Milwaukee Barbarians Rugby travelled to Davenport, IA on Saturday to take on the Palmer Dragons in week 3 of the USA Rugby Divison 1 league.
In the first quarter, play was even on both sides of the ball with the Dragons scoring a clever chip-over try. Milwaukee responded with a well-weighted kick behind the hosts defensive line that was collected and dotted-down by center Matt Drzewiecki.
After 20 minutes, fly-half Nick Vigder slotted a penalty to bring the Barbarians ahead 10-8.
But the Dragons put in two converted tries at the 32- and 43-minute marks, bringing the score to 25-10.
Undaunted, the Milwaukee defense kicked back into gear and gave the offense the time and possession needed to narrow the score. With a try by flanker Joe Grams and a conversion and penalty kick by Vigder, the match was up-for-grabs with the Dragons ahead by just 25-20.
With 10 minutes remaining, Palmer screened a short pass to an inside runner just 10 meters from the try line and barreled over to score. The Palmer defense held on for the win: final score 30-20.
On deck
The Barbarians return home this coming Saturday with the first of three consecutive double-headers at Zablocki Park. The Division 1 side (3-0-0), will be hosting Columbus (2-1-0).
Roster
- # 1 King, Damon
- # 2 Smolensky, Eric
- # 3 Holstine, Benjamin
- # 4 Bastian, Benjamin
- # 5 Schwalbe, Ray
- # 6 Grams, Joseph
- # 7 Gray, David
- # 8 Smith, Benjamin
- # 9 Patterson, Justin
- # 10 Vigder, Nick
- # 11 Bartlett, Robert
- # 12 Bell, Dustin
- # 13 Drzewiecki, Matt
- # 14 Ash, Timothy
- # 15 Albert, Michael
- # 16 Castillo, Paul
- # 17 Martel, Alexander
- # 18 Fendryk, Randy
- # 20 Petfalski, Jeremy
- # 21 Albert, Zachary
- # 22 Mross, Alex
Match Stream
The complete and official match report can be found on the USA Rugby website.
