The Yale University Rugby Football Club

Yale Loses Tight Match to Boston College

A Side

The match at BC started well with Yale playing some tough defense, stealing ball and getting the backs some quality ball. After a multi-phase attack, Yale turned over the ball with a bad pass that went into touch. BC was able to win the ensuing lineout and move the ball down the field. After some strong defense, BC mauled a lineout from about 10 meters out, broke the ball out weak where Yale had no post man set up defensively and scored a try in the corner. This put Boston College up 5-0. Yale was able to regain field position off the kick off and put tremendous pressure on BC's defense for several phases. We maintained ball possession and good field position for nearly 20 minutes and were able to convert 2 penalty kicks for points. In the 32nd minute Yale took the lead, 6-5, off its second penalty kick. BC bounced back, Yale committed three silly penalties in a row, fell asleep on a quick tap penalty and conceded a cheap second try. Not fazed, Yale mounted a rebound attack and in the last play of the first half, Yale threw and errant pass that got intercepted and resulted in another score for BC. This lead to a half time score of BC 17- Yale 6.

Play early in the second half was dominated by Yale. Flyhalf Evan Edwards '09 got the attack going in the centers and we were able to punch several good runs going forward through the centers. However, too many times these runs ended with knock-ons and we were not able to sustain good quality dynamic possession for a sufficient number of phases. Finally, after 15 - 20 minutes of good field position and possession, Edwards was able to put Yale inside center Patrick Madden '10 through a hole for a good score. An Edwards conversion brought the count to BC 17 - Yale 13. The rest of the match went back and forth , with no team dominating in any aspect of the game. BC got going late and maintained some good possession in Yale's end. The Yale defense stood tall, as it did all day, with the backs tackling particularly well. With about 8 minutes to go, BC kicked a ball into our try zone which Yale tapped down for a 22 drop. Unfortunately on the play, Yale took a stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which resulted in a Yale player put in the sin bin. Yale's momentum had been nullified, as had their ability to get the ball out of their end; their 22 dropout turned into a 5 meter scrum for the opposition. The defense stood tall again, but on the last play of the game, BC punched in another try and conversion.

Final score: BC 24 - Yale 13.

Even though the scoreboard wasn't in our favor, Yale played very well. The set pieces were really good, not giving anything to BC's large pack. The defense was strong, recycling and rucking were good, Evan's kicking game was impressive and the backs got going in the centers moreso than in any game so far this season. If it weren't for two or three mistakes, Yale would have ended up on top. We need to play all 40 minutes of each half. Yale gave up 14 points in the last minute of each half. It is no coincidence that we had our best week of training, with the numbers at training being very good. The ability to practice live scrums and lineouts and controlled scrimmages really paid off this week. With another week of good practices, Yale Rugby should be able to really break through. Men of the match were hooker James Pollack '09, prop Senthu Arumugam '09 and prop Mike Horrell '10. A honorable mention goes to Evan Edwards for a great kicking game and opening up holes in the centers to get the backs going forward.