The 2009 NSCRO Men's Division III Rugby Tournament is a tournament which involved 103 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NSCRO Division III college rugby as a culmination of the 2008–09 rugby season. It began in the fall 2008 season in the northeast, midwest and mid-atlantic, and picked up again in the spring 2009 season for the southern teams, and concludes with the Fearsome Four, a final four-style semifinals and championship games co-hosted by South Jersey RFC on April 25-6 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Contents
National Semifinal
The National Semifinals were held on a warm sunny day, on a badly worn pitch at Green Acre Park in Cherry Hill, NJ. Sadly, the event was not well publicized. Each match was attended by about 40 rugby fans, friends and family members. The event host, South Jersey RFC, had a small concession lean-to, offering pretzels, sodas and event t-shirts.
In the first match of the day, New England Rugby Football Union Champion Salve Regina met NY State Rugby Conference Champion SUNY Oswego. Salve Regina was the only true small college in the tournament (having approximately 500 male students to SUNY's 3000), and it showed. SUNY's large squad took advantage of poor SRU tackling up the middle and took a 22-0 lead into halftime. The first half was led by the dominance of Oswego flankers Matt Moir (senior)with 4 tries,Kandu Agmibson, fly half Jordan Storie (senior captain), and outside center Jay McGukin (senior captain).
In the second half, Oswego replaced four of its starters including starting scrum half and senior captain Alex Rufer among others due to injury and conservation for the finals match, which was to be determined. Consequently SRU showed some spirit and put points on the board, exchanging tries with SUNY, but they never really got the hang of EPRU referee Pete Hesler's refusal to penalize an offside. And on those other penalties that were called, SRU was physically restrained from quicktapping on multiple occasions by Hesler to allow Oswego to adequately retreat. One such restraint took place on the Oswego 5m line, evoking a barrage of criticism from the SRU sideline, and for which they probably should have been disciplined. Overall, SUNY Oswego was by far the better team on the day, running in multiply tries from outside the 22m.
In the second match, VRU Champion Longwood met USA Rugby South Champion Coastal Carolina. The two teams were well coached and matched up very well. Again, however, the large college program carried the day. Coastal Carolina was physically larger, and took an early lead, but Longwood battled back, playing smart rugby and making some key kicks for points. At halftime, Coastal Carolina held a 17-13 lead. In the second half, fitness seemed to be an issue, not so much for the teams, but for the officiating crew, all of whom seemed to be approaching 60 years old and overweight. Apparently, the event host had some difficulty arranging referees, and had to do some last minute scrambling to obtain referee coverage. Longwood took a brief lead, before giving it back to Coastal Carolina for good about midway through the second half. Coastal Carolina was the best team on Saturday. They were big, fit, aggressive and knowledgeable. Longwood matched them in every category but size and points.
Northeast Regional Bracket
The Northeast Regional Bracket is the home of USA Rugby territorial union Northeast Rugby Union ("NRU") (partial). More specifically, it is the home of NRU's largest local area union, the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU), and its twenty-four (24) Men's College Division III Rugby teams.
NERFU plays its regular season in the fall. At the end of the regular season, the top two teams in each of its four conferences participate in the NERFU College Men's Division III Cup Championship, which also serves as the NSCRO Northeast Regional Championship. In November 2008, Salve Regina University defeated Southern Connecticut State University 21-20 to win the regional championship. See 2008 NERFU College Men's Division III Rugby Tournament.
In this bracket were one union champion and three conference champions:
New York/Midwest Regional Bracket
The New York/Midwest Regional Bracket is the home of USA Rugby territorial unions Northeast Rugby Union (partial) and Midwest Rugby Union, and their twenty-six (26) men's college division III rugby programs.
In this bracket were 3 union champions and one conference champion:
Mid-Atlantic Regional Bracket
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Bracket is the home of USA Rugby territorial union Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union or MARFU and their twenty-two (22) men's college division III rugby programs.
In this bracket were 3 union champions and a runner-up:
South Regional Bracket
The South Regional Bracket is the home of USA Rugby territorial union USA Rugby South ("USARS") and their thirty-one (31) men's college division III rugby programs.
In this bracket were 4 conference champions and their runners-up: