This weekend the Wolfhounds traveled down to Savannah GA to compete in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Rugby Tournament. The tournament kicked off on Saturday with the Hounds facing an invitational team, The Gypsys (not to be confused with Our Gypsys), with players assembled from around the world, including a few players from The Willing that had won the tournament four years in a row. The winter lay off was apparent at the beginning at the match as the Hounds came out a little slow and were plagued by penalties. After settling in, the Hounds were able to convert some penalty kicks before John McCafferty touched down with the first try of the season, in support off of a maul from 22 meters out. The Wolfhounds were able to get a couple more scores and won the match 20-11, but were not satisfied with the unforced errors and penalties that marred the match.
After a 3 hour break, the Wolfhounds faced a very tough NOVA team, out of the MARFU. With the goals of reducing the penalties and making better use of field position, the Hounds came out of the box slow and uninspired. NOVA came to play and it wasn’t until 10 minutes in that the Hounds realized they weren’t doing anything to help themselves. The Hounds were able to break out and come out of the match with a 21-8 win, setting up what seems to be our annual match versus the Air Force Selects and former Wolfhound lock Wayne Kinsel, the current Air Force coach, for the Grand Championship on Sunday.
On a beautiful 75 degree day, the Wolfhounds took to the pitch with confidence, while knowing from previous experience that the men of the Air Force would bring everything they had. That assessment was spot on. From the very beginning of the match, it was evident that it would be a long, physical match, and the Wolfhounds were there to accept the challenge. After taking an early lead with a Shaun Grobler penalty kick, Air Force came right back down and got three of their own. And with a converted try from Piet Swanepol, the game went to halftime in a 10-10 deadlock. The second half picked right back up where the first one left off. Zach Fritz was able to get the ball out wide and dove in to the corner to put the Hounds up 15-10 early in the second. The game changer came in the next few minutes as Shaun Grobler, after 5 or 6 attempts, finally got his hands on an Air Force pass and was able to run 30 meters untouched to score under the posts. With the converted try, the Hounds were up 22-10 with about 20 minutes left. Air Force was able to get another score in to bring the score to 22-15 before Kyle Merk was able to score off of a series of forward crashes from a lineout for a 27-15 lead. Time was on our side as Air Force brought the ball up quick and were able to get a turnover and spent a few minutes before securing a penalty from 5 meters out. With a quick tap, the Hounds were caught sleeping and Air Force scored once more. As the conversion sailed wide, the sir blew the whistle and the Wolfhounds celebrated their second ever Savannah Grand Championship.
Roster- Cincinnati Wolfhounds vs. Air Force Selects
1. Josh Goldsmith 2. Jim Pelton 3. Jeremy Anderson 4. Paul Rettig 5. Tony Schenke 6. Richie Columbus 7. Johnny Warner 8. Piet Swanepol 9. Gareth Little 10. Ryan Frntzel 11. Dave Grossman 12. Bob Deck 13. Shaun Grobler 14. Zach Fritz 15. Meki Betomakita
16. Kyle Merk (for Rettig) 17. Robert Hickey (for Columbus) 18. Jason Kleinhenz (for Frentzel) 19. Nate Kosman 20. Toby Taylor 21. Brandon Wolfe 22. Jason Fritz 23. Bill Zagorski
Tries- Swanepol, Z. Fritz, Merk
Conversions- Grobler (2)
Penalty Kicks- Grobler
Cincinnati Wolfhounds- Savannah Grand Champions 2011
A huge thanks to all of the players, Grayhounds, coaches, and supporters that made the long trip to Savannah. It’s great to be so far away from home and have such a loud and supportive sideline.
This Saturday, March 19th, the Wolfhounds will welcome Miami University to Brimelow Fields for 2 matches starting at 1pm. We look forward to seeing everyone out for the opening home match of the season.