The Xavier-Greenwich rivalry is everything you want in a high school rivalry.  It's between the two top programs in the Northeast..The annual game goes back to the late 1980s.  Xavier is the perennial favorite, but Greenwich is good enough to pull off the upset about 1/3 of the time (most recently in an overtime win on penalty kick shootout at the 2017 Nationals).  The rivalry produces intense, high pressure, physical matches, but the teams have great respect for each other.  Many players know each other well  and play sevens together in teh fall.  The coaches on both teams are old friends and the two squads are each other biggest supporters at Nationals.

(David Treussard photos)

The Greenwich home matches are particularly well done.   Because Greenwich is a big football school with an impressive stadium, they are able to pack the stands with hundreds of screaming fans.  It's the biggest sporting event of the Greenwich HS spring.  It's "Friday Night Lights" and everything that American HS rugby should and can be.  And it's a really hard place to go into and snatch a victory.  The Greenwich players have great pride and just play with such an elevated sense of pride and commitment on their own turf.  Going into Greenwich on a Friday night and trying to steal a win is like trying to pull an antelope leg out of a lions mouth.  An all day rain kept the Greenwich fan numbers a bit down this year, bt what the stands lacked in number, they made up for in volume.

The rain made play difficult and the match was marred by handling errors by both sides.  Whether it was nerves or the greasy ball, Xavier was particularly and uncharacteristicly poor in handling the ball - making 11 unforced errors in the first half alone.   Greenwich scored first, capitalizing on Xavier knock-ons and penalties too move the ball downfield and power over for a try about 15 minutes into the match.  Greenwich used their size to try to power the ball downfield, but Xavier's committed defense limited Greenwich's attack and eventually earned a lineout close to Greenwich' line.  Junior hooker Steve Ryan scored the first try after a long struggle in a rolling maul was drive over the line by the Xavier forwards.  Freshman scrumhalf Damien Morley slotted the sideline conversion to tie the match at the 30 minute mark.  Four minutes later a nice line break by flyhalf Nathan Salter  was recycled and fed to loosehead prop Marco Caramanico who rambled 20 meters down the sidleline to score in the corner and give Xavier  5 point lead at the half.

Xavier dominated play for much of the early second half and continued pressure and possession eventually led to a try by reserve tighthead prop Omar Mtarfi.   Morely again converted the try to give Xavier a 19-7 cushion.  Xavier might have extended their lead, but tough defense and an of errant lineout throw thwated a number of scoring opportunities.  Greenwich, for their part continued to play stalwart defense and in the last quarter of the match began to threaten Xavier's lead.  Some great runs by Greenwich's #10 and #7 combined with penalties against Xavier eventually led to a converted try by Greenwich which brought the Cardinals to within 7 points of Xavier with 9 minutes left in the match.  In teh final chapter, both teams had opportunities to score, but desperate defense by both sides ruled the day and the clock ran out with Xavier maintaining a 7-point victory in an epic match between the two rivals.