ACI Tournament

Day 2

UVA vs. Florida State University – W 10-8

UVA arrived at day two ranked as the number one seed in the tournament. The previous day of play dictated that they would face FSU in the semi-final of the ACI tournament. Maryland and UNC would play for the other place in the final.

Weather conditions were better than the first day, however due to scheduling conflicts the semi-finals were played on the second pitch which was extremely boggy. Games earlier in the day did nothing to help the conditions.

Virginia prepared to face FSU with the knowledge that they would be facing Maryland in the final if they came away with a victory. The rugby was sloppy, with both sides clearly impacted by the poor footing. The Cavaliers used kicking to gain ground, and despite penalties on the FSU line they were unable to penetrate missing clear scoring opportunities. A late hit on Full Back Nic Posada gave Virginia a scrum on the five yard line. A pick and go set up phase two, and Inside Center Andrew Fiscella was able to crash through the FSU line to touch down under the posts. A Posada conversion put Virginia up 7-0. This lead was something that Virginia would have liked to take into the half, but an offsides call gave FSU a penalty that they converted closing the score to 7-3. This seemed to boost the FSU morale, as they showed quick hands to loop around the UVA defense. A behind-the-back pass put the FSU winger in open space which he managed capitalize on, sliding into the corner for a try. With this came the half-time whistle with UVA down, 7-8.

In the second half FSU used strong kicking to pin UVA inside their 22. Once again, offside penalties gave FSU scoring opportunities but luckily for Virginia both attempts at goal were missed. The Cavalier side also missed opportunities, knocking on inside the ten meter line after strong pressure from scrums and lineouts.

The situation looked bleak for UVA tournament hopes, as time was slowly ticking off the clock. With only minutes to play, FSU gave away a penalty in front of the posts for hands in the ruck. Scrum Half George Lynch almost threw away this chance to win the game by choosing to tap and go, but Lock Carson Green showed quick thinking by charging at the FSU defense that had not retreated ten. This pushed the penalty up by ten yards, allowing Posada to slot the ball through the posts. FSU swiftly kicked off but the game was essentially over, and Flanker Sean Stebbins hoofed the ball out of bounds for a UVA win. 10-8.

Conditions had certainly played a factor in determining the course of the game, but Virginia was extremely unsatisfied with the performance they had put in. They knew that in facing Maryland they would have to play much better to win in the final.

UVA vs. Maryland – W 12-5

The final was moved to Raleigh’s match pitch, which had faired slightly better with the weather over the weekend. Although it was less torn up, it was still waterlogged and UVA prepared itself for a forward dominated game.

From the opening whistle UVA showed an intensity that was lacking in the previous game against FSU. Both sides seemed evenly matched, but Virginia put steady pressure on Maryland and forced them to play in their 22. Early on, Fly Half Gerry Spelman and Winger Jeff Perkowski almost linked up on an excellent cross field kick, but the Maryland winger managed to force the ball out of bounds.

After a series of phases, eight-man South Holden inserted into the UVA backline and managed to penetrate a hole in the Maryland defense. Quickly cutting around the Maryland Full Back he was able to slide across the line for the first points of the game. Unfortunately Posada pushed the conversion wide.

There was continued pressure from UVA in the first half, but small errors kept costing UVA from scoring.

The second half showed a difference in play from the Maryland side. They used kicking to gain field position, and UVA gave away a series of penalties that gave Maryland a lineout on the Virginia five yard line. From the lineout Maryland put 13 men into a rolling maul that managed to cross the line for a score. This left the score at 5-5 with about 10 minutes to play.

UVA immediately bounced back from this disappointment and showed that they could adjust to the change in the Maryland game-plan. Putting pressure on the Maryland back three, Virginia was able to attack inside the 22, but a forward pass caused the attack to stop. The UVA scrum had been playing well all day, and they knew that this was the time to step up the intensity. Disrupting the Maryland scrum, a partial wheel forced the Maryland eight-man to pick and go. He distributed to his scrum half who passed the ball back to a waiting fly half. However this had given Flanker Sean Stebbins just enough time necessary, as he managed to charge down the clearing kick. The ball rolled into the try zone and Stebbins was able to dive on it for a score. Posada converted the try and Maryland immediately sprinted out for one last chance to score.

A late hit on Outside Center Jeremy Prud’Homme gave UVA a penalty directly from the kickoff, and Spelman launched the ball out of bounds to the sound of the final whistle.

This was an extremely satisfying and rewarding weekend for Virginia Rugby. The goal of the tournament was to come away as ACI champions and that goal was recognized. The team showed determination and resilience as they overcame miserable conditions and tough playing to secure the trophy.

ACI Tournament

Day One

UVA vs. Clemson – W 32-0

UVA prepared to face Clemson as conditions at the ACI tournament continued to worsen. Games were shortened to 20 minute halves in for fear that thunderstorms would approach in the afternoon. The rain was unrelenting, resulting in very boggy fields.

Virginia came out strong, showing continued pressure on the Tigers defense. Despite conditions indicating that a forwards game would have to be played, the Cavaliers managed to find a balance between aggressive forward and well executed backline play. Full-back Nic Posada touched down for the first points of the tournament, and his efforts were supported by a penalty from Fly-Half Anthony Simasek, and a try from Eight-Man South Holden. It should be noted that after a series of strong attacking moves, Virginia had an extremely attractive scoring opportunity at the Clemson line. A knock-on gave the UVA forwards a chance to drive into the end-zone, and with well-worked and controlled effort, Scrum-Half George Lynch was presented with a gift – the ball resting in the Clemson try-zone under Holden’s feet. With style, Lynch dived to touch the ball down, but knocked it on, again depriving him of a chance to score for the first time after four years of rugby (typical). UVA reached halftime with a 13-0 lead, but after several words from coach Livett, UVA were determined to change what he considered lack-luster play and come out stronger in the second half.

A change in Virginia attitude was apparent as soon as the second half kicked off. Virginia immediately showed that they were determined to leave the field with a victory. Taking lessons learnt in practice the week before, forwards and backs connected with offloads in the tackle creating fast, flowing rugby. Flanker Colin O’Brien and Lock Carson Green connected down the left hand side of the field in a breakaway move, leaving George Lynch with a second opportunity to score. This time he did not disappoint, and touched down to open up the Virginia scoring in the second half with his Zulu try. O’Brien was also able to touch down himself, as UVA showed great team play against the Tigers. The final score came from Hooker and Captain Chris Kobes, who slid into across the line after Spelman and Fiscella connected with stylish offloads in contact as UVA raced through the Clemson line. This try was claimed by those watching as the try of the tournament, so far.

The day was not over however, as UVA knew that NC State was going to be a big challenge in the afternoon as they had beaten Clemson earlier that morning.

UVA vs. NC State – W 26-0

Knowing that nothing but a win would guarantee UVA a place in the semi-finals of the tournament, the Cavaliers took the field determined to perform as they did against Clemson.

NC State immediately used their forwards to attack channel one as they had done against Clemson. However the UVA defense showed that they were willing to face the Wolfpack head on. The performance from both sides in the first half was not quality rugby, as the conditions and tackling was broken up by offside penalties and knock-ons. NC State were frustrated by Virginia's aggressive tackling, as they were unable to make any significant ground.

Halftime arrived with the score unbroken at 0-0. The UVA huddle was frustrated and again the coach had several things to point out, as players realized they had not been playing at their potential. With a promise to start the second half at pace, the team took the field ready for a fiery 20 minutes.

The second half was much cleaner, as the Cavaliers were able to successfully pressure the Wolfpack back three. Using well positioned kicks to gain territory and keep NC State in their half, Virginia Flanker Sean Stebbins stole a Wolfpack lineout. Offloading to his backline, quick hands created a small opportunity which Inside Centre Andrew Fiscella took advantage of to touch down between the posts. Lining up the conversion, Fly-Half Gerry Spelman took his time, but pushed the kick wide. UVA understood that they needed to take every scoring opportunity they were given.

