Spring ‘98 Tour

On Thursday afternoon, March 19, thirty-six members (34 players/2 coaches) of the Trinity College Rugby Football Club (Hartford, CT) departed campus for a ten day tour to England and Wales.  While most of their 1,800 classmates were packing for a sunnier climate and for some rest and relaxation, team members were packing sweat suits and jackets eagerly awaiting their first international tour.

Planning for the tour began in November 1996, when several players and coach Bob Merola, approached the President of the College and floated the idea of a tour.  Within 30 minutes, the team not only had the support of the President, but also a commitment to provide $10,000 to our effort.  The team was required to raise another $15,000 over the course of the next year, which it did by preparing an advertising program, tee shirt sales, and hosting social events.  The final cost to most of the players amounted to $300-$500 plus spending money.  Each team player was also provided with school ties, Reebok warm up suits, athletic jackets, and tour kit bags.  The team also decided to travel in jacket and ties to games and post match receptions.

It was decided early on that the purpose of our tour would be to expose our young team to a higher level of competition in countries where the sport is a passion and a second religion.  With this in mind, five matches (3 “A”-side, 2 “B”-side) were scheduled over a seven day period which proved to be very challenging (especially in light that we had not played since last November and the opposing teams were close to finishing up a 20-25 game season).

After traveling throughout the night and arriving in England Friday morning, the team immediately boarded a bus for a three hour ride to Trehaford, a small town outside of Pontypridd, Wales.  Despite lack of sleep, the team began to get excited as we approached the Severn Bridge leading into Wales and noticed that the countryside was dotted with rugby pitches.  Our first match was little more than 48 hours away against the Aberbeeg Rugby Club, a men’s team 30 miles north of Cardiff.

After participating in a Saturday morning training session run by several members of the Aberbeeg RFC, the team was invited to watch the Wales/Ireland International live on a big screen at their clubhouse.  The team was now beginning to understand the passion that Wales has for the game.  Looking around the room at the Aberbeeg players we slowly began to question the wisdom of scheduling a mens team against a college side.  But after talking to several Aberbeeg players, we soon felt comfortable that they understood our skill level and they assured us that this would be a good learning experience for our team.  Somehow we got the feeling that they respected our young team for taking on this type of challenge.  Since Aberbeeg is considered a village team and a “feeder” club to larger sides such as Abertillary and Abervale RFC we would have to contend with the usual “guest” player, in this case a 20 year old 6'4", 240 pound lock (nicknamed “Beefie”), who is being groomed for a 1st Division club side.

Two matches (“A”-side and “B”-side) were scheduled for a 2:30 Sunday kickoff.  The first team would be playing on Aberbeeg’s main pitch, nestled high on a hill overlooking the valley, and the “B”-side would be playing a local park three miles away, so each team would be on their own.

After dispensing with the customary photo “ops” and team pictures, the “A”-side game kicked off under cloudy and cool conditions - a perfect Welsh rugby day!  Trinity caught Aberbeeg off guard as the first 12 minutes were played inside the Aberbeeg 22 meter line.  Trinity nearly missed drawing first blood when winger Mikael Schad was stopped short of the try line and fullback Jeff Ross misfired on two penalty kicks.  It was then that captain Michael Ingrassia chose to run several close in penalties, but could not break the Aberbeeg defense.  Aberbeeg soon realized that even though we were a young side, we were eager to display our skills.  At the 13th minute, Aberbeeg stole a Trinity midfield scrum.   As their scrum half broke through our defense, the Abeerberg forwards quickly recycled second phase ball and spun the ball wide to their wing who touched down for corner try.  By the 20th minute, Aberbeeg’s strength in the forwards in both set piece and loose play began to put pressure on our defense.  Aberbeeg scored again on a nice center crash play off a 5 meter scrum.  At half time it was 0-12 in favor of Aberbeeg.

The second half saw Aberbeeg come to life with their bigger pack, continuously recycling the ball off the back of the ruck or maul forcing Trinity into a defensive position.  Trinity failed to find touch from a 22 meter scrum and the Aberbeeg winger countered resulting with a score at the 50th minute.  Two quick tap penalty plays resulted in additional scores for the home team as Trinity’s lack of game fitness began to show.  Finally, at the 70th minute mark, Trinity prop, Michael York, came out of a maul with the ball and rambled 22 meters for Trinity’s first score.  The try was converted by Jeff Ross and ten minutes later the match was blown up in favor of Aberbeeg, 36-7.

Said Coach Merola, “We were hampered by lack of game fitness and Aberbeeg’s aggressive forward play.  All in all I’m pleased with the way we played and commend Aberbeeg on a clean, tough match.  It’s clear we need to work harder on our scrummaging and maintaining possession.”

