November 7, 2016
Wheeling Jesuit Speed by Delaware Rugby
Logos: University of Delaware & Wheeling Jesuit University
Doug Coil
The University of Delaware hosted Wheeling Jesuit University Men’s Rugby Club in a Rugby East league match on Saturday November 5, 2016 at Frazier Field in Newark, Delaware. It was disappointing for the home crowd in the Blue Hens final home match, as Wheeling Jesuit controlled the match from start to finish in winning 65-17. The Cardinals scored eleven tries on the day to the Blue Hens three. Wheeling Jesuit will travel back home having ended their season on a positive note, as they now turn to playing sevens.
Delaware will end their Rugby East season on November 12 at West Virginia with the winner avoiding the Wooden Spoon. Delaware will then play the following weekend at Iona College at the ACRC Bowl Series.
Match Recap
Nick Jimenez kicked off to begin the match and the Cardinals eight-man Andrew Waggoner caught the ball and after seven phases, fullback Killian Grause was knocked into touch 15 meters from the line. Delaware won the lineout and after forward crashes by Matt Hess and Zephir Lambert, the ball was lost. That would be a nagging problem for Delaware on the day.
Soon after, the Cardinals won a lineout, which turned into a maul and resulted in Peter Malcolm going over for a try. The conversion was missed by Joe Broderick, but Wheeling Jesuit had a 5-0 lead after three minutes.
Delaware had a break by Nick Jimenez that ended with the ball becoming loose. Instead of a Delaware player falling on the ball to retrieve it, an attempted kick ahead was missed. Alston Burton picked up the ball and evaded a tackler for a try and after another missed conversion the score was 10-0. (12′)
Delaware had another good attacking opportunity off a scrum as John McCurdy found a gap and offloaded to Matt Ramierez who appeared to be able to speed in for a try. However, the referee whistle blew her whistle and signaled a forward pass. Soon after another Delaware turnover, Peter Malcolm had his second try and with the missed conversion the Cardinals lead was 15-0 at 18 minutes.
On the restart, the Cardinals were penalized. Tom Abram took a quick tap, but the ball was stripped inside the Cardinals 22 meters. Wheeling Jesuit attempted a clearance kick and Will Baker blocked the kick and went in for Delaware’s first try. Abram missed the conversion and the score was now 15-5 twenty minutes into the match.
Both teams then had some back and forth play, before John McCurdy needed a blood substitute for Delaware. Position adjustments were made and the Blue Hens attacked for eight phases and after a scrum another ten phases before a player was held up, turning the ball over to the Cardinals deep in their territory.
Prior to halftime, Wheeling Jesuit added to their lead as they spun the ball wide and used the speed of Killian Grause for a long try under the posts. Broderick notched the conversion for a 22-5 halftime lead.
In assessing the first half, turnovers were thwarting Delaware having sustained attacks. Wheeling Jesuit controlled the breakdowns and had the Blue Hens on their back foot in the scrums. They moved the ball well and had excellent line speed that found space wide.
Second Half
Joe Broderick kicked off to begin the second half and a Nick Lintner break went for naught as Wheeling Jesuit poached the ball at the breakdown. The ball quickly went wide and Alston Burton had his second try. Broderick converted to increase the Cardinals lead to 29-5.
After the restart, the Cardinals added another try as Benji Clipstone found a gap and offloaded to Dominic Piazza resulting in another quick try. Broderick slotted the kick and the score was 36-5.
Wheeling Jesuit line speed was creating attacks around the wing and Trey Wardlow added a third Cardinals try within the first ten minutes of the second half. The conversion was missed, but the match was out of reach at 43-5.
Five minutes later, Killian Grause sped by defenders and offloaded to Wardlow for his second try and a 48-5 lead.
Delaware showed it’s heart and resolve as they answered back with two tries of their own. John Hand scored the first and Matt Ramierez intercepted a Cardinals pass and raced 70 meters for a try under the posts. Abram converted this later try to narrow the lead to 48-17.
Although the outcome of the match was not in doubt, Wheeling Jesuit had not finished it’s scoring assault. They scored three more tries the last ten minutes of the match. With the first, Wardlow had a hat trick on the day. The last two were scored by Augie Murphy, with Broderick adding a conversion after the last try. The final had Wheeling Jesuit winning 65-17 over Delaware.
Comments
Wheeling Jesuit used line speed, their height to control lineouts, an efficient pack in the scrums and excellent play in the breakdowns to control the match from start to finish. Delaware had a number of attacking opportunities, but knock-ons on stripped balls impacted their offense. Still, the Blue Hens offensive had improved the second half of their season after an early season offensive malaise.
Wheeling Jesuit finished their Rugby East season in third place with a 6-2 league record, 8-3 overall. They now turn their attention to sevens for the Spring where they will field two sides.
Delaware still has an opportunity to gain a win next week when they travel to West Virginia.
Coach Comments
Struan Murray: (Comments will updated when received)
Tommy Duffy: “We played a good solid game today. it was good fundamental rugby. That’s what we were getting back to doing. Everything we were doing, getting it wide to hands, getting around the corners controlling the rucks, controlling the scrums, and the lineout possession was good on our end. So overall, it was a good day. It was good to end on that note. I was pleased with the boys performances.”
He then reflected on the season saying “I think the season overall, coming into the circumstances that I came into, I ended up being quite pleased. I think that without having those key injuries we could have done a little better. With the whole squad we could have seen what we could have done against Army and I would have liked to have seen what we would have done against Penn State. I’m not saying we would have beaten them, but I think it probably could have been a more competitive match, especially with Allan in there. Our kicking game suffered a lot when Allan Hanson went out.”
University of Delaware: 1 Zephir Lambert 2 Jared Wilkins 3 Nick Lintner 4 Joost Elling 5 Matt Hess (cap) 6 Henry Carr 7 Joe Osinubi 8 Will Baker 9 Tom Abram 10 Jake Davis 11 MJ Stovell 12 John McCurdy (cap) 13 Matt Ramierez 14 John Hand 15 Nick Jimenez 16 Graham Lovell 17 Stefan Losten 18 Hunter hastings 19 Dylan Duffy 20 Ian Mengers 21 Kevin Coiley 22 Adrian Reyes 23 Anthony Donatelli Head Coach Struan Murray
Wheeling Jesuit University: 1 Christian Ghering 2 Peter Malcolm 3 Matthew Woisnet 4 Augie Murphy 5 Hugh McAllister 6 Tyler Ozment 7 Orion Mann 8 Andrew Waggoner 9 Dominic Piazza 10 Joseph Broderick 11 Trey Wardlaw 12 Joli Vakasiskakala 13 Cullen Buckley 14 Alston Burton 15 Killian Gause 16 Trey Thomas 17 Dan Carter 18 Troy Kelly 19 Leuan Nation 20 Caleb Hector 21 Benji Clipstone 22 Nick Vento 23 Pat Alnault Head Coach Tommy Duffy
Scoring Summary
Delaware: 17 Tries: Will Baker, John Hand, Matt Ramierez Con: Tom Abram
Wheeling Jesuit: 65 Peter Malcolm (2), Alston Burton (3), Killian Grause, Dominic Piazza, Trey Wardlow (2), Audie Murphy (2) Con: Joe Broderick (5)
Coach & Player Interviews on DJCoil Rugby You Tube Channel.
Tommy Duffy, Wheeling Jesuit University Men’s Rugby Head Coach, Nov. 5, 2016
Peter Malcolm, Wheeling Jesuit University, PRO Rugby Ohio Aviators and USA Rugby National Development Squad – November 5, 2016 Interview
