After a long hiatus from fifteens rugby, our over-35 Barbarians headed to Cottage Grove for some full-contact action against our brothers at Wisconsin Rugby Club.
The match started off cagey and tentative, with neither side taking control of the match, though Wisconsin were first on the scoreboard.
But as the match progressed, the Barbarians grew in confidence, attacked directly through the middle of the park on multiple occasions, and showed some real skill with ball in hand.
Scoring highlights from the match include:
- Ryan Becker getting his first-ever try.
- Kris Heninrich crashing up the middle for a try.
- Joe Gardener and Ryan Walczak passing the ball between them multiple times along 70 meters before Rob Hackett goes over to finish the try from a sublime support line.
- A pair of tries by Kevin Smyth including an interception and an amazing 10-meter fend!
At the final whistle, the Barbarians would claim the 35-10 victory.
More importantly, it was great to see many generations of club members on the pitch together. The team featured old-school Harlequins, 1st-generation Barbarians (see also: Club History), “new Old Boys” (started playing rugby after reaching 35 years), and Old Boy imports from other clubs.
Even the current active Barbarians were on hand to congratulate the team as they left the pitch.
All in all, just a great day of rugby.
Congrats to our Man of the Match Kevin Smyth. And big thanks to both Matt Gordon for helping organize, and Jared Abt for filming the match.
Roster
- Ray Anderson
- Ryan Becker
- Chris Bitz
- Ben Clarke
- Ben Davis
- Mike Dziewit
- Joe Foro
- Jeff Friedrich
- Joe Gardener
- Matt Gordon (Captain)
- Mark Greene
- Robert Hackett
- Eduardo Herrera
- Kris Heinrich
- Dick Lango
- Ben Nirschl
- RJ Nowak
- Joe Ohm
- Kevin Smyth
- Jed Thompson
- Scott Uselding
- Wally Walczak