On the lower pitch, the “B”-side had jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first minute when winger Spencer Liebman returned a kick 80 meters.  While this effort provided some momentum and set a tone for our wide open style of play, Aberbeeg’s veteran side soon began to control tight play.  Trinity controlled lineout play due to the presence of  6'5" lock, Jason Chapman, but Trinity once again found itself in a defensive position.  Tackling was sound and led by backs Mark Stuckenbruck, “Skip” Parish, freshman flanker Pat King, and #8 Matt Wikstrom.  After another Wikstrom score the half ended with Aberbeeg leading 24-10. Two more second half scores by Liebman and Wikstrom (converted by fullback Adam Best) were not enough to offset the experience of Aberbeeg as they finally prevailed 42-24.  By all accounts of those who participated and watched the match, Trinity’s younger players certainly acquitted themselves well and earned the respect of the much older home “B” side.

The post match reception was held in the Aberbeeg clubhouse where plenty of food and drink were provided by the ladies committee.  In attendance at the post match celebration was the Mayor of Gwent District and several other councilmen who presented the team with ties, plaques, and a commemorative plate.  Even 92 year old club member Ron Turner was present, wearing mementoes of the last two American sides to visit Aberbeeg---Boston RFC (1973) and Mystic River RFC (1979). After exchanging gifts it was clear that the hospitality of the Welch people would be hard to match for the remainder of the tour.

The next two days were spent in Bath, England, where the team took various sightseeing trips to Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the Roman Spas and Bath Rugby Club.  A spirited training session in Victoria Park Gardens concluded our stay in Bath.

Our second match (both A’s and B’s) was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon against the University of Surrey in Guildford, England.  Once again we would be playing a team that just completed league play (in fact, it was their last game of the season).  We had anticipated a mixed 2nd/3rd, but as the bus rolled up to the University grounds we discovered that we would face a mixed 1st and 2nd side team.  Since we had already made selections and had decided to play several promising but inexperienced players on the first team, we had no choice than to proceed with our lineup.  Once again both matches were played simultaneously on pristine athletic pitches, probably the best we’ll ever play on.

The first side match began similar to the Aberbeeg match with Trinity missing early scoring opportunities.  Surrey University began to dominate play with their forward attack and our backline continuously found themselves fending off overlaps.  Play was sloppy due to the wet conditions and Trinity continued to make “errors of execution”.  The half ended 19-0 in Surrey’s favor and, much like our first match, Trinity scored late with an interception by winger Christian Dick (converted by Ross), and the game ended with University of Surrey winning 36-7.

The “B” match in the meantime was more closely contested.  Hard tackling early in the match by lock Mark Chaffee and #8 Brett Willis set the tone as a Surrey player left the pitch dazed.  Flyhalf Alex Kwok scored on a nice run and Trinity led 5-0 midway through the half.  The score remained 5-0 until shortly after halftime when a forward rush by Surrey evened the game at 5-5.  Both sides marched up and down the field for the next 20 minutes until the 63rd minute when  Surrey stole a defensive 5 meter scrum and went in for the score.  Within the next ten minutes, however, Trinity marched to the Surrey goal line and #8 Willis scored off a 5 meter scrum.  The match was now tied at 12 with less than seven minutes left.  Solid backline tackling and probing kicks from Kwok kept the pressure on the Surrey side.  With less than three minutes left, Trinity prop Scott Murray fought his way to the Surrey goal line and posted a perfect ruck ball for Doug McAdams who picked up and scored the winning try.  Trinity held off a final Surrey attack and earned a hard fought 17-12 victory.  “This was a solid win for our “B”-side”, said assistant coach Brian Purdy.  “Hopefully this will set the stage for our final “A”-side match on Friday night.”

After arriving in central London and visiting the usual tourist sites, the team coached to Luton on Friday evening for the third and final “A”-side match, Trinity vs. Vauxhall RFC.  The game was played under lights at the Luton RCF grounds.  Vauxhall RFC is the local men’s team that’s connected with Luton RFC and would be more competitive with our side.  The teams started out evenly with Trinity taking the edge in set piece possession, but Vauxhall was able to offset this advantage with better open field ball possession and hard running by their centers and fullback.  Several missed tackles by Trinity resulted in a 27-8 halftime lead for Vauxhall.  Midway through the second half, Trinity managed to pull to within 11 points, 32-21, thanks in part to two penalty kicks and a 30 meter run by fullback Jeff Ross.  Vauxhall, however, came back quickly to score on a fullback counter attack which eliminated any hope of a comeback.  The final score was 39-21 in Vauxhall’s favor.

On Saturday, the last day of our tour, the team attended the Bath vs London Irish premier league match, and was treated to an outdoor lamb roast by the family of one of our British educated players.  It was a fitting end to an excellent trip.

Despite finishing the tour with a 1-4 record, the team was upbeat and looking forward to their return to the States and our Spring schedule.  “This trip wasn’t about a win-loss record”, summarized Coach Merola.  “It was an opportunity for our team to compete against stronger international opposition and a learning experience that will certainly benefit our program in the years to come.  The confidence and pride we developed as a team and as individual players will be important for our continued success.  We returned home with a stronger team bond, and a greater understanding of the game.”