University of Virginia Library

Baltimore Trips "A's"

By Bill Nachman
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Almost just wasn't quite enough
Saturday, as the Virginia Rugby 'A'
side fell to seventh ranked
Baltimore, 3-0, in rough Nameless
Field action. However, the other
four Cavalier teams all chalked up
home wins.

Baltimore, surprisingly, only was
in command for the first 15
minutes of play. But this was
enough time for them to post the
day's only score; the three points
courtesy of a 35 yard penalty kick
from outside center Tim Hanlin.
Their later thrusts were all safely
contained by the spirited
Virginians.

Over 350 nameless spectators
urged the homestanding Cavaliers
on. After their woes in the opening
minutes, they settled down to a
deliberate style of rugby. Due to
the tightly regimented Baltimore
scrummers and backs, the hosts
went to a kicking brand of play;
this allowed for a better chance of
following and checking thy
invading Baltimore side.

Virginia never seemed to lose its
composure. The thought of playing
one of the highest-ranked sides ever
to set foot on the Nameless Field
did not make the local unit collapse
by any means. Surprisingly, the
larger Baltimore scrum had trouble
all afternoon with the smaller
Charlottesville-based contingent.
Hooker Steve Bolton actually
outhooked Baltimore's
international team hooker for much
of the game, while the lineouts
were about even.

Byron Shankman, known
around rugby circles as "Train" for
his bulldozer-like tackling and hard
running, turned in one of his finest
efforts ever. Many times in the past
Shankman has carried the Virginia
fireworks on his shoulders, but
never in the four seasons that this
writer has observed the game has
"Train" exploded with the
offensive and defensive prowess
throughout the match which he
displayed Saturday.

Shankman was not the only star
for the Cavaliers. Fullback David
Levy played in his best form also.
Levy led several key charges, and
helped negate the powerful
Baltimore power early in the match
with several kicks which took the
Marylanders back deep into their
own territory.

Center Courtney Hoopes, often
considered a 'bread and butter' man
for the Cavaliers, was marked
continually by Baltimore. Most of
the match he was double-teamed,
and late in the match, when
Virginia threatened, he was given a
three man personal escort.

Coach David Reynolds offered
nothing but praise for his squad.
"We (Virginia) gave the best
performance that I've seen this
year," Mr. Reynolds said, "and the
boys gave all that they had." He
continued, "Hoopes being closely
marked hurt our ground game, but,
nonetheless, they almost made it."

Virginia's Jay Waldron, club
president, felt that "Kent Taylor
(fly half for Baltimore) was the
difference between victory and
defeat." Taylor did bring some
impressive credentials with him to
the Nameless pitch - foremost
among them being selected to try
out for the New Zealand Nationals
several years ago.

"With the match we regained
confidence," said locker John
Oliver, who played in place of thy
injured Waldron. "But it was their
kicking," continued Oliver, "which
proved to be out downfall."
Hooker Steve Bolton, who
outplayed his international side
counterpart, agreed with Oliver's
statement, but added that "we
couldn't take advantage of breaks;
every time we worked within the
Baltimore 10 yard stripe some
infraction was called."