Sports
Men’s rugby remains unbeaten
By Kaitlin McCabe ’16
October 8, 2015
The Hamilton College Men’s Rugby Club (3-0-1) enters this weekend’s competition seemingly retaining the best record of any Hamilton team. After dominating their last four games, the men have climbed to second out of six in their NSCRO division standings, thus clinching a home playoff game on Saturday, October 17.
The men traveled to Paul Smith’s College on Sept. 26. For the week prior to the match, the team practiced using the entire pitch rather than sticking to small pockets of space during plays.
“We wanted to develop a genera principle of utilizing space that was open and not falling into a pattern, seeing the full field,” backs captain Andrew Leopold ’16 explained. Over the course of practices, they definitely grew more prepared for their upcoming test, having demonstrated what John Bates ’16 referred to as “improved back and forth fluidity.”
Surely, the men’s effort paid off—Hamilton triumphed over Paul Smith’s 33-3, earning them a bonus point in standings for scoring at least four tries.
Leopold, who went 4-for-5 on conversions, scored the first try of match off of a kick and chase play.
Sam Copman ’16 continued the trajectory of success, scoring both the second and fourth Hamilton tries. While Copman has played on the team since his first-year spring, these were his first collegiate tries.
“It’s nice he was able to be rewarded on the offensive end,” Leopold said.
Copman had a very successful performance on all ends of the pitch, in addition to scoring two significant tries for the team. “Sam played really well defensively, making several good tackles,” Bates added. “The [person getting tackled]’s going to the ground with Sam, one way or another.”
Nick Pace ’19, the elected Rookie of the Game, is credited with the third try, another collegiate first. Assisted by Bates, who then offloaded to forwards captain Nick Ball ’16, Pace received the ball and brought it successfully into the try zone.
“When I scored my try, I felt like I was on top of the world,” Pace said.
Hamilton’s last try came from Jeremy Mathurin ’16. In an incredible display of strength, Mathurin broke eight tackles and drove three defenders down the pitch in order to successfully score right between the goalposts.
Joey Rokous ’18 contributed significantly to Hamilton’s success by excelling in his counter plays; the men insisted that their countering was at its best because of his athleticism and speed.
In short: Hamilton owned the pitch. The men demonstrated their strengths in all areas, from their domination in the scrum to their unstoppable intensity.
“Our forwards and backs linked up very well,” club president Matt Currier ’16 praised. Pace agreed, “It was evident that our team chemistry was superior.”
The team’s confidence surely bolstered their performance last Saturday in its game against Clarkson, ranked fifth out of six in the league. In their Fallcoming game, Hamilton crushed the opposition 34-0.
From the start of gameplay, Hamilton overpowered Clarkson with unrelenting possession of the ball. The entirety of the first half took place within the visiting squad’s 22-meter line, just steps away from the try zone
Hamiton yet again recorded a series of tries. First Rokous scored on a skip-pass play after an offload from Bates; his try was the third time Hamilton scored within the 5-meter line on a play. Ball then assisted Mathurin in his second try of the year, followed by a try from Dan Farina ’17, his third of the year.
Ball, after assisting two tries against Clarkson, finally secured his own try following Farina. This was his first try of the year.
In the second half of the match, Hamilton admittedly became a little sloppy.
“People were trying to make big plays out of small opportunities,” Bates explained. “We did a good job finding guys to continue the play, but we got a little pass-happy.”
The men’s fierce display of skill and athleticism in the first half turned into careless mistakes, specifically in rucks. In all fairness, the rucks were messy throughout the match on both sides, and thus, both teams expressed their concerns to the sir. Yet, it was Hamilton that ultimately took the fall for the aggression. In order to send a message about the danger of the rucks, the sir gave Harry Dubke ’19 a yellow card for improper physical conduct. Leopold attempted to challenge the decision but was consequently also penalized with a yellow card for inappropriately talking back to a sir.
In the final half of regulation, both Alex Hollister ’17 and Noam Barnhard ’18 scored career-first tries, the latter with Hamilton down two men.
Despite some mistakes, the men were very satisfied with Saturday’s outcome. Ball was especially pleased by the “well-rounded” nature of the rucks; “Everyone contributed,” he explained.
This Saturday, the men will finish their regular season at Saint Lawrence. While the men are extremely confident going forward, they maintain their ongoing need to prime their skills and avoid making mental mistakes.
“As playoffs approach, we still need to tighten up penalties and rucks,” Leopold said. “We want to focus on tackling well and role identification on tackling rucks.”
Hamilton will participate in divisional playoffs the weekend of fall break, Oct. 17. The championship for the northern division will be the weekend after, to be followed by a bye week before the NSCRO championships series.
The men’s performance this entire season blatantly begs the question, Why is rugby not more acknowledged and supported on the Hamilton campus? With its impressive record and talented athletes, the men’s rugby team rises above its club status to equal—and arguably surpass—that of Hamilton’s varsity sports.
That’s what happens when you play with neither pads nor helmets—just balls.