Once again, UVA forwards and backs linked up, using strong defense to create turnovers that they immediately took advantage of. Holden and O’Brien touched down for two more scores as pressure on the NC State line continued. With a penalty in the corner, and increased confidence, Virginia elected to take the scrum with intent to drive over the line. Being forced backwards the Wolfpack broke the scrum up, and Holden once again crossed the line with a quickly timed pick-and-go.

Two solid performances left spirits high as day one ended. With a final score of 26-0, UVA is ranked as the number one seed going into the cup semi-finals.

UVA are ACI bound!

This weekend April 5-6th UVA will take part in the inaugural ACI competition hosted by Raleigh Vipers RFC at 7104 Poole Road, Raleigh NC.

The competition has been split into two groups of five on Saturday with UVA playing UNC, NC State, Georgia Tech and FSU in 4 40 minute games.
Sunday will then comprise of two sets of semi finals with the top two teams playing for a place in the ACI cup final, while 3rd and 4th place teams play off for the Plate final and the 5th place teams will play in the Bowl Final.

Full details of the game schedule can be found at www.acirugby.com

We look forward to meeting the parents and Alumni who can make it!

UVa smarten up against JMU

Following a disappointing performance against Georgetown the week before, Virginia was determined to put on a strong display of rugby against JMU. With many parents in town to watch the game, the 1st XV took the field first and immediately put themselves into an attacking position. After both forwards and backs had crossed the line, the first half drew to a close with the Cavaliers in the lead by several tries. Unlike other games in the past, UVA continued to put the pressure on the Dukes, and refused to let JMU break the Virginia line. After 80 minutes of tough rugby, UVA secured its 5th win of the season 65-0.

However the game did not come without a degree of loss, with Virginia fly-half Steven Brewer and winger Jared Decker suffering season ending injuries.

The 2nd XV took the field resolute that they would not let the 1st XV steal the thunder. With hard running from the backline and some strong tackling, the 2nd’s continued their undefeated spring season, putting 28 points on the board against JMU’s 12.

UVA has no game the coming week, and will use the unscheduled time to both rest and practice in preparation for the challenge of the ACI tournament in two weeks time.

Strong 2ndXV but 1stXV below par performance against Georgetown

In the second double header of the spring season, UVA rugby faced Georgetown in what was going to be a tough game for both the 1st and 2nd XV teams. The 2nd XV played first, and continued to show that they are a force to beat. Shutting out Georgetown 29-0; there was strong play from both forwards and backs throughout the game. The Virginia scrum was very impressive, winning a lot of scrums against the head and securing rucks and mauls for effective back line attacks.

Unfortunately for Virginia, the second game did not prove to be as successful. In a hard fought game, the UVA 1st XV made some careless errors that led to Georgetown points. Despite some strong attacking opportunities nearing the end of the game, UVA was unable to cross the try line, and Georgetown held out for an 18-12 win. The loss is something that the Cavaliers do not take lightly, and will use the lessons from the game to try to improve for the coming game against the JMU Dukes.

UVA v Virginia Military Institute

UVA 1st and 2nd XV defeat VMI

UVA prepared to face Virginia Military Institution knowing that the games would prove to be a strong test before a week of rest. The team felt as though it was important to create some chemistry between some of the first team starters as the spring season progresses. Luckily for the team, there were no major injury issues entering the game.

The 2nd XV played first, and showed that the practice put in earlier in the week had paid off. After a win against Hampton Sydney the weekend prior to this game the team carried a lot of confidence going into the game. This confidence clearly fed into the game against VMI, as both forwards and backs worked together well. The forwards worked in pods well, rucking strongly to win the ball for the UVA backs. The backs then used hard running and rehearsed moves to create holes in the VMI defensive line. The Cavalier defense also showed it was up to the challenge of the VMI attack, allowing only one score from the opposition.

