University of Virginia Library

Turques Lose, 20-3

'A' Side Ties Capitals

By Bill Nachman
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Rugby Team Made Comeback To Tie Richmond 12-12 In Home Opener At Nameless Field

Byron Shankman Scored Final Cavalier Try In Last Five Minutes For Second Tie In Two Weeks

Pulling together in the
closing minutes, the Virginia
Rugby A side came from
behind to tie the Richmond
Club, 12-12, Sunday at
Nameless Field.

Tom Furniss opened up the
scoring for the Cavaliers with a
10 yard penalty kick for
offsides with only eight
minutes elapsed. Richmond
tied things up 15 minutes later
as Dave Yawars hit on a 35
yard penalty shot.

Shortly thereafter the
visitors from the state capital
forged ahead when Yawars again
connected on a penalty kick, this
time from 30 yards out. This
second kick was set up because of
the rugged follow play employed
by Richmond, and the hustle of
their backline, which was most
pronounced in the middle of the
first period.

Jay Waldron, Virginia team
captain, tied things up at 6-6 late in
the half as he romped in on a short
try.

Coordination, or lack thereof,
was Virginia's biggest headache in
the first half. Winning in the serum,
the side was hampered by the
inability to utilize the finesse of a
topnotch backfield. The backs,
when they did have the ball, were
unable to work the ball back to the
middle.

"West Virginia Willy" (Wick
Williams) moved Virginia back into
the lead as he tried with five
minutes gone in the second half.
This try gave the Cavaliers
momentary cohesion as their play
was unusually strong for the next
while.

On a give and go play Richmond
gained the tying try. This was
quickly followed by another
three-pointer to give the invading
Richmond squad the advantage.

Host Virginia seemed about to
fold, but field captain Tom Furniss
would not let them quit before a
large and enthusiastic Homecoming
crowd. With about five minutes
remaining, wing Ronnie Pulliam
dummied to wing forward Byron
Shankman. Shankman, also known
around rugby circles as "Train" and
"Critter," burst into the try zone
off the dummy for three.

The 12-12 the was a major shock
to the squad. Richmond brought a
backline which looked like it had
worked together for a long time
instead of a surprisingly few weeks.

Several old Virginia ruggers
returned to the Nameless pitch, but
this time they came as a nemesis to
their former teammates. Bob
Gilmer, who played a strong match
at fly, played four seasons with the
local ruggers. Second rower Jim
Hawkes returned after just
completing three years at Nameless.

Equally as appalling as the A tie
was the treatment received by the B
side at the hands of Maryland. The
Terrapins crushed the Turques,
20-3, in a contest that had David
pitted against Goliath (and Goliath
soundly humbling the "good guy.")

Unable to win in the lineouts or
scrums, the Turques were simply
outclassed. An open grub play late
in the second half found Peter
Schmidt pouncing on Paul Bishop's
lead for the Turques' only points of
the afternoon.

The "A" side will be home this
Sunday afternoon against George
Washington University.