HBS Rugby finished the season strong with three solid wins, living up to all the preseason hype. HBS defeated Monadnock 56-5, Saratoga 19-17, and MIT 14-6.

HBS’s biggest victory came over one of the most dominate and physical Saratoga teams of recent years. The Saratoga team was undefeated going into the matchup and eager to close out their perfect season. However, it was not to be as the HBS forwards won the game by controlling the rucks in a way Saratoga had not seen all season. This was quite a feat considering the imposing size and skill of the Saratoga front line. In their team press release, the Saratoga gentlemen commented how “well-prepared” the HBS Rugby team had been for this conflict.

The team’s strong play has validated statements made by team captain Chris Cowan about the level of talent on this year’s squad being “probably the best in the league.” “It has just been a matter of fine tuning the machine and getting everyone to work together,” said the veteran captain. Beating rival MIT was even bigger than knocking off the NERFU league powerhouse Saratoga for many on the team. After the big win, club President Anson Fredericks had this to say, “After all the banter following the two teams’ prior meeting, we felt like we had to go out and enforce our will on their side of the Smoot bridge as well as ours. It just goes to show talk is cheap, but victory is sweet.”

What is really important for this team has been the contribution from first year players with four new ruggers, Cameron “Crazy” Johnson (NG), Regan “Raccoon” Turner (HKS), Garan “Taekwondo” Geist, and Matt “Devil” Devlin (HKS) scoring big tries over the last couple weeks. The team’s next stop is the University of Texas Fall Brawl where they will play eight games over two days in addition to terrorizing the famous 6th Street strip in Austin.