University of Virginia Library

Ruggers Play, Party Hard On Tour

Compile 2-7-2 Record Against British

By Bob Cullen
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Ruggers Await Ball's Descent In Recent Action In England

They Worked Hard, Played Hard During "Satisfying" Vacation

After demolishing the best chuggers
and three-man lifters that the
British Isles had to offer, the
University Rugby Club's party team
is looking for new worlds to
conquer. The rugby team, however,
is glad to be back in the United
States after compiling a 2-7-2
record in its recent two-week tour
which accompanied the party team
through Scotland and England.

Sneaking out of Charlottesville a
week before the official commencement
of spring vacation, the ruggers
- two sides strong - and their
entourage began a three legged
journey by bus to New York, Pan
Am 747 to London and British
European Airways to Edinburgh,
Scotland training always for the
tough schedule of parties that their
agents had arranged in Great
Britain. Determined to travel first
class all the way, the team set up
headquarters at the luxurious Hotel
Ritz, where a charming staff did its
best to make up for the hotel's lack
of certain amenities such as showers
and hot water. The Ritz soon
became the party spot for
foreigners in Edinburgh, a beautiful
city where the pubs close at 10:30
every night.

Drop First Match

The team's first encounter with
Scottish ruggers was unscheduled,
unsuccessful, and illegal. A Palm
Sunday bus tour of the Highlands
culminated in an impromptu and
anti-blue law match pitting the
Virginia B's against a pick-up side
from Kirckaldie, a town twenty
miles up the coast from Edinburgh.

Striking in the first half when
the Virginians were still not certain
they were off the plane, the Scots
built a quick 18-0 lead, and coasted
the rest of the way for an 18-6
decision.

The first scheduled match took
place the next day against the
Watsonians a team of alumni from
George Watson's College, an Edinburgh
prep school. The Watsonians'
first team was at that time the best
club in Scotland; the group that
met the Cavaliers was composed
primarily of second team players,
and they were lucky to walk off the
pitch with a 16-12 victory.

The Cavaliers scored first on a
beautifully executed long run
which left the Scots wondering
whether they shouldn't have sent
their first side into the fray.
Equally dazzling was the American
cheering section. Where the home
fans combined themselves to an
occasional "Get on, Watsonians,"
or a restrained "Well-kicked,
Derek," the Yanks psyched up
already for the first formal encounter,
reacted to the first try
with a series of yells that would
have done Scott Stadium proud.

Lose A Kicking Game

The lead, unfortunately, was
short-lived. The Cavaliers' relative
inexperience cost them a couple of
tries when the Watsonians took
advantage of some unnecessary
errors that an American side would
probably have failed to capitalize
on. Tiring in the second half, the
Virginians forsook their successful
running attack for a kicking game
that played into the hands of the
Scots, allowing them to build an
insurmountable lead. A last minute
Cavalier bid to win was stopped
inches short of the try line.

The Cavaliers, blistered by their
walking tours of historic Edinburgh
and an abortive attempt on Tuesday
night to recapture the city's
13th century castle from a regiment
of Scottish Greys, played their
worst game of the tour on Wednesday
afternoon losing 34-8. The
opposition was provided by the
Scottish Wayfarers, a group selected
from members of other clubs which
plays in Edinburgh on Wednesday
afternoons.

As John Frame, a Scottish
international player who came out
to see the Yanks play, observed,
"Your chaps are a bit slow getting
to the ruck today." And so they
were - the highlight of the match
was the hot shower provided by the
Wayfarers afterwards.

Frame, for all of his bravado,
was beaten to the bar by the entire
Virginia scrum at the party following
the game.

The B side, however, fared much
better, clobbering a group of
players from Edinburgh University
22-0 in a game arranged in a pub
the previous night. So the team left
Scotland buoyed by the knowledge
that some Americans could definitely
beat some Scots.

