Blacksburg Rugby

Eager to get back on the Blacksburg home ground after a pair of road fixtures, Blacksburg came out champing at the bit for their fourth Fall 2010 Virginia Rugby Union Senior Men's Division III competition match against Virginia Beach. Unfortunately, the afternoon as an anticlimactic one as the visitors brought only a handful of players. The Virginia Beach representatives who made the journey were game for a match, but with so few of them present a forfeit was the only possible outcome.

The defaulted match was the second consecutive forfeit by Virginia Beach in a competition match scheduled to be played in Blacksburg. The Fall 2009 match between the sides was held in Virginia Beach, but in 2008 Virginia Beach also elected to forfeit rather than travel to Blacksburg. Virginia Beach brought an incomplete side for a trial match in Blacksburg in the Spring of 2009, which was not a concern given the fixture's lack of impact on any formal competition results.

No strangers to the logistical challenges that accompany distant road matches, Blacksburg's players were sympathetic to Virginia Beach's difficulties rallying a side for a long trip, particularly considering that some of Virginia Beach's players have limited travel latitude due to military duties. Less understandable, though, was Virginia Beach's decision to wait until about 90 minutes from kickoff to notify Blacksburg about the paucity of traveling players.

The late notice left Blacksburg unable to cancel referee arrangements and a frustrated more than a few Blacksburg players who had made extensive individual arrangements to commit to the fixture. With a number of Blacksburg players, a handful of dedicated Virgina Beach players, and a referee available, though, the attendees made proverbial lemonade from lemons by adding players to round out two sides and playing a trial match.

Despite the impromptu nature of the trial match, which featured many playes swapping sides and positions at least once and which was often played with one side or the other down a man due to the limited number of attendees, the contest was a spirited one and a chance for all involved to gain experience and work on some tactical elements. At the end of the day, everyone involved enjoyed plenty of time on the park and a generally positive experience with the sport.

Blacksburg thanks the players from Virginia Beach who made the trip and played in the trial match, as well as those from Blacksburg who were willing to be flexible about both the side they played for and what position they played to make the trial match happen. Thanks are also owed to referee Peadar Little, who made the trip from the Charlottesville region and was willing to mediate the trial match after the competitive fixture was forfeited.

The forfeit takes Blacksburg competition record to four wins from four for the season thus far. Next week, that record willed be tested when the Virginia Rugby Club of Charlottesville visits Blacksburg. The Charlottesville outfit was won the Virginia competition four years in a row, with the Blacksburg-Charlottesville match ending up being the match to determine the champion each of those years. The two clubs are also the only Virginia Rugby Union clubs to win the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union's Senior Men's Division III competition (Blacksburg in 2002 and 2009, Virginia in 2010). The top-of-the-table clash will be Blacksburg's final home match of 2010, with a road match at Roanoke scheduled the following week to close out the competition season.

Official Result:
Blacksburg 60
Virginia Beach 0
(A 60-0 score is assigned to forfeited competition matches)

Unofficial Trial Match Result:
Blacksburg 89 (Scorers not recorded)
Virginia Beach 12 (2T 1C)