After a spirited and very physical match, the Green Horde brought back their first official win for the 2013 Spring Season, besting the Ohio University Bobcats by a margin of 62 – 17.
Despite what the score might show, the match wasn’t entirely lopsided in the Green Horde’s favor. In standard Cleveland rugby fashion, the Green Men dominated the set pieces, seemingly scoring at will off of lineouts with mauls and peels and holding strong in the scrums despite the slick and muddy conditions.
While the match-up in the forwards was a bit one-sided, the backs seemed more evenly matched. Each team’s speedsters threatened with every touch of the ball. Sometimes the only thing that came between a long run and converting into points was an errant pass, a misplaced kick or a try-saving tackle.
OU, not ones to be overlooked or be trampled underfoot with ease, did what all good teams do: applied pressure on defense and took advantage of their opponents’ errors. Every breakdown saw Bobcat ruggers swarming to the ball in a mad dash to get their paws on it. This feverish rush resulted in a few turnovers and even allowed them to cross over the whitewash and put some points up on the board. Every time the Green Horde touched the ball OU swept up to meet them, forcing the Cleveland squad to go through them and earn every point they got.
The Green Horde came out with a big win against the Bobcats, but the rust definitely showed in some aspects of the game. This rust needs to get shaken off quickly if they hope to take out Wisconsin. The Columbus Rugby Club invades from the south as the ESRFC’s next test. This should be a tougher match for the men in green and be more representative of what their Wisconsin game will be like. The Columbus Rugby Club and ESRFC have split in their previous two encounters, so this upcoming meeting has personal implications for the two clubs.
Stop by the Cleveland Metroparks Pitch Saturday March 23, 2013 at 1:00pm to see who wins, the Columbus rugby powerhouse or the Next Big Thing in Ohio Rugby.
How is that a highlight video?
It is all we could salvage. Most of the tries were obscured by the rear ends of people on the sidelines. Having someone behind the camera who cared about the outcome of the content would go a long way to alleviate the frustration caused by this issue. Trust me, this isn’t the best we coudl do but it is what we’ve got with who is willing to do it.