Unafraid to do the Gritty Work, Brown and Queens Face Off
Unafraid to do the Gritty Work, Brown and Queens Face Off
NCR D1's final is a rematch of the 2022 final, and while we hope some things don't repeat this time around, we do want and expect the same intensity.
Of course the 2022 final wasn't ... shall we say ... "entertaining" per sé, what with 11 cards issued ... but the atmosphere and grit is something fans might want to see again.
For all of that, and for all the flashy players both sides have—Raphael Lansonneur or Hilton Olivier—this game will probably be won through something less glamorous.
Lansonnear said as much after Brown battled past St. Bonaventure 11-10 in the NCR semifinal.
"So proud of the boys for never giving up," he said. "Even though we were down for the last 15 minutes of the game, we all stepped up and outworked Bonnies’ strong defense giving us the game-winning penalty."
That game-winning penalty was kicked by Lansonneur himself, but he was right to give a nod to the hard-workers. It was the forwards, especially, what the players call the "Meat Wagon" that made it happen.
The game itself, as was the quarterfinals 23-15 win over Walsh, about tenacious defense and phase play. Coming into the playoffs Brown had mostly dominated their opposition, so the question was, could they handle being smacked in the mouth or having the game on a knife's edge?
They proved they could.
Head Coach David LaFlamme has kept the standard high as Brown moves to 10-0, but it's a tough road to the finals—teams have to make travel plans immediately after winning and taking a squad of rugby players on four days' notice isn't cheap or easy.
But what LaFlamme has emphasized is doing the preparation the same no matter what. "Our overall approach doesn't change much even for a match of this magnitude. The team has worked incredibly hard this season and we're seeing that effort pay dividends now, so we will continue to invest in ourselves with hard work and commitment this week and be ready to go on Saturday night," he said.
Queens, meanwhile, had an issue going into the playoffs. Head Coach Frank McKinney, who confesses to be a bit of worry-wort at times, was concerned that quarterfinal opponent AIC and semifinal opponent Wheeling would provide a type of opponent his team hadn't seen. Fast, unpredictable, and good in the broken field. That required his Royals to be disciplined when it came to penalties—too many "dumb penalties" had been part of his mantra this fall—and disciplined in terms of defense.
"You can't loose your shape on defense with teams like that," McKinney had said. "They are so good in unstructured play."
Brown, however, is a more structured team so Queens might match up with them a little better. Even so the Royals did defeat AIC 37-19 and Wheeling 33-22, so maybe they did OK after all.
Powerful and organized defense, then, will be the order of the day. It's not flashy, but it's important.
For both teams, it won't be the chrome on the bumper that wins the race, it'll be the grease covered pistons inside the engine.
Queens and Brown Common Opponens:
Queens 37 AIC 19
Brown 24 AIC 15
Queens and Brown against 2nd-degree opponents:
Brown 11 St. Bonaventure 10
St. Bonaventure lost to Navy
Queens lost to Navy
St. Bonaventure lost to Mount St. Mary's
Queens beat Mount St. Mary's
St. Bonaventure beat Penn State
Queens lost to Penn State
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Browns vs Queens
Aveva Stadium, Houston, Texas
Saturday, Dec 14
KO 6PM CT, 7PM ET
Live on The Rugby Network TRN+Ticket (Paywalled)
