MIT RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

On November 10, 2018, MIT hosted Old Gold at Briggs Field for their final match of the fall season. With a playoff spot still up for grabs, MIT needed a win and some help from other teams to squeeze into the last playoff spot. Knowing that they could only control their own result, they set out to get the W at home. Playing in front of their largest crowd (not just Greg and Ashley!), and with their largest available player pool, and with the wind at their backs, and with the sun popping out just before kickoff, MIT were primed to get off to a quick start.

On November 3rd 2018, MIT took on Freedom on a blustery Briggs Field, needing a win to keep their playoff ambitions alive. Playing into a howling wind in the first half, MIT knew they would have to give it everything to stop Freedom advancing in the Corridor of Power™. Excellent ball carrying from Andrew and Michael up front opened up the Freedom defence, and the MIT backs spun the ball to Garcia in the centre, who made quite a splash in scoring under the posts.

On Saturday, October 27, 2018, MIT traveled to Springfield, MA to take on the Springfield Rifles. With the top 4 teams in the league making the playoffs, MIT at #5 and Springfield at #6 were both in the hunt for playoff contention and looking for a win. A nor’easter scared away the usual pre-game flag football spectacle, leaving the MIT ruggers hiding in their warm vehicles to avoid the cold rain. Only one super-fan, Ashley, was brave enough to stand in the cold before start.

On Saturday, October 20, 2018, MIT traveled to Stowe, VT to take on Mad River RFC. The team was treated to some prime leaf-peeping on their trek up to VT. It was a sunny but windy fall day. MIT played uphill and into the wind in the first half. With the elements against them, MIT attempted to play conservatively with hopes of opening it up in the second half. Unfortunately Mad River ended up dominating possession and MIT never got into a rhythm to do much of anything. Mad River outworked MIT, who were unable to string together consecutive phases. Mad River scored first to make it 7-0.

On October 13, 2018, Caleb traveled to New London, CT to take on the New London County Rugby team by himself. Unfortunately for Caleb, the game had been cancelled the night before due to the field flooding. The same match had previously been cancelled a few weeks prior due to the same reason. One might think that these prior circumstances would lead to a player checking the team WhatsApp to confirm that the game was still going forward after a wet and rainy week.

Following an impromptu bye week forced by an unplayable field in New London, MIT took on D3 newcomers Upper Valley at home on a beautiful Fall afternoon in Cambridge. There were no signs of rust as MIT quickly made progress through strong running from outside centre Alex S and winger Eric, before putting together some tidy phases from the forwards inside the opposition 22, eventually leading to a try for outhalf and star kicker John G.

A welcome return to Briggs Field saw MIT build on last week's dramatics with a solid win against Burlington. Some patient work from the forwards set up an early opportunity on the blind side where centre Tom attacked the gain line hard before popping off to Alex S, who beat two defenders in acrobatic fashion to score the first try of the day.

MIT travelled to Lynn, MA on Saturday September 15th to take on a North Shore team who have been a thorn in the side in recent years. A run of unfortunate injuries and other commitments meant the team travelled with just a handful of subs, and with several players fulfilling unusual roles. The element of surprise proved useful in the first lineout of the game, where outhalf John G stepped in to jump at the front and secured the ball. This cunning plan yielded progressively less impressive results, as the opposition quickly realised that this was the only option available.