Men - UConn Men's Rugby Trip to Nationals | The Boneyard

Men UConn Men's Rugby Trip to Nationals

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Let's Go Huskies!

"The University of Connecticut Men’s Rugby team has been selected to play in the 2023 Collegiate Rugby Championship in Boyds, MD. This is a short turnaround for us as the tournament takes place April 28-30. We would welcome any donation with open arms and we thank you for your support of the boys trip as we look to bring a national championship back to Storrs."

 
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I partied with a lot of club rugby guys back in 88-92 and they didn't have matching anything as far as uniforms. Thanks for posting @Kolumbo I'm happy to see the program is still around and obviously thriving. Just donated to the cause and wondering if you shouldn't post this on all the boards for more exposure.
 
Back in the day the uniforms were the typical long sleeve cotton rugby shirts. Soaked up rain, mud, blood, sweat, spit like sponges. The new unis are pretty cool.
 
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Hey, I played rugby at UConn from 1979-82. Go get em boys!

I was also a student at UConn during that same time, late 1970's into the mid 1980's. Certainly remember the rugby matches that would take place on what was then the empty field that was basically surrounded by the Student Union, the library, the old Grad Dorms, and the football stadium across the street.
 
I was also a student at UConn during that same time, late 1970's into the mid 1980's. Certainly remember the rugby matches that would take place on what was then the empty field that was basically surrounded by the Student Union, the library, the old Grad Dorms, and the football stadium across the street.
Yep…the Grad Field as we called it. Anyway…this is me getting tackled during a Coast Guard match in the spring of 1982.

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Rugby Club in the Fall of 80 (I think) pic is from the 81 yearbook. This was taken at an EO Smith field they let us use, if memory serves, because there was a home football game that day and our field was used for parking and tailgating. Imagine all the bottle caps and glass we picked up at practice the following week. It was a matter of self preservation.

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Done! Hopefully they made some space on their trophy rack. The Huskies are going to the Nationals!
 
I get the UConn Daily email. Zac and John didn't mention it. Do they even know?
 
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UConn RFC competes in the Liberty Conference
I get the UConn Daily email. Zac and John didn't mention it. Do they even know?
Probably not. It’s a club team, so I don’t know if it’s even on their radar.
 
Looks like former UConn Rugger Rob Chudzik is coaching this group. I played some old boys rugby with him…he’s an athlete.
 
A quick primer on Rugby Sevens for those of you unfamiliar with the game.

Rugby sevens is a stripped-down version of rugby union with just seven players on each team playing on a full sized pitch. There are four backs, three forwards and each team can have up to five replacements. With fewer bodies and extra space on the pitch, games are fast-paced, full of breakaway sprints and exciting tries.

There are two nail biting seven-minute halves and a quick one minute half-time break for players to catch their breath. Scoring is the same as the 15-man game: five points for a try, two for a conversion and three for a penalty kick or drop goal. All conversions must be taken within 40 seconds and must be taken as a drop goal rather than a place kick. The scoring team kicks off to the opposition.

If a game finishes in a draw at full time in a pool game, the draw counts. However, once the knockout stages of a tournament begins, a five minute extra time period is played with the team scoring first advancing.

Normally, there are fewer rucks, scrums and lineouts in the sevens game, resulting in a faster pace, skillful displays of agility and electrifying entertainment for fans.
 
So UConn split their first two games today. They beat USF 19-5. They lost the second game to Clemson 22-7. Third game was postponed because the conditions of the fields had gotten pretty bad due to heavy rain. Updated schedule for tomorrow still has not been posted, but could be iffy if the rain doesn’t let up. The fields had standing water on them by the time the later matches were postponed.
 
UConn is playing Delaware this morning in the final game of pool play. You can find the games on YouTube. Look for the field 8 feed. Right now I’m not seeing it, so hopefully it gets added.
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Just found out that there is no stream for field 8. Figures….
 
