New Jersey Rugby Selects Derailed by Lansdowne 2nd XV

The New Jersey Selects faced Lansdowne Rugby Football Club 2nd XV from Dublin, Ireland at Monmouth Rugby Football Club’s home pitch, Thompson Park in Lincroft, NJ on Thursday, June 6. While the hosts jumped out to a 12-0 lead, Lansdowne FC prevailed 38-24.

Lansdowne 2nd XV defeated Boston Irish Wolfhounds 28-21 on June 1, while their 1st XV lost 46-29 to the New England Free Jacks. The team will conclude their U.S. tour in New York with the 1st XV playing New York Athletic Club at Noon on June 8 at Travers Island.

Monmouth Rugby Club played Lansdowne in 1979 on their tour of England, Isle of Man, and Ireland.

Credit Monmouth Rugby Club Sevens Coach Pete Terilli with his leadership for the 2019 NJ Selects vs Lansdowne FC match and Pat Moroney with assembling a group of athletes from New Jersey to play June 6. Also the support from Rugby United New York’s James Kennedy was outstanding.

Match Comments

The New Jersey Selects jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over Lansdowne FC 2nd XV as inside center Will Garcia intercepted a pass and motored 85 meters for a try. Outside center Kieran Walsh conversion then bounced off the posts.

The Selects extended their lead to 12-0 after a Eric Bragg run and an offload to No8 Cale Petersen for a try with Walsh slotting the conversion.

Lansdowne answered back with a try by inside center Shane Conneely with flyhalf Barry Fitzpatrick adding the conversion to cut the lead to 12-7.

Lansdowne then capitalized on a low Selects lineout throw with Peter Reilly finding a seam and finishing with a try. Fitzpatrick slotted the conversion for a Lansdowne 14-12 lead.

Lansdowne added a try by Barry Fitzpatrick who dotted down from the wide channel and then converted, 21-12. Tristram Dyer then added another with Fitzpatrick 4-4 on conversions to lead 28-12.

The New jersey Selects answered back after a Nick Wallace run and a Cale Petersen brace with Walsh slotting the converting to cut the lead to 28-17 at the break.

Second Half

Lansdowne extended their lead to 33-17 after No.8 Shane Kennedy scored after a 5-meter scrum.

The Selects answered back in the 57th minute with a long try by wing Isaac Frazier under the posts, making the conversion easy for Kieran Walsh, 33-24.

Just prior to fulltime, JJ Earle grounded the ball in the left corner for a pushover try to secure a Lansdowne 38-24 win over the New Jersey Selects.

Following the match both sides travelled to the Monmouth Rugby Clubhouse, The Wilde Rover in Red Bank for some post match festivities.

New Jersey Invitational Side vs Lansdowne FC 2nd XV

New Jersey Invitational Side: 1 Ryan Piccone (South Jersey) 2 Donny Palmer (Monmouth, #19) 3 Jared Smallwood (Fordham University, #21) 4 Ryan Greenwood (Monmouth) 5 Xhevat Vukel (Union) 6 Will Kimball (Morris) 7 Sean Brew (Iona College) 8 Cale Petersen (Morris) 9 Eric Mount (Monmouth) 10 Matt Kaltenbach (Monmouth) 11 Isaac Frazier (South Jersey) 12 Will Garcia (Morris) 13 Kieran Walsh (Monmouth, #14) 14 Eric Bragg (Bayonne, #13) 15 Chris Mackenrodt (Monmouth)

Reserves: Props – Miles Davies (Monmouth, #5), Mario Fragale (Monmouth, #17), Chris Zeller (Monmouth, #3) Hooker – Brian Frayko (Monmouth, #2) Forwards – Chris Szablowski (Monmouth, #16), Josh Levine (University of Albany, #20), Luis Perez (Bayonne, #25), Scrumhalf – Pete Terilli (Monmouth, #22), Backs – Jesse Han (George Washington University, #23), Nick Wallace (Union, #25)

*Jersey #s based on player size

Lansdowne 2nd XV: 1 Eduardo Moffit 2 Cathal Mcnamara 3 James Mullligan 4 Ross Farrell 5 Tristram Dyer 6 Eoghan Murphy 7 Peter Reilly 8 Shane Kennedy 9 John Delaney 10 Barry Fitzpatrick 11 Leon Downer 12 Shane Conneely 13 Sean O’Driscoll 14 JJ Earle 15 Conor Byrne + Reserves unknown

DJCoil Rugby YouTube Interviews

Pat Moroney, New Jersey Invitational Side Head Rugby Coach, discusses playing Lansdowne FC (Dublin, Ireland), Rugby United New York’s support, and coaching. (Please excuse a slight editing transition after my iphone shut down due to heat. The interview required editing as a result)

Kieran Mulligan, President of Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, discusses tour to Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York prior to the match against the NJ Invitational Side at Monmouth Rugby Club’s home pitch in Lincroft, NJ on June 6, 2019.

Lansdowne FC

Lansdowne FC is in its 146th season and began planning their current 10 day tour of Boston and the Greater New York area in November 2017. The team left Dublin on 31 May and arrived in Boston that same day. Following a tour of Boston, they departed for Canton, MA for matches against the Boston Irish Wolfhounds and the New England Freejacks at the irish Cultural Centre. The Second side prevailed 28-21, while the first side lost to the Free Jacks 46-29. It was the first victory for the New England Free jacks who will join Major League Rugby in 2020. The Free Jacks previously played the four Irish Provincial A sides in the Cara Cup.

On June 3 the team traveled to New York City and went on a tour of the city. The following day there was a reception at the Pig & Whistle in Manhattan. On Wednesday the team had a morning training sessions and later attended a NY Mets versus the San Francisco Giants game at Citi Field.

On Thursday they took a ferry to Highlands, NJ and spent time on the beach in Seabright. Then it was on to Lincroft for a match at Monmouth Rugby Football Club’s home pitch against the NJ Selects with Lansdowne 2nd XV won 38-24.

Monmouth Rugby Club 1979 tour included playing against Lansdowne and Trinity College. Lansdowne were excellent hosts and Monmouth returned their hospitality at their club house in Red Bank, the Wilde Rover.

Following the match, the team returned to New York and will play New York Athletic Club at Travers Island in New Rochelle at Noon on Saturday. The team will depart the following day for Dublin with many memories of their experience.

Monmouth Rugby Football Club

Monmouth Rugby Football Club was founded by Doug Coil in 1973. The team played their first three years as Brookdale Rugby Club before becoming Monmouth. The team has hosted many international touring sides and has gone on almost 30 tours, including four times to Ireland.

Monmouth plays its home matches at Thompson Park in Lincroft in the center of a former race track that was part of Thompson Farm. The Farm had a Kentucky Derby winner and included present day Brookdale Community College next door.

Monmouth competes in the Empire GU Rugby New Jersey Men’s Division 2 and 3, the Empire GU Women’s Division 2 (after spending time in D1), fields a Boys and Girl’s Under-19s team, as well as Men’s and Women’s Sevens sides.