September 14, 2016
Mystic River Beats Household Cavalry RFC from London
Photo: Mystic River Rugby of Mystic River & Household Cavalry RFC
Doug Coil
On Tuesday, September 13th, the Mystic River Rugby Club hosted the Household Cavalry RFC from London in Melrose, Massachusetts in their final tuneup prior to beginning their American Rugby Premiership season. They emerged with a 71-10 win and they look toward this weekend for more rugby action.
This Saturday, September 17, they travel to Randall’s island in New York City for a 2pm ARP match against Old Blue. Their D2 Barbarians side also will be playing away against the South Shore Anchors, as well as their Old Boys against the Rusty Anchors.
Mystic River Rugby Club wasted no time in scoring, as Sean Rafferty went over for a try and a 5-0 lead. Soon after, Nick Fujiwara added another in the corner to increase their lead to 10-0. Household Cavalry answered right back with their first try to narrow the lead to 10-5.
From that point on, the floodgates opened as Mystic River scored five tries prior to halftime. These tries were scored by Alatasi Topou after some excellent ball movement. Vini Daley then scored and Tasi converted. Tasi stepped his way in for a try of his own and then added the conversion. Luke Schlotman powered his way over the line and the kick was good. Finally, John Sullivan, who was playing his first match with Mystic River, scored off a Household Cavalry turnover. This was also converted and at halftime Mystic River led 43-5.
The scoring assault continued in the second half as Nick Fujiwara split defenders for his second try of the match. The conversion was also successful and Mystic had a 50-5 lead. Sean Sawyer came in at scrumhalf and touched down after several phases. Dimo then converted. Sawyer then added another try after a penalty. Dimo slotted a difficult kick and the lead was now 64-5.
Household Cavalry was still playing hard and responded with a long try of their own. The outcome of the match was already determined as Mystic still led 64-10. Mystic would add a final try, their eleventh try of the night, as Jeremy Smith broke through the defense and Sawyer added the conversion. With that, the final score was 71-10.
After the match Josh Smith, Head Coach of Mystic River said “It was a good run out for a week night. We have a ton of respect for the military and the sacrifices they make. We’re happy to give them a good run while they were in Boston.”
