Kick-Off at 1 pm
Final Score: L 22-10
Match report by coach Justin Evans
Saturday BU traveled to Rhode Island to compete for a place in the Final Four of the NERFU Cup. Rhode Island, boasting a 100% winning record this season came out strong and were soon using their size and strength in the pack to good effect. Thanks to intelligent use of the blindside by the URI scrum half and then a barnstorming run by their prop, URI were a try to the good within seven minutes. Instead of rolling over, BU hit back with real intensity, despite being physically smaller up front, the visitors hit the rucks lower and harder than the opposition and were quicker to react to any 50/50 balls. Following a lineout just inside the opposition's half, the ball was worked to Freshman Matt, whose textbook line of running saw him scythe through the defence and round the fullback to level the scores.
URI then put the same prop forward to good use from a tap penalty, as he barreled over to regain a 10-5 lead for the home side. However, in a very even first half which saw BU reach a new level of continuity and intensity, the final word was to go the the visitor's. With a penalty in front of the posts, captain Jon Brosnahan opted to run the ball instead of going for the easy kick and was rewarded with a fine try from flanker 3Pete. Tristan slotted the conversion to give BU the lead for the first time, 12-10.
Unfortunately, talisman and tackler extraordinaire 3Pete had to step down at the half due to a dislocated shoulder and only minutes into the half, in-form wing Kyle rolled his ankle. Uncharacteristic lapses in concentration from BU then led to two soft tries from URI in the space of minutes to put the home side 22-12 up. The visitor's kept plugging away, the lineout working smoothly and some intelligent kicking from scrum half James helped us gain considerable territory. Freshman Nick was held up just yards from the line in what was to prove BU's best chance of scoring in the second half. Both teams played themselves to a virtual standstill and URI were worthy winners of an intensely fought game.
Despite losing, for most of the game BU fared brilliantly against an unbeaten side. We were left to rue a lack of concentration on a couple of occasions and will hopefully learn from this. Thank you for your emails of support and encouragement over the past few weeks, I've passed your words onto the boys.
Best Regards,
Justin Evans