Chap Rugby Squad Wins Inaugural Capitol City Slug Fest
2009-01-18
By Charles Vermont
Sometimes, traditions have an unlikely beginning. It was a cold January wind that blew dust over the field as two strong Chap rugby sides gathered in Round Rock last Saturday for the first ever all-Austin area high school rugby tournament. The victor would take home the prize – a gold leaf sledgehammer whose wooden handle would be engraved to commemorate the victory – and keep it in its trophy case until next year, when the teams would vie once again for the golden hammer.
A talented Westlake “red” side began its match against a veteran Austin Area High School rugby squad at high noon and from the outset, the Chaps dominated play. Fighting against the wind in the first half, the Westlake scrummies, behind the relentless rucking of Kalae Cordova and Alex Putnam, kept the ball on the opponent’s side of the pitch. Westlake took good advantage of the field position when, on two separate occasions, scrum half Connor McNally scored after a short run. The Chaps nearly added a third score in the period when loose prop Cordova, dragging a bevy of AAHS scrummies with him, fought his way across end line just before the half. Had the opponents not prevented Cordova from downing the ball in the try zone, the first half score would have been even more lopsided than the 10-0 tally.
Westlake had the wind at its back in the second half and took good advantage of it. Time and again, when AAHS pushed the ball toward the Chaps goal, veteran fly half Markam Sayers executed a kick over the opponents’ back line and kept the Austin team on its heels. The Chaps’ effort was also aided by fine lineout play of Daniel Sharplin as he soared high over his counterpart to control the toss. Westlake added to its margin when inside center Ellis Glaw lumbered down the left sideline and scored, leaving a string of broken tackles and bruised egos in his wake.
AAHS managed a score on an intercepted pass just before the final whistle, but Westlake’s squad had made a strong opening statement in its bid for the golden hammer, defeating its opponent by a margin of 15-5.
Westlake’s second match of the tournament found its scrappy, sophomore-dominated “white” side up against an oversized Stony Point team. But both aggressive and near-textbook rucking by the Chaps, led by scrummies Lawton Johnson, Colin Harman, Chris Van Datta and James Savard, kept a much larger and heavier Stony Point scrum at bay. Although Stony Point struck first, with a score midway through the period, Westlake took good advantage of its field position with noteworthy play by its backs, led by Thomas Robison, and featuring breakaway runs by Reid McMenamin, Beau Paschall and Vince Costa. Costa’s scamper knotted the score and Westlake was ahead 10- 5 at the half after wing Chase Corona also found the try zone on an impressive run.
Stony Point’s scrum stiffened in the second half and, after an untimely penalty, Westlake had to play half the period with a man down. Despite inspired play by number 8 man Rogan Lye and flankers Ari Shita and Eric Wiggen, Stony Point added two scores and a conversion kick while paying a man up to take the match 17-10.
But Westlake had scored enough points against its two tournament opponents to take home the Golden Hammer. Longtime observers were amazed upon overhearing Coach Al Niece’s post-tournament talk to his squad. None of them could remember the coach ever uttering such effusive praise. And the mood was jubilant when the fledgling team and its coaches posed for photographs with the golden sledgehammer trophy.