Queen City vs Vail RFC - Match Report 7/25/15

Queen City vs. Vail RFC - 7/25/15 Match Report

A gorgeous day in the mountains as the men in Orange and Black ventured up the hill to do battle against a quality Vail side. The venue was not the normal picturesque Vail pitch; but, a football field in Eagle-Vail. The posts were on the dead ball line, the field was narrow, and lines were painted in orange over the normal white football lines. The objective on the day was to assess where the team was after a summer layoff as we proceed into the fall. City had great support on the day and traveled well. The squad consisted of: Dan Herr (captain), Luke Porter, Charles Lubeck, Jeff van Geete, Bryan Gustafson, Kyle Harpster, Nick Lubeck, Chris Cummins, Gabe Buzinski, Juan Ureta, Chris, Anthony Rodgers, Charlie Keener, Francisco Figueroa, Scott Trench, Scott Dishner, Ryan Clemons, Matt Williams, Steve Vickers, Daniel “Red”, Grant Fabian, Alex Knorr, Lloyd Chavez, Bishoppe Kamusinga (guest from Buena Vista), and Tim Drysdale (guest from Buena Vista).

City kicked-off heading east. Flyhalf Scott Trench put the ball deep which was mis-handled by Vail and placed into touch. The City forwards want to go right to work. An immediate drive off a good lineout win by No. 8 Anthony Rodgers was the order. Vail defended well and stopped the drive. The ball was swung wide where Outside Center Ryan Clemons stepped through a couple of defenders, offloaded to a filling Fullback Alex Knorr who beat the remaining cover defense to score the first points of the match at the 2-minute mark. Flyhalf Scott Trench split the uprights for the extras and the men in Orange and Black had a 7 – 0 lead. The next several minutes saw the City forwards maintain the pressure on the men in Blue and White with some excellent rucking and excellent poaching of the pill. Flyhalf Trench kept the pressure on as well with pinpoint kicking. The City backs started a counterattack from a clearing kick by Vail. The ball was placed through the hands and Outside Center was not going to be denied; stepping and speeding his way through for the second 5-pointer on the day. Flyhalf Trench added the extras and the men in Orange and Black had a 14 – 0 lead at the 7-minute mark. Vail was the next to tally. City was called for not rolling away by Referee Tom Coburn. Vail’s kicker hit a long range bomb to narrow the lead 14 – 3 at the 10-minute mark. Vail using their power game which they did quite effectively scored a converted try at the 16th minute to further narrow the lead to 14 – 10. City misplayed a high up and under at mid-field that Vail converted to points to take the lead for the first time at 14 – 17 at the 23rd minute. This lead the men in Blue and White would not relinquish. Vail added another converted try at the 28th minute mark to extend their lead to 14 – 24. The men in Orange and Black still had fight left as the half was winding down. Referee Coburn spotted an breakdown infraction against Vail. A quick tap was taken and the ball was swung wide. In a good position to support, Prop and Captain Dan Herr received the pass and made several defenders miss before crossing the line to dot down for the 5-pointer. The conversion sailed wide; but, City had cut into the Vail lead 19 - 24 at the 37th minute mark. However, as the first half was waning Referee Coburn again called City for an offside infringement. Vail again hit a long range kick to make the halftime score 19 – 27.

Second half started out a fairly even affair. The teams probing and prodding at each other with each having good defensive patterns. Finally, the men in Blue and White cracked a seam to score a converted try to extend their lead to 19 – 34 at the 54th minute. Vail was once again putting pressure on the men in Orange and Black. City conceded another penalty for which Vail took a quick tap. The ball was being swung wide where Outside Center Ryan Clemons intercepted the pass and quickly sped away towards the in-goal. The cover defense was good and as Ryan went to pass inside to support players the Vail player intentional knocked-on. A quick tap was taken where Prop Dan Herr powered his way over the chalk for his second 5-pointer on the day. The conversion sailed wide with City cutting into the Vail lead 24 – 34 at the 63rd minute mark. Vail quickly answered back, scoring a converted try at the 67th minute to make the score 24 - 41. The men in Orange and Black were not done. Showing that when they were able to recycle the ball and move quickly through the hands that they had a formidable attack. The pill came quickly out of a recycle phase and went quickly out to the backs where Outside Center Ryan Clemons once again stepped his way through the defense to score his second try on the day. Flyhalf Trench was true with his kick to take the score line to 31 – 41 at the 71st minute of the match. Unfortunately, Vail put the exclamation point on the match with a converted a try at the dying seconds to put the final at 31 – 48 to the men in Blue and White.

Several things were realized coming out of this “friendly” as was the objective on the day. City traveled well with 25 players and several supporters joining on the sideline. Doctor Mike was a huge success and addition to the club. The players took to him right away and feel more secure knowing we have medical attention on the sidelines. I was able to play a lot of players to assess at what level everyone was going into the fall season. I will say that selections will be very difficult come the fall season. When we moved the ball and supported the attack was very good. The “jackaling” early in the match was phenomenal; but, we did not sustain it throughout the match. Defense needs some work. However saying that, Vail is a very good quality side with some very good players. We played them well and in spurts we out played them. We did not ever quit as we kept coming back at them; but, their experience and skill level showed. Offside hurt us as we continued to leave gaps in the defense from the offside position. When we came up hard on them as a unit and set them on their heels we did well; but, overall the line speed needs to improve. I felt we got a little too chippy at times and this will need to be corrected before the fall season. Overall, the match was a good test for us especially since we did not have the opportunity to really vet the set pieces in practice. As we get into the fall season and learn to play together once again, I strongly believe we will become a pretty good rugby team.

Don’t forget about the Swine Bowl this coming Saturday, August 1st, at Infinity Park at 12 noon with a kick-off and 7’s end of season party at Nallen’s downtown.

Coach