Blacksburg Rugby

After taking a tough loss at the hands of Charlottesville in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Senior Men's Division III territorial semifinals the previous day, Blacksburg backed up effectively to pick up a convincing 35-22 victory over North Penn in the territorial consolation final.

With some players from the semifinal unavailable for the next day's consolation final and a few talented players deserving a chance at match time after serving as reserves in previous contests, Blacksburg ran out a new-look side that featured a handful of changes to the starting lineup and a few players in reshuffled positions. Although wing Craig Bucher ran in a soft try in the first few minutes of the match, then converted it himself, the new combinations in the Blacksburg side took a little while to settle and North Penn built up a 15-7 lead by the end of the first half.

Blacksburg smoothed out the rough spots during the halftime interval, though, and took control of the match in the second half. Open side flanker Nate Gaertner ended a series of Blacksburg phases with a try in the first few minutes of the second half, and Bucher tacked on another conversion to narrow North Penn's lead to 15-14. Fullback Jonny Smith ran in another try, also converted by Bucher, several minutes later to provide Blacksburg with a 21-15 lead that was never relinquished. Just after midway through the second half, Blacksburg convered turnover ball into a try by midfielder Alan Rhodes, and another Bucher conversion made the score 28-15. Bucher crossed the whiewash once more himself with an intercept try in the last few minutes, which he converted once again for his fifth conversion from five attempts and a 35-15 lead. North Penn worked the phases to manage a converted consolation try in the dying stages for a 35-22 result.

Thanks go to North Penn for the quality consolation final match and to referee Rob Seiler, to assistant referees David Chapman and Peadar Little for their service, and to the James River Rugby Club of Richmond for hosting the territorial finals weekend.

Having missed out on the national rounds by one match, Blacksburg will now enjoy a week off from training before regathering for a summer seven-a-side schedule and touch football program.

Blacksburg 35 (Bucher 2T 5C; Gaertner 1T; Rhodes 1T; Smith 1T)

Blacksburg Match Roster:
1. Max Appleby, 2. Louis Madsen, 3. Jim Wahmhoff, 4. Meares Green 5. Parker Long, 6. Joe Pallante, 7. Nate Gaertner, 8. Ty Hopkins, 9. Matt McCarthy, 10. Bryn Meredith, 11. Jimmy Vest, 12. Sam Pitts, 13. Alan Rhodes, 14. Craig Bucher, 15. Jonny Smith. Reserves: Richard Bailey, John Gemma, Chris D'Amico, Preston Stoakes, Brandon Jeffery.