Savannah Morning News – 3/14/2011
As so often happens in athletic events, momentum-changing plays occur in a split second and come unexpectedly.
That was the case Sunday afternoon on the pitch at Daffin Park when Cincinnati struck quickly in the second half to break open a close game for a 27-20 win over the U.S. Air Force to win the grand champion title of the 33rd St. Patrick’s Day rugby tournament.
The game was tied at 10 at the half, but Cincinnati coach Nick Lauterbach said halftime adjustments and two heads-up plays gave his team the momentum it needed to win its first St. Patrick’s Day tourney title since 2004.
The last four tournaments had been won by The Willing, an England-based team which did not enter this year’s tournament, and the last winner before that was the Air Force in 2006.
“We come down here to get our spring season started,” Lauterbach said. “It’s nice to get away from the cold weather. We play about 12 matches a year, mostly in the midwest, and these were our first games of the year.”
The Wolfhounds broke the tie when they got a try on a sidelines inbounds play on a called play.
The inbounder called out, “Australia 32, 59, 75, white,” and when the ball was thrown in, a Wolfhounds player broke out of the pack and streaked down the far sideline to score. The kick was wide, but Cincinnati had a 15-10 lead and moments later made the play that in effect locked up the game.
In rugby, the ball cannot be thrown forward, but rather is advanced by both running, and passing the ball in a series of laterals.
Defender Shaun Grobler was in the right spot at the right time.
Picking off the egg-shaped ball which appeared to be thrown directly to him, Grobler snared the toss with nothing between him and the try line (goal line) but about 30 yards of grass.
Grobler scored untouched, and when the conversion kick, which is worth two points, was successful, the Wolfhounds had a 22-10 lead and it was too much for the Air Force to overcome.
“That was the momentum change for us,” Lauterbach said. “The key for us was sticking to the game plan, and an adjustment at halftime regarding field position.
“We wanted to play both sides of the game (offense and defense) on the opponent’s half of the field,” Lauterbach said. “We wanted to control the tempo.”
The Air Force is coached by Capt. Wayne Kinsel, who is a former Wolfhounds player, said Lauterbach.
“Wayne played four years for us,” Lauterbach said. “There are no secrets. We know them and they know us.”
The Wolfhounds team, which has a total of 65 players in its overall program, is made up of players who played primarily on the club level at Xavier University, the University of Cincinnati, and Miami of Ohio, said Lauterbach.
The Air Force has won the men’s Armed Forces Rugby Championship the last seven years, and uses the Savannah tournament as a trial for making the team.
“We have upwards of 70 guys come to the trials,” said Kinsel, in his first year as head coach after serving as an assistant coach. “We have a week of practice, and then we select guys for three teams.”
Kinsel got his start in rugby as a player at the U.S. Air Force Academy, but the team is made up of active duty, U.S. Air National Guard and reserve airmen of all ranks and career fields from across the Air Force.