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***image1***There is a well known saying: Revenge is sweet, and it’s a dish best served cold.
Following the final rugby match of last season, when Worms defeated the Rogues to become league champions, the Rogues were out for payback in this season’s first league game, and boy did we get it!
The Worms team arrived and announced that they were only able to field 12 players for the match, instead of the usual 15, meaning that the match went ahead as a 12-a-side fixture, both teams dropping their back row forwards. Fewer players for each team meant more space and more ground to cover; fitness levels would count.
The game began and, as early as the second minute, the Rogues crossed the Worms line for the first of 19 tries in the game, finished well by Mike McCarty. Rico Colon added the conversion to give the Rogues a 7-0 lead.
Worms was not the team the Rogues expected following last season. Two more quick tries, scored by Brian Hudon and Steve Mongin, gave the Rogues a 21-0 lead after only six minutes of the match. The same pattern followed for the remainder of the first half, the Rogues expertly exploiting gaps and missed tackles to run in a total of 10 tries, eight of them converted, to lead at halftime by 66-0.
The second half began in the same fashion with the Rogues attacking. The try count soon increased, with the forwards powering over the Worms’ try line. This score was soon followed by Jase McDonald, running in a hat-trick of tries in quick succession.
The game was played in good-tempered spirit for the most part, despite the score line, but halfway through the second half, Worms lost their discipline and a late, dangerous tackle on Chris ‘Thunder’ Kolbosky, led to the Worms player being ‘Thunderstruck,’ an act for which ‘Thunder’ was yellow carded and spent the next 10 minutes on the sidelines.
The Rogues ran the game from start to finish, running in nine
second-half tries, eight being converted to finish the game as 127-0 winners, a record for the Rogues in a league match.
Special acknowledgement goes to McDonald, top try scorer in the game with four; McCarty ran in three tries; John Evans scored two tries in his first game for the Rogues, including a fantastic solo effort; Colon scored a total of 35 points (15 conversions and one try) and Kolbosky made seven assists for tries.
Man of the Match was awarded to Orlando ‘Guz’ Guzman, who scored two tries in a dynamic performance.
Any member of the military interested in joining the Rogues is encouraged to e-mail ramsteinrogues@hotmail.com.
Practice sessions are held from 6 to 8 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday at the Vogelweh/Pulaski Barracks practice field.
The next Rogues home match is at the Queidersbach sportsplatz Oct. 11 against Stade Sarrois.
