Men's rugby defends EPRU championship, women fall short

This season the men's rugby team has learned to play and win in high-pressure games, and this experience proved invaluable when the Tigers defended their league championship by beating Westchester, 31-5.

After losing to Westchester in its first game of the season, Princeton (5-1) had to win all of its remaining games to defend its 2001 Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union title.

The Tigers' success in the fall qualifies the team for higher-level tournaments in the spring. By winning the EPRU on Sunday, Oct. 27 the Tigers earned the right to compete in the Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union tournament in March, and the top two teams from the MARFU will qualify for the national tournament in April.

Besides qualifying for MARFUs in the spring, last Sunday's game against Westchester also had revenge at stake. When the two teams met on Sept. 14, the Tigers had only practiced four times and the team was still adjusting to new positions. Also, the Tigers were playing shorthanded, missing its senior eight-man Ben Miller and sophomore fly-half Cameron Young.

Westchester controlled the game, beating the Tigers, 27-15, but even with the lack of practice and fitness, the Princeton forwards had a great game against Westchester, and the dominance by the pack has been a staple of the team all season.

The rematch began just as Princeton had expected, with the Tigers taking the ball off the opening kickoff and driving down the field with a number of runs by the forward. The ball was then sent out to the backs who took the ball to the Westchester 22. The Tiger drive began to stall, when a number of tight balls were tackled at the game line, but junior flanker Josh Girvin took a wide pass from sophomore scrum-half Johnny Hepburn and ran over two Westchester tacklers to score the first try of the game.

After the Tigers took a 5-0 lead six minutes in, Westchester had its one offensive success of the game. On the ensuing kickoff, the Westchester fly-half squib-kicked the ball, but a bad bounce left the ball into Westchester hands. The Tiger defense stopped Westchester at the game line several times, but the Westchester fly-half had a long run for their only try after three missed tackles at the game line.

On the ensuing possession the Tigers went on the attack, keyed by the forwards. "The backs have been playing well all season, but we knew that our pack was much better than theirs. Rolling in three mauls was great, but I really think we could have rolled in another two or three," junior hooker Ben Handzo said.

The Tiger pack struck again at 20 minutes in the half, by winning the line-out and then rolling the maul in for the try, making the score 12-5. The Tigers did not look back from there, putting in another rolling maul off a line-out to make the score 17-5 at the end of the half.

The Tigers maintained their momentum in the second period. The forwards attacked the weaker Westchester side and continued to poach the ball and win defensive scrums and line-outs.

Princeton was on the verge of several other tries, but forward passes and dropped balls prevented the score from reaching the 50s. Nevertheless, it was clearly the best game for the Tigers all season, who proved they will be able compete with Penn State and Navy in the spring at MARFUs.

A great sign for the Tigers was that it was able to handle Westchester without junior scrum-half Mike Carvin, who missed the game after losing three teeth in the Kutztown game the week before.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The women's team, on the other hand, had a very upsetting break, losing in the quarterfinals of the EPRU tournament, and for the first time in 10 years, the women's rugby team will not qualify for the MARFU tournament in the spring.

The Tigers played Westchester's women's team on Saturday, and in a sloppy game, Princeton played below its normal standard and Westchester played its best rugby of the season. The Tigers had lost momentum after dropping a match to East Stroudsburg two weeks before, which made them the No. 2 seed in the league. The Tigers managed to recover the next day in the consolation game, beating Millersville 32-0, but it was too late for the team. This is a disappointment for a team that thought it might compete for a national title in the spring. The squad still has many games left including the Ivy tourney, but MARFUs and the nationals is always its goal.

"We put in the work in practice, and we left everything we had on the field," junior inside-center Kim Nortman said, "and I am confident that we will return next year ready to dominate EPRUs once again."