Hampden-Sydney, VA On Homecoming Saturday on the Ellis Rugby Pitch the Hampden-Sydney Rugby Club played in a blended 7's halves format against Roanoke. Originally scheduled as the final Cardinal Collegiate Rugby Conference (CCRC) 15's match before the start of league playoffs, low player availability for Roanoke forced the change in format. Coach Trujillo used this as an opportunity to play mostly less experienced players and the younger H-SC Ruggers were able to gain playing time and and understand another form of Rugby that they will see in the spring.
Roanoke started strong, going up two tries, before H-SC's Jonathon Person opened the scoring for the Tigers with a 50 meter run, breaking through multiple tacklers.
Graeme Ebert, playing half, fullback, and prop, consistently made try-saving tackles as Roanoke was able to exploit their game plan to a high degree. Thomas Nichols used his separating speed to score a pair of tries as well.
Connor Hoban started as Hooker and played at length, racking up more than 20 minutes of 7's play. His effort resulted in a massive breakaway.
Theo Cicala played brilliantly as Fly Half, maintained discipline and control of the game. Theo led the team in tackles and was often the lead tackler. After a fun back-and-forth game, the result of which has no bearing on playoff seeding, both teams were exhausted on the field.
On November 5th and 6th at VMI, H-SC will be competing for the top spot in the CCRC Challenger's tournament. The Challenger's bracket includes, along wth H-SC. the University of Richmond, Washington and Lee, and Emory and Henry. The teams should be evenly matched: On September 24th on the Ellis Pitch, H-SC lost to Richmond 19-10. On October 15th, H-SC fell on a last-second try at Emory and Henry in a match that saw eight lead changes. In their first contested match of the season on September 17th in Lexington, the H-SC Ruggers tied Washington and Lee 17-17.
Game times and opponents have not yet been released by the CCRC office and the story will be updated at that time.
