NASCs Warmup Matches 2009: NRU vs MARFU

YSC Intern Ashley attended the NRU vs MARFU game this past weekend and this is her writeup with pics of the event! Check out her other post covering the Rites of Spring Tournament for more Ashley!

The Northeast Rugby Union and the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union squared off Sunday afternoon. On a day that was surprisingly cold, the two teams wasted no time heating things up. It only took the MARFU squad a couple of minutes to find their rhythm and get their offense going as they ran in a try first about 10 minutes into the game. However, the NRU women were not phased. They answered with a try of their own. Fullback Laura Bilazarian fed wing Vanesha Mcgee who used her quickness and evasiveness to get the NRU on the board.

Play following those two quick tries became a little inconsistent as both sides seen a number of dropped balls and penalties. This was due in part to the little time these teams have had together as a unit. However, the amount of experience on the pitch from both sides was easily able to make up for any lost time. Both teams have players who have played at the national level as well as countless All-Americans.

The match was filled with hard runs and even harder hits. The defensive stands put up by both sides meant that neither team would score for the majority of the first half. That was true until about the 38th minute when NRU’s Ida Bernstein split two sets of defenders for the try.

The NRU opened things up a bit during the second half. Their successful set pieces allowed them to march down the field, but often their attempts to score were halted by the MARFU defense. However, penalties plagued the MARFU women, which the NRU capitalized on, scoring 12 points from penalty kicks made by flyhalf Ines Rodriguez.

Both the NRU and MARFU women displayed moments of brilliance. The difference was the NRU was able to use their experience and skill to capitalize on the mistakes and mishandles of their opponent.

Final score:
NRU-26
MARFU-7

Following the first match, the NRU and MARFU developmental sides took to the pitch. While there was less experience out there, the intensity matched that of the first. There were many players who showed great promise and a few stand-out players as well whom I’m sure we’ll get to see more of in the future. Both teams had their offensive troubles-mainly handling and maintaining possession, but like their senior side, the NRU women were able to gain from the mistakes of MARFU. They broke through their defense and sent the ball out to their speedy backs who took it the try zone six times.

Final score:
NRU-40
MARFU-18

We are working on gathering other NASC Warmup match scores, if you know of any, post in the comments, post on Facebook or email me!

West vs Pac Coast 63-0 (video available to watch here)
West vs South 24-26
MARFU vs Midwest 13-23
MARFU Dev vs South 25 -15
Pac Coast vs Midwest 17 – 0
NRU vs MARFU 26 – 7
NRU vs MARFU Dev 40 – 18

*Some of these scores were gathered from Jeanie the Greek’s comments section…thanks everyone!