Boston College Rugby Competes in Collegiate Rugby Championships

This past weekend, BC’s men’s rugby team competed in the Collegiate Rugby Championship. The CRC gathers the best collegiate rugby 7s teams to compete for the national title. Many of the teams that play in the tournament are varsity level, while others, like BC, compete at the club level during the regular season.

For our readers that are unfamiliar with rugby, 7s is a faster pace game with 7 players a side instead of 15, and the matches are divided into two 7 minute halves, instead of two 40 minute halves. To score in rugby, a player must ‘touch the ball’ down over the ‘try’ line - similar to the end zone in football. Each try is worth 5 points. Once a try is scored, the team has an opportunity to ‘convert’ (kick) for an additional two points.

On day one of the two day tournament, BC faced pool A opponents Saint Mary’s, Dartmouth, and Temple. On day two, BC had a rematch against Dartmouth in the Plate semifinals.

BC started off with an intense battle against their first opponent, St. Mary’s. Despite a half-time score of 19 St. Mary’s – 0 BC, BC began to lessen the deficit in the second half, and made it a much closer match. It wasn’t enough to the secure the win, but a great effort overall. Final score was BC 12, St. Mary’s 19.

BC was back at it for their second match against Dartmouth. BC was first on the board with a try and conversion from Danny Schatzman. Dartmouth responded with two tries and two conversions. BC then evened it up with a try from Nick Savage. Danny Schatzman scored again to tie up the match at 19-19. In the end, the final score was BC 19, Dartmouth 26.

The final match of the day was against Temple. BC completely shut out Temple with a score of 24-0. Tries were scored by Frank Ruzica, Danny Schatzman, and Austin Krystoff. Even though the day didn’t start off ideally, BC played well and took a win in the final match.

On day 2, BC played in the plate quarterfinals against Dartmouth. In a low scoring, but hard fought match, BC lost to Dartmouth 10-5. Even though the outcome wasn’t ideal, it was great to see BC on the national stage! Good job, team. We look forward to next year’s tournament!