KUA Rugby Team Champions

The KUA rugby football club traveled to Pembroke, NH on Saturday, May 10 to participate in the NE High School Rugby Championship, and came home as the division IIB champions. In the first match of the day, KUA built up a 12-0 lead in the first half, and then went on to defeat Falmouth RFC (MA) 29-5. Travis Jones'09 and Justin Burke'08 scored two try’s each, and Zak Al-Haffar'09 had one. Nate McCann'09 added 2 PATs in the match.

The KUA rugby football club traveled to Pembroke, NH on Saturday, May 10 to participate in the NE High School Rugby Championship, and came home as the division IIB champions. In the first match of the day, KUA built up a 12-0 lead in the first half, and then went on to defeat Falmouth RFC (MA) 29-5. Travis Jones'09 and Justin Burke'08 scored two try’s each, and Zak Al-Haffar'09 had one. Nate McCann'09 added 2 PATs in the match. Chris Eldred was back at scrum half after having missed three matches, and played a big role in controlling the flow of the match. Johnny Baker ''09 took it on the head four times (stole Falmouth’s scrum feed four times), which lead to a number of counter attacks by KUA. In the second match of the day KUA faced off against St John’s Prep-B (MA). This time KUA took a 26-0 lead going into the half, and held SJP to just one try in the second half to take the victory 29-5. Sebastian Unzue'09  opened the scoring in the second match with a brilliant try! Nate McCann'09 had three try’s in the match and added nine points with kicks. Travis Jones'09 had his third try of the day late in the first half. The scoring in the match would not have been possible without the hard work and tenacity of the forwards. Jon Nix'09, Brett Sillari'08, Johnny Baker'09, Chris O’Donnell'09, Chibby Ironnah'09, Chris Woodburn'09, Robbie Grant'10, and Cyrus Western'08 had superb performances in the second match. It was a true team effort in the second match. The sportsmanship displayed by both sides represented the true spirit of the day!

In the championship match KUA was pitted against Malden Catholic (MA). Although both sides were tired and sore after a full day of rugby, the match was fast moving and physical as both sides fought hard to take home the cup. Although, Malden Catholic seemed determined to control the flow of play in the championship match, Nate McCann put them in the hole early with two try’s and Zak Al-Haffar added a third soon after to give KUA a 21-0 lead. Zak surprised the entire Malden Catholic side by zigzagging his way to a 70 meter try. Malden Catholic, however, refused to give in and fought back with a try late in the first half, and a second one minutes into the second half to cut the score to 21-10. McCann and Travis Jones, however, put the match out of reach in the second half, as Jones scored twice and McCann once leading to a final score of 38-15.

The KUA side went into the 3 match tournament with only 24 active players. Every match took its toll on the side. As the day wore on, every player had to dig deeper and deeper in order to find the energy and mental toughness needed to play one more match. On this day, each player found that they did in fact have what it takes to win the New England High School Rugby Championship! This was a very proud day for the Kimball Union Academy Rugby Football Club!

 

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