Barbarians start strong

From the opening whistle, the Barbarians set the tone with rock-solid defense and a probing attack that repeatedly put the Condors under pressure.

Early in the match, Sam “Captain America” Boeyen sliced through the Condors’ line on a textbook clean break, touching down unopposed. Liam Hanley’s precise conversion pushed the score to 7–0.

Shortly thereafter, the Barbarians capitalized on a well-executed line-out and driving maul, with lock Sam Kluck powering over the line to make it 12–0.

As the Condors battled to find their rhythm, a dominant scrum turnover midway through the half earned Milwaukee a penalty try, coupled with a yellow card for Chicago’s tackler—extending the advantage to 19–0.

The Milwaukee offense continued to hum as center Max Boehnen dummied a pass in the midfield on first-phase ball, opening a massive gap in the defense. Sprinting to the try-line untouched, Hanley’s conversion brought the lead to 26–0.

With the Condors down to 13 men after a second yellow card just before the break, Milwaukee struck once more with halftime looming. Fullback Luke Ellis fielded a clearing kick by the Condors, penetrating all the way to the visitors 22 meter line. Luke offloaded to Jordan Thompson who side-stepped two defenders to make it 31–0 at the interval.

Condors take advantage of poor discipline

Despite the daunting deficit, the Condors emerged from halftime with renewed urgency. Continued pressure by the visitors forced the Barbarians into numerous penalties, costing them both possession and territory.

A few minutes into the half, Chicago’s backs combined in midfield to draw defenders and break tackles, touching down to make it 31–5. The Condors’ confidence grew at the 57-minute mark when a broken tackle led to their second try (31–10), and they kept up the pressure into the 70th minute, crossing once more before nailing the conversion to narrow the gap to 31–17.

Growing in confidence, the Condors continued their assault, including a long-range try from inside their own red zone. Rather than kick for territory, the Chicago center exploited a gap In Milwaukee’s defense and ran the ball nearly 60 meters, before offloading to the supporting player who scored near the posts.

After a straightforward conversion, the match was now a 1-score match at 31-24.

And though the Condors had the final phases in the dying minutes, a late turnovers sealed the victory for the home side. This brings the Spring campaign record to 4-4-0.