McAuslan, Jerry Kenneally, Dave Bloom, Wes Page, Stuart Dunster, Mike Fair

Orange Whips Match

Match Details: Thanks to key tries by Dave Bloom and W.E. David Halbert, the Whips prevailed over the Exiles’ B-side, 12-10. The Whips were fortunate to come away with a victory as an Exile wing broke the line and dashed for a go-ahead try. However, the player dropped the ball as he entered the try zone, preserving the victory for the Whips.

FINAL SCORE: Whips 12, Framingham 10

Rats Scoring Table

 

PLAYER	TRIES	PENTALY KICKS	CONVERSIONS	TOTAL POINTS
J. Kenneally	3	1	5	27
R. Friberg	1	0	0	5
G. McAuslan	1	0	0	5
R. Camahort	1	0	0	5
W. Page	1	0	0	5

Next Week

The Rats host Boston Maccabi RFC this Saturday at Moakley Park. Time TBA.