Tour Report: 2005 Fall Break Midwest Tour

by Michael Burrows

On Thursday October 20, two vans departed Chapel Hill for UNC Rugby's inaugural fall break tour. Destined for Virginia Tech and Ohio State, the club was stepping aside from its normally pedestrian fall schedule to take on powerful MARFU and Midwest sides in preparing for the North Carolina State tournament.

The first stop on the tour, Blacksburg, VA, saw a confident and healthy Carolina side step onto the pitch against a large, well-coached Virginia Tech team. Carolina failed to capitalize on many scoring opportunities throughout the game, and in succumbing to the Va. Tech forwards in the final minutes of the game the Heels were now forced to to believe Dave Harbourt, unhappily ending the game with a close loss to a side many felt could have been beaten. The B-side, however, showed its superiority in thrashing Va. Tech by a number of tries, and many young players made a case to see A-side action in the following game.

Socially, Blacksburg offered a number of bars, falls and fights for the traveling Heels. Despite failing to find any romance in the backwoods town, UNC Rugby left satisfied with a good first stop on tour.

Arriving in Columbus, Ohio, the Heels took advantage of tremendous Midwest hospitality thanks to the family of forward Alex Mitchell and rested throughout the evening for the next day's match against perennial top-10 team Ohio State. The next morning a rested but injury-laden UNC side bravely faced a seemingly endless Buckeye team. The first half remained close, the score tied at the half. The kicking of Alastair McKeever was essential to keeping the Heels in the game. The first 20 minutes of the second half saw more of the same, but towards the end OSU's fresh legs and experience showed through as 3 or 4 unanswered try made the final result beyond any shadow of a doubt. A convincing OSU win left UNC unsatisfied and motivated to take the Buckeyes on again in the spring.

Out in Columbus, OSU provided seemingly endless beer and pizza for UNC Rugby, thereby fueling our rampage around the virgin town. An appearance by socially talented alumni Brian Moon guaranteed that at least one UNC rugger would find romance. Screaming "I ain't goan get rolled tonight!" Alex Beaver ensured that no arrests would be recorded as Carolina rugby enjoyed a great night out with no social or legal repercussions.

Despite two losses, UNC Rugby's 2005 Fall Break Tour was enjoyed by all. Progress to and throughout the state tournament was motivated by the games played over this weekend, and the time together bonded the eventual state championship team.

View all Tours

Created Jan 21, 2006. 05:58 pm
Modified Apr 12, 2006. 10:45 am