WNEC Rugby at Beast of the East 2012, Match Two

The lineup for the second match at Beast of the East 201, against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was as follows:

1 - Ryan "Shedlock" Shultz

2 - Kevin Murray

3 - Cheers Tom Get Me a Jersey LeClair

4 - Jon "Frenchie Where's My Eyebrow?" Ouellette 

5 - Timmy Smith 

6 - Joe Monaco 

7 - Johnny Esposito 

8 - Stephen Farnham 

9 - Zack Phelan 

10 - Jon Fields 

11 - Tyler Modlish 

12 - Craig Spyropoulos 

13 - Dan Fonseca 

14 - "Weird" Will Reilly 

15 - Tyler "Styles" Wong

Several players were shuffled to account for injury and absences. The versatile Tom LeClair appears at tighthead with Jon Ouellette swapping to second row. Will Reilly bumps out to wing with Dan Fonseca back in the centers while Tyler Wong makes his brave return from an injury sustained in the first week of the season.

Conditions were borderline unplayable even before kickoff and were declining rapidly. While wind and rain are well known to any New England rugger, the incoming fog was impenetrably thick. By halftime, it would be impossible to see more than halfway across the field. In the interests of player safety, this match should frankly not have been allowed to happen.

However, the match did happen, and both sides played direct, powerful rugby. Although RPI had the larger side but WNEC fronted up and hit hard all match long. However, our opponents in red had the upper hand in the scrums and their questionable tactics at the ruck were overlooked by a referee who wanted more to finish the match quickly and call it a day rather than do his job.

RPI ground themselves to a two-try lead by halftime, but the gap was cut to three when eightman Stephen Farnham got scent of the tryline and burrowed over for his score. Ryan Shultz duly converted, despite the difficult winds.

However, the comeback was not to be. RPI scored again in a manner I did not see, due to the fog, although the conversion flew wide. From then on, they settled into a kicking-based gameplan, using the weather to their advantage. The fog was so thick that any boot sent the ball completely out of sight, and the receivers had only to wait for it either to drop into their hands by pure chance or scramble frantically towards wherever they heard it fall to the sodden earth.

An injury to hooker Kevin Murray exacerbated the lineup situation as Ouellette had to shift to hooker, Farnham move to lock, Spyropoulos joined the pack at eight, and brought Seth Metcalf on at outside center.

With time winding down, a late penalty kick from RPI directly in front of the sticks moved their advantage to 18-7, and the scoreline remained as such til the final whistle.

Despite the loss, WNEC played well. Our commitment was absolute. Although we started slow, a persistent  demon of ours, the team refused to give up or give in and fought back into it. Although it may be an oft-used cliche, this match was much closer than the scoreboard suggests.

Man of the Match - It is difficult to pick a man of the match here, mostly due to the simple issue that by halftime, half the field was out of vision. Forwards Ouellette, Farnham, and LeClair were tireless with ball in hand while Esposito and Monaco were mobile hit machines all match long while Spyropoulos looked always dangerous with ball in hand. Quite simply, I don't feel right naming any individual as giving more than any other as all who took that field fought hard and with full commitment.

Hitman - While Esposito and Monaco were their usual relentless selves, it was a back who scooped the award with one monster tackle. Fullback Tyler Wong made a leveling challenge on a titanic-sized ballcarrier, illustrating fully his value to the team when he's on the field