MIT RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

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.

On September 8th 2018, MIT lined out against defending league champions Boston Maccabi for their first game of the fall season. Captain Alex inspired the troops prior to kick off by channeling his inner Rabbie Burns with a short ode to the joys of fall in New England. Early exchanges were tense, with both teams still working through some early season rust. Maccabi controlled territory, but were held at bay by strong defensive work in the open field from Eric and Erik.