VMI @ Albright College - March 25, 2006 - Albright, Pennsylvania

VMI traveled to Reading PA for the first round of the playoffs with the weather threatening to be rainy and cold however the day turned out to be a perfect day for rugby. The game plan was simple. Our fly half Cadet Jordan was instructed to put the ball in the corners and then have our bigger stronger forward pack pound the opposition into submission. We loss the toss and the opposition decided to play into the wind. We immediately received the kickoff and cleared our line. The opposition ran the ball back and after a short exchange we were awarded a scrum. Unfortunately we lost the head and the Albright backs were on attack. They immediately moved the ball to the outside to create space and breached our defense. With our defense scrambling the last man in defense lined up their player. Cadet Worley who has been a stalwart for VMI rugby for the last 3 years planted his feet then attempted to adjust to the cutting fullback and blew out his knee and was done. Although we covered up on defense Albright were hot on attack. Cadet Worley was replaced by Cadet Donaldson a very young new player who is showing great promise who moved to the wing and our other senior player Cadet Oliver moved to fullback. We cleared our line but the ball fell to their fullback and he put up an under for our new fullback. The ball moved in the wind and was spilled and the chasing Albright player scoped up the bouncing ball and scored beside the posts after just 5 minutes. Thankfully they had no kicker and with the conversion missed back to half way we went.

Playing with the wind we attempted to get the ball in the corners but lack of consistency with the foot and our inability to keep the ball throw more than 2 phases just stifled everything we tried. Although we were much stronger in the scrums we just couldn't mount any attack due to Albrights spoiling ways. After 20 minutes of playing in the middle of the field the Albright backs made a break and we were scrambling again. With the inability of any of our back three to clear the ball convincingly with the foot Albright began to turn up the pressure and finally it told. A number of forward charges ended with a Albright forward crashing over for a try. We lost another back at this stage Cadet Lydon to a twisted ankle. He was replaced by a 4th classman Cadet Brode another young player showing great promise. This is where the game started to come apart. Although we were still clearly in the game the pressure started to show and we started making simple mistakes and turning on each other. Again we tried to regroup but we couldn't win any front foot ball. Our set pieces normally our strength just went to pieces. We couldn't win a lineout on our ball due to either, a not straight throw, an overthrow or opposition competing and stealing. Our scrums which were pushing them off the ball every time never gave our backs good ball to attack with. One foray into Albrights 22m was cleared after a penalty that was awarded to Albright for a high tackle landed Cadet Watts in the sin bin for 10 minutes. He was joined 5 minutes later by our Captain Cadet Foley for a professional foul on our own goal line so at this stage we were down to 13 men. A mistake out the back again in the 35th minute gave the ball to Albright and from a quick tap penalty they scored another unconverted try. This is where the half ended with us down 15 points to nil.

After a stern talking to at half time about showing some composure and just getting back to the basics we kicked off playing into the wind. Immediately we got into Albrights 22 and for the next 15 minutes we pounded away on the goal line. Time after time we took the wrong option, lost the ball in the tackle, made a bad pass, or lost the ball at the set piece but we were defending a lot better now and Albright couldn't clear their line. Finally the pressure told and we kicked a penalty to be down 3 to 15. Back to halfway we went and Albright kicked off. One must say that this is where the game was lost. The ball dropped into no mans land, and after no one called for the ball, we made a mess of it and Albright where right back on attack. Unable to clear our line we were finally breached for another try to take the score to 20 to 3 with only 15 minutes remaining. From the kickoff we kicked the ball directly out and from the issuing scrum we were once again backed up on our goal line. From a scrum on our put in we lost the head and there No 8 picked it quickly and charged the 10m to score beside the posts and end the contest. It was converted and now we were down 27 to 3. We came back to half way and credit must be given as we never gave up and with 5 minutes to go Cadet Foley after a good passage of play barreled his way over for a try that was unconverted. The final whistle went and the curtain came down on our playoff season.