The UVA pressure ultimately proved to be too much for the VMI side, as the 2nd XV ran in four tries from Posada, Buck, McGavick and Bourassa. Inside-Center Lucas Gillenwater converted one of these tries and slotted over a penalty for himself.

Final score was a UVA win, 25-8.

Determined not to let the 2nd XV steal the thunder of the first home double-header of the spring season, the 1st XV was amped up to repeat a UVA victory. In front of home field fans, the 1st XV lived up to the standard already set by the 2nds. The 10, 12, and 13 combination of Brewer, Prud’Homme and Spelman showed in their first start together that they would be an effective force both in attack and defense. Scrum-half Andrew Hucks-Folliss also had a strong performance in his first A-side start at the position, scoring his zulu try in the process.

During the first half the UVA side showed some quality aspects of play in what was a much disciplined display of rugby. The Chris Kobes captained side ran in four tries before the break, and refused to let the VMI side break their lines. It was a promising start for the Cavalier 1st XV, but the team realizes that they can still improve and will put in the work in practice. With a break of two weeks the team will have plenty of time to practice and rest before a tough challenge against Georgetown at home on the weekend of the 15th of March.

Points Score: 28-0 Try’s: Hucks-Follis, Balint, Spelman, Farley.

Virginia Loses Nailbiter to Maryland

Final Score: Univ. of Virginia 27 - Maryland 29

UVA was back in action in the MARFU league this week and showed signs in the first half of how good they can be when they play at their best. Early in the game their backs were firing on all cylinders and cutting up MarylandÕs back line. However they were unable to capitalize and gave up a penalty outside their 22 that Maryland Converted for points. With about 25 minutes to go in the half Flyhalf Anthony Simasek hit outside center Gerry Spelman who broke the line and offloaded to Jon Roberts who dotted down their first try of the game. With Virginia up 5-3 they put the gas on and quickly put down two more tries. Lock Max Erwin scored his Zulu on a crushing 30 yard run back inside and Spelman took advantage of another overload and scored his second try of the season. With Virginia up 19-3 and only minutes to go in the half, Simasek made a costly mistake inside VirginiaÕs 22. Misreading the defense his pass was picked off and Maryland had an easy try. Just before the half Spelman converted a penalty for three more points and Virginia looked good going into the half time break up 22-10. In the first half the forwards played well dominating the tackle line and driving back a much bigger pack. Virginia let off the gas in the 2nd half and allowed Maryland and the referee to take control of the game. Early in the 2nd half Virginia lost a line-out on their own 5 meter line and Maryland was able to capitalize and score. With the lead just 22-17 Maryland kicked the ball deep into UVa territory and recovered it in the try zone to gain the lead. With 10 minutes to go Virginia was down 29-22. After the backs broke the line the forwards got to work. After a few pick and goÕs hooker, Alex Robertson, was able to break the defense and score a try. Unfortunately the conversion went wide and Virginia was left with a loss in a game they should have won.

The second side however continued their dominance in the MARFU B-League and came away with a 10-7 victory. The game started off a bit slow as UVa struggled to adjust to the referee. But the pack held strong and dominated the gain line early. Lucas Gillenwater in just his second game at flyhalf played well and made use of his two centers all day. UVA was most successful in the back line when using their centers, Frankie Balint and Chris Heather, who had their usual hard nosed games and crashed through MarylandÕs defense. After a lot of back and forth play UVa finally found themselves deep in Maryland territory and the pack took over. Mark Mcdonald in just his rookie season on the flank made his prescence known all game, with crushing runs and dotted down the first try. Maryland was able to score before half and was up 7-5 going into the break. The second half play was similar to that of the first with the pack battling it out and the backs finding holes when they opened up. UVa finally found a bit of a rhythm towards the end of the half and McDonald picked up where he left off scoring his second try of the game to put UVa up for good 10-7. The second side for UVa showed a lot of promise and the rookies all put in good showings. UVA will be back in action this Saturday with their home opener against Tennessee. B Side kicks off at 10am followed by the WomenÕs game vs. JMU and the A side game will follow immediately after.