Men's Club Rugby: Princeton tramples Penn in third-place game

Following a disappointing loss to perennial powerhouse Dartmouth in the Ivy League semifinals the previous week, the men’s club rugby team was hungry for a win against Penn in the third-place match this past Friday. It made up for the disappointment with a resounding statement, winning 59-0.

Senior captain Matt Hepburn noted that the lopsided score line accurately represents the nature of the contest.

“We scored really early on, and for most of the first half, we were in their half of the pitch,” he said. “The score line does reflect how well we played.”

Princeton scored off of its very first possession. Standout senior fly-half Phil Halsey chalked up this overwhelming result to “a whole team effort” in which all positions took care of their assignments on offense and defense. Even in a weekend where “everything clicked,” he noted that the Tigers could have put up an even higher score had they capitalized on a few lost opportunities.

Hepburn explained that the forwards managed to deny Penn in scrums, which is the restarting of a play after an accidental infringement or the ball has gone out of play, and set-pieces, which are similar to throw-ins in soccer. Additionally, senior center Will Schleier added two tries in what was his last match in the Orange and Black.

The Tigers scored nine tries with seven-for-nine conversions — each try equaling five points with subsequent conversions of two points — and allowed zero points, which was surprising considering the 33-33 draw against Penn in their previous encounter. Freshman scrum-half Mike Rice noted that Princeton failed to capitalize on its halftime lead in its previous fixture.

The Tigers have made great strides in the months since their last encounter, however. Remarkably, Friday’s win wasn’t the highest-scoring outing this season for the Tigers, as they managed a 103-7 victory over Hofstra.

“We’ve worked really hard this off-season and in-season, doing a lot of extra fitness and lifting,” Hepburn said of the steps the team has been taking. He added that the spring break trip to the Cayman Islands helped build camaraderie among the squad.

Princeton closes out its season against Yale next Saturday in New Haven. The winner of this annual matchup receives the Koranda Cup, named in memory of Rob Koranda ’02. The Orange and Black won last year’s matchup handily by a decision of 54-12. According to Halsey, in preparation for this opponent that the Tigers haven’t yet played this season, they will “keep to what’s been working.”

All signs point to a strong future for Tiger rugby. Confidence remains high, partly stemming from how closely they managed to play Dartmouth, and the team looks to continue moving up in the Ivies in coming years. In the meantime, they’ll put a big win behind them and look to top the Ivy League rivalry for the second consecutive year.