From a coaching and players perspective this game was bitterly disappointing as we just didn't show up to play today and our strengths, be it the scrum, the lineout, and our ability to blow people off the ball at ruck time were non existent. The coach feels very responsible for this effort as it appeared I had not prepared my players for this challenge. Credit must be given to Albright, although physically inferior, they got after the ball with real tenacity and really put the pressure on our scrum half and fly half. They also tackled admirably and never gave us an opportunity to get our offense going. Although the curtain has come down on our playoff hopes this year it has not come down on our season and I would be remiss about the positives that came out of this game and the spring season as a whole. Two backs took the field as replacements and both of them are just out of diapers and both ran and tackled extremely well. Cadet Donaldson ran the Wing away move with brilliant precision. So impressive was his timing that he found himself running free down the field. Unfortunately not only had it completely fooled Albright it also totally fooled our supporting players so with only the full back to beat he had no one to pass to and the play was snuffed out. Cadet Brode is a missile in the tackle and is going to be a phenomenal inside our outside center with more experience. We are only losing 3 players in the forwards and although all three have been mountains for VMI rugby their understudy's up stepping up all ready. I hope they will continue playing after they graduate as all three could easily play at a higher level. The same goes for the backs were we only lose the services of our back 3 Cadets Smith, Oliver and of course the injured Worley & Lydon. Their attacking prowess was only matched by their comical antics, as if anything funny was going on in the team, it generally originated from these guys. They will be sorely missed but their replacements are definitely up and coming.

Next up for us is the Cherry Blossom and with a mind for building for next year the coach has plans to give some younger players the opportunity to get a run and show their wares.

Regards, Coach Howe

VMI RUGBY SAVANNAH/CITADEL TOUR 2006

VMI arrived at the Citadel on a beautiful sunny March afternoon and were warmly welcomed by the opposing players who were busily marking the pitch on the parade ground. Before the kickoff the teams were announced and first blood must be given to the announcer of the sides, as he wished the Citadel the best of luck and hoped they beat those Yankees from the north. This obviously went down extremely well with VMI and the game started at a horrendous pace not only on attack but with a great deal of velocity and ferocity on defense. One must say due to the intense rivalry VMI might have got themselves so riled up that they blew a couple of opportunities to score points on attack at the outset. Playing with the wind and having a clear superiority in the set pieces VMI in their excitement made some poor decisions on attack and this let the Citadel of on a number of occasions when tries went begging. The game progressed with VMI dominating but the Citadel growing in confidence. At 25 minutes the Citadel was awarded a penalty and worked their way into VMI's 22m. A lineout to VMI saw us overthrow the jumper and the very able opposition open side flanker snatched the ball at the back and charged the 10m to score beside the posts at 30 minutes. The conversion was made and back to half way went VMI with determination.

After the kickoff VMI immediately got a penalty that Cadet Jordan kicked to touch for a 5 m lineout. The resulting drive from the lineout saw Cadet Hill blast his way over for a try. The conversion was missed and back to half way went VMI. From the ensuing kickoff, beautifully won in the air by Cadet Russell, the ball was kicked down into the Citadel's 22m and a knock on resulted in a scrum feed to VMI. From the scrum Cadet Jordan ran a cut play with Cadet Foley (normally our tight head prop who was playing inside center because we didn't have a lot of backs available to travel) who steamrolled through their backs and set a ruck. The resulting ball was cleared to Cadet Jordan who then stepped his opposite number to get in the clear. With only the fullback to beat he found a beautifully supporting player in Cadet Oliver who scored far out at 38 minutes. The conversion was missed but now VMI led 10 to 7.

From the kickoff VMI again attacked and were awarded a penalty for a high tackle on Cadet Jordan. His penalty kick to the sideline was at least 50 meters and automatically we were back on the Citadel's goal line. From the lineout we took a text book drive into the end zone where Cadet Shennefield touched down. So enthusiastic Cadet Shennefield was to score a try, when the referee didn't immediately blow his whistle to award it, Cadet Shennefield touched the ball down about 4 times to make sure. Unfortunately Shenny, that only counts for 1 in your try scoring statistics. This time the conversion was made and the half ended with VMI leading 17 to 7.

The second half began with us playing into the wind and the Citadel fired up to get back in the game. Sure enough immediately after the kickoff VMI was penalized deep in our half and the Citadel fly half slotted it to bring the score to 17 to 10. We kicked off and with some interchanges of play VMI was awarded a penalty at 50 minutes which Cadet Jordan slotted to make the score 20 to 10. For the next 15 minutes VMI was on the defensive. Good tactical kicking by the Citadel, and good pressure kept us backed up and we were constantly scrambling. At 65 minutes our defense broke and the Citadel scored an unconverted try to bring the score to 20 to 15. With the momentum firmly now in the Citadel's favor they immediately attacked from the restart. Again and again VMI repelled their assault but we just couldn't get out of our half and mount any pressure on them. Finally the pressure told. Their fly half (absolutely their best player) chipped over our backs, ran by us and touched the ball down beside the posts to level the score at 20 all. The conversion was made and now VMI was down 20 to 22 with only 5 minutes to play.

