October, 15, 2005

Providence, Rhode Island

AMHERST MUDDIES BROWN 36-5

After eight straight days of rain, in very wet and muddy field conditions, Brown was
defeated by the top team in our division. Amherst, who had beaten Harvard a week ago,
were simply a stronger side, but some interesting developments took place in this 80
minute match.

With Brown’s propensity for errors and mental lapses (parents should here be wondering
what they are paying for with the Ivy education), the first XV gave up two quick tries,
one converted, on just poor tackling, to go down 12-0 within the first 15 minutes. But
after these miscues, the defense tightened, Brown won some of its scrums and many of its
lineouts, and the match became more competitive. With their physical strength and the
mud, Amherst scored twice more in the first half for a 22-0 lead, but Brown was not
conceding the big play. The half ended with a defiant display of defense on Brown’s goal
line. Amherst launched a full assault but were consistently repelled by fierce tackling
particularly from the ever improving back row of number eight Rob Neville’08, and
freshmen flankers Dave Schwartz and Matt Bubley.

Adjustments were made in the second half especially in our defensive backline, and for
the final 40 minutes Amherst was held to two converted tries against one for Brown.
Wing/center Nick Stoker’09, playing out of position as a center, put in a superb defensive
effort, while fly half Jeff Margulies’07 began to break the gain line consistently and
center and Captain Matt Gelb’06 was more often than not thundering off his shoulder like
a deeply distressed stampeding buffalo, and despite the deep mud, made several long
runs. This is one of the most heartening sights for a rugby forward, who can pick up his
head and happily trundle down field after the backs.

Brown adapted its game to the conditions and, with some clever tactical kicking and
good support, worked the ball to the Amherst five meter line where Brown executed a
perfect, although not pretty, penalty play to put Schwartz over for a try, with about 10
minutes to play. The match ended with Brown getting the better of Amherst from a fitness
point of view.

The disappointment of the loss was mitigated by the improvement from our 74-0 loss to
Harvard only a few weeks ago, the work we did in practice this week to improve our
teamwork and skills, and the presence of so many parents, friends and alumni who
slogged the sidelines and supported the club. It is also interesting to note that along the
perimeter of our field is a swale which due to the torrential rain had become a five foot
deep pool, of which the mud drenched players took full advantage, to the surprise of the
bemused spectators.

Men of the Match: Forward: Dave Schwartz’09

Back: Jeff Margulies’07
First XV Squad
1. Yale Wang’06
2. Joe Elliott’08
3. Kevin Thomas’07 (replaced by Ryan Couto’07 in second half)
4. Alan Gabel’07 (replaced by Dave Schwartz in second half)
5. Ted Brown’07
6. Matt Bubley’09
7. Dave Schwartz’09 (replaced by Simon Salgado’’07 in second half)
8. Rob Neville’08
9. Tom Flaherty’08
10. Jeff Margulies’07
11. Aldun Andre’07
12. Hugh Livengood’07 (replaced by Nick Stoker in the second half)
13. Matt Gelb’06
14. Nick Stoker’09 (replaced by Ethan Brown’07 in the second half)
15. Dan Fombonne’07

BROWN SECONDS DEFEAT AMHERST 32-0

The continued success of our Seconds is due to continued growth of skill and great belief
in themselves and a true team spirit. The assembled parents and friends on the sideline
were, I’m sure, not ready for such Brown dominance after the First XV match.

Given the muddy conditions, the Brown forwards dominated after being given great field
position from flyhalf Phil Roux’s’06 tactical kicks, despite his relaxed English kicking
style. In succession, hooker Jeff Stasz’07, flanker Dave Meisner’07, lock Dave (the Big
Soft) Bloom’08, and Stasz again scored unconverted tries for a 20-0 halftime lead.
Amherst’s heads went down and Brown sniffed an opportunity to post a cricket score (an
English term which basically means an awful lot of points). Much of the hard work in the
pack was done by lock Dave Perlmutter and the bearded, muddy flanker Zach Whitener,
who apparently was celebrating a birthday!

The team continued to dominate field position in the second half, but the field conditions
held the scoring to two Brown tries. Captain and number eight Dan Levitt broke blindside
from a scrum and fed wing Gus Crothers’07 who skidded in for a try to bring the score to
25-0.

At this point, a number of replacements entered the match and, in much of the final 20
minutes of play, Brown was pinned in their own end. Brown conceded no points, then
rallied as time ran out to move the ball the length of the field. Virtually all forwards and
backs contributed. A backline move put center Jon-Michael Divirro’07 away who turned
on the after burners and leaving defenders trailing in his wake, made a nifty 25 yard run
for the final try of the match.
I think all spectators would attest to the genuine enjoyment and team spirit that is
becoming a hallmark of our B team. It is always a lift for the A team players to be able to
watch the B team give some pride back to Brown. The second half of the A match
showed that some of that spirit and tenacity is beginning to spread throughout the Club.
Exciting times are beckoning.

Men of the Match: Forwards: David Meisner’07

Backs: Philip Roux’06

Second XV Squad
1. Chris Manatis-Lornell’09
2. Jeffrey Stasz’07
3. Caleb Miller’09
4. David Bloom’08 (replaced by Mark Fuller’09 in second half)
5. Dave Perlmutter’09
6. Zach Whitener’09 (replaced by Adam Emrich’08 in second half)
7. David Meisner’07
8. Dan Levitt’08
9. David Yeh’07 (replaced by Jon Chin’08 in second half)
10. Philip Roux’06 (replaced by Win Bennett’09 in the second half)
11. Eli Marienthal’’08 ( replaced by Joshua Lehman’09 in second half)
12. Ruben Madrid’07 (replaced by Ben Lux’09 in the second half)
13. Ben Liotta’07 (replaced by Jon-Michael Divirro’07 in second half)
14. Gus Crothers’07 (replaced by Andy Garin’09 in the second half)
15. Cain McClary’07 (replaced by Cody Campanie’08 in the second half)

Below find a picture of the first XV after their match and after a splash in the “pond”.
Note the new rugby jersey. We have two sets with the predominate color of the pictured
set being red and the other being Brown. If you would like to purchase one, email me and
I will work out a method of ordering (jay.fluck@cbre-ne.com).

Also, credit coach Alasdair Noble for last weeks write-up of our Yale match and his
contributions to this weeks report. You all know coach Fluck would never refer to
“relaxed English kicking styles” or “cricket scores” or “a distressed stampeding buffalo”,
but we both hope the write-ups are entertaining.

This weekend ended our Green League competition. We now enter three weeks of
playoffs with the Green and White Leagues combined. The results of the next three
weeks will determine our overall league ranking (1through 12). Should we win, we will
remain in the First Division of New England Collegiate Rugby for next fall’s league
season. Should we end up last in the league, we will be relegated to the Second Division
of New England Collegiate Rugby. There is a lot at stake and the team has made so much
progress, we are optimistic about our chances for success.

This coming Saturday, October 22, Brown travels to Boston to play Boston College.
There will be A and B team matches. The kick off for the first match will be at 3 P.M.,
with the Seconds match immediately thereafter. The exact location of the match will be
St. John’s Seminary. Directions to the match are below: