GRR: Liberty
Surprises and upsets?
We certainly saw a few in men’s collegiate rugby action over the weekend. Here’s a look at a few results we thought were especially interesting this week.
WisconsinAfter a couple of relatively rough years the Wisconsin Badgers unleashed an impressive 41-29 defeat of University of Notre Dame.
Eastside continued their strong run of results in Washington state with a 31-8 defeat of rivals Liberty at Pat Ryan Memorial Field.
This was an intense clash between two very good teams. Liberty started off with a blast, making a penetrating run down the right wing that took some desperate defense from Eastside to prevent an early score. It was an early wakeup call for the Lions.
Oklahoma-based Bixby HS opened their season with a convincing 67-0 victory over Liberty out of Kansas.
"I was very happy with the performance, especially it being our first match," said Bixby Head Coach Chris Smith.
It was windy and the like a lot of teams this time of year these two teams are waiting for some players to join thanks to injuries or other sports commitments.
The Tacoma Tsunamis opened up their Rugby Washington season with a somewhat humbling loss to Chuckanut, but finished it this past weekend with a convincing 41-18 defeat of Liberty to win the 2017 Rugby Washington Boys DI HS championship.
The Tacoma U19 team defeated Liberty HS 29-26 on Wednesday to secure 1st in the Rugby Washington league.
The two teams were guaranteed to be the top two in the league going into the playoffs, so this was as much about pride as anything. Tacoma had beaten Liberty 39-34 in a non-league game. But this game had more meaning.