Some substitutions by the coach bought on one of our more devastating ball carriers, Cadet Johnson, who immediately gave us results. From the kick off the Citadel knocked on and we were awarded a scrum. Cadet Johnson playing at number 8 picked up the ball and charged on the blindside running over their would-be defender. From the breakdown we were awarded a penalty and after getting the Citadel marched 10 yards for not getting back after a quick tap Cadet Jordan slotted the penalty to put us back in front 23 to 22. From the kickoff the Citadel failed to kick the ball 10m so we were awarded a scrum on half way. Immediately Cadet Johnson went to work again, picking the ball from the back and busting his way through the defense. Down the field he sprinted and after being tackled by the retreating backs close to Citadel's goal line he got the ball to Cadet Worley who got it to Donaldson on the wing and he crashed over in the corner with 3 Citadel kids hanging on his back. This is where I must correct Col. Irby's report. From the sideline Cadet Jordan slotted the conversion to make the score VMI 30 to 22 at 79 minutes. With one play left the Citadel kicked off deep in the corner. The ball was taken in and a ruck was set. The ball was freed to Cadet Jordan standing inside his 22m. He ran up to the defense and chipped over it. He got the bounce on the fly, and was off downfield with only one man to beat. The Citadel fullback charged up to make the tackle was wrong footed as Cadet Jordan streaked away for what this coach believes is one of the finest tries ever scored at VMI. Due to Cadet Jordan going 80m in a great solo effort the coach has forgiven him for missing the sitter of a conversion to end the game with VMI on top 35 to 22. The players were then presented the new trophy (a mounted silver boot) by the President of the Citadel, a trophy that this coach hopes will be played for every year as it was a wonderful occasion and played for in the best spirits of the game. Special mention must be made of Maj. Bill Bell who couldn't have been a more gracious host.

So with trophy in tow the team departed Charleston SC to Savannah GA for the St Patrick's Day rugby tournament. Our first game on Saturday morning was against the University of Maine and by the size of the guys playing for them they enjoy their food in Maine. Either that or they have a serious steroid problem in the North East. To say they were big would be an understatement - some of their guys could have counted for 2. Unfortunately a mysterious bug had infected our guys and our play can best be described as horrible. Fortunately for us we got by on a little bit of individual brilliance and came away from the game winners 21 to 19. Our next game was against the University of Ohio. It appears the University of Ohio had been taking the same pills the Maine team had as they were monsters too. The bug that had affected our players so badly in the morning had started to wear off so our play in the second game was much more like VMI coaches have come to expect. Unfortunately we came out losers in that game 0 to 5. We had a couple of opportunities to win it but just couldn't finish them off. One must say the refereeing left something to be desired but that goes both ways. The final game was Sunday at 11:30 am against our nearby neighbor Radford. Radford had lost the day before to Ohio State and showed up to play us with the same mysterious bug that had affected our players on the Friday night. Their bug however was a much tougher strain as it landed two of their players in the local jail the night before. So with 3rd place on the line the coach decided a radical game plan was required. The team was named to many whoops and hollers and I have listed the players here to give you an idea of the brilliance of my plan. The team is named with the position they played and in brackets the number that they normally play.

Adams 1 (1) Tammelin 2 (2) Marcus 3 (3) Ox 4 (4) Branham 5 (1) Hill 6 (5) Russell 7 (4) Waddell 8 (1) Lessen 9 (7) Foley 10 (3) Cassin 11 (6) Johnson 12 (8) Kerkhof 13 (7) Shennefield 14 (2) Boykin 15 (2)

So with the all forward team VMI took the field against a very fired up Radford team (actually they had one really fired up guy - the rest looked like they needed a lot more sleep and their stomachs pumped). To say we totally manhandled them would be too nice. Unfortunately wherever they ran a forward was waiting to deliver a blow and deliver a blow VMI did. With Boykin slotting goals and everyone running like a forward (because they actually all were) we ran over and through (not a lot of around when you have forwards playing in the backs) and ran away with the game and 3rd place 21 to Nil. That was the end of what this coach would describe as a successful southern trip for VMI. A win against the Citadel and 2 out of 3 at the tournament not to mention some great team bonding and some very funny stories that the coach is not obliged to discuss here.

This week we travel to Albright to play in the quarter finals against what looks like to be a very athletic team (they were at the tournament but played in the men's division so as to avoid playing us).

Regards, Coach Howe

VMI RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB 2006-2007