University of Virginia Library

Turques Punish Hampden-Sydney, 20-3, Trolls Succumb

In games played at
Hampton-Sydney Saturday,
the Virginia Rugby Club was
able to gain a split as the
Turques rolled to a surprisingly
easy victory while the Trolls
fell in a close contest.

The second side Turques
played one of their best games
ever, as they crushed a fine
Hampton-Sydney "A" squad,
20-3. The home team was
renowned for its strong
running game, and it was
doubtful that Virginia's
backline would be able to
offset it with its own running.

In addition, Hampton-Sydney
was strengthened
by the arrival of many
rugby-playing faculty members
and foreign students who
added speed and experience to
what had formerly been a
mediocre team. For example,
the offense was greatly
bolstered by a union-caliber
player from Sydney, Australia,
who took over the fly half
position.

This is not to slight the
Turques, who relied on their
experience and scrum play to
overcome Hampton-Sydney.
Outside center Greg Thompson
opened the scoring by crashing
for a try from 25 yards out,
shortly after the opening
kickoff.

Hampton-Syndey's offense
was stymied by the rugged
Virginia defense and was held
near its own goal for the rest of
the first half. Using their
weight advantage in the scrum
to control the ball, the visitors
were able to score again when
hooker Will O'Keefe won a set
scrum close to the goal and Jim
Bledsoe was free to race over
for a try. Minutes later,
second-row Dave Hudson
cracked over when wing
forward Downing Smigh set
him up with a pin-point pass.
Adding two conversions, Mark
Storm brought the score to
16-0 at the close of the first
half.

Hampton-Sydney was
unable to close the gap in the
second half, as it scored
its only points by converting
a penalty kick. This was more
than offset by the Turques'
final try, which was scored by
Randy Grespin on a 50-yard
run.

The final score of 20-3
proved that the Turques are
indeed competitive with most
of the country's rugby teams,
even though they are the "B"
side for Virginia.

In the other game,
Dynamite Joe Scals and the
Trolls were beaten by the
Hampton-Sydney "B" team,
16-6.