A quick primer on Rugby Sevens for those of you unfamiliar with the game.

Rugby sevens is a stripped-down version of rugby union with just seven players on each team playing on a full sized pitch. There are four backs, three forwards and each team can have up to five replacements. With fewer bodies and extra space on the pitch, games are fast-paced, full of breakaway sprints and exciting tries.

There are two nail biting seven-minute halves and a quick one minute half-time break for players to catch their breath. Scoring is the same as the 15-man game: five points for a try, two for a conversion and three for a penalty kick or drop goal. All conversions must be taken within 40 seconds and must be taken as a drop goal rather than a place kick. The scoring team kicks off to the opposition.

If a game finishes in a draw at full time in a pool game, the draw counts. However, once the knockout stages of a tournament begins, a five minute extra time period is played with the team scoring first advancing.

Normally, there are fewer rucks, scrums and lineouts in the sevens game, resulting in a faster pace, skillful displays of agility and electrifying entertainment for fans.
If I were the marrying kind and I thank the Lord I'm not sir, the kind of rugger I would be would be a rugby Wing sir, 'cause I'd never get it and you'd never get it we'd all never get it together...
 
If I were the marrying kind and I thank the Lord I'm not sir, the kind of rugger I would be would be a rugby Wing sir, 'cause I'd never get it and you'd never get it we'd all never get it together...
I was a wing at UConn…you had to make the most of your opportunities.
 
Just found out UConn beat Delaware 17-5 to move on to the quarterfinals. Next up is Missouri on Field 10 which should be on the YouTube stream at around 3:45-4:00.(based on what I’ve been ale to glean from the YouTube chat..they have not updated the schedule all day)Waiting for Georgetown/Memphis to conclude. It has been delayed by what looks like a pretty serious injury to a GT player.
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UConn now taking the field against Missouri. Field 10 stream. UConn scores first, conversion no good. 5-0 UConn. UConn has dominated field position so far. Now up 12-0 at the half.
 
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Missouri can’t get out of their own end. UConn pressing the issue again and scores again to take a 19-0 lead. Total domination by the Huskies. Missouri scores to make it 19-5. 90 seconds remaining. UConn scores again and that should do it. UConn moves on with a 24-5 win. Dominating performance by the Huskies. They go to 3-1 on the tourney so far. Next game at 6:47 vs Clemson from what I can tell. Clemson is tough, should be a good match. Look for the Stadium feed on YouTube.
 
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Semifinals vs Clemson. Clemson scores first but UConn comes right back with a try of their own. 5-5. Clemson scores again and makes the kick to go up 12-5 At the half. Clemson looks the the faster team through the first seven minutes.
 
UConn takes the second half kickoff and with some nifty passing and running scores to make it 12-10. Clemson scores to make it 17-10 with very little time left. UConn playing a man down due to a penalty. Clemson moves onto the finals, UConn had their chances but failed to maintain control of the ball on a few occasions. The best they can hope for now is a third place finish.
 
That's a bummer.
Actually, I don’t know where they finished…I thought there would be a game between the two semi-final losers to determine third, but they didn’t do that. It was a good effort by the boys…they came within seven points of making the finals…by the way, Clemson lost to USD in the finals.
 
A note of thanks from the UConn ruggers:

We would like to say a massive thank you to everybody who donated to our trip to the collegiate rugby championship. We were able to fundraise over $6000 for the team to travel to Washington D.C., claiming a third place trophy to bring back to Storrs along with us. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support and extremely generous donations. We were able to cover the cost of hotels and team dinners, as well as most of the travel cost and tournament fees. After what will go down as the most successful season in this club's history, we owe a ton of what was accomplished to all of the people that supported us along the way. From all of us here at the University of Connecticut Men's Rugby team, we sincerely thank you for your kindness in playing a major role in this year's result. This would not have been possible without you all. As always, we look forward to improving again for next year, and bringing home first place when the next collegiate rugby championship comes around!
 
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