Two former National Small College Rugby Organization conferences will see their champions play off this weekend for a place in the USA Rugby Men's DII College playoffs.

 

Roger Williams comfortably won the Colonial Coast Conference, both in their regular season record and in the playoffs. Although, the playoffs themselves weren't without surprise. Plymouth State defeated Salve Regina in the semis 7-5, which was a bit of a shock.

 

"I was moderately surprised that Plymouth State beat Salve Regina," said Roger Williams Head Coach Chris Palombo. "Plymouth State has been a strong team for a number of years with good coaching; however, due to the earlier results I expected Salve to win that game."

 

Salve got over the tryline four times in that game but were held up each time, and then gave up a last-minute try to lose.

 

Roger Williams then defeated Plymouth State 26-12 to win the championship.

 

"Our season went as well as it could have," said Palombo. "When we started the season we established three core values with our team: 1. Fitness 2. Solid Defensive Structure 3. Academic and Behavioral Excellence. Focusing on these three areas intensely in August and September allowed us to develop the foundation necessary to win consistently. Our fitness allowed us to maintain the same starting lineup week-in and week-out. Injuries were limited and could be considered minor. The previous two years we went into the conference championship game missing key players. We knew if we were going to win it all this year we needed to be healthy.

 

"I believe we spend more time on defensive structure, tackling, and counter attack than most other teams. We knew we had the ability to score, but the team exceeded my expectations this year in points allowed. I believe this success was due in part to the practice time and structure but can be more directly accredited to the players added in the last couple of years."

 

The attack and defense was centered around senior flyhalf Charlie Stanley. The starting #10 for RWU since his freshman year, he understands the team's approach. With center Jedu Armar, fullback Matt Taylor, and wing Luke Gerwick providing significant contributions and bringing high school experience to the backline, and Luke Bradley (Simsbury High School), John Rice (Xaverian Brothers), and Mike Cedrone ( Bishop Hendricken) doing the same up front, RWU came together. The team worked closely with Brown head Coach David LaFlamme, who is a Roger Williams alumnus, and he helped them in their defensive structure.

 

"These systems were vital to our success this year against much larger teams," said Palombo. 

 

Roger Williams will host Central Connecticut State, which clinched the New England Wide conference with a 31-19 defeat of Springfield College. Like Roger Williams, CCSU made the move up front NSCRO over the summer.

 

"It was a big jump for us," said club president Justin Wixted. "We had a lot of returning players and we worked really hard to prove ourselves and show people what Hooligan Rugby is all about."

 

CCSC  boasts a strong forward game and usually dominates in the scrum. With an improving chemistry among the backline they have ramped up their offensive output. Flyhalf Tyler Kania captains the team and has been invaluable in seeing the field and directing the offense. But it also doesn't hurt to have Brian Sheridan at No. 8. The big loose forward has been a handful to bring down and gets the team go-forward pretty much every time he touchers the ball.

 

Now coach Eric Rentz's team steps into something of the unknown. 

 

"We remember Salve from last year, but we haven't faced Roger Williams," said Wixted, who normally plays fullback but is injured. "We just know we have to play our game. We like to pound it up with the forwards and create space that way."

 

The emergence of rugby at CCSU has not gone unnoticed on campus. Wixted said it took a while for those on campus to notice, but this past weekend the championship game drew about 400 fans. 

 

Roger Williams hosts CCSU Saturday, Nov 15 at the Roger Williams campus in Bristol, RI. Kickoff is 1pm. The winner gets to play Salisbury in the Round of 16 a week later.

See highlights of CCSU v SPringfield College (if video doesn't show up, hit refresh)