So, with fond farewells, to the
Hotel Ritz and its staff, the Princes
Street Gardens and Edinburgh
Castle, and the touring Irish
Women's Field Hockey team, the
club set off for London and the
English half of the tour. Edinburgh
and its ruggers had provided an
enjoyable and hospitable week, but
the A team was still hungry for that
first victory.

Gain Tie At Windsor

They almost got It Friday
afternoon against the Windsor club
from the suburbs of London.
Playing in front of historic Windsor
Castle, ancestral home of the
Queen, the Cavaliers continued
their habit of putting out their
finest efforts immediately after
hitting town. Windsor pulled the
game out, 11-6, but not until the
Cavaliers had had the tying try
called back for an infraction.

Despite the close call, Windsor
proved to be one of the best hosts
of the tour, and the Virginians
responded with one of their finest
efforts. Inside back Courtney
Hoopes set a Windsor Club record
for chugging a yard of ale, despite
his lack of familiarity with the
British national chugging drink,
Tartan Bitter. The Cavaliers were
also introduced to the ultimate
extension of the British national
preference for baths over showers -
communal tubs in which the club
was invited to cleanse itself of the
day's soil.

The first victory for the A squad
finally came the next day against
Osterley, another suburban London
club, Perhaps because they were
not too impressed with the Virginians'
touring record, or because
they had also scheduled a match
with a touring Welsh club for that
day, the Osterley men sent their
second side out against Virginia,
and the Cavaliers responded by
shellacking them 32-8, scoring early
and often. And the Welsh squad
made it a miserable day for the
home side as they also won. Most
of the team topped the day off
with a visit to the London production
of Hair.

Lost In Elmer's End

Forewarned, the Beckenham
Rugby Club, located in picturesque
Elmer's End (try asking your
average American railroad ticket
seller for a return trip from Elmer's
End) outside of London, sent its
best side against the Cavaliers,
leaving the reserves to play another
touring Welsh XV. The strategy
paid off handsomely, with the first
side recording a 27-9 victory over
Virginia, and the second team
triumphing over the visitors from
Wales. Virginia was in the game
until the final 20 minutes when the
home team stamina began to tell.
By this time, the team bus sounded
like a tuberculosis ward, as the
virulent English germs and cold,
wet English weather proved as
difficult to handle as the Beckenham
scrum half, a former Welsh
international currently teaching in
the community. He displayed a

marvelous sense of anticipation as
he directed his club with the
intelligence that only a lifetime
spent playing the game can provide.

After another session in communal
baths, the Cavalier party team
again smashed local records in every
event. Courtney Hoopes, accustomed
by now to the indigenous
beer, set a new standard in the
one-yard chug (34 seconds) and
Dickie Cross, recovering nicely
from a knee injury, bested the
locals in jumping off the bar (17th
floorboard from the other side of
the room).

Whereupon the Cavaliers journeyed
to Cambridge, where they
had hoped to play one of the
Cambridge University Colleges. The
university had, however, thoughtlessly
scheduled its spring break to
coincide with the Americans' tour,
so a match was arranged with the
Old Persians, another group of prep
school alumni. In typical English
weather (hall and freezing rain)
Virginia's A's battled to a tie,
14-14.

Meanwhile, the B squad had
been giving a good account of itself
in a London tournament sponsored
by the Port of London Authority.
After tying Stratham 14-14, the
Turques lost to the host team 8-5.

Virginia's final fixture sent the
beleaguered squad against the Old
Hamptonians, graduates of Hampton
Grammar School, founded in
1557. None of the original alumni
were still playing for them, however,
and the Cavaliers lost another
tough one. Nonetheless, the Virginians
finished their drinking tour
undefeated, winning the individual
and team chugs, and even teaching
the British to play "thumper."

Played Well Despite Record

Despite the 2-7-2 record, the
Cavaliers played well in almost all
of their matches, learning enough
inside rugby to make them a far
better team when they return to
domestic competition this weekend.
Virginia was fortunate enough
to escape any serious injuries, and
as one exhausted rugger put it, "we
were damn lucky to find the airport
to get back."